Gartner warns of multi-vendor networks

According to a report put out by research and consulting house Gartner, enterprises should be prepared to manage multi-vendor network infrastructure, writes Network World.

The popular perception has been that simplicity in managing a single-vendor network naturally delivers cost efficiencies down - and that has often been a primary justification for 'sole-sourcing' network purchases.

Gartner's study of nine enterprises running dual-vendor or multi-vendor network environments yielded results indicating something completely different, however. "We have collected information from hundreds of client interactions and have performed detailed interviews of nine organisations that have introduced a second vendor into their network environments," Gartner executives said.

Verizon Wireless says it is nearing completion of a major improvement in its high-speed, 3G network in Indiana that will boost service to smartphones, wireless modems and handsets, according to a news release, reveals Business First.

Verizon says it has added 3G capacity on one-third more cell sites in Indiana compared to a year ago, thereby doubling data capacity of the network throughout much of the state.

The enhancements will enable consumers to rely more on their wireless devices for accessing the Internet, social networking, viewing high-quality videos, downloading music, games and ringtones, and exchanging e-mail.

LG Uplus revealed plans to sharply expand its mobile Internet networks as South Korea's smallest wireless carrier strives to catch up with industry leaders in coping with exploding data traffic.

To offer nationwide high-speed mobile Internet coverage by 2012, the company will double the number of wireless-fidelity access points, which relay wireless data to mobile devices, to 2.5 million and increase WiFi zones in public spaces from 16 000 to 80 000 in the same year.

The company also introduced the new U+ zone service that links WiFi access points and zones for higher data efficiency and user convenience. “The 50 million Korean people will be able to access the high-speed 100MB wireless Internet,” its chief executive Lee Sang-chul said in a press conference in downtown Seoul.