Thursday, January 30, 2003

Broad Daylight Leverages VoiceGenie's VoiceXML Gateway and Speech Recognition

Broad Daylight, a customer relationship management (CRM) software developer, announced a self-service application that uses speech recognition technology provided by VoiceGenie's VoiceXML Gateway. The application enables customer to use voice commands over the telephone for accessing information from a technical support database. New questions asked of the system that are not contained in the knowledge base are routed to a customer service representative and the answer is e-mailed or faxed to the original caller. http://www.broaddaylight.com...

Ericsson Conducts IPv6 Over 3G UMTS/WCDMA Demo

Ericsson conducted a demonstration of seamless, emergency mobile communications that combined IPv6, 3G (UMTS/WCDMA) and WLANs. The emergency system, called Guardian Angel, provides seamlessly communications and data (heart rate and blood pressure) for medical staff as a patient travels by ambulance. The information is transmitted via GSM/GPRS or UMTS/WCDMA. Once the ambulance reaches the hospital, the system can automatically switch over to an indoor WLAN hot spot. Data flows can use separate network interfaces in parallel. The demonstration...

ITU Adopts Gigabit-capable Passive Optical Network (PON) Standards

The ITU reached agreement on two new standards for Gigabit-capable Passive Optical Networks (G-PONs). Both standards cover symmetrical and asymmetrical (upstream/downstream) systems. The new standards are: ITU Recommendation G.984.1, which describes the general characteristics of a gigabit-capable PON system such as architecture, bit rates, reach, signal transfer delay, split ratio protection and security. ITU Recommendation G.984.2, which describes a flexible optical fiber access network capable of supporting the bandwidth requirements of business...

Wednesday, January 29, 2003

Alcatel Acquires VoIP Session Border Controller from Aravox

Alcatel has acquired a system from Aravox Technologies designed for carrier-to-carrier VoIP interconnect and for supporting IP PBXs. The Aravox session border controller, which is based on the IETF Midcom standard, makes real-time packet peering over IP secure. It also ensures QoS and high availability of network resources to the end-to-end communications it controls. Alcatel said it would offer the session border controller as part of its Alcatel 5020 Softswitch solutions. The acquisition was finalized in December 2002. Financial terms were...

Qwest Offers its own UNE-P Proposal

Qwest Communications is proposing a new regulatory scheme that it says would help the industry shift from the UNE-P resale paradigm to facilities-based competition. The Qwest proposal would eliminate the unbundled switching requirement in areas where multiple CLECs have deployed their own switches. Where there are three or more CLEC switches within a geographic area known as a LATA, the switching requirement would be removed promptly. The Qwest proposal also establishes a role for state regulatory commissions to determine the transition timetable...

FCC Reallocates Spectrum for New Wireless Services

The FCC reallocated 30 megahertz of spectrum from the 2 GHz Mobile Satellite Service (2 GHz MSS) to fixed and mobile services. The Commission also announced that it is seeking comment on potential uses of an additional 15 megahertz of spectrum previously identified for new wireless services and on increased flexibility in the Unlicensed Personal Communications Service (UPCS) band. http://www.fcc....

FCC Grants Terrestrial Flexibility for Mobile Satellite Services

Mobile satellite services in three frequency bands will be granted FCC permits to operate ancillary terrestrial components in their networks. Specifically, the mobile satellite operators will be able to use their existing spectrum for both satellite-provided connectivity and terrestrial or tower-based repeaters. They will not be permitted to use their spectrum to offer terrestrial-only services. The terrestrial component would serve only to augment the satellite signals in areas where coverage would otherwise be difficult, such as urban areas...

WSJ: Sprint's Willam Esrey to Step Down

Sprint's Chairman and CEO William Esrey and Chief Operating Officer Ron LeMay plan to step down in a matter of days, according to The Wall Street Journal. Esrey is currently undergoing cancer treatment. http://www.wsj.comSprint declined to comment on media speculation regarding management succession. Its quarterly financial results are expected 05-February-20...

TNT Systems to Market dynamicsoft SIP Stack in North America

TNT Systems, a Petaluma, California-based developer of network protocol software, was selected as the exclusive North American reseller of the dynamicsoft SIP User Agent stack. TNT Systems will be distributing the SIP User Agent Version 6.0 software, one of the first stacks to be compliant with the recently ratified SIP RFC 3261. http://www.dynamicsoft.com http://www.tntss.c...

TigerJet Implements 802.11b in Native / Host based Architecture

TigerJet announced an 802.11b solution that is implemented using the native / host based architecture for the MAC and base-band functions. The native / host based architecture leverages the host CPU and memory rather than requiring an embedded CPU like most that is dedicated to the 802.11b function. The company said its solution cuts the number of gates required by more than half and eliminates the CPU duplication. Both the 802.11b MAC and base-band have been implemented using less than 40K gates for each function. A CardBus form factor demonstration...

GIGA STREAM Raises Euro 10 million for UMTS Broadband Switch

GIGA STREAM UMTS Technologies, a start-up based in Saarbruecken, Germany, raised € 10 million in second round funding for development of a broadband switch for 3G networks. The GIGA STREAM UMTS Navigation Switch is designed to enable seamless roaming between 2G (GPRS), 3G (UMTS) and WLAN networks. The platform combines core switching elements and multiple access technologies in a single cabinet. The new funding was led by PolyTechnos Venture Partners GmbH and included first round investors 3i and SWG. http://www.giga-stream...

Acterna Adds Lawful Intercept and Intrusion Detection to Analyzer

Acterna has added lawful intercept and intrusion detection functionality to its DA-3600 Data Network Analyzer. The analyzer, which was designed for law enforcement, defense and security agencies, is capable of operating on Ethernet and Packet-over-SONET/SDH data networks and supports rates up to 2.5 Gbps. With the new capabilities, Acterna's DA-3600 is able to intercept and forward packet streams based on parameters defined by the user. It has the capacity to analyze up to 160K IP flows and delivers flexible filtering capabilities by IP addresses...

Marconi to Supply Broadband Payphones in Australia

Marconi announced a reseller agreement with WebPoint to distribute Web-enable payphones in Australia. The Marconi Neptune 800 is a fixed broadband gateway with touch screen technology. Potential installations will include hotels, train stations and sporting venues. The Australian reseller agreement follows BT's decision to rollout the world's largest network of interactive kiosks in the UK, where some 2,000 Web-enabled payphones will be installed by April. http://www.marconi....

Australia's Optus Selects Lucent for Multiservice Switching and VoDSL

Optus, a national Australian service provider, has deployed Lucent's voice over DSL (VoDSL) technology, including its PacketStar 1250 Multiservice Media Gateway, Cellpipe integrated access devices, and Navis AQueView Element Management System. Financial terms were not disclosedhttp://www.lucent.comLucent offers a range of PacketStar (PSAX) media gateways for deployments scaling from small hub locations to central offices. The Lucent PacketStar gateways enable any-service, any-channel flexibility for circuit emulation, Frame Relay and ATM in Nx64...

BT Installs its First 80 Wi-Fi Hotspots

BT launched services from its first 80 Wi-Fi public hotspots across the UK. The hotspots are located in Hilton hotels, airports and motorway service stations. Agreements are in place for a further 40 locations. BT is also working on plans for Wi-Fi in railway stations and coffee shops. The company also has a roaming agreement with TeliaSonera for providing access to more than 500 HomeRun hotspots in Sweden, France, Italy, Denmark and the US. http://www.bt....

8x8 Announces Unlimited Calling over SIP Phone Service

8x8 introduced an unlimited calling plan for its SIP-based broadband telephony service. Customers can choose a direct-dial phone number from any of the over 100 area codes offered by the service, and then use an 8x8-supplied telephony adapter to plug regular phones into a broadband connection (Ethernet). Unlimited calling is priced at $34.95/month (with a 12-month commitment) or $39.95/month (month-to-month). The new unlimited PSTN calling plan is in addition to two lower-priced service plans. http://www.packet8....

Kansas City School District Moves to IP Convergence with Siemens

The Kansas City, Missouri School District has awarded a $15.8 million contract to the Enterprise Networks division of Siemens ICN to expand the existing communications infrastructure of 45 schools and add a telephone to every classroom. Siemens will install IP gateways, cabling and data infrastructure equipment based on its HiPath platform. The deployment includes 45 HiPath 3000 SMGs (survivable media gateways), which support conventional circuit-switched telephone services as a fall-back from their IP functionality. http://www.siemensenterp...

Canada Launches Agile Photonic Network Research Project

Researchers in Canada launched a five year project to develop an Agile All-Photonic Network (AAPN) based on an efficient, all-photonic switch. The project is funded by a $7 million grant from the government's Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC). Partners in the project include five universities (McGill, University of Ottawa, University of Toronto, Queen's and McMaster), three federal research labs and seven private companies (Innovance Networks, Tropic Networks, JDS Uniphase, Bragg Photonics, Institut National...

Connex Deploys Nortel Networks' Passport 20000 Core Switch

Connex, a mobile operator in Romania, has deployed Nortel Networks' Passport 20000 Multiservice Switches to support 2G wireless traffic while enabling a smooth migration to a 3G packetized infrastructure. The installation, which currently includes 3 switches, marks the first live European deployment of Passport 20000, which has also been deployed in other service provider networks. Connex has previously deployed Nortel Networks Succession softswitches and gateways and Passport 15000 Multiservice Switches. Financial terms were not disclosed....

Broadband Sign-ups Reach 30,000 per Week in the UK

Take up of new broadband subscriptions has now risen to almost 30,000 per week in the UK, according to a new report from Oftel, the official telecom regulator in the UK. The nation currently has about 1.4 million broadband users. http://www.oftel.gov...

European Commission Presses Microsoft to Alter its .NET Passport system

Following discussion with the European Commission, Microsoft agreed to implement a comprehensive package of data protection measures in its existing .NET Passport system. The most important result of the changes is that users will get much more information and choice as to which data they want to provide and under which conditions these data will be processed by Microsoft or the participating websites. The EC said on-line authentication services need to respect the data protection principles laid down in the 1995 Data Protection Directive and...

European Commission Launches Investigation into France Telecom

The European Commission launched a formal investigation of the €9 billion in financial aid presented to France Telecom by the government of France. The European Commission said it wonders whether the French authorities are providing FT with funding that it could have obtained under normal market conditions. The formal investigation procedure will whether the State has acted like a private investor. The Commission also needs further proof from the French authorities that the return on the invested capital would have been acceptable to a private...

AT&T's David Dorman Urges Caution to FCC Policymakers

AT&T's Chairman, David Dorman, warned that landmark policy changes now being considered at the FCC could change the telecom landscape for decades. Dorman urged regulators to permit the current competitive environment to evolve into facilities competition rather than to take any steps that would lead to the re-monopolization of the Bell networks. Dorman predicted that inter-modal (wired, cable and wireless) competition will develop eventually but that it is not significant yet. He believes that some forms of wireless and satellite could become...

Tuesday, January 28, 2003

Russia's Rostelecom Deploys Long-haul Optical Backbone with Huawei

Rostelecom, Russia's largest national long-haul carrier, has deployed Huawei Technologies' 320G and 10G optical transmission equipment and T2000 network management system along a network route that stretches from Moscow to Samara, a transmission distance of 1,021 km. The project marks Huawei's first high-end optical contract in Russia. http://www.huawei....

Cisco Opens Networking Academy in Afghanistan

Cisco Systems has partnered with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) to open the first Cisco Networking Academy at the University of Kabul in Afghanistan. Cisco will help train the Afghan teachers and provide the web-based curriculum and networking equipment for the Academy. The UNDP plans to use $500,000 provided by the European Commission to set up five new training centers; three in Kabul, one in Mazar-e-Sharif and one in Kandahar. http://www.cisco....

Acterna Securities Trading Moves to OTC Board

Following its delisting by Nasdaq, Acterna's common stock will begin trading on the OTC Bulletin Board on 03-February-2003 under the symbol ACTR. http://www.acterna....

Atheros Enables Multimode Wi-Fi in Top Notebook Brands

Atheros Communications said its multi-mode (2.4 and 5 GHz) WLAN solutions are now being built into new notebooks from HP, IBM, NEC and Toshiba - four of the world's top five PC vendors. Multimode supports both 802.11a and 802.11b wireless connectivity. http://www.atheros....

Polycom Sells Network Access Product Line to Verilink

Polycom has sold its line of "NetEngine" integrated access devices (IADs) to Verlink for up to $3 million. The deal provides for $1 million in upfront cash an additional $250,000 upon the one-year anniversary of the closing and up to $1.75 million to be paid quarterly based upon 10% of the sales of NetEngine products. In addition, Verilink has agreed to purchase Polycom's NetEngine related inventories on an as-needed basis. The value of such inventory as of the closing date is approximately $1.9 million. Verilink said the newly acquired NetEngine...

Foundry Networks Reports Revenue of $86.7 Million, Increased Profitability

Foundry Networks reported Q4 revenue of $86.7 million, compared to $76.6 million in the third quarter, and to $65.4 million in the same period last year. Foundry earned net income of $10.5 million or $0.08 per diluted share in the December 2002 quarter, compared with net income of $7.0 million or $0.06 per diluted share in the prior quarter, and a net loss of $10.7 million or ($0.09) per diluted share for the same period in 2001. Foundry Networks ended 2002 with net income of $22.5 million for the year -- its fourth consecutive year of profitability....

BellSouth Files Lawsuits over “One Number�? Service Offering

BellSouth filed a lawsuit against Glenayre Technologies and Call Sciences alleging patent infringement of its call routing technology, commonly used for "one number service" offerings. The patent was granted to BellSouth in June 1998. http://www.bellsouth....

Looking Glass Adds NetCracker Outside Plant Inventory to its OSS

Looking Glass Networks will use an outside plant inventory management system from Netcracker to track physical assets, such as fiber routes, conductor loops, cable bundles, slack loops, test taps, buffers, strands, splice units, splices, manholes, conduits and ducts. The system stores geospatial references for all locations and paths. It also integrates as a module into the existing NetCracker OSS solution. http://www.netcracker.com http://www.lglass....

OPNET Models Cisco Mobile IP Networks for Defense Networks

OPNET Technologies and Cisco Systems have developed a mobile IP model to enhance the military's communications and operations infrastructure. The mobile IP model predicts the scalability and performance of specific Cisco Mobile IP deployments in brigade, battalion, and division scenarios. Cisco Systems recently introduced the Cisco 3200 Series Mobile Access Router to support seamless connectivity for networks in motion. The software is available to OPNET's customers as part of OPNET's IT Guru, Modeler, and SP Guru products. http://www.opnet...

Riverstone Introduces Loop Protection System

Riverstone introduced a Loop Protection System (LPS) designed to safeguard carrier networks from customer premise generated failures by creating a virtual demarcation point for the carrier. Riverstone's Loop Protection System inspects packets entering the carrier network to determine if they have already been sent to the corporate network. If the system finds that the same packets are being sent, rather than exposing the carrier network to a slowdown, the Loop Protection System isolates the interface to the corporate network. The system then...

CommWorks and Kagoor Partner on VoIP Security

CommWorks and Kagoor Networks completed interoperability testing between the CommWorks IP telephony system and Kagoor's VoiceFlow VoIP border control platform. The testing involved Kagoor's VoiceFlow 1000 VoIP demarcation functionality in both enterprise CPE and carrier network-hosted configurations and CommWorks equipment for IP telephony applications, including the Total Control 1000 Media Gateway and elements of the CommWorks Softswitch. Products were tested using both the H.323 communications protocol and Session Initiation Protocol (SIP)....

Sheppard Air Force Base to Deploy New Network with Avaya

Sheppard Air Force Base in Texas, the largest training facility for the U.S. Air Force, awarded a multi-million dollar contract to Avaya covering a new communications infrastructure for the facility, a four-year service and support agreement, and a three-year agreement that gives the base a technology migration plan. The Sheppard network uses the Avaya DEFINITY Enterprise Communications Server to serve more than 12,500 users. The system offers the Air Force MultiLevel Precedence and Preemption (MLPP) -- a feature that allows key personnel to...

BELNET Selects Alcatel 7770 for IP/MPLS Core

BELNET, the Belgian national research network for education, research and public communications services, will deploy the Alcatel 7770 Optical Broadband Exchange for its IP/MPLS core. The Alcatel 7770 OBX will also serve as the international gateway for BELNET'S nationwide network and will perform the peering to GÉANT, the European-wide research network sponsored by the EC. BELNET is currently supporting 340,000 users at 150 sites. http://www.alcatel.comThe Alcatel 7770 Optical Broadband Exchange (OBX), which replaces the existing 7770 Routing...

Movaz Lands $14 Million Contract from Taiwan's Chunghwa Telecom

Chunghwa Telecom, the incumbent carrier in Taiwan, awarded a $14 million contract to Movaz Networks for equipment to build a nationwide optical infrastructure consisting of 21 metropolitan DWDM rings. Movaz was awarded the multi-phase project with deployments of several hundred RAYexpress OADMs and RAYextender line amplifiers in interconnected optical rings to transport Gigabit Ethernet and storage area networking services over DWDM wavelengths. Movaz is working on the project with Comtrend, a systems integrator in Taiwan, and Capahill Technologies,...

UTStarcom Announces $45 Million in New Contracts with Shaanxi China Telecom

UTStarcom signed an expansion contract valued in excess of $45 million with Shaanxi China Telecom covering the expansion and upgrade of existing IP-based PAS (Personal Access System) platforms in several cities in Shaanxi province. As of the end of 2002, the Shaanxi China Telecom network in the provincial capital of Xi'an had more than 400,000 subscribers on the PAS platform. UTStarcom said its PAS technology had gained more than seven and a half million Chinese customers as of December 2002, and now represents more than 60% of the country's...

France Telecom Revenues increase 8.4% in 2002, 531K ADSL Lines Added in Q4

France Telecom revenues increased 8.4% in 2002 to EUR 46.6 billion. The company cited strong revenue growth from its international operations (up 24.9%) and its Wanadoo Internet and broadband operations (up 30.4%), but declines from its fixed-line, voice and data services. Some highlights:Wanadoo's active customer base reached 8.5 million at December 31, 2002, compared with 6 million a year earlier. Wanadoo tripled the number of broadband customers in Europe in one year, exceeding 1 million customers in France. In Q4, Wanadoo added 300,000 ADSL...

Verizon Reports Revenue Growth, Profitability and Wireless Strength

Citing continued strong sales of wireless, long-distance, DSL and bundled product offerings, Verizon Communications reported Q4 operating revenues of $17.2 billion, a 1.5% increase year-over-year. Reported earnings were $2.3 billion, or $0.83 per share. Nearly $1.2 billion in gains, primarily associated with $1.1 billion in tax benefits, were largely offset by after-tax charges totaling $1.1 billion, including $604 million primarily for pension and benefit costs related to prior force reductions, $292 million for costs related to the bankruptcy...

MPLS and Frame Relay Forums to Merge

The Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) Forum and the Frame Relay Forum (FRF) will merge. The combined organization will be known initially as the MPLS and Frame Relay Alliance. Andrew G. Malis, chairman and president of the MPLS Forum, said Frame Relay has enjoyed enormous success as an access protocol, and with the growth of MPLS in service provider core networks, the two have already demonstrated a natural synergy. http://www.mplsforum.orghttp://www.frforum.comThe MPLS Forum was formed in March 2000. The Frame Relay Forum was incorporated...

Monday, January 27, 2003

Topio Secures $10 Million for Disaster Recovery Solution

Topio, a start-up based in Santa Clara, California with R&D in Israel, raised $10 million in second round funding for its disaster recovery solutions. Topio's SANSafe enables system-wide consistent disaster recovery for heterogeneous SAN environments, storage subsystems, direct-attached storage, and storage virtualization schemes exploiting all networking environments, especially IP. The new funding came from Sigma Partners and Sequoia Capital. Topio's total funding to date is $13 million. http://www.topio....

Australia's RBN Raises $11 Million for its WDM Equipment

RBN, a start-up based in San Francisco with R&D in Sydney, Australia, secured $11 million in series C funding for its carrier class optical transport and switching platforms for the outside plant. The company offers a WDM system that can be used in the central office, outside plant remote terminals and enterprise environments. Funding was provided by existing investors Allen & Buckeridge, Macquarie Technology Ventures, Optical Capital Group (OCG), Paecal Investments and Redfern Photonics. RBN has raised $40 million since its inception...

HelloSoft Raises $11 Million for Networking Protocol Layer Software

HelloSoft, a start-up based in San Jose, California, raised over $11 million in a Series A venture capital financing for its networking software solutions designed for networking OEMs and silicon vendors. HelloSoft licenses Physical Layer and Networking Protocol Layer software to companies developing 2.5G/3G Wireless, Wireless LAN, Voice-Over-Packet, Digital Subscriber Line and Bluetooth devices. The funding came from Venrock Associates, Sofinnova Ventures, Acer Technology Ventures, and JumpStartUp Venture Fund. http://www.hellosoft....

Ixia Enhances Test Suite for L2/L3 VPNs, IPv6, MPLS Signaling and Multicast

Ixia added a number of routing protocols to its routing test suite, including support for IPv4 and IPv6 Routing (BGP, OSPF, ISIS, and RIP), MPLS Signaling protocols (LDP and RSVP-TE), L2 (Martini draft), VPLS (Lasserre draft), L3 (RFC 2547bis) VPNs, and Multicast protocols (IGMP, MLD, and PIM-SM). Ixia also highlighted its CPU-based traffic generation load modules, which feature a processor per port. These allow users to run multiple protocol emulations simultaneously on a single port. This unique feature enables the simulation of such intricate...

Gigabit Optics Launches Four Micro Devices for CWDM

Gigabit Optics, a start-up based in Sunnyvale, California, introduced four new products: Micro OADM, Micro OADM-1, Micro OADM-2 and 4-Channel CWDM Mux/Demux with express channel. The first product, the Micro OADM, is a compact single channel add or drop device for CWDM applications, which can be used for metro core, metro access and Enterprise CWDM systems. The Micro OADM-1 is a single channel add and drop device for CWDM applications, which enables add and drop capabilities of any single channel on a CWDM grid. The third product facilitates...

AT&T Launches Video Relay Service for Hearing Impaired

AT&T introduced a web-based service that enables deaf and hard of hearing people to communicate over the phone more easily by using American Sign Language (ASL). The AT&T Video Relay Service uses a webcam at the customer end to communicate with a nationally certified interpreter who relays the conversation over the phone in spoken language to the hearing party. http://www.att.com/news/item/0,1847,11277,00.h...

AT&T Wireless Signs Wi-Fi Roaming with Wayport

AT&T Wireless signed a strategic Wi-Fi roaming agreement with Wayport, giving its subscribers access to hotspots in 475 hotels and 10 airports across the US. In addition to AT&T Wireless, Wayport's roaming partners include Boingo, iPass and GRIC. http://www.wayport....

Brazil's Second Largest International Carrier Connects to ITXC

Intelig, Brazil's second largest international long distance carrier, began exchanging international voice traffic to and from Brazil over ITXC's global IP network. The international long distance wholesale business in Latin America is expected to grow from 1 billion minutes of use in 2001 to 15.4 billion minutes in 2007, according to a Frost & Sullivan study cited by ITXC. http://www.itxc....

Alcatel Announces Reseller Deal with Axiom for DSL Management

Alcatel signed a three-year, global reseller agreement to sell, service and support Axiom's 5620 AXiOSS DSL Service Management (DSM) product globally. Axiom's platform covers three main functionalities: business process, inventory management and service activation. Alcatel said the agreement complements its existing "Alcatel Connected" partnerships in service assurance and billing. http://www.alcatel.com http://www.axiom-eu....

Marconi Adds Gigabit Ethernet Functionality to DSLAM

Marconi has added a Gigabit Ethernet (GigE) card and advanced IP capabilities to its Access Hub DSL platform. The functionality enables carriers to deliver VPN services to enterprises across their DSL networks. In addition, new services, such as a customized wholesale service with billing on a "per user" or "per call" basis can be developed. Marconi recently announced new multicasting and voice over DSL capabilities. Carriers deploying the Marconi Access Hub include Telecom Italia, Telkom South Africa and LDCOM. http://www.marconi.comMarconi's...

Foundry Networks Debuts Two Layer 2 Edge Switches

Foundry Networks introduced two new fixed-configuration Layer 2 edge switches for enterprise customers. These new switches offer 24 and 48 10/100 Ethernet ports along with two Gigabit Ethernet combo ports with integrated Gigabit copper or mini-GBIC slots for media expansion. The US list price is $2,195. http://www.foundrynetworks....

Foundry Debuts 2nd Generation 10 GigE Interfaces, 36% Price Reduction Per Port

Foundry Networks introduced its second generation of 10 Gigabit Ethernet interface modules featuring double the density of its previous solution. The new two-port card uses Xenpak based hot-pluggable optical transceivers and is accompanied by a 36% price reduction per port. The new hot-pluggable optics include a choice of long reach for up to 10 kilometers and extended reach for up to 40 kilometers. Foundry Network said the modules could be used to deliver 40 Gbps trunks with cross module redundancy as well as full 20 Gbps local switching. ...

Sify Builds Tier-1 Backbone in India with Cisco

Sify, the largest network and e-Commerce company in India, and Cisco Systems declared Sify's IP backbone network infrastructure to be Tier 1 status, the first such designation in India, according to the companies. Sify has MPLS-enabled the network of Cisco GSRs for differentiated services, prioritizing voice, video or data transmission as required. The backbone reaches 54 POPs in India, representing an estimated 90% of the established PC base in the country. http://www.sifycorp.com http://www.cisco....

Deutsche Telekom Reports High Customer Growth for Mobiles and DSL

Deutsche Telekom released 2002 figures showing strong customer growth across all its major service segments. Some highlights:For 2002, the number of mobile customers served by Deutsche Telekom and its affiliates increased by more than 25% to almost 82 million. T-Mobile USA added more than one million subscribers in Q4 alone, giving it a total of 9.9 million. As of 31-December-2002, Deutsche Telekom had sold over 3.1 million T-DSL lines, up by 41% or nearly a million subscribers in a year. Demand for T-ISDN continued to grow. The number of channels...

China Netcom Selects Nortel Networks for National Optical Backbone

China Netcom selected Nortel Networks for a national optical transmission backbone. The contract covers the deployment of two long-haul optical rings. The first ring will link the cities of Shanghai, Nanjing, Hefei, Wuhan, Changsha, Guangzhou, Fuzhou and Hangzhou. The other ring is expected to connect the eastern cities of Shanghai, Nanjing, Wuhan, Xinyang, Jinan and Qingdao, and integrate with China Netcom's existing optical backbones in northern China. China Netcom will deploy Nortel Networks' 10Gbps OPTera Long Haul 1600 Optical Line System...

Defense Experts Investigate Collateral Damage from Microsoft Slammer Worm

The Washington Post reported that defense experts are investigating how last weekend's Microsoft "Slammer" worm managed to disrupt such vital services as ATM banking and the 911 emergency operations of two suburban police departments and at least 14 fire departments across the US and Canada. The article notes that Microsoft included the flawed code in some popular consumer products, including Office XP. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A53442-2003Jan28.htmlCNET reported that Microsoft was itself a victim of the Slammer worm, having...

SBC Adds 245,000 DSL Accounts, but Loses 1.2 Million Access Lines in Q4

Citing a difficult environment marked by a struggling economy, a tough competitive market and an uneven regulatory landscape, SBC Communications reported Q4 revenues of $13.3 billion (including its Cingular Wireless share), down 5.3% from $14.0 billion in the year-ago period but up from the $12.8 billion in revenue reported for Q3 2002. For the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, 2002, SBC's reported earnings totaled $2.4 billion, or $0.71 per diluted share, compared with $1.2 billion, or $0.35 per diluted share, in the fourth quarter of 2001. Total...

Sunday, January 26, 2003

P-Com to Acquire Procera Networks

P-Com, a provider of point-to-point, spread spectrum, and point-to-multipoint broadband wireless products, announced plans to acquire privately held Procera Networks, which designs and builds Layer 7 switches that provide wire-speed routing, switching, flow metering and packet shaping. Procera's Layer 7 switch provides granular management of bandwidth and applications. The company is based in Sunnyvale, California. Financial terms were not disclosed. P-Com said microwave radio suppliers have traditionally handed off bandwidth management to...

Nokia Confirms Readiness for CDMA2000 1xEV-DV Operator Trials in 2003

Nokia confirmed that it would ship a CDMA2000 chipset with DV modem functionality (IS-2000 Release C, also known as 1xEV-DV) for carrier field trials during the second half of 2003. The platform is aimed at CDMA operators upgrading their existing CDMA2000 1X (IS-2000 Release 0) networks. Nokia said it is currently in discussions with multiple CDMA stakeholders to cooperate in 1xEV-DV interoperability testing and field trials. http://www.nokia....

Siemens Offers New SHDSL Business Gateway

Efficient Networks, a subsidiary of Siemens, introduced a small office gateway that combines an SHDSL modem, managed 8-port 10/100 Base-T switch, ICSA-certified firewall, VPN security appliance, integrated dial backup modem, and full featured router. The new SHDSL Business Gateway can operate in either 2-wire or 4-wire SHDSL mode, offering 30% increased reach over SDSL, as well as greater bandwidth -- 2.3 Mbps on a single copper pair (2-wire) and 4.6 Mbps using two copper pairs (4-wire). The gateway also includes autosense functionality facilitating...

Broadcom Sues Microtune Alleging Patent Infringement

Broadcom announced a lawsuit alleging that tuners, power amplifiers and Bluetooth products made by Texas-based Microtune infringe three Broadcom patents. Broadcom filed a separate lawsuit in July 2002 against Microtune alleging that solid-state RF tuner products made by Microtune infringe its patents. http://www.broadcom....

EANTC Lab Certifies Alcatel 7770 IP/MPLS Router

The European Advanced Network Test Center (EANTC) in Berlin completed conformance testing according to ISO 9646 with the Alcatel 7770 IP/MPLS router for the signaling protocol RSVP-TE. The testing at EANTC was supported by Spirent Communications' Advanced Test Programs (ATP). Spirent's test suites, which were developed according to IETF RSVP-TE standard (RFC 3209) and according to the MPLS Forum draft standard, helped Alcatel achieve certification. http://www.spirentcom.com http://www.eantc...

Spirent and Juniper Team for Router-OSS Interoperability

Spirent Communications and Juniper Networks announced an interoperability alliance that matches Spirent's Perform performance-management and Sentry fault-management operations support systems (OSS) with Juniper Networks E-series routers for the network edge. The companies said their partnership addresses requirements from the market and Tier One service providers for a unified solution to support service rollout at the edge using Juniper Networks' E-1440 platform. The agreement supports carriers' migration to an ADM based architecture, and integration...

Telica and VocalData Expand Alliance

VocalData and Telica completed interoperability testing between VocalData's IP telephony application server and Telica's Plexus 9000 switching platform. VocalData's VOISS platform allows carriers to deliver enhanced features and PBX capabilities. Telica's Plexus 9000 is a carrier-grade switch that includes elements of a softswitch-based solution, including a media gateway, media gateway controller and signaling gateway, to provide Class 4/5 switching for the PSTN as well as ATM and IP networks. http://www.telica.com http://www.vocaldata....

China Railcom Deploys Riverstone

Shanxi Railcom, a subsidiary of China Railcom, deployed Riverstone routers in three cities in Shanxi province: Taiyuan, Datong and Linfen. The Riverstone RS 8600 and RS 3000 routers are being used to groom raw bandwidth in China Railcom's nationwide CRNet backbone and deliver advanced VPN, voice and video services. Shanxi Railcom is also using Riverstone's ATM circuit extension technology in these metropolitan networks to connect its ATM access network with its fiber-rich CRNet backbone. China Railcom owns the network resources along China's...

Cisco Rolls Enhanced IP PBX for Mid-Sized Businesses

Cisco Systems launched an IP Communications program aimed at mid-market (50- to 1000-employee) companies. The program includes new features for the Cisco ICS 7750, which is an IP PBX that implements integrated voice gateway routing, call processing and business communications applications. The Cisco ICS 7750 now supports integrated Cisco Unity Unified Messaging 4.0, which enables users to manage their voicemail, e-mail and fax from a single device. The IP PBX also supports Cisco Customer Response Solution Software 3.0. http://www.cisco....

Cisco Offers Automated QoS Solution for LANs and WANs

A new function has been added to Cisco IOS and the Cisco Catalyst Operating System to automate packet prioritization and delivery in LANs and WANs. The new AutoQoS feature is aimed at simplifying the implementation of IP QoS for the delivery of VoIP from the wiring closet, across large enterprise IP backbones, and for service-provider-managed services. AutoQoS automates critical elements of QoS deployment in classifying applications; generating policies; configuring; monitoring and reporting; and consistency. Cisco said the automated functionality...

Half of Consumers Dissatisfied with Quality of Their Internet Service

In a study of 14,000 consumers' opinions of Internet service quality, the National Regulatory Research Institute (NRRI) found that half of all subscribers, regardless of connection type, complain about Internet service quality. Furthermore, satisfaction ratings for dialup connections may meet or exceed those for broadband. Survey respondents awarded their ISPs with an average letter grade of C+. Nearly half of those surveyed cited fewer service interruptions as a reason for switching providers. For those customers who would consider switching...

Verizon Offers Flat-rate Local - Long Distance Calling

Verizon is offering residential customers the Veriations Freedom flat-rate plan of unlimited local and long-distance calling to all US states and territories and Canada, plus call-management features, such as voice mail, caller ID, call waiting. The plan will be available tomorrow in New Jersey and Pennsylvania at a price of $54.95. Veriations Freedom will be offered in New York, Massachusetts, Virginia and Florida in February. Customers can add DSL, dial-up Internet access and or wireless services at a discount. http://www.verizon.comVerizon...

New Edge Networks Offers Layer 2 VPNs to Small Cities and Rural Areas

New Edge Networks began marketing Layer 2 VPN services over its 600 switch, national ATM network. Within New Edge Networks' coverage area, which includes more than 360 small and midsize cities in 29 states, the Layer 2 Private Network uses dedicated business-class DSL or T-1 connections. In locations outside this coverage area, New Edge Networks completes the Layer 2 Private Network using Frame Relay. New Edge Networks already offered Layer 3 VPNs. http://www.newedgenetworks....

Cogent Offers 500 Kbps Fiber Service to Compete with DSL

Cogent Communications launched a 500 kbps, fiber-based Internet access service with a 99.99% reliability guarantee for $249 per month. Cogent is offering the "Fiber 500" service in 20 markets nationwide in the same buildings in which it provides its trademark service of 100 Mbps for $1,000 per month. Cogent-qualified office buildings typically contain 50 or more tenants, and are located in central business districts of large cities. Cogent said "it's tough to ask someone paying $300 per month for DSL bandwidth to jump to $1,000 per month for...

SBC Expands Managed Services, Targets Medium Sized Businesses

SBC Communications launched a new managed services initiative to offer outsourced voice and data communications services to both large and medium sized companies. PremierSERV managed service solutions provide design, delivery and ongoing management of telecommunications services - including local, long distance, Internet, data transport, equipment and eServices - all with a single point of contact for network management. Equipment can be owned by SBC or the customer. PremierSERV solutions are available in the United States and internationally....

Supreme Court Rules Against FCC in NextWave Case

The US Supreme Court ruled that bankrupt NextWave does not have to forfeit wireless licenses that it had previously won at auction, despite the company's lack of payment. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) had tried to repossess the licenses. In a statement, FCC Chairman Michael Powell said that the FCC is in the process of examining all of the ramifications of the Court's decision and will faithfully implement the Court's mandate. http://www.fcc.govThe decision ends five years of litigation over the licenses. NextWave said it would move...

Sprint Debuts Layer 2 Services over IP

Sprint introduced three new services based on Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol Version 3 (L2TPv3): SprintLink Frame Relay, SprintLink Packet Private Line and SprintLink Virtual LAN Services. L2TPv3 supports IP encapsulation of numerous Layer 2 protocols and provides authenticated tunneling to allow Layer 2 traffic to securely traverse a native IP core. Sprint has implemented L2TPv3 across its entire IP network without having to re-engineer the network or change its architecture. The capability is supported in Cisco IOS. In the new Frame Relay service...

Friday, January 24, 2003

Microsoft SQL Slammer Worm Disrupts Internet Traffic

A quickly spreading worm attacked Microsoft SQL servers beginning at 0530 GMT on Saturday, significantly disrupting Internet traffic. Although the "Slammer" worm did not carry a destructive payload and only attacked vulnerable Microsoft SQL servers, ISPs reported a dramatic increase in network traffic and associated problems with latency and packet loss. South Korea appeared to have been the hardest hit by the worm, where the networks of Korea Telecom, Hanaro and Dacoom were significantly degraded during the attack. Microsoft said servers running...

Thursday, January 23, 2003

Key3Media Sells Voice-on-Net (VON) Conference Back to Pulver.com

Key3Media has sold its Voice on the Net (VON) conference events back to pulver.com. It originally purchased the industry event from pulver.com in September 2001. Financial terms were not disclosed. http://www.key3media.comSpring 2003 VON will be taking place March 31st - April 3rd in San Jose. The conference focuses on the convergence of the telecom and Internet industries. http://pulver.com/...

Level 3 Gains Court Approval for Acquisition of Genuity

A bankruptcy court approved Level 3 Communications' planned acquisition of Genuity. The deal is expected to close in February. In addition, Genuity announced plans to reduce its employee headcount by 700 to 800 from its current 2,300-person work force. http://www.genuity.com http://www.level3.comIn November, Level 3 Communications agreed to acquire substantially all of Genuity's assets and operations for $242 million. The acquisition requires Genuity to file for Chapter 11 protection and then to gain the approval of the bankruptcy court. Other...

Marconi Reports Slightly Lower Sales, Progress in its Restructuring

Marconi said that despite slightly lower sales revenues during the last fiscal quarter its key financial performance measures improved. Based on preliminary data, the company's core sales for the period ending 31-December-2002 were £456 million, a sequential decline of 5%. Marconi also noted continued progress and some delays in its ongoing financial restructuring, which it now anticipates will be implemented in April. Some other highlights:Marconi's 10 largest customers during the quarter were (alphabetical order): BellSouth, BT, Ericsson, Metro...

STMicroelectronics Offers High-output Op Amps for xDSL

STMicroelectronics introduced a pair of wide-band operational amplifiers that have the high output current necessary for driving xDSL line interfaces and multiple video lines. The devices can be configured for differentially to drive signals in telecommunication systems using multiple carriers. http://www.st....

Korea Telecom Tests ArrayComm's Wireless Broadband System

KT (Korea Telecom) completed the first phase of tests of ArrayCom's i-BURST broadband wireless system. ArrayComm uses spatial processing software and smart antennas to deliver data rates of up to 40 Mbps per cell, which could be shared between many simultaneous users at user data rates in excess of 1 Mbps in a fully loaded system. The South Korean field trials, which took place over several months, measured the system's data speed, range, scalability, capacity, and interoperability with Wi-Fi services. KT is planning a new wireless Internet business...

Cisco Systems to Acquire Okena for Network Security Software

Cisco Systems agreed to acquire Okena, a network security start-up based in Waltham, Massachusetts, for approximately $154 million in Cisco common stock. Okena's network security software provides threat protection for desktop and server computing systems by intercepting all operating system, file system, configuration, registry, and network requests, preventing malicious activity from occurring. The behavior-based security software aggregates and extends multiple endpoint security functions, such as Host-based Intrusion Detection (HIDS), distributed...

European Regulators Meet to Set EU Telecom Agenda for 2003

The European Regulators Group (ERG) met in Amsterdam last week to set the 2003 agenda for telecom legislation within the European Commission. Priority will be given to those issues related to the new regulatory framework that needs to be transposed into national laws by the end of July 2003. The ERG said the implementation of effective competition for local services is a clear priority. Other top items on the work agenda include:Termination tariffs for mobile trafficInternational roaming policies for mobile serviceBroadband access -- the ERG...

Wednesday, January 22, 2003

Alcatel Optronics Launches SDH/SONET DWDM Receiver

Alcatel Optronics introduced a new SDH/ SONET DWDM 2R receiver for metro and long haul networks. The Alcatel 1926 SDH Rx 2R is a 2R (Re-amplification/Re-shaping) receiver that contains an in-house detector integrated with a preamplifier ASIC. It operates at rates from 100 Mbps to 2.7 Gbps and complies with the STM-16/OC-48 transmitter and receiver multi-source agreement. http://www.alcatel....

Wind River and Motion Media Develop Internet Videophone

Wind River supplied its VxWorks real time operating system for an Internet videophone developed by UK-based Motion Media Technology. The companies said the new IP-based videophone has more processing power than a PC, and will initially support data rates of between 128 kbps and 2 Mbps, extending to 10 Mbps in the future. The processing power reduces the delays normally associated with compressing, transmitting and decompressing video and audio streams. Motion Media claims its device can set-up video calls in only ten seconds, taking less time...

Mexico's Iusacell Launches CDMA2000 1X Voice/Data Service with Lucent

Grupo Iusacell launched the first CDMA2000 1X voice and data network in Mexico. Lucent Technologies delivered a CDMA2000 1X network upgrade that significantly increased the voice capacity of the network while enabling data access at speeds of up to 144 kbps. Lucent upgraded Iusacell's existing Lucent-supplied base stations with CDMA2000 1X channel cards and software, and also provided software upgrades for Iusacell's mobile switching centers. It also supplied its NavisRadius authentication, authorization and accounting server. http://www.lucent.com...

India's VSNL to Deploy Alcatel 1000 MM Switching Systems

Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd (VSNL), an Indian service provider, will deploy Alcatel 1000 MM switching systems and associated network management solutions. In the first phase, Alcatel's switching systems will be deployed in seven locations across the country, enabling 60,000 additional trunk lines, thereby doubling the existing capacity of its network. Financial terms were not disclosed. http://www.alcatel....

PMC-Sierra Reports Q4 Revenue of $52.6 million, Cost Cuts

PMC-Sierra announced net revenues of $52.6 million and a pro forma net loss per share of $0.06 for the fourth quarter of 2002. Net revenues decreased 12% compared to $59.6 million recorded in the preceding quarter but increased 11% compared to Q4 2001. PMC-Sierra is undertaking a corporate restructuring that will reduce its employee headcount by 16%. The company had 1,099 employees at the end of 2002. PMC-Sierra said it planned to increase its investments in enterprise, storage, MIPS-based processors, and system-on-a-chip design capabilities....

Agere Reports Flat Revenues and Flat Outlook for 2003

Agere Systems reported quarterly revenue of $436 million, down 2% compared with revenues of $445 million in the year-ago quarter and down from $491 million in the preceding quarter. The reported net loss for the December quarter was $146 million or $0.09 per share. Agere said its major restructuring efforts are either completed or well underway. The company has now completed the disposition of its optoelectronic components business. The outlook for the current quarter is also for flat revenues. For fiscal year 2003, the Agere expects revenues...

Nortel Networks Says Business has Stabilized, Expensing of Stock Options to Begin

Nortel Networks said its overall revenues were up sequentially across all of its lines of business and geographic regions during Q4. The company said its fundamental business model has stabilized and that it ended the year with a cash balance of approximately US$4.1 billion. It expects to achieve pro forma profitability by Q2 2003. Nortel also expects to have 36,000 employees at the end of Q1 2003 and believes its series of staff reductions is nearing an end. Overall, Q4 revenues from continuing operations were US$2.52 billion, compared to...

Broadcom Reports Sixth Quarter of Revenue Growth

Broadcom reported its sixth consecutive quarter of revenue growth. Net revenue for Q4 2002 was $295.9 million, up 2.1% over the previous quarter and up 30.5% from Q4 2001. Net loss for the quarter (GAAP) was $1.76 billion, or $6.40 per share. Pro forma non-GAAP net loss for the fourth quarter of 2002 was $6.6 million, or $.02 per share. The GAAP results included a non-cash goodwill impairment charge of $1.24 billion. Broadcom also recorded restructuring charges of $87.8 million to cover the costs of reduction of facilities and employee severance...

Broadcom Announces Resignation of Nicholas as CEO

Dr. Henry T. Nicholas III resigned his positions as President and CEO of Broadcom. He agreed to serve out his current term as Co-Chairman of the Board of Directors. After more than a decade at Broadcom, Nicholas said he would take time off to attend to serious family matters. He also noted that Broadcom had weathered "the worst economic downturn in the history of our industry." Alan E. "Lanny" Ross, the company's current COO, will assume Nicholas' positions until a permanent replacement is named.In addition, Broadcom named four new vice presidents...

MFN Sells Single Phoenix Conduit to AGL Networks

Metromedia Fiber Network sold a single conduit in portions of its Phoenix, Arizona network to AGL Networks. A remaining conduit will stay under the ownership and operation of MFN and the company will continue it business of leasing dark fiber to enterprise and carrier customers. MFN said that despite the sale, it remains the only licensed dark fiber provider in the Phoenix area. Financial terms were not disclosed. http://www.mfn....

MFN Sells its Operations in France and the Netherlands

Metromedia Fiber Network (MFN) has sold its operations in France and the Netherlands to management buyout teams, and its metropolitan fiber network in four Dutch cities to Global Voice Network Limited. MFN and its Dutch subsidiary will retain ownership of the IP network and continue to provide IP services to the management buy-out teams for resale to their customers, as well as to the Company's global customers with a presence in France and the Netherlands. Financial terms were not disclosed. As part of its ongoing European strategy, MFN will...

Vonage Signs its 10,000th Digital Telephone Subscriber

Vonage, a provider of digital telephone service, signed on its 10,000th customer. Vonage said it has completed over seven million calls across its SIP network since launching the service ten months ago. The service connects standard telephones via a broadband connection. Several flat rate pricing plans are offered. http://www.vonage....

3Com and Infineon Settle Ethernet-over-DSL Dispute

3Com and Infineon Technologies AG announced a settlement in their intellectual property dispute concerning Ethernet over DSL. Under the agreement, 3Com assigns rights to certain patents to Infineon in exchange for an undisclosed fee and a portion of future royalties earned through licensing the patents. Infineon's Packet-over-VDSL (PoVDSL) and 10BaseS chips incorporate the technology protected by these patents. Engineers from Savan, an Israeli start-up acquired by Infineon, were assisted by 3Com engineers when they developed the technology protected...

Nortel Networks and CIENA Reach Settlement

Nortel Networks and CIENA reached a settlement in the pending lawsuit originally brought by Nortel Networks in March 2000 against ONI Systems alleging patent infringement and misappropriation of trade secrets. Ciena subsequently acquired ONI. As part of the settlement, Nortel Networks grants CIENA a license under certain patents in exchange for a $25 million one-time payment. The companies further agreed not to sue each other for patent infringement for two years, during which time they will seek to negotiate a cross-license arrangement. http://www.nortelnetworks.com...

BellSouth Passes 1 Million DSL Subscribers, But Reports 3.2% Access Line Loss in 2002

Citing weak demand for communications services, both in the United States and Latin America, BellSouth reported Q4 consolidated revenues (excluding Cingular Wireless) of $5.69 billion, compared to $6.21 billion in Q4 2001. The company's reported earnings per share were $0.32. Operating free cash flow (defined as cash flow from operations less capital expenditures) was $791 million in Q4. BellSouth said bankruptcies continued to affect retail and wholesale demand, as well as bad debt expense. Other negative factors included retail access line...

Microsoft to Acquire PlaceWare, a Web Conferencing Service Provider

Microsoft plans to acquire PlaceWare, a provider of Web conferencing services. The PlaceWare service is aimed at businesses wishing to conduct real-time, interactive presentations and meetings over the Internet. The service currently supports large-scale meetings with up to thousands of attendees. Financial terms were not disclosed. Microsoft said it intends to make PlaceWare a part of its new Real Time Collaboration Group, which will offer online business communication tools and services. The newly formed group will be led by Anoop Gupta,...

AT&T Sees Continued LD Decline, No Turn Around Yet

AT&T said it has yet to see a turn around in overall corporate telecommunications spending and does not expect a significant improvement this year. The company reported Q4 2002 revenue of $9.3 billion, a decline of 8.6% from the year-ago quarter. There was a loss per diluted share from continuing operations of $0.79. AT&T attributed the revenue decline to continued pricing pressure in long distance voice services. Other negative factors included charges for its past investment in AT&T Latin America, special charges for layoffs,...

Cisco Files Lawsuit Against Huawei Technologies

Cisco Systems filed a lawsuit against Huawei Technologies and its subsidiaries Huawei America and FutureWei Technologies alleging unlawful copying of Cisco's intellectual property. In particular, the suit alleges that Huawei unlawfully copied and misappropriated Cisco's IOS software, including source code, copied Cisco documentation and other copyrighted materials, and infringed numerous Cisco patents. Cisco claims that Huawei's operating system contains a number of text strings, file names, and even bugs that are identical to those found in...

Tuesday, January 21, 2003

Sonus Networks Reports Q4 Revenue of $12.7 Million

Sonus Networks reported quarterly revenue of $12.7 million compared with $38.9 million in the same period last year and $7.4 million in the prior quarter. Net loss for Q4 2002 was $12.8 million or $0.07 per share. Revenues for fiscal year 2002 were $62.6 million compared with $173.2 million for fiscal year 2001. The company cited progress in returning to business fundamentals in Q4. http://www.sonusnet....

Tellabs Reports Q4 Sales Of $313 Million, Up 9%

Tellabs reported quarterly revenue of $313 million, up 9% sequentially. Including special charges, there was a net loss of $84.5 million or $0.21 per share for the quarter. Excluding these charges, Tellabs recorded a pro forma net loss of $10.2 million or $0.02 per share. The company said all of its product groups delivered higher sequential sales, with a record 37% of sales coming from international customers. Globally, new products accounted for 14% of sales, up from 9% in the previous quarter. http://www.tellabs....

Lucent Reports $2 Billion in Q4 Revenue, Comments on Cisco Deal, Upcoming UNE Decision

Lucent reported quarterly revenues of $2.08 billion, a 9% sequential decline from the prior quarter and down from $3.58 billion in revenues in the year-ago quarter. The figure was in-line with previous guidance. The net loss for the quarter was $264 million or $0.11 per share. While not forecasting an improvement in the overall market, Lucent continues to expect an increase in its revenues to about $2.5 billion in the current quarter. The company has announced 20 new contracts over the past 3 months representing close to $1.5 billion in revenues....

Shoreline Secures $10.75 Million for its IP-PBXs

Shoreline Communications, a start-up based in Mountain View, California, secured an additional $10.75 million of financing for its enterprise-class IP PBX systems. The company, which has been shipping IP PBXs since October 1998, said "the VoIP market is clearly taking off and Shoreline is growing even faster than the market with a 70% revenue increase from Q1 to Q4 2002." Previous investors participated in this round, including Crosspoint Venture Partners, Lehman Brothers, Foundation Capital, JP Morgan and FocusVentures. In addition, Kathryn...

AOMEMS Announces New 8 X 8 Optical Broadcast Switch

Advanced Optical MEMS, a start-up based in Irvine, California, introduced an 8 x 8 opto-mechanical switch that can be configured as a broadcast switch, a crossconnect or a protection switch. Target applications include SANs, Video On Demand (VOD) and distributed data processing. http://www.aomems....

Cisco Supplies Converged Network to Canadian City

The City of Mississauga in Ontario, Canada has deployed a converged voice-data network that is expected to deliver up to $700,000 in annual savings. The $3.3 million dollar network, which is described as the largest municipal IP telephony system in Canada, will feature 2,300 Cisco IP phones at more than 60 municipal buildings throughout the city. The transition to IP telephony, which began in June 2002, is scheduled to be complete by late spring 2003. http://www.cisco....

Telia's Viking Network transmits Polish TV to USA

Telia International Carrier began carrying Polish TV programming across the Atlantic using its SDH network. The Polish broadcaster and its American affiliate chose the fiber solution over conventional satellite relay. http://www.telia...

RAD and Axerra Work Toward TDM over IP

RAD Data Communications and Axerra Networks successfully tested RAD's IPmux-1 customer located TDM over IP Gateway and the AXN Multiservice IP Concentrator with Circuit Emulation Service over IP support. The demonstration included both fractional E1/T1 as well as unframed E1/T1 traffic, replicating the source clock originating at the Central Office. The joint solution would enable users to migrate legacy voice, video, and data traffic, as well as LAN, over large, complex Ethernet/IP networks. http://www.axerranetworks.com http://www.rad....

Neralink Networks Develops Ethernet over SONET/SDH System

Neralink Networks, a start-up based in Herzelia, Israel, introduced an Ethernet over SONET/SDH edge platform. The Neralink MSU-300 resizes SONET/SDH channels to more efficiently transport data, enabling carriers to support up to five times more traffic on their networks without stranded bandwidth or the added cost of an overlay network. The compact unit supports native Ethernet and E1/T1/J1 TDM services. Neralink Networks said it is negotiating its first $1.8 million OEM contract for the second half of 2003. The company is looking for two more...

MetaSwitch Converges Telco and Cable VoIP for Rural Incumbent

New Knoxville Telephone, an incumbent service provider in rural Ohio, selected MetaSwitch's VP3500 Next Generation Class 5 Switch to provide local dial-tone services to subscribers of its Cable TV and CLEC subsidiaries. The Metaswitch switching platform will be used to natively terminate VoIP, VoATM and TDM calls originating on traditional telco and cable access networks. The MetaSwitch VP3500 platform integrates softswitch, media and signaling gateway components. In the telephony access network, legacy POTS is delivered via an AFC UMC1000 DLC,...

Cox Installs SupportSoft to Remotely Diagnose Customer Broadband Trouble

Cox Communications has deployed SupportSoft's software to 1,200 of its customer service agents. The software enables Cox analysts to connect directly to a customer's computer with their permission and diagnose problems in real-time. The company claims a 90% resolution rate for assisted-service calls using SupportSoft technology. http://www.support....

GlobespanVirata Supports 16 Mbps ADSL Rates

GlobespanVirata began sampling a new ADSL CPE chipset with G.Span extended rate and reach technology capable of 16 Mbps rates with 30% greater reach over existing high-speed ADSL solutions. GlobespanVirata said its new Argon III Plus chipset with G.Span addresses all existing worldwide standards and is fully upgradeable to the new ITU ADSL2 and ADSL+ standards. http://www.globespanvirata....

UK Opens 5 GHz Spectrum for WLAN Use

The government of the UK will open more spectrum for unlicensed use in wireless hotspots. The deregulation will allow commercial network operators and other public and private users to set up Radio Local Area Networks (RLANs) to operate in parts of the 5 GHz radio spectrum. The changes will come into effect on 12-February-2003. A similar deregulation of the radio spectrum at 2.4 GHz was made in June 2002. http://www.radio.gov...

Digital Teleport Expects Multiple Bids for its Regional Fiber Network

Digital Teleport received bankruptcy court approval to proceed with an auction of its regional fiber network. Digital Teleport provides wholesale optical transport and Ethernet services in secondary and tertiary markets in the Midwest to national and regional carriers. The company has already received a definitive $38 million bid from CenturyTel, the eighth largest incumbent carrier in the US based on the number of access lines. Digital Teleport filed is Chapter 11 paper on 31-December-2001. http://www.digitalteleport....

Birch Telecom and Ionex to Merge, $40 Million in New Funding

Birch Telecom and Ionex Telecom announced plans to merge, creating one of the largest CLECs in the southern and central US. Birch Telecom offers local and long-distance telephone service across 10 states. Ionex is a privately owned integrated communications provider serving small to medium-sized business customers in Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri. The combined company will serve over 500,000 telephone lines, heavily concentrated in Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri and Kansas, and generate $350 million in annual revenues. The new company will...

Court Orders Verizon to Disclose File Swapper's Identity

A federal court ordered that Verizon Online must disclose the identity of one of its Internet access customers whom the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) suspects of sharing copyrighted music files. Verizon said: "The court's decision has troubling ramifications for consumers, service providers and the growth of the Internet. It opens the door for anyone who makes a mere allegation of copyright infringement to gain complete access to private subscriber information without the due process protections afforded by the courts. This...

WilTel Provides SBC with Optical Capacity for National Network

WilTel (formerly Williams Communications) will provide SBC Communications with 10 Gbps OC-192c transport for building out its national IP network. WilTel expects to activate the network within 75 days. WilTel, which recently emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, described the deal as the largest in its history. SBC's backbone IP network will be utilized for growth of its IP-based services such as business Internet access, SBC- Yahoo! DSL, SBC-Yahoo! Dial, Virtual Private Networking, Internet Data Centers, and Web Hosting. http://www.wiltelcommunications.comIn...