
As the Cisco Live event kicks off today, the networking giant looks beyond the lockdowns and urges service providers to build the network they're going to need when the world gets moving again.

Also included in our late afternoon summary of news and comment, Coherent is choosing between multi-billion dollar suitors, an Alaskan region gets some fiber-based broadband and Sling has a V-Day deal.

The components vendor said its business is growing thanks to bandwidth demands and it stands by its desire to call off its pending acquisition by Cisco.

The wholesale carrier said it will use routing platforms that support 400G pluggable optics to build a faster, more manageable network.

Looking ahead to 2021, Ciena's CEO talks about its 800G systems, network automation and webscale supplier status as the company looks beyond the pandemic.

'We see a very high likelihood of NeoPhotonics being acquired by a larger optical component supplier or even by Ciena or Cisco,' wrote the financial analysts at MKM Partners.
Cogent, one of the world's largest ISPs, offers customers and competitors the ability to create their own global network, across its entire footprint, while paying on a per-usage basis.

The US Defense Dept. is awarding a huge sum to more than a dozen companies to help create 'the largest full-scale 5G tests for dual-use applications in the world.'

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: Three ponders masts sale; TIM, Ardian finalize terms of Inwit deal; MTN Zambia bolsters backbone with ZTE.

Ciena, which counts AT&T and Verizon as top customers, warned of a pandemic-released slowdown in service provider spending. But some analysts aren't worried.

Seven companies, with six offerings – AT&T and Colt Technology Services; Cisco, Ericsson, Infinera, Microchip and RtBrick – made the cut in a highly competitive category.

Six companies – Altiostar Networks, Arrcus, Cohere Technologies, DriveNets, World Wide Technology and ZenFi Networks – made the cut in the Company of the Year (Private) category.

The Finnish vendor has today added a new switching line to its portfolio of optical and routing products, promising features that have not previously been available.

Finnish vendor continues to build up alternative routes to growth in China and signs new deals with Tencent and Baidu.

The optical networking firm has nine consecutive quarters with more than $100 million in direct sales to its webscale customers.

Akamai began construction of a private fiber backbone three years ago. Today the effort stretches across North America, Europe and parts of Asia.

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: Ekinops lands 10G deal; ARM launches new chip to boost Android processing power; COVID-19 strikes Nokia plant in Tamil Nadu.

Several government agencies ask the FCC to 'revoke and terminate' China Telecom's licenses in the US, citing foreign ownership and imminent security threats.

Specifications developed by TIP's Phoenix project, which is focused on optical transponders for disaggregated systems, are to be included in an RFI from major operators.

Move over, 5G – we're talking 800G! As the OFC show continues, albeit minus a few big names, the optical transport sector fills the Light Reading inbox with news of technical advances and deals galore.