China Mobile has selected Azalea Networks, a provider of wireless network equipment and technology, to install a wireless LAN (local area network) in major metropolitan areas throughout China. Azalea’s access points will be part of a network to provide broadband Wi-fi services.

Azalea informed that its technology will provide a large part of the networks deployed throughout eight cities in China, all predominantly served by China Mobile.

The Azalea products used in the network include a new MIMO (multiple-input, multiple-output) 802.11n claiming to offer “unprecedented transmission speeds”. The new Azalea 802.11n product will be available next quarter, the company added.

China Mobile Communications (CMCC) has selected Motorola as the primary TD-LTE solution partner to provide indoor coverage for all major pavilions at the World Expo 2010 Shanghai China, and will also integrate and launch, what is claimed to be, the world’s first TD-LTE USB dongle that supports both 2.3GHz and 2.6GHz.

The World Expo is scheduled to be held from 1 May to 31 October 2010.

At the event, Motorola will deploy an LTE network to provide indoor coverage in all CMCC selected pavilions. The company informed that its LTE network will serve as the primary source of broadband connectivity in those locations, as well as providing backup networks for other vendors’ TD-LTE systems.

Motorola informed that it will provide an end-to-end TD-LTE solution that includes its evolved packet core (EPC including MME and GW) and radio access network (RAN), user equipment (UE) and leverage its experience of commercial Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) networks with professional services to deploy, maintain and optimise these networks.

Hyperoffice and Tata Communications are partnering to offer the Hyperoffice collaboration suite with the data and voice tools that Tata Communications delivers to business subscribers in India and other countries around the world.

Tata Communications offers internet services in India under the Tata Indicom brand name to business subscribers, including online backup, security, web conferencing, business e-mail, hosting, high speed broadband, dial-up internet, net telephony and Wi-fi.

Tata Communications plans to deploy a private-labeled version of Hyperoffice to its subscribers in the third quarter of 2009.

Neustar has deployed a new UltraDNS network node in Amsterdam, expanding the company’s DNS infrastructure.

The new node – the third in Europe along with London and Luxembourg – is expected to increase the performance of the UltraDNS Managed DNS Service, especially for end users in Europe.

The new European node is located at Telecity’s Amsterdam facility, which is part of the Amsterdam Internet Exchange (AMS-IX).

Neustar informed that its global managed DNS infrastructure consists of strategically distributed and redundant network nodes across five continents. Each node is a self-contained cluster of proprietary servers, systems, and data. Within the UltraDNS network, end user DNS requests are typically routed to the closest geographic network node available, and are resolved with the most up-to-date customer data, the company explained.

Turkish operator Avea is hoping to introduce high-speed mobile broadband services to its subscribers with the help of WCDMA/HSPA and mobile backhaul technology from Ericsson. The companies have signed a four-year contract for HSPA-enabled network.

Under the agreement, Ericsson will be one of the main suppliers and will integrate and deploy WCDMA/HSPA radio access and packet core networks, as well as a complete mobile-backhaul solution based on microwave transmission and optical transport.

The new HSPA-enabled network is aimed at ensuring mobile broadband without bottlenecks, allowing Avea to offer multimedia services and high-speed mobile internet access. Additionally, Ericsson will expand and upgrade the speed and capacity of Avea’s existing GSM network.

Ericsson will also be responsible for network deployment, systems integration and support including spare-parts management.

Alcatel-Lucent has been awarded a contract by Vinaphone, a mobile operator in Vietnam, to upgrade its GSM network in 16 northern provinces with advanced EDGE broadband data functionality.

In addition, Alcatel-Lucent’s solution is expected to provide Vinaphone with the flexibility to introduce new technologies in the future, including EDGE+, W-CDMA, HSPA, HSPA+, and LTE.

The contract was signed through Alcatel-Lucent’s flagship company in China, Alcatel-Lucent Shanghai Bell. The deployment is currently underway and the expanded network will begin providing commercial services in April 2009.

The company informed that upon commercial launch, this network upgrade and modernisation project will boost the capacity and coverage of Vinaphone’s network and enable the operator to offer its customers a range of advanced services in the future.

Under the terms of the contract, Alcatel-Lucent will design, deploy and maintain its GSM/EDGE radio access solution including its latest Base Station Controller platform and TWIN transceivers.

Alcatel-Lucent has been chosen by SK Broadband (formerly known as Hanaro Telecom), a service provider in Souh Korea, to supply and maintain its IP service routing solution to support the operator’s real time IPTV service.

Alcatel-Lucent said its IP/MPLS technology will enable SK Broadband to deliver advanced broadband services including real time IPTV services, high-definition television, video-on-demand, voice over IP and high-speed internet access, all with superior service quality. 

The company will supply a flexible IP/MPLS infrastructure, providing scalability, bandwidth on demand as well as increased service level guarantees. It will supply its 7750 Service Router (SR) in the core and aggregation levels of the network.

BB SAT (Japan) has announced the commencement of its satellite broadband service in Japan.

The service, aimed primarily at consumers and SME/SOHO customers, will provide service to Japan’s Digital Divide areas and to ADSL users who, because of distance from ADSL provisioning facilities, receive poor quality service. The BB SAT service will provide 2.5 Mbps in the forward direction and 512 kbps in the return direction.

These are the highest speed consumer-priced broadband services presently offered by satellite.

Customers will have to pay 5,000 yen ($51) monthly for the service plus a terminal rental fee.

The service is operated with the ViaSat SurfBeam system, and uses the Ka band satellite capacity of the Sky Perfect – JSAT Superbird B2 satellite. Initially limited service will be provided with nationwide roll-out beginning this summer. BB SAT (Japan)is a wholly-owned subsidiary of BB SAT, a US company.

Alcatel-Lucent has been awarded an extension contract by Delta Telecom, a data, voice and backbone service provider in the Caucasus region, to extend its IP Multi-Protocol Label Switching (IP/MPLS) backbone network. The scope of the contract includes design, deployment and maintenance of the network.

Alcatel-Lucent believes its Carrier Ethernet and IP/MPLS solutions will enable Delta Telecom to offer improved communication services to its business customers. The newly-upgraded IP/MPLS network will form the platform for future services, which will enable the next wave of advanced services with minimal further investment, the company said.

Alcatel-Lucent further informed that its IP/MPLS solution supports Delta Telecom’s evolution to a packet-based network architecture as part of the operator’s ongoing MPLS network transformation process.

This approach will enable Delta Telecom to support the convergence of IP voice, data and video over Layer 2 and/or Layer 3 business VPN services with the performance and resiliency necessary to run latency-sensitive applications. The solution will also enable Delta Telecom to tailor business VPN service offerings to each enterprise’s unique requirements, the company noted.

Mobilkom Austria has commercially activated mobile broadband services powered by HSPA Evolution, Ericsson’s latest high-speed broadband access technology. HSPA Evolution, commercially marketed as HSPA+ by Mobilkom Austria, is aimed at boosting network capacity and enabling peak data rates of up to 21Mbps.

The network upgrade is expected to allow the customers of Mobilkom Austria to improve mobile broadband experience for its users.

Ericsson is the main supplier for the upgrade of Mobilkom Austria’s WCDMA/HSPA radio access network with the HSPA Evolution step to 21Mbps, and is also responsible for network deployment and integration services. Transmission speed of up to 28 Mbps will be reached in the course of the year, the company said.