DZS and Summit Technology Solutions have partnered to deliver hyper-fast fibre optic broadband connectivity to Africa’s tallest building.

DZS, a specialist in access, optical and cloud-controlled software defined solutions, has announced that its integration partner Summit Technology Solutions (STS), an information technology and business solutions provider serving the Middle East, North Africa, and Asia, will leverage DZS Access and Subscriber EDGE technology over fibre as the security and smart network (SSN) infrastructure for the Iconic Tower and Crescent Tower projects in Egypt’s New Administrative Capital, which is being developed by Administrative Capital Urban Development (ACUD).

With a total height of 400 metres and 77 floors scheduled for multi-use occupancy in 2024, including the ultra-luxury Raffles hotel, the Iconic Tower is the tallest building in Africa.

The Crescent Tower will stand at the heart of the Central Business District in the New Administrative Capital and house the luxury Fairmont Cairo New Capital City hotel.

The SSN infrastructure consists of hyper-fast next generation fibre optic broadband connectivity, security cameras, gates and other access systems, and smart sensors and various Internet of Things (IoT) applications, both within and connecting the towers.

The New Administrative Capital, also known as the New Cairo Capital City, is a planned urban community located 35 kilometres east of Cairo that will be the first smart, connected city in Africa. It will house Egypt’s central government offices, the presidential palace, foreign embassies, financial headquarters and numerous businesses and educational institutions, and will be home to approximately seven million residents.

DZS has been involved in delivering hyper-fast connectivity to the New Administrative Capital since 2021.

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Indian operator Vodafone Idea (aka Vi) says it is in advanced talks with various network vendors for finalisation of its 5G rollout strategy and has concluded device testing of all major OEMs on its upcoming next-generation mobile broadband network.

According to comments in its latest annual report, Vodafone Idea says it remains committed to ramping up 4G coverage and introducing 5G services “once funding is in place”.

The company has pointed to 5G clusters in Delhi and Pune where it has partnered with various OEMs to test the compatibility of available 5G handsets.

As India’s Economic Times points out, rival operators Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio have been expanding their 5G coverage since last October with both now looking to launch next-generation services nationally by December 2023.

By contrast, Vodafone Idea has yet to announce its 5G launch timeline, most likely due to the ongoing fundraising issues mentioned in the report. It has been trying, with limited success, to raise around 200 billion rupees via a mix of debt and equity for over a year. That’s about US$2.44 billion, though gross debt is more than ten times that figure at about $25.5 billion.

In the report, Vodafone Idea’s chairman Ravinder Takkar cited another problem: that telecom tariffs remain unsustainable, and need to increase significantly to generate reasonable returns for operators to promote investments.

Also, of course, the company still has some creditors to appease. For example, another story in the Indian press says that tower company Indus Towers has said Vodafone Idea is now paying 100% of its current monthly charges but won’t be able to clear outstanding dues without its pending fundraising.

Vodafone Idea accounts for around 40% of Indus’s revenue. Its total dues to Indus are estimated at around 70 billion rupees (about US$854 million).

One bit of M&A and two fiber expansion projects to catch up with: … [visit site to read more]

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Kazakhtelecom JSC is working with A10 Networks to improve the reliability of broadband access for businesses and consumers nationwide.

The operator began the transition to a telco cloud environment in 2020, and A10 Networks has been a key facilitator of this, helping Kazakhtelecom JSC to establish cloud nodes on its network. At this time, the operator launched two cloud nodes using an Open Stack architecture in the largest cities of Kazakhstan.

The operator launched the first A10 virtualised carrier-grade network address translation (CGNAT) solution on a cloud node that serves 384,000 broadband subscribers, along with a second that serves 80,000 subscribers. These nodes provide a universal infrastructure for deploying virtual network functions (VNFs) that have numerous advantages, including deployment time, scaling, high fault tolerance, and manufacturer selection. This solution allows the telco to automate the operation of all VNFs, which has a positive effect on the quality of services for its customers.

Kazakhtelecom JSC is actively working to enter the information security market and has established a Security Operation Centre. A core element of the centre is its DDoS attack protection system, which Kazakhtelecom JSC launched with A10 Networks. The A10 Thunder Threat Protection System (TPS) provides the backbone to analyse all incoming internet traffic, detect anomalies and DDoS attacks and block or clear illegitimate traffic. The system has allowed Kazakhtelecom JSC to protect up to 500 zones of IP address spaces and analyses about 2 Tbps of traffic.

IPv4 addresses are almost fully allocated, causing difficulties for telecom operators as they grow subscribers. While IPv6 provides a solution, most of the internet today still uses IPv4, while transitioning to IPv6 brings its own set of challenges and costs. Network address translation (NAT) technologies are used as a near-term solution to connect hundreds of hosts behind one public address without the need to purchase more expensive IPv4 addresses.

Kazakhtelecom JSC successfully deployed A10 Thunder Carrier-Grade Networking (CGN) in the cities of Almaty and Astana, where a large number of its internet users are concentrated. The operator immediately saw the economic benefits compared to the acquisition of new IPv4 addresses. Kazakhtelecom JSC is looking to expand its use of Thunder CGN to other network locations.

“A10 Networks has been a valued partner and strong collaborator as we have set to transform our network, grow subscribers, and establish an information security services centre”, said Nurlan Meirmanov, chief innovation officer, Kazakhtelecom JSC. “We are actively working on creating new deployments for our telco cloud environment, and we are confident that with our anti-DDoS system, the resources of Kazakhtelecom JSC and its customers will be reliably protected from network attacks.”

“Kazakhtelecom JSC has faced a convergence of business challenges that many telco operators have faced in recent years: how to grow subscribers with limited addressing, how to secure its network against the rapidly expanding cyber threat landscape and how to transition to new-generation cloud technologies within its network, all while maintaining a secure and consistent subscriber experience. A10 Networks’ solutions have helped support Kazakhtelecom JSC’s business and technology objectives throughout this transition as we continue to work with them on their evolution to a cloud-based infrastructure,” said Dhrupad Trivedi, president and CEO, A10 Networks.

This Industry Viewpoint was authored by Ulrich Schälling, VP Market Strategy at FNT Software

The push towards sustainability has many business benefits for telecom providers. Business can improve their sustainability by reducing energy consumption and using less resources, both of which tamp down carbon emissions. While that is good for the environment, these same measures are also good for the bottom line. Using less energy and fewer resources brings down energy costs and ongoing OPEX. … [visit site to read more]