VoIP News: Networking hardware

Google answers neutrality claims

An article which alleges that Google is seeking to fast-track its internet traffic has led the company to respond.

The report, in the Wall Street Journal, alleged that the search engine giant was in talks with internet service providers (ISPs) about the possibility of seeing its traffic prioritised.

This would go against the so-called 'net neutrality' concept, where operators treat all data the same, regardless of what it is.

But the company's Washington telecom and media counsel Richard Whitt said that the article was "based on a misunderstanding of the way in which the open internet works" and said that Google was only looking at web caching.

This is a process where content is physically stored closer to users who are demanding it, allowing them to receive it faster.

Mr Whitt argued that far from being a problem for the internet, edge caching was actually helpful.

He said: "These solutions help broadband providers by minimising the need to send traffic outside of their networks and reducing congestion on the internet's backbones."

Posted on: 2008-12-17, in: Networking hardware

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Wireless networks 'can cost one tenth' of fixed-line

Spending on wireless infrastructure is increasing and its cheaper cost has been cited as a reason businesses are taking to it.

According to a new Motorola report, more than half (54 per cent) of big enterprises in Europe spend more on wireless technology than fixed-line.

Angelo Lamme, wireless director for Europe at the company, explained that many firms are looking to find "a solution for enterprise mobility".

However, on top of this, he claimed that Motorola "typically see that you can put in a wireless network for about one fifth to one tenth of the cost of putting in wired workplaces".

This incentive is made greater as businesses are hit by the continuing economic downturn, he added.

As well as the cheaper cost, Mr Lamme said that wireless networks now offer "enhanced security", as well as a "higher speed", meaning the option of going wireless is far more attractive for the business world.

Posted on: 2008-12-12, in: Networking hardware

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Firms 'should get service level agreement' from cloud

Businesses that want to use cloud servers should ensure that they get a service level agreement from their provider, according to an IT services firm.

Hadrian James, technology manager at Compuware, warned that cloud providers can have many clients using the same hardware - meaning there is a danger that performance could suffer.

To avoid this, a service level should be agreed on, but monitoring of the system must then take place.

This should be done in two places - first, from within the company and second, from the provider itself.

"They will have a monitoring solution inside their framework in their infrastructure and they should be able to publish that out to you and say 'right, these are the people who have been using the service from your company, this is the amount of time it's taken them to execute the particular transactions'," he said.

Cloud technology - where businesses use third-party infrastructure for data storage and other services - is becoming popular in the UK, according to a study last month from Citrix.

The research found that two out of three UK firms have taken it up in some way.

Posted on: 2008-12-05, in: Networking hardware

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'More than 100m' WiMAX subscribers by 2013

There will be more than 100 million WiMAX subscribers by 2013, but HSPA will still be ahead with more than a billion, according to a new report.

Research from Informa Telecoms and Media revealed that there will be 103 million WiMAX subscribers in five years time, with the battle between it and HSPA a 'tale of two markets'.

WiMAX is currently having a mixed time, as it has achieved large growth in the last year, but the problem for it is its rival has had even more success, while another new technology, LTE, has also received support from some big companies.

"The converging broadband market has changed dramatically in the last year due to the rise of HSDPA [a 3G part of the HSPA family] and the acceleration of LTE," said Informa's principal analyst Mike Roberts.

"There's no doubt that Mobile WiMAX has come of age in the last year with the launch of major new services... but it now faces a tough fight with HSDPA and eventually LTE in key markets."

He added that this may cause WiMAX suppliers and operators to rethink their business plans.

Posted on: 2008-11-21, in: Networking hardware

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Conferencing spend '$2.6bn by 2012'

An estimated $2.6 billion will be spent by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) on conferencing technology by 2012, according to a new report.

Research by AMI Partners revealed that the companies, defined as having up to 999 employees, will need IP-based conferencing to help them lower costs as they become more mobile in nature and geographically distributed.

"In today's tough economic times, driven by the global economic crisis, high travel costs, increase in gas prices and natural disasters, the relevance of conferencing solutions increases enormously," said Sanjeev Aggarwal, the company's vice president for SME infrastructure solutions.

"[SMEs] are turning to conferencing solutions that will help reduce costs and provide clearly identifiable ROI and drive business growth."

The figure of $2.6 billion represents compound annual growth of 5.9 per cent from 2006, when the total was $1.8 billion.

AMI revealed that hosted IP-conferencing is becoming more accessible, though many medium-sized companies (100 to 999 employees) are also using onsite solutions, due to the increasing deployment of IP-PBX hardware.

Posted on: 2008-11-20, in: Networking hardware

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