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By cableunion, January 26, 2012 1:40 am

Zayo Group (News – Alert) recently announced that its brand of services will be leveraged for the expansion of the EAGLE-Net Alliance network capabilities across regions in Colorado and Wyoming based on an agreement between both companies. The company in its announcement said that the expansion of the EAGLE-Net Alliance network will include 511 miles of fiber connecting locations that cover the Cheyenne, Wyoming region all the way to Branson, Colorado, close to the New Mexico border. 

In a release, Randy Zila, CEO of EAGLE-Net, said, “EAGLE-Net’s selection of Zayo as the dark fiber provider for this project was done so after careful evaluation and a thorough RFP process. Zayo’s network capabilities in Colorado and Wyoming provide the opportunity for us to reach our goal of connecting 72 percent of the 234 community anchor institutions throughout the state of Colorado by the end of August 2012.”

The Colorado-based intergovernmental entity EAGLE-Net, runs a cost-sharing cooperative which provides carrier quality broadband network as well as advanced education and research networks to a number of community anchor institutions and Colorado schools.

Steve Williams, vice president for Zayo Central Region, said, “Zayo provides network solutions for K-12 and higher education: communities such as EAGLE-Net to support the growing bandwidth requirements of schools and universities.”

The terms of the agreement confirm that EAGLE-Net will be able to successfully complete a major portion of essential initiatives as required under the $100.6 million Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) grant. The grant was awarded to EAGLE-Net Alliance in September of 2010. Expected time of completion for the program is August 2013.

Zayo delivers its range of fiber-based bandwidth infrastructure and network-neutral collocation and interconnection services to leading wireline and wireless carriers and Internet content and services enterprises as well as governmental agencies and across data centers.  

Want to learn more about the latest in communications and technology? Then be sure to attend ITEXPO East 2012, taking place Jan. 31-Feb. 3 2012, in Miami, FL. ITEXPO (News – Alert) offers an educational program to help corporate decision makers select the right IP-based voice, video, fax and unified communications solutions to improve their operations. It’s also where service providers learn how to profitably roll out the services their subscribers are clamoring for – and where resellers can learn about new growth opportunities. For more information on registering for ITEXPO (News – Alert) registration click here.

Calvin Azuri is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To read more of Calvin’s articles, please visit his columnist page.

Edited by Stefanie Mosca

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By cableunion, January 25, 2012 8:08 pm

Intergraph is enabling utilities and communications organizations to better design, administer and maintain fiber networks with the launch of G/Technology Fiber Optic Works version 1.1.

The new fiber network management tool from Intergraph expands fiber network information access to intranet and field users by introducing new network and analysis capabilities for Intergraph NetViewer and MobileViewer.

Intergraph is a global provider of engineering and geospatial software that enables customers to visualize complex data. Its G/Technology Fiber Optic Works effectively streamlines the management of fiber optic infrastructure for utilities, communications providers, municipalities and state agencies who are implementing a public or private fiber network.

The new version offers an enterprise data environment that includes business rules, design tools, relationship models and data validation to support crucial business workflows.

Fiber Optic Works 1.1 extends review and reporting of fiber network information to users using local area network (LAN) or disconnected in the field mode. The new release allows users to generate, edit and review alternative schematic representations of selected portions of the fiber network.

“We are pleased to introduce our newest addition to G/Technology, Fiber Optic Works 1.1, into our Security, Government & Infrastructure (SG&I) solution portfolio,” said Karen Ball, product manager, Intergraph Corporation. “With fiber networks steadily becoming more important in the communications industry and critical to smart grid initiatives in the utilities industry, Fiber Optic Works 1.1 provides a configurable COTS solution to meet the design and asset management needs of those implementing their own fiber optic infrastructure.”

Read a related article at TMCnet “Intergraph Discovery Tour Events in Frankfurt, Germany and Basel, Switzerland on January 24-26 to Feature CADWorx Plant and P&ID Integration With CAESAR II, PV Elite for Design and Engineering.”

Want to learn more about the latest in communications and technology? Then be sure to attend ITEXPO East 2012, taking place Jan. 31-Feb. 3 2012, in Miami, FL. ITEXPO (News – Alert) offers an educational program to help corporate decision makers select the right IP-based voice, video, fax and unified communications solutions to improve their operations. It’s also where service providers learn how to profitably roll out the services their subscribers are clamoring for – and where resellers can learn about new growth opportunities. For more information on registering for ITEXPO registration click here.

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Anuradha Shukla is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To read more of her articles, please visit her columnist page.

Edited by Stefanie Mosca

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By cableunion, January 24, 2012 9:03 pm

FIBERTOWN, a Houston-based company providing high-availability colocation centers and business continuity office space, has added new telecom providers into its North Houston data center.

The 50,000 sq. ft. center already connects a wide variety of customers into several major Internet backbones.

“Multi-carrier connectivity provides our data center customers with more robust options and plays a crucial role in the redundancy of our offerings,” Brandon Perryman, senior vice president at FIBERTOWN said in a press release. “Customers are empowered to select a carrier that best fits their business requirements.”

The data center, which straddles a major fiber line between Dallas and Houston, is built for redundancy, including multiple fiber entry points into the building. It also features a modular, pod-centered design, fault tolerant 2N power and cooling, and security operating 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and 365 days a year.

The company said that every customer is protected and the network will never go down. It’s also located outside of a flood plain, which is important given that the data center is located inside a hurricane-prone area.

FIBERTOWN offers telecoms operating in the Gulf Coast “a carrier neutral, one-stop solution for best-in-class technology and amenities to support business continuity needs.”

The facility offers Point of Presence (PoP), which is where the customers of the various telecom companies actually connect to the Internet.

FIBERTOWN’s clients include AboveNet, Black Stone, Level 3, Phonoscope, Sprint, Suddenlink, Century Link (Qwest), TW Telecom, Verizon and Windstream (News – Alert) (formerly PAETEC)

“Each customer’s bandwidth needs are specific, and FIBERTOWN customers demand the highest levels of availability and performance,” Perryman said.

In addition to connectivity, FIBERTOWN offers continuity office space, which allows business to keep operating in an emergency and plan to keep doing business after a disaster, which is also important given the region’s penchant for dealing out harsh weather.

Want to learn more about the latest in communications and technology? Then be sure to attend ITEXPO East 2012, taking place Jan. 31-Feb. 3 2012, in Miami, FL. ITEXPO (News – Alert) offers an educational program to help corporate decision makers select the right IP-based voice, video, fax and unified communications solutions to improve their operations. It’s also where service providers learn how to profitably roll out the services their subscribers are clamoring for – and where resellers can learn about new growth opportunities. For more information on registering for ITEXPO registration, click here.

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David Delony is a Bay Area expatriate living in Ashland, Oregon. He combines his lifelong love of both words and technology in his career as a freelance writer. David holds a B.A. in communication from California State University, East Bay.

Edited by Jennifer Russell

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By cableunion, January 23, 2012 5:31 pm

Currently, TelcoDepot (News – Alert).com is offering quality expert support and walkthroughs for DIY cabling, as well as a variety of cabling equipment and accessories including Patch Panels, Jacks and Wall Plates, Wall and Floor Racks, Patch Cords, Voice Cordage and Blocks, and Bulk Cable, among others.

Company officials said that the new DIY is ideal for businesses looking for ways to reduce operating costs, as many departments are starting to in-source basic projects like equipment cabling and configuration.

“TelcoDepot.com stocks all the tools, equipment, guides and resources you will need to complete your DIY cabling project successfully – and if you get a little stuck along the way, you can always call us and we’ll be happy to help you with your DIY cabling project,” said Yaron Ram, a TelcoDepot.com principal.

Since its inception, Telco Depot has been supplying quality business telephone systems, business VoIP service, VoIP phones, phone headset equipment, video surveillance systems, voice and data cabling solutions, conference phone solutions and Microsoft (News – Alert) Response Point Systems.

TelcoDepot.com recently announced that it now selling GuardNVR Software for IP Cameras through its online store. The GuardNVR software is able to support network and analogue cameras of all leading manufacturers. TelcoDepot.com is a provider of Phone (News – Alert) Systems, assorted phone accessories, VoIP Equipment, Business VoIP Service, Hosted PBX solutions and phone system support services for small businesses.

Company officials said that a single GuardNVR server has the capability of supporting 20 cameras which helps customers to purchase the exact number of camera licenses (2, 7, 10, 13, 16, etc.) they require, without having to pay for extra capacity. GuardNVR has been launched by Quadrox and can be installed as a single server or also can also be integrated with existing solutions such as access control or Building Management Systems.

Want to learn more about the latest in communications and technology? Then be sure to attend ITEXPO East 2012, taking place Jan. 31-Feb. 3 2012, in Miami, FL. ITEXPO (News – Alert) offers an educational program to help corporate decision makers select the right IP-based voice, video, fax and unified communications solutions to improve their operations. It’s also where service providers learn how to profitably roll out the services their subscribers are clamoring for – and where resellers can learn about new growth opportunities. For more information on registering for ITEXPO registration, click here.

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Jyothi Shanbhag is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To read more of Jyothi’s articles, please visit her columnist page.

Edited by Jennifer Russell

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By cableunion, January 23, 2012 9:28 am

zColo, a subsidiary of Louisville, Colo., based Zayo Group (News – Alert), recently announced another addition to its nationwide colocation portfolio. The company reported the opening of a downtown Chicago colocation center, zColo’s 13th colocation facility in the US.

Through this new carrier neutral colocation facility, the company plans to provide downtown connectivity option to customers in the media and financial sectors as well as others requiring Internet content.

The new data center signifies the Zayo Group’s market sensibility, as the company clearly seeks to capitalize on the current market trend that predicts a 50 percent surge in demand for data center services in Chicago in the upcoming years. The company also plans to partner with other carriers in the Chicago area to support this demand, president of zColo Chris Morley revealed in a press release.

Zayo Group is a national provider of fiber-based bandwidth infrastructure and network-neutral colocation and interconnection services. The new zColo facility is going to leverage Zayo’s bandwidth infrastructure, including its metro fiber network in Chicago as well its 44,000-mile national network.

The facility is going to offer 8,500 sellable square feet and support up to 200 watts per square foot for high-power density applications. Services are anticipated to be available by the end of Q2 2012.

Earlier this month, zColo announced its acquisition of MarquisNet. This expanded the company’s data center portfolio with the addition of a 28 thousand square foot Las Vegas data center facility.

Few months back zColo announced its support of PCCW (News – Alert) Global’s expanded Point-of-Presence (PoP) at its 111 Eighth Avenue colocation facility in New York City. PCCW Global is a subsidiary of Hong Kong’s premier telecommunications provider PCCW Limited. The new  PoP enabled data center customers to take advantage of PCCW Global’s (News – Alert) fully meshed suite of products and services including video, IP, transmission and voice solutions.

Want to learn more about the latest in communications and technology? Then be sure to attend ITEXPO East 2012, taking place Jan. 31-Feb. 3 2012, in Miami, FL. ITEXPO (News – Alert) offers an educational program to help corporate decision makers select the right IP-based voice, video, fax and unified communications solutions to improve their operations. It’s also where service providers learn how to profitably roll out the services their subscribers are clamoring for – and where resellers can learn about new growth opportunities. For more information on registering for ITEXPO registration, click here.

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Madhubanti Rudra is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To read more of her articles, please visit her columnist page.

Edited by Jennifer Russell

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By cableunion, January 20, 2012 11:49 pm

Zhone Technologies (News – Alert), Inc, an international organization specializing in FTTx network access solutions, recently made an announcement about the implementation of a zNID Optical Network Terminal (ONT) in conjunction with the Clarksville Department of Electricity (CDE), a utility based out of Clarksville, TN. Together will build an FTTx network with Active Ethernet, enabling delivery of more reliable automated metering infrastructure (AMI), high-speed Internet access, VoIP and video services to homes and business related subscribers of Clarksville.

In a release, Christy Batts, Broadband Division Manager at CDE, said, “Serving more than 60,000 homes in Clarksville, the FTTX network, enabled by Zhone, ensures a high quality triple play media experience for residents and businesses, while allowing CDE to deploy advanced metering infrastructure,” explained “The zNID’s feature set aligns well with our specific field requirements, enabling Zhone to provide us with optimum cost efficiency and maximum service differentiation in the network to support our smart grid and individual subscriber service needs.”

Brian Caskey (News – Alert), Chief Marketing Officer for Zhone said, “The Zhone RF-video capable zNID ONTs deliver superior IPTV, voice and broadband data to CDE’s customers in Clarksville. They also enable CDE to engage smart grid technologies allowing the utility, as well as their customers to become more energy efficient. Leveraging deep experience in managing the complexity of multi-service access, we have built the industry’s most comprehensive portfolio of FTTx customer premise equipment, for both Active Ethernet and GPON standards.”

Want to learn more about the latest in communications and technology? Then be sure to attend ITEXPO East 2012, taking place Jan. 31-Feb. 3 2012, in Miami, FL. ITEXPO (News – Alert) offers an educational program to help corporate decision makers select the right IP-based voice, video, fax and unified communications solutions to improve their operations. It’s also where service providers learn how to profitably roll out the services their subscribers are clamoring for – and where resellers can learn about new growth opportunities. For more information on registering for ITEXPO registration click here.

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Carolyn John is a Contributor to TMCnet. To read more of her articles, please columnist page.

Edited by Rich Steeves

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By cableunion, January 20, 2012 8:30 pm

In an effort to continue to expand its national footprint, zColo opened its first data center facility in downtown Chicago. zColo, a Zayo group company, is known for its ability to provide carrier- neutral interconnection focused colocation services, according to company officials.

Located at 600 South Federal St., the facility is the first location in downtown Chicago area for the company and the 13th United States location. With this addition, another metro market now comes within zColo’s nationwide reach, officials said.

The announcement of the new facility comes less than one month after the company bought the 28,000 square feet data center in Las Vegas from MarquisNet. The rising demand for data center space in Las Vegas triggered this purchase.

The company’s plans to expand address the recent increase in demand for data center services in Chicago which according to Chris Morley, president at zColo, has outpaced supply by 50 percent over the last two years.

Morley also noted that as a carrier-neutral provider, zColo planned to partner with other carriers in the Chicago area to support this demand.

The carrier-neutral site will have 8,500 square feet of data center floor available, supporting up to 200 watts per square foot. It will leverage Zayo’s bandwidth infrastructure. Services are expected to be available by the end of the second quarter 2012.

zColo is the exclusive operator of the 60 Hudson Street Meet-Me-Room. The company was recently named one of the Denver-areas Fastest Growing Private Companies by the Denver Business Journal.

In a related news release, Zayo Group announced the completion of a fiber build into the Green House Data facility, Wyoming’s first multi-tenant data center, offering cloud hosting and colocation services. In addition to the build, Zayo will provide IP Transit service to Green House Data while enabling on-net connectivity to its 70 tenants from 24 states and three countries.

Want to learn more about the latest in communications and technology? Then be sure to attend ITEXPO East 2012, taking place Jan. 31-Feb. 3 2012, in Miami, FL. ITEXPO (News – Alert) offers an educational program to help corporate decision makers select the right IP-based voice, video, fax and unified communications solutions to improve their operations. It’s also where service providers learn how to profitably roll out the services their subscribers are clamoring for – and where resellers can learn about new growth opportunities. For more information on registering for ITEXPO registration click here.

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Mini Swamy is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To read more of her articles, please visit her columnist page.

Edited by Carrie Schmelkin

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By cableunion, January 20, 2012 4:57 pm

High Temperature Superconducting or ‘HTS’ materials have consistently been generating ample interest within the power technology markets. Apart from allowing enterprises to develop smaller and light weight rotating appliances, these materials also provide them with enhanced levels of energy efficiency.

Superconductor Technologies Inc. or ‘STI,’ a provider of HTS materials, has announced that its second generation HTS wire has been successfully tested by General Cable Superconductors Ltd. a continuously transposed (Roebel) cable provider from New Zealand.

STI offers enhanced interference elimination and network enhancement solutions to the commercial wireless industry, and deploys its vital technologies such as RF filtering, HTS materials and cryogenics to develop energy efficient, cost-effective and high performance 2G HTS wire for existing and emerging power applications.

GCS (News – Alert) leverages advanced designs within HTS cable technology, and has established a number of successful projects that are operational at present. During the test, GCS evaluated the 2G HTS wire developed by STI, and found it to be complying with company’s critical current power objective.

“General Cable Superconductors’ validation again shows that our Conductus 2G HTS wire development is progressing to meet the demand of innovative power applications like Roebel cable, which offers very high current carrying capacity for future superconducting applications like motors, generators and transformers,” commented Jeff Quiram, president and chief executive officer at STI. “GCS technology provides a promising path to open new market opportunities for 2G HTS wire.”

Industry experts hope the market demand for HTS wire will see a rise in future, particularly as a result of the rapid adoption of superconducting motors, generators, transformers and other rotating machines. Leveraging the HTS wire, it will be possible to develop advanced coils that allow a range of devices to operate at much higher power densities. The superconducting motors and generators of tomorrow will feature much less size and weight in comparison to the copper wire based electric machine with equivalent output power. Also, the advanced motors and generators will offer higher efficiency levels as well.

“STI’s HTS wire could be a future route to deliver low cost, high performance HTS wire required for commercialization of value added products such as Roebel cable,” said Andrew Priest, chief executive officer at GCS. “GCS is building critical mass, in terms of expertise, revenue and market development for HTS Roebel cable as an industrial technology. Our unique manufacturing process cuts and cables 2G HTS wire to long lengths and flexible current rating from 200A to 2kA.”

In February 2011, Superconductor Technologies (News – Alert) Inc. announced that they successfully produced second generation or (2G) HTS wire samples that met requirements specified by customers for HTS AC power cable, superconducting fault current limiter or ‘SFCL’ and HTS wind turbine applications.

Want to learn more about the latest in communications and technology? Then be sure to attend ITEXPO East 2012, taking place Jan. 31-Feb. 3 2012, in Miami, FL. ITEXPO (News – Alert) offers an educational program to help corporate decision makers select the right IP-based voice, video, fax and unified communications solutions to improve their operations. It’s also where service providers learn how to profitably roll out the services their subscribers are clamoring for – and where resellers can learn about new growth opportunities. For more information on registering for ITEXPO registration, click here.

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Arvind Arora is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To read more of Arvind’s articles, please visit his columnist page.

Edited by Jennifer Russell

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By cableunion, January 20, 2012 1:12 pm

PMC-Sierra (News – Alert), a provider of Internet infrastructure semiconductor solutions, announced its HyPHY OTN processors comply with the Optical Internetworking Forum (OIF (News – Alert))’s new OTN-over-Packet-Fabric Protocol Implementation Agreement (IA).

A press release from PMC-Sierra said the OIF program is expected to assist the telecommunications industry to develop an ecosystem for interoperable OTN switching at the silicon and optical equipment levels.  

Compliance with the New Optical Internetworking Forum Protocol is a significant development for PMC-Sierra whose HyPHY 20G and HyPHY 10G OTN processors provide a fully compliant implementation of the OIF IA via the Constant Bit Rate Interface (CBRI) and OTN Phase Signaling Algorithm (OPSA).

“Carriers worldwide are adopting OTN switching as a method to provide sub-wavelength switching to their converged optical transport infrastructure,” said Mark Pashan, general manager, optical transport products, Tellabs (News – Alert), in a statement. “The ability to combine OTN with packet switching on the same platform provides them maximum flexibility in network designs to optimize costs.”

PMC-Sierra officials claim the compliance meets carriers’ needs to drive mass deployment of OTN switching in their networks. PMC-Sierra will benefit as the P-OTP equipment market is likely to grow more than 20 percent per year through 2015.

“PMC has significant experience in delivering architecture-level solutions for metro transport optical networking equipment, and we are pleased to be a contributing partner to this important OIF initiative along with our customers and other companies,” said Babak Samimi, vice president of marketing and applications for PMC’s Communication Products Division.

“With industry alignment and our HyPHY multi-service OTN processing solutions in volume production, carriers can now deploy OTN switching in their metro networks,” Samimi added.

Recently, PMC-Sierra announced new silicon products that enable OEMs to develop a range of high performance, highly integrated solutions for the growing mobile backhaul market segment.

Want to learn more about the latest in communications and technology? Then be sure to attend ITEXPO East 2012, taking place Jan. 31-Feb. 3 2012, in Miami, FL. ITEXPO (News – Alert) offers an educational program to help corporate decision makers select the right IP-based voice, video, fax and unified communications solutions to improve their operations. It’s also where service providers learn how to profitably roll out the services their subscribers are clamoring for – and where resellers can learn about new growth opportunities. For more information on registering for ITEXPO registration, click here.

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Rajani Baburajan is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To read more of Rajani’s articles, please visit her columnist page.

Edited by Jennifer Russell

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By cableunion, January 19, 2012 8:14 pm

CALIENT Technologies, Inc., an expert in adaptive photonic switching technology, announced a software upgrade for its FiberConnect 320X (FC320X) switches. 

In a press release, the company explained that version 2.4 of the FC320X operating software will improve security in multi-tenant applications and add new configuration flexibility.

The FC320X operating software is used for port group management in multi-tenant applications where secure virtual networks must be built and managed independently.

The FiberConnect 320X, which features expanded virtualization, can be used to create port groups of any number of ports. It also allows specific user to manage and view traffic from that port group.

The port group management feature is especially relevant for government applications that involve multiple security clearance levels. According to Calient, the port group management feature of FC320X supports seven user classification levels by segregating the entire management into several security clearance levels.

“The FiberConnect 320X is the highest density photonic switch on the market and the expanded virtualization features provide the security needed to truly make the best use of that density in government applications,” director of product marketing at CALIENT Daniel Tardent noted in a statement.

CALIENT’s 3D microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) technology based FiberConnect 320X platform is equipped with 640 fiber terminations or 320 ports (transmit and receive). The technology makes use of silicon micro mirrors to switch incoming fiber-optic signals from port to port. Serving the industry for eight years, the product has an installed base of 80,000 fiber terminations, company officials said in a press release.

Another benefit of the software is its ease of installation. The software comes with a pre-configuration mode that allows the switch to be set up using dark fiber. Previously, the FiberConnect 320X needed lit fiber to be configured.

Version 2.4 of the software also features a new graphical user interface (GUI), which offers an improved snapshot of all the ports with color coordinated statuses and a simplified process of enabling cross-connections. With the upgraded software, it takes as little as three clicks to view the entire process.

Telecom users are expected to gain from the software’s expanded TL1 commands, which facilitate better switch information in telecom networks that leverage the TL1 management protocol.

Version 2.4 of the software is now shipping with all FiberConnect 320X switches and is available for field upgrades.

In separate news, CALIENT Technologies announced the deployment of FiberConnect 320X photonic switch by Southern Cross Cable Networks, a trans-Pacific bandwidth wholesaler. The installation is expected to give Southern Cross the capability to reconfigure its fiber network in seconds, adding further protection in the event of fiber breaks or repeater/transponder failures.

Want to learn more about the latest in communications and technology? Then be sure to attend ITEXPO East 2012, taking place Jan. 31-Feb. 3 2012, in Miami, FL. ITEXPO (News – Alert) offers an educational program to help corporate decision makers select the right IP-based voice, video, fax and unified communications solutions to improve their operations. It’s also where service providers learn how to profitably roll out the services their subscribers are clamoring for – and where resellers can learn about new growth opportunities. For more information on registering for ITEXPO registration click here.

Stay in touch with everything happening at ITEXPO. Follow us on Twitter.

Madhubanti Rudra is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To read more of her articles, please visit her columnist page.

Edited by Rich Steeves