Comms Dealer

The EC is reportedly planning the establishment of a single telecommunications regulator for all 28 EU member states, which would take over many of the responsibilities of bodies such as Ofcom in the UK and ARCEP in France.

A leaked document from European Commission for Competition Joaquin Almunia claims that a single body is needed in order to effectively remove 'national divergences'.

Such a move will face opposition from national interests, including governments and incumbent suppliers. It faces other issues such as differences in national law and custom.

James Robinson, telecoms regulation analyst at Ovum believes an EU-wide telecoms regulator would face issues with spectrum allocation and differences in national infrastructure.

He said: "A move away from the present scenario of 28 individual authorities would pose significant challenges for a pan-European regulator. Firstly, spectrum that is currently auctioned on a national basis could fall under the jurisdiction of this new, super-regulator. Governments would certainly be reluctant to let this happen as such auctions have provided valuable revenue in recent years.

"A single regulator would also face issues with the inherent differences of national markets. For example, EU member states are at varying stages with the rollout of next-generation broadband networks. The regulation of these networks also varies considerably: Fiber unbundling has been mandated in Denmark whereas this obligation does not exist in France where next-generation broadband rollout has been relatively slow. When imposing remedies NRAs have taken into account the conditions of their domestic markets and sought to encourage investment in superfast broadband while simultaneously guaranteeing competition.

"In Ovum's opinion establishing of a single EU telecoms regulator is a logical proposal given the EC's aim to establish a common market within the region. But doing so would require the EC clearing difficult hurdles such as spectrum auctions and national differences. We will watch with interest, however, when a new draft regulatory framework is published in September to see the proposals in further detail and how they intend to overcome these obstacles."

Panasonic resellers now have a fast-track way to migrate their customers onto a full IP platform while using existing analogue and digital technology.

The NS1020 is a legacy interface expansion cabinet for the NS1000 IP comms platform. It allows digital and analogue cards and devices to be installed to the maximum capacity of a hybrid NCP1000 - providing an integrated and cost effective solution for analogue and digital handsets to be installed onto an NS1000.

Paul Burn, Head of Category Sales at Nimans, says the NS1020 represents a significant step forward for Panasonic resellers. "It's ideal for sites using perhaps an older TDA or NCP system for example. Their customers can migrate onto an IP solution but maintain their existing analogue handsets.

"This clever and cost effective solution is a powerful addition to a reseller's sales armoury. It provides a pain free process for businesses that want to migrate to the power of the NS1000 whilst still using their existing equipment."

Nimans has linked up with Tecdesk to stock three devices that combine the functionality of a deskphone with the fixed wireless phone technology suitable for building sites, start-up businesses, offices, hotels and taxi ranks.

"The Tecdesk 1000, 3500 and Smart 5500 can help resellers break into new markets and unlock lucrative revenue potential, providing attractive returns on investment based on quick set-up, low Capex due to no wired setup and maintenance costs, and low Opex savings through the user's choice of SIM card," said Nimans' Ian Brindle.

"A 3G Fixed Wireless Phone uses a SIM card rather than being plugged into a PSTN or PBX. The phones can even be charged up much like a mobile phone and then used completely wire free.

"The desktop devices are suitable to a variety of vertical markets with the construction industry one of the most popular. Portable cabins have to have a line installed by BT, which can be costly and the lead time can be up to 14 weeks. A desktop 3G phone is a much easier and cheaper alternative and it is also transferable from site-to-site so the expenditure is a one off. There's a variety of call management capabilities at different price points.

"Taxi firms for example are having great success by putting the Tecdesk 1000 into local pubs due to functionality that can be pre-set to auto-dial their company's number when the receiver is lifted."

ShoreTel has named Don Joos as the company's president and chief executive officer.

"With a successful track record of strong leadership, operational excellence and customer focus both at ShoreTel and throughout his career in the business communications industry, the board is pleased to appoint Don Joos to the role of president and CEO," said Chuck Kissner, chairman of the board.

"After an extensive search it became clear that Don is uniquely qualified to fully mobilise the company in its drive to be the leading unified communications provider. His achievements, knowledge of the industry, vision, respect of his peers and employees, and commitment to the company's strategy set him apart."

Joos joined ShoreTel in April 2011 as vice president of global services, and for the past year has served as senior vice president of business operations overseeing approximately 50 per cent of the company operations through the direct management of engineering/R&D, product management, global support and services, IT, quality and operations.

Hosting and colocation firm UKFast has appointed Lizzi Long as data centre sales manager. She gained much colocation and client development experience at Telecity and joins UKFast's data centre team under sales director Rudi Feitsma.

Long will carry out UKFast's plans to boost carrier-neutral networks, attracting more carriers to the area in a bid to boost Manchester's connectivity.

Long said: "Moving to UKFast is a really exciting step. Although they entered the data centre market just a couple of years ago, UKFast has already built a powerful data centre complex in Manchester and brought competition to the area that was long overdue.

"I am looking forward to bringing even more improvements to Manchester's connectivity, filling our new facilities and offering colocation services on a whole new level."

UKFast CEO Lawrence Jones said: "It's great to have Lizzi on board. I was always impressed with her when she worked for UKGrid when UKFast was UKGrid's largest customer and I always knew we would get to a size where we would need someone like Lizzi managing our rapidly-expanding client base."

Last year UKFast launched the DCPlex MaNOC 5, 6 and 7 in Manchester's Trafford Park and has already acquired the property for MaNOC 8 in a £3.2m acquisition of No1 Archway on the city's outskirts, which will also become the firm's new HQ.

Distributor Avnet is to pay its first ever dividend. An initial quarterly cash dividend of $0.15 per commr.on share will be paid on September 20, 2013 to shareholders of record as of the close of business on September 10, 2013.

The acquisitive firm reported slightly improved sales last week; the quarter ended June 29, 2013 showed revenue up 4.5% year over year to $6.59bn; the organic revenue part was up just 0.2% year over year. This was still better than the market expected, however, but adjusted operating income decreased 4.8% year over year due primarily to a decline in gross profit margin in the EMEA region even though organic sales increased. The addition of Magirus in the EMEA region has strengthened its competitive position in key technologies including virtualisation, storage and converged solutions, it says.

Rick Hamada, Avnet's Chief Executive Officer, says "Given our confidence in and commitment to long-term shareholder value creation, we believe now is an appropriate time to incorporate a more consistent element of returning capital to shareholders in the form of a dividend. Our focus on value-based management and success in growing the Company has resulted in a cash flow from operations profile which, when combined with our strong balance sheet, provides us the financial flexibility to prioritize this commitment into our longer-term capital allocation strategy. Going forward, we will maintain our disciplined approach to profitable growth that continues to emphasize organic growth, value-creating acquisitions and share repurchases when appropriate."

The Board anticipates declaring this dividend in future quarters on a regular basis; however, future declarations of dividends are subject to Board approval and may be adjusted as business needs or market conditions change, it says.

Total optical spending in the mulitplexing market is up 27% quarter-over-quarter, says research, though EMEA is operating at record low levels of optical capital intensity.

Infonetics Research released vendor market share and preliminary analysis from its 2nd quarter 2013 (2Q13) Optical Network Hardware report.

"We expected the optical hardware market to turn, particularly in North America, and that's exactly what happened in the 2nd quarter. Total optical spending is up 27% quarter-over-quarter, and the WDM equipment segment is up 21% year-over-year," notes Andrew Schmitt, principal analyst for optical at Infonetics Research.

"WDM spending accelerated dramatically in North America as a result of 100G deployments hitting the ground, and worldwide spending on 100G speeds is tracking close to 15% of all optical spending," Schmitt adds. "China's 100G deployments will begin in earnest as the year closes, led by China Mobile, and we're anticipating more than 5,000 ports of 100G in China alone in 2013."

Globally, the optical network hardware market, including WDM and SONET/SDH equipment, totaled $3.3 billion in 2Q13. EMEA is operating at record low levels of optical capital intensity; positive capex rumbles from tier 1 carriers have yet to translate into more optical spending

The top 3 optical market share leaders in 2Q13 are, in rank order, Huawei, Alcatel-Lucent and ZTE. Alcatel-Lucent continues to decline on a year-over-year basis, though optical investment is set to increase in 2013 as part of its SHIFT Plan to double down on optical and routing. Infinera is the fastest-growing supplier of optical WDM gear in Europe.

NEC Corporation has announced the availability of version 8.5 of its UNIVERGE 3C Unified Communications & Collaboration (UC&C) software platform. The new release provides enhancements, including a set of integral mobility functions.

"Mobility and a consistent user experience for business users are top of the list for many enterprises," said Osamu Noda, general manager, Enterprise Networks Division, System Platform Business Unit, NEC. "UNIVERGE 3C brings these key capabilities into its open software platform and across a range of desktop and mobile clients that deliver an intuitive and integrated user experience for the workforce."

Using the UNIVERGE 3C desktop or mobile clients users can see the status of a call, regardless of where they choose to take it. A user can move any call, without disruption, from any device to any other. NEC says this capability eliminates the need for external fixed-mobile convergence gateways or software, streamlining the administration, lowering the costs to enable mobility, and creating a more integrated user experience.

Siemens Enterprise Communication has been named by Gartner as a Leader in the 2013 Magic Quadrant for Unified Communications.

Chris Hummel, Chief Commercial Officer and President, North America, Siemens Enterprise Communications, said: "Siemens Enterprise Communications continues to drive innovation in the market with the OpenScape portfolio and the newly unveiled Project Ansible."

According to the vendor Project Ansible is a communications and collaboration platform designed to deliver increased business performance through real-time engagement by unifying voice, video, social communications, search, business process applications, and other channels into an intuitive experience.

Videonations, now part of the Nycomm Group, has reported a 15% rise in demand for digital signage since the start of the year.

According to Nimans retail, business and entertainment industries are key sectors to target as digital signage adds a dynamic edge to point of sale displays, accelerates brand awareness and provides instant news and information updates.

"Traditionally digital signage was used to display welcome messages in reception areas or waiting times in surgeries. But it's application is now much more widespread due to advances in technology and more cost effective pricing," said Videonations MD Ian Carter. "For example 24 hour service stations, bus stops, lottery kiosks and conference venues are all popular locations.

"Technology has moved on and the latest LCD and LED screens are cheap to run, don't suffer from screen burn and allow high quality videos to be played on a loop. Increasingly businesses are using digital signage as part of their internal communications which is fuelling further demand.

"Digital signage allows companies and their brands to display images, video, live TV and text on a single screen. Many can be controlled from a central location over a network for easy management, utilising RSS news feeds for example. There's been a significant jump in demand this year and we expect the upwards momentum to continue. Digital signage provides a very lucrative and complementary reseller revenue stream."

Digital projectors, interactive whiteboards and room booking solutions are also growing in popularity for Videonations.