SoftLayer Technologies®, the innovative hosting provider of Cloud, Dedicated, and integrated environments, today announced the launch of its Technology Partners Marketplace, a showcase for current SoftLayer Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) and Independent Software Vendor (ISV) customers’ products and technologies. The Marketplace is designed to connect these customers with the rest of SoftLayer’s community of over 26,000 customers. At launch, featured partners include App First, Mollom, StandingCloud, and Migration Box, with more to be added soon.

“The SoftLayer customer community includes a vibrant group of startup and established software and technology-product companies,” said Paul Ford, Vice President Community Development. “We are thrilled to launch this new venue to promote those providers to the rest of our customer base, and to the world at large. The Technology Partners Marketplace is another great example of the many benefits of being a member of the SoftLayer community.”

“We’re excited to be part of the inaugural class of partners in the Marketplace,” said David Roth, CEO of AppFirst, an advanced application monitoring and managing solution. “SoftLayer has been the ideal platform for us to offer our services and grow our operations upon. And now they’re providing a great opportunity for us to share our offering with more people—and build even more business.”

“There are countless other SoftLayer customers doing innovative things with SoftLayer’s automated solutions,” said Eduardo Fernandez, CEO of MigrationBox, a company providing powerful email and enterprise data transfer and management services. “It’s going to be great to have this tool that not only let’s us generate greater awareness, but also let’s us learn about what others are doing in the SoftLayer ecosystem and find solutions that we can use in our operations.”

The Technology Partner Marketplace will continue to add new partners showcasing the many interesting and useful technology products and services delivered by SoftLayer’s diverse customer base. To learn more about the Technology Partners Marketplace please visit http://www.softlayer.com/marketplace.

About SoftLayer Technologies
SoftLayer is the innovation leader in on-demand Web hosting and data center services. As the largest hosting company in the world, SoftLayer lets customers create Cloud, Dedicated, or seamlessly integrated computing environments, leveraging the company’s world-class data center facilities in Dallas, Houston, Seattle, and Washington D.C., and network Points of Presence nationwide. SoftLayer integrates and automates all elements of its platform, empowering enterprises of any size with complete control, security, scalability, and ease-of-management via a leading Customer Portal and Open API. For more information, please visit www.softlayer.com or call 866.398.7638.

Research released today by Powernet, the UK’s oldest, independent business ISP, has revealed that while 77% of IT decision makers see a reliable broadband connection as critical to the future of their business, 83% don’t believe their provider can meet their future broadband needs. And it seems that some ISPs aren’t listening to needs of business customers because, despite the ‘race for speed’ currently being conducted by the UK’s biggest ISPs, 45% of IT decision makers said that reliability and customer service are actually more important to them than connection speed.

In addition, a further 65% said they were more than satisfied with the speed of their current broadband connection, pointing to the fact that, for most businesses, connection speed is no longer a major concern. On the back of the research, Powernet has today published a ten-step guide to help businesses get the broadband partner for the future they deserve and really need. The guide can be downloaded for free from www.powernet.co.uk/UKbroadbandresearch.

“There is a very concerning and growing trend in our industry which this research clearly picks up on,” said Tony Tugulu, Powernet’s CEO. “In the rush to offer faster and faster services, too many business ISPs are neglecting what UK businesses actually want: reliability and customer service. If ISPs focused more on putting in place the infrastructure that guaranteed a reliable, always-on service, the level of satisfaction would surely be greater and UK businesses would be better placed to thrive as a result.”

Price too seems to be less of a concern, with businesses seemingly willing to pay for quality. Only 14% said price was the most important factor when it came to choosing a broadband provider and 75% happy with what they were currently paying. More worrying is that some businesses feel they aren’t even getting value from their provider with one in five saying they thought ISPs were more concerned with profit than service.

Methodology
Powernet commissioned research from OnePoll, who surveyed 100 UK IT decision makers in January 2011.

About Powernet
Founded in 1995, Powernet is the oldest, independently owned Business ISP in the UK. Ongoing investment in its core network has created one of the most resilient infrastructures currently available in the UK with Network Operations Centres in Milton Keynes, London and Manchester. Powernet specialises in providing Wide Area Network (WAN) solutions to organisations with multiple locations, alongside internet connectivity, hosting and VoIP services for a variety of business customers including Travis Perkins, Silverstone, Sheffield City Council, Jaguar and Land Rover.

Fujitsu, one of the world’s largest technology and communications companies, today announced plans to work in collaboration with Virgin Media, TalkTalk and Cisco to deliver next generation internet services to 5 million homes in rural Britain.

The collaboration and subsequent Fujitsu build of a new superfast, fibre optic broadband network is a ground breaking and innovative alternative to BT Openreach and provides an opportunity for any community or local authority looking to access a proportion of the £530 million earmarked by the UK Government to drive investment in superfast broadband in rural communities.

The Fujitsu open access wholesale network will be underpinned by Cisco’s world leading technology. Virgin Media and TalkTalk intend to access wholesale products via this network in order to retail next generation services to customers in remote parts of the UK. The network will also be open to other service providers on wholesale terms.

Fujitsu’s vision builds on the company’s extensive experience in both managing telecommunications networks and in building next generation “Fibre to the Home” (FTTH) networks.

The proposals will provide future-proofed connectivity to 5 million households and beyond that would otherwise be unlikely to benefit from commercial investment in next generation digital networks. In particular, the collaboration has the potential to transform rural broadband in the UK in a number of important ways:

• In the vast majority of areas, Fujitsu will run fibre optic cabling directly to the home (FTTH), rather than to the local street cabinet. As a result, the Fujitsu network will be one gigabit (1Gbps) symmetric capable from day one with potential to go to 10Gbps and beyond.

• Fujitsu’s network will be truly open access to all ISPs offering the end customer an unrivalled choice of services over a single physical network connection.

• Deployment across a wide range of underground and overhead infrastructure means that the Fujitsu network architecture is entirely independent of existing street cabinets. This model enables public investment to be targeted in areas where broadband provision is poorest.

• The collaboration will actively support the involvement of local community broadband groups, enabling dynamic and flexible solutions in rural communities for the first time.

• Superfast upload and download speeds can enable entertainment, remote healthcare, education and future government services without the need to travel. This future-proof infrastructure will shrink distances and will bring to rural Britain the services that the rest of the UK can enjoy today.

The plans rely on the remedy imposed by the regulator Ofcom, on BT Openreach, to provide access to its underground ducts and telegraph poles on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms.

Communication Minister Ed Vaizey said: “Superfast broadband is already helping businesses grow and improving the lives of those able to access it. But many rural and hard to reach areas are missing out. The whole of the UK should be able to share in the benefits of broadband and we are determined to make that happen by the end of the Parliament. That is why the Government is investing over £500m in taking superfast broadband to everyone.

“I am delighted that Fujitsu along with Virgin Media, TalkTalk and Cisco share the Government’s vision. The collaboration between these companies was exactly the sort of ambition and innovation the Government wanted to stimulate by removing barriers to broadband rollout. Fujitsu and their industry partners are pledging a substantial investment in the UK and it represents a deep commitment to the future success of this country.

“Creating this superfast broadband network will help improve the economic and social prospects of the homes and businesses where high-speed internet access remains just a dream.”

Duncan Tait, CEO of Fujitsu UK and Ireland said: “There is a unique opportunity for the UK to re-establish itself as a world leader by having the world’s most advanced fibre network. If done correctly this can be a key vehicle to accelerate recovery in the UK and bring genuine choice to generations of communities starved of participating fully in the UK economy. We believe our approach, in collaboration with these major industry leaders, will provide a future proofed network for at least the next 20 to 30 years.”

Virgin Media’s CEO, Neil Berkett, said: “Virgin Media’s involvement in this ground breaking project is part of our on-going drive to rapidly create a step change in the UK’s digital evolution. Fujitsu’s vision and global expertise provides an opportunity to change the game in terms of broadband provision in parts of the UK that are otherwise being left behind. We now have a once in a lifetime opportunity to make the ambition of a digitally-enabled society a reality beyond the country’s cities and towns.

Dido Harding, CEO, TalkTalk Group said: “TalkTalk believes that high-speed internet access must not become the preserve of the few. Fujitsu’s investment will stimulate competition and allow us to deliver affordable products to the widest possible range of families and small businesses in all parts of the UK. Furthermore, accessing a Fujitsu network will allow us to extend our superfast broadband footprint while complementing our existing FTTC strategy.”

Cisco UK & Ireland’s CEO, Phil Smith, said: “Cisco is focused on driving the best superfast broadband in Europe to communities, towns and cities. We are committed to economic development, digital inclusion and improved public services such as health care and education. Fujitsu’s approach to building an open-access wholesale platform promotes innovation and competition across the UK. Underpinned by Cisco’s next-generation technology, this partnership has the opportunity to revolutionise the digital agenda for rural Britain.”

About Fujitsu
Fujitsu is a leading provider of ICT-based business solutions for the global marketplace. With approximately 170,000 employees supporting customers in 70 countries, Fujitsu combines a worldwide corps of systems and services experts with highly reliable computing and communications products and advanced microelectronics to deliver added value to customers. Headquartered in Tokyo, Fujitsu Limited (TSE:6702) reported consolidated revenues of 4.6 trillion yen (US$50 billion) for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2010. For more information, please see: www.fujitsu.com

Fujitsu UK and Ireland is a leading IT systems, services and products company employing 11,400 people with an annual revenue of £1.7 billion. Its business is in enabling its customers to realise their objectives by exploiting information technology through its integrated product and service portfolio. This includes consulting, applications, systems integration, managed services and product for customers in the private and public sectors including retail, financial services, telecoms, government, defence and consumer sectors. For more information, please see: www.uk.fujitsu.com

About Virgin Media
Virgin Media is the first provider of all four broadband, TV, mobile phone and home phone services in the UK. The company delivers ultrafast broadband connections to over half of all UK homes, with speeds of up to 100Mb, and is expanding this cable network – the result of a multi-billion pound investment – to reach thousands more people across the country. Virgin Media has developed the most advanced interactive television service, bringing together broadcast TV, thousands of hours of on demand programming and the best of the web in a single set-top box powered by TiVo. The company was the first to offer HD TV and 3D on demand to millions of UK households.

Virgin Media also operates the most popular virtual mobile network in the UK which, when launched, was the world’s first such mobile phone service. It is also one of the largest fixed-line home phone providers in the country. Virgin Media Inc. is listed on the NASDAQ Stock Market and the London Stock Exchange (VMED). For more information, go to www.virginmedia.com.

About TalkTalk
TalkTalk has 4.2 million broadband and phone customers signed up to TalkTalk, AOL Broadband and TalkTalk Business. TalkTalk operate a fully unbundled network, which extends to over 2,000 exchanges and covers 85% of the population. TalkTalk is one of seven partners behind YouView (www.youview.com), the new internet-connected TV service, along with the BBC, ITV, BT, Channel 4, Arqiva and Five. YouView is expected to launch to UK homes in 2012.

About Cisco
Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) is the worldwide leader in networking that transforms how people connect, communicate and collaborate. Information about Cisco can be found at http://www.cisco.com. For ongoing news, please go to http://newsroom.cisco.com. Cisco equipment in Europe is provided by Cisco Systems International B.V. and Cisco International Limited, wholly owned subsidiaries of Cisco Systems, Inc.

For further information contact:
Stephen Smith, Harvard PR, Tel: + 44 (0) 207 861 2800, Email: teamfujitsu@harvard.co.uk

Graham Goulden, Fujitsu UK and Ireland, Tel: + 44 (0) 843 354 9568, Email: graham.goulden@uk.fujitsu.com

Fiber-based communications services provider Level 3 Communications (www.level3.com) announced on Monday it will acquire rival Global Crossing (www.globalcrossing.com) in an all-stock deal valued at $3 billion, including $1.1 billion in net debt.

The deal is pending regulatory and shareholder approval and is expected to close by the end of 2011.

US-based Level 3 is offering 16 of its own shares for each Global Crossing share, equal to $23.04 per share at Level 3′s closing share price the day before the deal was announced.

According to the press release, the acquisition will create a “major global player in connectivity services.”

The combined company will have fiber networks on three continents, network infrastructure in over 50 countries, connections to more than 70 countries and extensive undersea cable capacity.

The acquisition will see the addition of Global Crossing’s network infrastructure in Europe and Latin America, connectivity to Asia and experience in managed corporate services.

“This is a transformational combination that we believe will deliver significant value to the investors, customers and employees of both Level 3 and Global Crossing,” says Jim Crowe, CEO of Level 3. “The complementary fit between the two companies’ networks, service portfolios and customers is compelling. By leveraging the respective strengths and extensive reach of both companies, we are creating a highly efficient and more extensive global platform that is well-positioned to meet the local and international needs of our customers.”

The deal between the two backbone providers is one that had previously been discussed many times throughout the last few years, according to Global Crossing CEO John Legere.

The combined company will meet the growing need for scale, as well as an evolving network topology and significant increase in global video and cloud computing traffic expected in the near future.

The deal will provide many benefits for Level 3, including improving its credit profile as well as significantly strengthen the company’s balance sheet, extend its portfolio of transport, IP and data solutions, content delivery, data center, colocation and voice services, and expand its sales expertise.

Level 3 expects the acquisition to bring in another $300 million to its annual EBITDA, with two-thirds of that realized within 18 months of closing.

As for long-term effects of the acquisition, the deal is estimated at $2.5 billion, while the one-time cost of integrating Global Crossing is put at $200 to $225 million.

The combined 2010 revenues of the new company is $6.26 billion and adjusted EBITDA of $1.27 billion before synergies.

Level 3 said the deal should also add to free cash flow by 2013, as well as improve its net debt to EBITDA ratio.

Level 3 has $1.75 billion in committed financing in place for the transaction, and ST Telemedia, Global Crossing’s largest shareholder with a 60 percent stake, has agreed to the deal.

For hosting providers that might be customers of both companies, this deal could (and probably will) impact their supplier relationships, just from a billing standpoint.

One interesting way this deal might impact host is in terms of carrier diversity. Even if nothing really changes about the network infrastructure being delivered, is there a point coming in the near future when what right now are separate connections to Level 3 and Global Crossing aren’t considered redundant, either practically or from a marketing standpoint?

Trustwave, a leading global certificate authority and issuer of SSL certificates and online identities, has partnered with Tucows’ wholesale Internet division, OpenSRS, to deliver Trustwave SSL products and secure site seals to OpenSRS resellers and their customers.

OpenSRS manages over ten million domain names and millions of mailboxes for a network of over 11,000 web hosts, Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and other resellers around the world. Trustwave’s leading SSL products including digital certificates, wildcard SSL certificates and extended validation SSL certificates will be available at OpenSRS.com.

“We’re excited to bring Trustwave security products to our resellers,” said Adam Eisner, director of OpenSRS product management. “Trustwave has an excellent security reputation within the industry and we expect that these new products will be very well received and quickly adopted by our channel.”

Tucows OpenSRS partner program will also be the first to offer Trustwave’s new SSL certificate product branded QuickTrust SSL. This new SSL certificate will provide partners and resellers a trustworthy and more secure SSL certificate offering by including malware detection and other security checks to enhance the safety for the site visitor. While providing additional security checks, QuickTrust SSL still provides a fast certificate issuance to customers looking for a value priced certificate.

“We are very excited about our partnership with OpenSRS,” said Brian Trzupek, Trustwave vice president of managed identity and SSL. “OpenSRS has an amazing presence in online services and now the OpenSRS resellers are armed with a highly differentiated offering in the trusted SSL products from a leading brand in online security.”

About Tucows
Tucows is a global Internet services company. OpenSRS manages over ten million domain names and millions of email boxes through a reseller network of over 11,000 web hosts and ISPs. Hover is the easiest way for individuals and small businesses to manage their domain names and email addresses. YummyNames owns premium domain names that generate revenue through advertising or resale. Butterscotch.com is an online video network building on the foundation of Tucows.com. More information can be found at http://tucowsinc.com.

About Trustwave
Trustwave is a leading provider of on-demand and subscription-based information security and payment card industry compliance management solutions to businesses and government entities throughout the world. For organizations faced with today’s challenging data security and compliance environment, Trustwave provides a unique approach with comprehensive solutions that include its flagship TrustKeeper® compliance management software and other proprietary security solutions including EV SSL certificates and secure digital certificates. Trustwave has helped thousands of organizations–ranging from Fortune 500 businesses and large financial institutions to small and medium-sized retailers-manage compliance and secure their network infrastructure, data communications and critical information assets. Trustwave is headquartered in Chicago with offices throughout North America, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia. For more information, visit https://www.trustwave.com.

Hivelocity Hosting has recently completed construction and re-commissioning of a former Bright House Networks and Road Runner data center located in Tampa, Florida. After reaching an agreement on the property in early 2010, Hivelocity spent 11 months on construction and upgrades. While Road Runner had previously filled the facility with a significant server farm, Hivelocity’s server count far exceeds the former tenant’s. Hivelocity provides web hosting and dedicated server services to customers from over 100 countries worldwide and currently maintains several thousand web servers.

Hivelocity made significant upgrades to the power and cooling to support the existing server loads as well as to provide for growth potential. Over the last 11 months Hivelocity has worked with Tampa Electric (TECO) to upgrade the transformers and conduit which provide power to the facility along with laying and lighting fiber optics to several of its points of presence on the west coast of Florida. Additionally, Hivelocity added a 2nd generator capable of producing 1.5 Megawatts of redundant power along with hundreds of batteries to feed its new General Electric and MGE UPS (Uninterruptable Power Supply) systems. Of course each of these servers also gives off a significant amount of heat. In order to keep the facility cool, Hivelocity has installed over 100 tons of additional cooling.

The Road Runner facility already had a substantial infrastructure for supporting their IT load and with these upgrades Hivelocity considers itself one of the finest data centers the region has to offer. In addition to web hosting services, Hivelocity also provides local companies with disaster recovery, co-location, and managed hosting solutions. Hivelocity provides on-site support and access 24/7/365.

To view a video and picture tour of the facility visit-http://hivelocity.net/corporate-overview/infrastructure/tour/. For more information call 888-869-4678 or visit www.hivelocity.net.

New Jersey prosecutors are examining whether or not some smartphone apps violate user privacy standards. Such apps may go head-to-head with the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act by failing to disclose information regarding asking users to submit personal information. Information collected could be revealed to third party advertisers.

One of the largest apps known to be included in the probe is by Pandora. The streaming site disclosed to the S.E.C. that it was subpoenaed by the investigation earlier this month. Sources close to the investigation said that prosecutors had asked Apple and Google to disclose information related to applications.

Upon examining over 100 apps, the Wall Street Journal concluded that over 50 apps revealed users’ personal information without proper disclosure. The investigation could eventually result in fines or lawsuits against some app creators.

A plan by Google to invest 100 Million dollars towards creating original YouTube programming is set to take place in the near future. Sources revealed Google’s plan to the Wall Street Journal. The concept is part of a major overhaul of the video streaming site, which Google acquired in 2006.

Google could create up to 20 channels, all financed by online advertising. According to the sources, creation of the original programming will likely be done by Google in conjunction with top Hollywood directors and production companies. The new programming will possibly cover arts and sports.

In recent years, video viewers have relied more heavily on internet platforms to get access to their favorite television shows and movies. If Google’s plan is successful, it could further lead to less reliance on the cable television industry. The company launched the smart television platform Google TV in October of last year.

DARPA, the Defense Advanced Reasearch Projects Agency, announced Tuesday that it will invest 5 million dollars in conjunction with Galois towards figuring out fully homomorphic encryption.  Such encryption involves allowing an encrypted database to be searched without actually using any decryption.  That means a user can use an online search engine without the database host computer ever having access to what the user is typing into the search box.

The possibility of homomorphic encryption could provide a breakthrough when it comes to user privacy concerns.  The encryption was proposed nearly 3 decades ago, but research only recently picked up when IBM programmer Craig Gentry proposed a new solution to cracking the problem.

However, the idea is still only in its infancy.  With the current research completed, programmers speculate that  it would take nearly one trillion times longer using the proposed encryption method to complete a simple Google search.  Such a reason is exactly why DARPA is investing so much towards improving Gentry’s proposed solution.

APNIC, the Asian-Pacific based internet registry, recently cut back on IPv4 addresses forcing Microsoft Australia to seek additional space.  Microsoft intends to secure more space temporarily within the next month or so according to platform architect Jorke Odolphi, who spoke with iTnews.

Microsoft recently completed the purchase of 700,000 addresses from Nortel due to the recent threat of IPv4 exhaustion.  The length of which Microsoft would like to use the IPv4 addresses extends from July to September.  The addresses are usually provided temporarily through APNIC for such tech events including the Microsoft TechEd Convention.

Microsoft’s TechEd conference is scheduled to take place from May 16th through the 19th in Atlanta, Georgia.  IPv4 is currently accountable for over 4 billion web addresses.  IPv4 costs are set to increase due to their rapid depletion