NTT doubles down on cloud services bet with Virtela, RagingWire acquisitions

NTT Communications is enhancing its cloud services portfolio by acquiring Virtela, a managed and cloud services provider, for about $525 million, as well as an 80 percent stake in data center provider RagingWire for $350 million.

By combining Virtela's service platform with NTT Communications' global ICT infrastructure, the combined company will be able to better address multi-site cloud service opportunities. When the deal is completed next year, NTT will expand its global network services coverage to over 190 countries and regions.

Through its global operations and delivery centers in the United States, India and the Philippines, Denver-based Virtela today serves over 500 customers, including a number of large multinational corporations. NTT Communications offers ICT outsourcing, including its Arcstar Universal One virtualized network services and customer-premise-to-data center and cloud-to-cloud services, which use software defined networking (SDN) technologies.

Ron Haigh, Virtela's President, told FierceTelecom in an e-mail that "NTT and Virtela share a global cloud vision and passion for support and we are excited to accelerate our efforts together to further strengthen our offerings for customers worldwide."

NTT Communications said it will enhance its broadband network services in "nearly every country of the world" by leveraging Virtela's service activation and advanced management infrastructure.

In addition, the Japan-based service provider will upgrade its cloud-based network services with Virtela's network function virtualization (NFV) technology, enabling it to virtualize customers' network equipment, such as firewalls and WAN accelerators. The two companies said that their enterprise customers will be able to get instant service activation and reduce IT service costs.

The service provider reached a separate deal to acquire approximately 80 percent equity interest in RagingWire, a U.S. data center provider. Besides doubling its data center space in the United States, NTT Communications will take advantage of the data center provider's patented 2N+2TM design, which it says "offers double the redundancy of a standard data center design at a lower cost."

Similar to other deals NTT Communications has made with cloud and data center providers, RagingWire's founders and management team will continue to operate the company as a platform under the RagingWire brand and maintain a minority interest in the company.

NTT Communications' recent moves reflect the company's overall strategy to build its cloud and data center service reach by purchasing other companies that have expertise in these areas. Earlier, the service provider acquired Solutionary and Centerstance, which gave it greater managed security and business transformation capabilities.

A thousand smiles & surprises from Globe at MassKara

It may very well be the “happiest” festival on these islands. Now in its 34th year, Bacolod City’s annual MassKara festival may also be the most colorful with thousands of people wearing hand-painted masks and dancing in the streets.

Coined by the late Ely Santiago when he was president of the Art Association of Bacolod in 1981, MassKara comes from the words “mass” and the Spanish word “cara” or face. It is indeed a “multitude of faces” come festival time in the city known for its smiling people.

It’s an exhilarating sight — hundreds of people in costumes and masks painstakingly beaded and hand-painted, glittering under the sun. The festival has grown bigger with each passing year, attracting local and foreign tourists to Bacolod.

Globe Telecom joined in the festivities with its own slew of surprises this year. They set up the Globe Mobility Store-on-the-Go at North Capitol Road, transforming the street into a Globe Village and serving as the city’s center of festivities and fanfare.

With a Mardi Gras theme, Globe set up several game booths for its different brands: Globe Prepaid and MDS, Globe Postpaid, Tattoo (mobile and broadband), and Globe partners Pixable, Samsung and CloudFone.

The Globe Mobility Store-on-the-Go was opened by Globe Retail Transformation and Management head Joe Caliro and Globe and CloudFone endorser Xian Lim.

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During the four days that it was open, it offered everything that a Globe Business Center does, giving customers who are far from a center easy access — and amid a festival atmosphere, too!

More than 5,000 people went into the village to inquire about and apply for the latest postpaid and broadband plans as well as avail of other Globe promos while on the go. Device partners CloudFone and Samsung showcased their latest roster of gadgets and mobile phones for customers to choose from.

Globe showcased its lineup of prepaid, postpaid, and Tattoo broadband offers, exclusive MassKara deals and fun games and activities. It also gave away raffle prizes to subscribers who availed of Globe Prepaid, Postpaid and Tattoo offers, with exciting prizes up such as tablets, handsets, and gift certificates from partner-establishments.

The Globe Mobility Store-on-the-Go also set up game booths including a roulette called “Around the Globe”; Globe MySuper Cans (knockdown cans), Tattoo speed bullet (shooting) and Black Jack. The four-day event was open to the public and Globe subscribers who registered were given food treats and freebies.



 The Globe Village also featured performances by Perkusyunista Negrense Drumbeaters, Artians Dance Squad, Elaine & Mike, Joanne Bernal with Jessa and Yani, B.O.B., Ritmo Verde, DJs Zeetrex, Erick Gella and Ryan Seares.

Tattoo also took over the night scene with a 2-day roofdeck party at Bacolod’s L’Fisher Chalet in partnership with Republiq. The best DJs in Manila came over to give Bacolodnons two unforgettable nights of non-stop music alongside personalities like Vice Ganda, Sam Pinto, the De La Salle Green Archers’ Sam Perkins, Arnold Van Opstal and Jeron Teng, and the Philippine Volcanoes who all showed support and joined the party.

 Guests were also able to experience the latest offers from Tattoo like the newest Tablet Bundle plans as part of the Tattoo Tablet Revolution wherein subscribers can get a free tablet, phone and a broadband Wi-Fi stick which can power up to 10 devices all in for Plan 1298.

Bacolod is the third place to have the Globe Store-on-the-Go, following Batangas and Bonifacio Global City.

Alcatel-Lucent job cuts will have 'minimal impact' in Australia: Sean O'Halloran

Amsterdam: Australian jobs are unlikely to go as telecommunications equipment maker Alcatel-Lucent undertakes global restructure, according to the company's local managing director.

Speaking with Fairfax Media in Amsterdam, where the Broadband World Conference was held last week, Sean O'Halloran said he believed the reduction of staff in Australia would be "very, very minimal" and that he didn't "see much of an impact" from the global cuts.

"Australia is a very healthy business for Alcatel-Lucent, especially with the new strategy we have around the Shift [Plan] which includes the direction around the job cuts," he said.

The plan was first unveiled by global chief executive Michel Combes in June. It aims to "reposition Alcatel-Lucent from a telecommunications equipment generalist to an industrial specialist in IP networking and ultra-broadband access (mobile and fixed) at the heart of next-generation networks".

Last week, Mr Combes told radio station Europe 1 the company's future was at risk if it could not execute the turn-around strategy. "Yes, this company can disappear," he said.

The Franco-American group previously unveiled plans to slash 10,000 jobs worldwide, from a workforce of 80,000 by the end of 2015. It argues the cuts were its last chance to stem years of losses. This includes 3800 jobs from the Asia-Pacific region, 4100 from Europe, Africa and the Middle East, and 2100 from the Americas. It would also halve its business hubs around the world.

So far there has been no indication of the number of jobs at threat in Australia. Mr O'Halloran wouldn't quantify the potential losses, but said its Australian business hub was "not at all" at threat of closing.

"We see ourselves being around for a long time," he said.

"We've been here for over 115 years," he added, describing how one of the companies Alcatel acquired helped build the first telephone exchange in Australia.

"We actually feel very much a part of the ecosystem," he said.

Alcatel-Lucent's Australian business has already cut about five per cent of its 700 to 800 person workforce in recent years and embarked on further cost-cutting measures.

The latest global cuts were aimed at "getting back into good business practice", Mr O'Halloran said.

"If you look around in business it's not an unusual practice. The scale might be bigger than some but it gets us back to the right sort of ratios in the industry.

"It's a financial imperative if you like ... we can't keep burning cash."

The redundancies add to simmering ICT job losses in Australia due to offshoring and cuts by other giants such as HP and IBM.

IBM alone is expected to offshore more than 1500 Australian jobs this year and has already made several hundred employees redundant.

Technology workers in banking and other large industries have reported being fired but only after training people in India, China or the Philippines or workers on 457 visas to do their jobs. Government agencies have also shed IT jobs, with the Queensland government announcing in June that 1700 IT jobs were likely to go.