Networking

Japan-based Rakuten Mobile introduced its mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) service back in 2014. The carrier has since built a fully virtualized, 5G-ready, cloud-native mobile network through a partnership with the Cisco Customer Experience (CX) group. Rakuten Mobile created a new type of mobile service that didn’t exist prior to the partnership, which is still going strong today. For those not familiar with Cisco CX, it is the services team at Cisco. It’s branded “CX” because the services are designed around customer outcomes versus traditional infrastructure services, which are more technology-centric.  

In 2018, Rakuten Mobile called on Cisco CX to play a program management role in its network buildout. Together, Rakuten Mobile and Cisco architected and deployed an efficient infrastructure for networking, storage, and computing. This helped Rakuten Mobile provide a variety of new services without placing additional strain on the network. Cisco worked with its multi-domain teams — distributed across Rakuten Mobile’s 10 locations — to come up with a software-only solution that boosted the usage of edge hardware resources from 30% to 90% for application workloads. Cisco also collaborated closely with other vendors to ensure compliance with their workloads. Next-generation mobile is multi-cloud “The orchestration of these workloads on any cloud is a daunting challenge already, whether it’s Amazon Web Services or Google Cloud. The fact that you could take a cloud workload and move it to any cloud does not automatically mean you have achieved productivity and efficiency,” Rakuten Mobile’s chief technology officer Tareq Amin said during a recent call with analysts. “It’s important to have a good software foundation. With Cisco, we were able to migrate traffic in less than a second without sending anyone to any of our data centers.”Three factors differentiate Rakuten Mobile, Amin said:How it orchestrates and automates application workloads: Rakuten Mobile’s technology runs near real-time, latency-sensitive workloads on a virtualized infrastructure across a vast number of distributed data centers.How it drives artificial intelligence: Rakuten Mobile’s platform has built-in conversational and engagement AI services.Compelling private cloud solutions: Many customers continue to have a preference for private cloud deployments, in which both Rakuten Mobile and Cisco specialize. This year, Rakuten Mobile began deploying Cisco’s segment routing over IPv6 (SRv6) equipment, enabling fixed-mobile convergence on Rakuten Mobile’s existing internet protocol (IP) backbone. Rakuten Mobile has been optimizing its mobile network to support 5G services, including standalone services with network slicing capabilities. The renewed partnership will allow the carrier to launch enterprise-focused private 5G and Internet of Things (IoT) services.Private 5G is coming to enterprises 

“We have a compelling offering for Cisco as they contemplate how to make private 5G successful. We want to combine Cisco’s enterprise private 5G know-how with Rakuten Mobile’s technology,” said Amin.Rakuten Mobile is taking lessons learned in Japan and expanding globally. The carrier wants to bring its technology stack to Europe, which is well-positioned for a networking overhaul. In the next phase, Rakuten Mobile and Cisco would once again work together to provide unified cloud network functions (radio, core, intelligent operations) and a customer-centric billing experience offered through a market store, according to Amin.Meanwhile, both companies are also pursuing opportunities in the private 5G space in the U.S. Amin envisions having small cell access nodes with 5G capabilities connected to highly reliable 802.11ax sixth-generation Wi-Fi, coupled with software that manages the network. The combination of 5G/Wi-Fi 6/software would make networks easier to deploy and operate — and also lower the cost trajectory for connectivity.”Our partnership with Cisco CX isn’t just about a project or a small period of time,” said Amin. “We have a complimentary technology stack and complementary skills. We will continue to find ways to challenge each other and collaborate.”One of the interesting aspects of this partnership was Rakuten’s choice of Cisco for program management because this wasn’t a typical role for Cisco at the time. In a briefing with analysts, I asked Amin why he used Cisco in that role. He answered that one of his goals was to minimize the number of vendors, so he was going to choose from the group of vendors he was using. “Although this was a new service offering for the Cisco CX team, I liked how they looked at the project from a customer point of view,” Amin said. “They were fully engaged with our team, and it often felt like the team was not wearing a Cisco badge but a Rakuten one. I want to be clear that there were problems along the way, and there always are. What’s important is how the vendor responds and Cisco CX, and we continue to find ways of challenging each other and collaborating. Ultimately, it was Cisco’s willingness to be a partner that is why we picked them. Now it’s not just Japan where we will use them; there are other global opportunities”. From an industry perspective, the model Rakuten and Cisco CX have put in place should be something all large enterprises seek. Digital technologies are significantly more complex than previous generations, creating implementation and adoption challenges. Technology vendors need to be open, multi-vendor and outcome-focused because this will help their customers succeed.

Smartphones More

Nokia on Tuesday introduced the fifth generation of its network processing silicon, delivering better capacity and efficiency and a new encryption capability. The FP5 is designed for service providers that have to meet the higher broadband demands triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic while at the same time addressing the spike in denial of service attacks. 

Nokia’s prior-generation IP routing silicon, the FP4, delivered volumetric DDoS defense with router-based detection and mitigation. FP5 introduces an additional layer of network protection with ANYsec — a new line rate, flow-based encryption capability integrated directly into the chipset. The options for encrypting network traffic are typically MACsec and IPsec. MACsec is silicon-based and thus low-latency and cost-effective. However, its hop-by-hop architecture introduces risk and latency when applied to IP services like MPLS and segment routing. Meanwhile, IPsec takes just a single hop, but it’s slower and more expensive. Nokia’s ANYsec uses a number of encryption standards from MACsec while supporting encryption natively over MPLS and over segment routing. It does so at scale without impacting performance or power efficiency, Nokia said. Meanwhile, FP5 also supports next-generation router capacity. They support high-density 800GE ports, while the optics to support 800 Gigabit Ethernet should start becoming available on the market by the middle of next year. It supports up to 1.6Tb/s flows, though standards have yet to be set for anything past 800GE. As far as efficiency goes, Nokia’s FP5 network processors drive down power consumption per bit by 75%. They are backwards compatible with FP4 and fully integrated into the latest versions of Nokia’s Service Router Operating System (SR OS).

Networking More

Image: Getty Images
Elon Musk has announced that his SpaceX Starlink project, which aims to deliver global broadband service through a satellite constellation, will go live in October — a month later than what was planned.Musk took to Twitter to confirm that the company received “good feedback” from its Starlink beta 10 users, and that there were now plans to roll out beta 10.1, which beta users can request from this Friday, ahead of an official launch next month.Beta services are currently operating in 11 different countries. SpaceX outlined as part of beta services, users can expect to see data speeds vary from 50Mbps to 150Mbps and latency from 20ms to 40ms in “most locations over the next several months” while the Starlink system continues to be enhanced. There will also be brief periods of no connectivity at all, the company added.The company shipped 100,000 terminals to customers in August. At the time, Musk noted licence approval to provide telco services remained pending in “many more countries”. In other SpaceX news, the company’s first private crewed mission arrived safely back to Earth on Saturday. After three days orbiting the Earth at altitudes of 590 kilometres above the Earth’s surface, the Inspiration4 crew splashed down off the coast of Florida at 7:06 pm EDT, 18 September, 2021, in the fully automated Crew Dragon spacecraft.

On board were four crew members: Shift4 Payments founder and CEO Jared Issacman, cancer survivor Hayley Arceneaux, geoscientist Sian Proctor, and aerospace employee Chris Sembroski. They each underwent six months of training prior to launch.   During their multi-day journey, the crew carried out scientific research to improve human health on Earth and during future long-duration spaceflights. Some of the research involved measuring movement, sleep, heart rate and rhythm, bloody oxygen, cabin noise, and light intensity.The Inspiration4 mission also fundraised more than $210 million to help children with cancer at St Jude Children’s Research Hospital. RELATED COVERAGE More

[embedded content]

Among the “servitization” of all things tech infrastructure at Lenovo Tech World this month, the company announced a smattering of new Windows laptops, Chromebooks, and Android tablets. Its new ThinkPads will be among the first to ship Windows 11, and the new Chromebook follows up Lenovo’s breakout 10″ Duet 2-in-1 by upping the screen size to 13″. While, like the recently announced HP Chromebook 11 X2, it has a Snapdragon processor and a second USB-C connector, it lacks the down-market portable charm of the first Duet but comes in well under the price of the forthcoming HP.But one feature of Lenovo’s new Android tablets was the most significant from a cross-device standpoint as they will be the first client devices to support Lenovo’s Project Unity. On the surface, the effort seems like an answer to Apple’s Sidecar feature, which allows an iPad to serve as an external display to a Mac. However, unlike Sidecar or other options like Duet that would enable an Android tablet to serve as an external display for a PC or Mac, Unity allows the continued use of Android apps in “second screen” mode because screen extension is done via an app. It’s a useful feature, albeit one that may become less advantageous over time if Microsoft can fully execute on its now-delayed plans to integrate Android apps into Windows 11. While Wi-Fi will be the go-to way to connect the devices at launch, Lenovo says it is exploring other connection means.

With Unity, secondary screens are paired with a PC via a QR code. (This may remind some of Lenovo’s early work with SHAREit, a local cross-platform file sharing app that the PC maker eventually spun out.) Lenovo hints, though, that Unity is far more ambitious than just extending screens in that it is based on Lenovo’s UDS (users-devices-services) ecosystem. Little has been said publicly about UDS, but Lenovo has confirmed that users will have to be logged into their Lenovo accounts to use Project Unity and that elements of UDS are included in both the Windows and Android apps, enabling Project Unity features. As for why the functionality is limited to Lenovo’s forthcoming tablets, the company explains that it requires at least Android 11 or later from the client-side.While smartphone heavyweights Samsung and Xiaomi both offer Windows PCs and Android tablets, Project Unity takes advantage of Lenovo’s standing as the only of the “Big Three” PC vendors that crosses that platform divide. Nonetheless, its Lenovo-branded Android business is a small one compared to that of Motorola, which has seen a comeback even as many of its feature phone-era contemporary brands have faded. One may chalk that up in part to Lenovo taking a hands-off approach to the pioneering cellular brand. Indeed, having both Lenovo PCs and Motorola smartphones driving the company’s ThinkReality A3 glasses represents a rare brand crossover.But Motorola smartphones are so far sitting out Project Unity. Rather, Motorola launched its own cross-device screen outreach feature, dubbed “Ready for.” It includes such features as a DeX-like desktop environment (with distant echoes of the line’s Atrix 4G laptop dock) for external monitors and usage as a more capable webcam for PCs. Lenovo’s PC and phone businesses can justify separating the initiatives names in that the phone features have nothing to do technically with Project Unity. Still, the broad connotation of that name and the hints Lenovo has dropped about its ambitious roadmap make the separation a missed opportunity for now. That said, if, as was shown during a Lenovo Tech World video segment, Project Unity can find relevance in the company’s modest Smart Clock, Motorola could eventually play into Project Unity while preserving “Ready for” as a distinct set of features.PREVIOUS AND RELATED CONTENTLenovo Project Unity allows tablet to extend PCs while using native functions. The new wireless connectivity app will be available on the new Lenovo Tab P12 Pro tablet.

For laptops, multiple options for multiple screensFrom a simple way to steal a glance at your smartphone to slide-out second screens, a host of options provide the benefits of multiple displays to laptops.Apple Sidecar: Use your iPad as a second screen for your MacApple’s new Catalina and iPadOS updates make your iPad more useful than ever.   More

Alphabet’s X ‘moonshot labs’ has beamed 700TB of data across the Congo River, offering a potentially cheaper alternative to laying fiber cables in difficult terrain. Google’s solution for crossing the Congo River is to create a connection between Brazzaville and Kinshasa that relies on “free space” optics, which was also used to transmit data in its now shut down Loon project. It uses light to transmit data between two points, in this case a 4.8 kilometer distance that would required a 400 km land route for fiber due to the river. Connectivity is five times more expensive in Kinshasa because the fiber connection has so far to travel. 

ZDNet Recommends

The best 5G phone

It’s become standard for mid-range and flagship phones across all major US wireless carriers and most new phones incorporate 5G technology.

Read More

The Taara links sent 700 TB of data over 20 days with 99.9% availability. That’s like “watching a FIFA World Cup match in HD 270,000 times”, the Taara team note. SEE: Fiber vs. cable: What is the difference?The optical wireless beams link up with ISPs or cell providers’ file-optic networks, in this case African provider Econet’s. Taara’s technical advances on wireless optical communication come from the Taara terminals’ ability to search and find the other sensor’s beam of light, and then “lock-in” to create a high-bandwidth connection. The technology is affected by things like fog, haze and disturbances from wildlife, but Taara’s director of engineering, Baris Erkmen, reckons it is viable to deliver faster, lower-cost connectivity to the 17 million people living in these two cities. 

So long as there is a clear line of sight, Taara can transmit data up to 20 Gbps between two points up to 20 km apart. They are intended to extend existing fiber networks.   “Taara’s terminals search for each other, detect the other’s beam of light, and lock-in like a handshake to create a high-bandwidth connection,” Erkman explains. Taara engineers have been refining its atmospheric sensing, mirror controls and motion-detection capabilities to help Taara terminals automatically respond to changes in the environment and maintain a robust connection.”These techniques combined with better pointing and tracking capabilities have meant that when Taara’s beam has been affected by haze, light rain, or birds (or a curious monkey) we’ve not seen any service interruptions,” noted Erkmen. SEE: Quantum cryptography: This air-filled fiber optic cable can transport un-hackable keys, say researchersX sees potential for the wireless optical technology to extend fiber networks around forests, water bodies, railway tracks, or land with high real-estate costs. While Loon shared some larger goals with Space X’s Starlink satellite constellation, X’s wireless optical technology appears to be less ambitious but possibly still practical for large parts of the world, according to its map of viable locations below that are shaded in red. 
Alphabet

Networking More

A new research paper by the Productivity Commission has indicated that while working from home is not for everyone, it is likely to stay even after the COVID-19 pandemic.The research paper [PDF] found that prior to the pandemic, about 8% of people regularly worked from home. These people were most likely female, older than those who did not work from home, worked part-time, provided care for children and people with disability, and lived in regional or remote areas. This percentage, however, increased to 40%, even when stay-at-home orders eased in early 2021. “While this percentage may not always remain so high it is inevitable that more Australians will work from home,” Productivity Commission chair Michael Brennan said.The report also showed that the pandemic created a “forced experiment” on workers and firms when it came to working from home, showing many jobs — mainly those occupations that typically use computers and require less public interaction — could work remotely. The report highlighted some benefits that came with working from home included cost and time savings as employees did not have to commute into work, the ability to work effectively from home, and flexibility to combine paid work with other tasks. More control over time, including giving people time to sleep, exercise, and cook nutritious food were also cited as benefits. There are also downsides to working from home, the report said. It pointed out working from home could have long-term effects on career prospects as it reduces opportunities for networking and face-to-face interaction with managers, as well as mental and physical health effects due to increased social isolation and hours of work. The Productivity Commission said it expected workers and firms to negotiate what working-from-home arrangements would look like going forward, dubbing it the “second wave of experimentation” involving some trial and error. A so-called hybrid model where workers split their time between the office and home is also anticipated to be a popular outcome.

“Working from home won’t suit everyone or every business but for many employees working from home arrangements will be a factor in deciding which job to take,” Brennan said.”Some employees have even indicated they would be prepared to take less pay in return for the ability to work from home.”These findings are further echoed by research that Microsoft carried out internally. According to Microsoft ANZ chief operating officer Steven Miller, nearly three-quarters of staff wanted to return to the office to collaborate in-person with co-workers and for social interaction but at the same time, they enjoyed skipping the commute into the office and a healthy work-life balance. He described this feedback as a paradox that many companies will face post-pandemic and something that would need to be considered.”Every leader, every organisation will need to create new operating models across people, places, and process, and those same companies will need to have a better employee experience for all employees, whether that be in the virtual boardroom or on the factory floor, or the retail store. Those companies that attract and retain their better talent will thrive in the next phase of our post-pandemic recovery,” Miller said. The Productivity Commission report also noted the potential role that regulation could play as work-from-home arrangements grow. It raised questions about what health and safety risks could arise when working from home, what responsibilities firms have to address common household risks, and how firms could ensure workers have the “right to disconnect”. It warned that government needed to monitor regulations to “ensure they are safe and fair as well as flexible and efficient, and continue to reflect the reality of many people’s daily work”, but it believes no immediate action needs to be taken. “On balance working from home can unlock significant gains in terms of flexibility and time for employees and could even increase the nation’s productivity,” Brennan said.”Risks can be managed but we should keep an eye on them and be ready to intervene if necessary.”Westpac switches branch legacy phone system for Microsoft Teams CallingWestpac said it will begin rolling out Microsoft Teams Calling at all its branches to support its increasingly remote workforce.The move will see Westpac consolidate its multiple legacy phone and voicemail systems into a single cloud-based platform that will allow voicemails to be transcribed in Teams and access via mobile phone. The move comes off the back of Westpac deploying software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN) technology in all branches last year to improve the speed of internet and technology capabilities.”The SD-WAN deployment last year really set the foundation for us to deliver improved digital solutions in branches,” Westpac workplaces services head Paul McKenna said. “MS Teams Calling means our branch employees are able to answer customer calls from anywhere, which is particularly important as employees in some COVID hotspots are working remotely.”Since deploying SD-WAN in branches, Westpac said it has also commenced the rollout of the technology in its corporate sites and will start deployment in international offices next year. Related Coverage More

Cisco
Cisco executives on Wednesday outlined the strategic pillars that will drive forward its business over the next four years, forecasting revenue and earnings growth of 5% to 7% through 2025. At the 2021 Investor Day, the company said it’s targeting a $400 billion total addressable market (TAM) in existing and expansion markets and another $500 billion of potential TAM in adjacent markets. 
Cisco
“It’s clear we’re not opportunity constrained,”  Liz Centoni, Cisco Chief Strategy Officer and GM of applications, said at the event. “There are meaningful opportunities in each of our existing markets with ample room to penetrate even further within each one… The expansion markets are large, and they’re growing with significant opportunities tied to higher CAGRs.”CEO Chuck Robbins said the future of the business will stand on six technology areas: secure, agile networks; hybrid work; security; internet for the future; optimized application experiences; and capabilities at the edge. “Those are the technology areas we think are leading customers in multi-year investment cycles,” Robbins said. 
Cisco
Meanwhile, from a business model perspective, Cisco is in an ongoing effort to increase increase its subscription software revenue. When Robbins took the helm of Cisco in 2015, the company brought in $3.4 billion in subscription software. In fiscal year 2021, it was nearly $12 billion. Eighty percent of Cisco’s software is now sold as a subscription. Meanwhile, Cisco’s $15 billion in FY 21 software revenue makes it one of the 10 biggest software companies in the world, noted CFO Scott Herren. “That’s a very under-appreciated aspect of the transition we’ve made over the years,” he said. 
Cisco

Robbins acknowledged the vision for Cisco’s future is complex. “The technology we build and deliver — it’s a broad portfolio, and it is complicated,” he said. He added, however, “We have probably the most precise execution tied back to our strategy that we’ve had in as long as I can remember.”Robbins highlighted Cisco’s growing business with web scalers and its focus on the cloud as an example of the company’s evolution over recent years. The webscale space now represents 30% of Cisco’s service provider segment. “Four or five years ago, cloud was viewed as a negative headwind for Cisco,” Robbins said. On a later conference call, he added, “This existential threat that was cloud five years ago has now become a driver of not only our overall business [but also] our transformation, which is contributing to the subscription space.” More

Dubbed Grace Hopper, the subsea cable uses new optical fiber switching to boost capacity.
Image: Google
Google has completed the UK leg of its private trans-Atlantic subsea cable connecting the US, the UK and Spain, offering it more secure connections than what’s available on the public internet. Dubbed Grace Hopper after the computer science pioneer who among many other things helped design the COBOL programming language, the subsea cable uses new optical fiber switching to boost capacity. 

Google funded the subsea 16-fibre pair cable that connects New York to Bude, Cornwall, about 250 miles south of London, and Bilbao on Spain’s Atlantic north coast. It will also support Google’s new cloud region in Madrid. SEE: Is remote working good or bad? Big tech companies just can’t seem to decideThe Grace Hopper cable is a milestone for Google as it’s the company’s first self-funded cable to the UK and similarly was the first self-funded cable to Spain. It’s also one of the first new cables to connect the US and the UK since 2003.Google says it signals its ongoing investments in the UK to support users of its core products, such as Google Maps, Search, Gmail, various Workspace apps, and Meet, as well as UK tech firms that use Google Cloud Platform.”Improving the diversity and resilience of Google’s network is crucial to our ability to continue supporting one of the UK’s most vital sectors, as well as its long-term economic success,” says Jayne Stowell, a strategic negotiator for Google Cloud’s global infrastructure.

The other selling point of the subsea cable is that it supports video meetings and other online services that became essential to replacing in-person meetings during the pandemic.  “With the ongoing pandemic fostering a new digital normal, Google-funded subsea cables allow us to plan and prepare for the future capacity needs of our customers, no matter where they are in the world. Grace Hopper will connect the UK to help meet the rapidly growing demand for high-bandwidth connectivity and services,” says Stowell. “The multi-directional switching architecture is a significant breakthrough for uncertain times, and will more tightly integrate the upcoming Google Cloud region in Madrid into our global infrastructure,” she added. Google’s other subsea cables include Curie, between Chile and Los Angeles; Equiano, between Portugal and South Africa; Dunant, which connects the US and France, along with a Havfrue link in Denmark; the recently announced subsea cable called Apricot, connecting Singapore, Japan, Guam, the Philippines, Taiwan and Indonesia; and the companion Echo subsea cable connecting the US, Singapore, Guam and Indonesia.Across the world undersea cables are becoming part of the geopolitical calculations of many countries. And the Atlantic Council, a US think tank, this week raised an alarm about threats to subsea internet cable infrastructure. “The undersea cables that carry Internet traffic around the world are an understudied and often underappreciated element of modern Internet geopolitics, security, and resilience. It is estimated that upwards of 95 percent of intercontinental Internet traffic is carried over these cables,” the Atlantic Council warned in a paper urging the Biden Administration to bolster protections for this infrastructure. SEE: Video meeting overload is real. Here’s how you can to stop the stress building upThe council has particular concerns about China’s growing influence on private subsea cables through its own internet giants. “Authoritarian governments, especially in Beijing, are reshaping the Internet’s physical layout through companies that control Internet infrastructure, to route data more favorably, to route data more favorably, gain better control of internet chokepoints, and potentially gain espionage advantage,” it notes. “Second, more companies that manage undersea cables are using network management systems to centralize control over active components (such as reconfigurable optical add/drop multiplexers (ROADMs) and robotic patch bays in remote network operations centers), which introduces new levels of operational security risk. Third, the explosive growth of cloud computing has increased the volume and sensitivity of data crossing these cables.” More