The news in next generation communications this past week covered the broad expanse of sectors looking to be prepared for the future. These included everything from APIs to LTE, Wi-Fi and small cells on the wireless front and GPON.
Before getting to the news and features, I would like to recommend the article I wrote about our community sponsor Alcatel-Lucent (News 
- Alert) (ALU) and its recent publication of extensive research done with the ENPC School of International Management, “Megatrends: A Wave of Change Impacting the Future.” It is aimed at giving us context for the impact information and communications technology (ICT) will have on the way we all live and work. You are invited to read more on the ALU site as well.
News
Despite the news around the world of the struggles various members of the ICT are experiencing as a result of the challenging economic times, there was an eclectic collection of news this week that demonstrated industry resiliency and resourcefulness. These included:
- API technology leader Apigee made headlines with its acquisition of the assets of the Wholesale Applications Community (WAC (News - Alert)).
- Lemko Corporation, a company providing DiMoWiNe (Distributed Mobile Wireless Network) solutions, will now offer its LTE Pilot License Save Network to Space Data Corporation in Alaska for it deployment of wireless broadband capabilities to under-served areas of the state.
Alcatel-Lucent also made news on several fronts:
- The enterprise business unit did a bit of rebranding of itself to focus on its OpenTouch Suite of solutions and also announced expanded capabilities for OpenTouch.
- Fiber was the subject with the announcement that Bulgaria’s major service provider Vivacom would be using ALU’s GPON solution.
- ALU also got industry analyst recognition from Current Analysis (News - Alert) for its small cell solutions, and from Gartner (News - Alert) for being a “visionary” in theLAN access market.
Features
Along with the feature mentioned at the top, TMCnet writers took a look at how LTE can improve public safety and why the enterprise market is one of opportunity for small cell solutions that can extend the reach of a variety of wireless service providers.
Dynamic Enterprise: TMCnet Contributor Mae Kowalke took a look at the how public safety agencies can significantly improve the reach and quality of their responsiveness by deploying LTE solutions dedicated for their use.
Wireless All Around: A new Bell Labs (News - Alert) study about the opportunities mobile operators have by exploiting the versatility of small cells with enterprise customers showed how critical LTE is going to be mobile operators seeking competitive advantage.
Showing her versatility, Ms. Kowalke also had a nice blog on how mobile device management is a key for mobile operators providing improved customer experience while at the same time lowering their costs. ALU’s new Motive solutions as highlighted as an example of how this can be achieved.
Weekend reading
For additional weekend reading that a look at:
· Alcatel-Lucent’s e-zine Enriching Communications, BYOD Accelerates Appetite for Personal Cloud.
· The Alcatel-Lucent TechZine article, Traffic Geo-Location Optimizes Offload Using Small Cells.
Plus, the community is filled with valuable resources accessible from the home page. In fact, go to our white paper library and put in Alcatel-Lucent for a number of new additions. And, with some pride in having participated, you may like to hear a recent webinar, Prepare Your Network for the Multi-media & BYOD Revolution, and pass it along to colleagues.
