• AT&T adds cloud storage service
By Brian Santo
AT&T introduced a new storage element to its business-class cloud computing services. AT&T Synaptic Storage as a Service lets customers use the AT&T network cloud to store, distribute and retrieve data as needed.
Customers will be able to specify their storage criteria – called user policies – through a Web-based portal. The service automatically scales storage capacity up or down as needed, and users pay only for the amount they use.
The technological foundation of the service is EMC Corp.’s Atmos, a policy-based information management system. AT&T said it is introducing the service to customers on a controlled basis this month, with plans to make the service generally available in the third quarter.
• NewWave re-ups with Convergys
By Brian Santo
NewWave Communications has extended its contract with Convergys through 2014. NewWave plans to implement a multiple channel, single billing solution and Intervoice IP Contact Center (IPCC), Convergys said.
Convergys will help NewWave consolidate provisioning, rating, billing and customer care for all services on a single platform.
NewWave is a communications services company offering video, voice and high-speed data services within small- to mid-size communities in Missouri, Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, South Carolina, North Carolina and Arkansas. NewWave serves in excess of 117,000 customers.
• Level 3 closes $60 million loan
By Mike Robuck
Level 3 Communications recently announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Level 3 Financing, has closed its $60 million senior secured Tranche B Term Loan addition announced on May 4.
Level 3, a provider of fiber-based communications services, said net proceeds were approximately $60 million. This transaction expanded the size of Level 3 Financing’s existing Tranche B Term Loan from $220 million to $280 million. No changes were made to any of the restrictive covenants contained in the existing senior secured credit facility.
Last week, Level 3 joined forces with Aspera to create a new high-speed content upload service that enables rapid uploading of multimedia content to Level 3’s Origin Storage Platform (story here). Additionally, the company’s Business Markets Group (BMG) has expanded its operations along the Front Range, which includes large metropolitan areas such as Denver, Boulder, Fort Collins and Colorado Springs in Colorado.
• Ixia, Juniper test, demo IxNetwork, MX Series
By Traci Patterson
Ixia announced that large-scale testing – with next-generation multicast virtual private network (MVPN), point-to-multipoint (P2MP) LSP and LDP-BGP VPLS service and control plane interworking – has been successfully validated using Juniper Networks’ MX Series Ethernet Service Router and Ixia’s IxNetwork (powered by ViperCore) test application.
MPLS VPN service testing allows service providers, network equipment manufacturers, carriers and enterprises to test and provision networks that provide these services to large numbers of simultaneous locations. Ixia’s IxNetwork and Juniper’s MX Series routers can be seen at Ixia’s booth (#1813) at Interop in Las Vegas this week.
“Juniper Networks’ MX Series Ethernet Services Router delivers high density and innovative layer 2/3 Ethernet services at scale. Ixia’s IxNetwork ViperCore enabled Juniper to fully stress the comprehensive capabilities of our multi-access, multi-protocol, multi-domain MPLS VPN toolkit,” said Mehdi Sif, director of technical marketing at Juniper. “In addition, IxNetwork’s TrueView convergence time measurement allowed Juniper to measure multi-service convergence and quality of experience with precision and repeatability.”
