XO Offers to Acquire Global Crossing for $700 Million

XO Communications offered to acquire all of the assets of Global Crossing for $700 million. XO's offer is comprised of $250 million of cash, $200 million of new 11% notes secured by all of the assets of Global Crossing, $200 million junior preferred stock in New Global Crossing, a 100% owned subsidiary of XO, and 15 million 5 year warrants to acquire stock in XO at $10.00 per share. XO said its offer would increase the proceeds available to Global Crossing creditors by over $100 million versus the current bid by Singapore Technologies Telemedia....

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D-Link Introduces Wi-Fi Internet Camera

D-Link introduced an enhanced 2.4 GHz Wireless Internet Camera that could be used as a home security monitoring solution. The D-Link DCS-2100+ can produce up to 30 frames a second at two separate resolutions using MPEG-4 compression. It features an integrated Web server, a built-in microphone, remote monitoring of up to 16 cameras via a Web browser, and compatibility with all 802.11b/g networks. The camera supports scheduled and manual recordings to a computer hard drive, and can trigger recording and send an email alert when motion is detected...

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Telecom Association Predicts Strong Increase in Corporate VPN Spending this Year

The Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) is predicting that corporate spending for VPN services in North America will rise by 43% in 2003. In 2002, the North American VPN market totaled $11.7 billion, consisting of $9.9 billion in services revenues and $1.8 billion in equipment spending, according to the recently released 2003 Telecommunications Market Review and Forecast, an annual TIA publication. Last year, businesses increased spending on ATM and Frame relay services by 38.7% and 19.3%, respectively, over the previous year. The TIA...

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EarthLink Selects Netopia Routers for Business Service

Netopia announced a major contract to supply its R5300 router for use with EarthLink's new Extended DSL service. Financial terms were not disclosed. http://www.netopia....

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Marconi Combines 3DES and SNMPv3 with its Management Software

Marconi now supports Triple Data Encryption Standard (3DES) for Simple Network Management Protocol, version 3, as a means to encrypt and secure the messages that manage its multiservice switch-routers. SNMP is a commonly used protocol for managing devices in a network. SNMPv3 improves security over previous versions by helping to ensure that each management message comes from an authenticated, verifiable source and has not been altered by unauthorized users. Marconi's 3DES for SNMPv3 is enabled with Marconi's management software and interoperates...

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Turin Networks Adds Wideband DCS Functionality

Turin Networks, a start-up based in Petaluma, California, is adding scalable wideband DCS functionality to its flagship Traverse Platform. Turin's Traverse platform integrates SONET Add-Drop Multiplexer (ADM), digital cross connect (DCS) and edge switch functionality in a single compact system that scales from DS1 to OC-192 per system slot. Key features of the platform include the ability to natively aggregate/groom/transport/manage TDM and packet based traffic, and the ability to provide Ethernet switching with X.86 standards-based Ethernet-over-SONET...

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Real Networks Launches its Own Digital Music Service

Real Networks launched its "RealOne RHAPSODY" digital music subscription service offering consumers unlimited streaming access to its library of 330,000 tracks from major and independent music labels. The service is priced at $9.95 per month for on-demand, streaming access to the content. The service also allows subscribers to burn certain songs to CD for $0.79 per song. The library of songs that can be burned to CD includes more than 200,000 tracks. http://www.realnetworks.comLast month, RealNetworks announced that it had entered into a definitive...

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Broadband Subscribers up 136% in Europe

High-speed residential Internet subscribers in Europe increased 136% from April 2002 to April 2003, according to a report from Nielsen//NetRatings. The UK experienced the largest increase of any European country during this period: 235%. Currently, 28% of European Internet users are connected at high speed, versus just 14% one year ago. This compares to 35% in the United States, and much higher rates in certain Asian markets, including 82% in Hong Kong.The study also found that broadband users are spending significantly more time online, using...

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Agere Packs 8 ARM Cores into a Single Chip

Agere Systems has integrated eight ARM966E-S processor cores into a single chip thereby offering four times the processing performance of current generation technology. Agere designed and verified each ARM core on the 0.16 micron device as a subsystem, which was integrated into a customer's proprietary ASIC architecture. The company said the primary technical challenge for the design team to solve was working out how the eight cores talk to each other across the device. http://www.agere....

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Sunrise Adds Gigabit Ethernet to its Test Platform

Sunrise Telecom introduced a multi-port Ethernet test module for its STT (Scalable Test Toolkit) platform, which provides key measurements for SONET/SDH and DWDM metro networks. The STT Ethernet Module can test up to 8 Ethernet/Fast Ethernet and 2 Gigabit Ethernet links simultaneously, aiding the roll out of metro Ethernet services. http://www.sunrisetelecom....

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BRECIS Wins $15 Million Order for VoIP in Indonesia

BRECIS Communications was awarded a $15 million contract with Syspol Co. Ltd. of South Korea to provide the processor platform for a broadband gateway that will be deployed in Indonesia. PT TELKOM, the nation's incumbent operator, is planning to rollout an HFC network that will serve over one million homes and offices in Indonesia. A single broadband connection would be used to provide telephony, high speed Internet access, multi-channel CATV, and other services. The BRECIS processors will be used inside of Syspol access devices at each customer...

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3Com Issues Revenue Warning

3Com anticipates revenues for the quarter ending 30-May-2003 will be in the range of $165 million to $175 million, excluding revenues from CommWorks which will be accounted for as discontinued operations. This compares with quarterly revenue of $245 million (including CommWorks) for the prior quarter.Excluding CommWorks, gross margins are expected to be in the mid thirty percent range and adversely impacted by the decline in sales. Connectivity sales are expected to decline by 15 to 20% compared to the prior quarter. Enterprise Networking sales...

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Cingular Ties Yahoo! Messenger into its Mobile Service

Cingular Wireless is extending its PC-to-mobile messaging services by allowing users of Yahoo! Messenger to send instant messages to Cingular Wireless customers' phones. The two-way text messaging works only with Yahoo! Messenger. http://www.cingular.comT-Mobile USA has a similar partnership with America Online's Instant Messenger (AI...

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Korea Telecom Trials Navini's Beam-forming Wireless to Extend Wi-Fi Coverage

KT (Korea Telecom) launched a 2.3 GHz "portable" broadband wireless trial this month in Seoul using equipment from Navini Networks. KT already operates the largest public Wi-Fi network in the world (over 8,000 hot-spots, growing to 16,000 by year's end). KT will test the extension of those hot spots using Navini Ripwave equipment. The field trial uses spectrum defined by the Korean government as high-speed wireless Internet service called PI (Portable Internet). Navini uses phased-array smart antennas with beamforming capabilities and multi-carrier...

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Qwest Sees Improvement in Retail Consumer Access Line Losses

Citing signs of improvement in its core businesses, Qwest Communications reported Q1 net income of $150 million or $0.09 per diluted share. Revenue for Q1 was $3.63 billion, a 9.4% decrease from the same period last year. The decline was attributed to competitive pressures in local voice and wireless services, as well as strategic de-emphasis of certain lines of business, including CPE resale and out-of-region consumer and wholesale long-distance. Some of the key operational and financial highlights for the quarter include:in DSL, Qwest ended...

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BT Sells Voice Detection Patents to Korea's LG Electronics

BT announced its largest intellectual property sale to date. The deal involves the sale of BTexact's voice activity detector (VAD) patents to Korea's LG Electronics. The technology can be used to detect the presence or absence of voice to prolong battery life in mobile devices, increase the capacity of the networks and to solve other problems encountered in mobile communications. Financial terms were not disclosed. http://www.btexact.com http://www.lge....

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Marconi Posts 2002/03 Preliminary Statement

Marconi announced financial results for the three months and twelve months ended 31 March 2003. The company said "very tough market conditions" continue but that its financial condition is improving in spite of lower sales volume. Some key points include:the company has emerged from bankruptcy protection and the new listing of Marconi Corporation plc is trading on the London marketgross external debt has been reduced to £808m (pro forma) from £3.9bn sales for the quarter ending 31-Mar-03 were £426 million gross margins for the quarter were 24.4%,...

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BellSouth, SBC and Verizon Agree on Specs for FTTP

BellSouth, SBC Communications and Verizon agreed on a common set of specifications for fiber to the premises (FTTP) local access networks. The common technical requirements will be based on existing technical standards. The three service providers today issued a letter to telecom equipment manufacturers, alerting them that the providers will soon be seeking proposals for equipment based on the common requirements. The companies will independently finalize their FTTP deployment plans for 2004 and beyond based on the evaluation of these proposals,...

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Octasic Offers Latest Voice Quality Enhancement Chips

Octasic introduced a new series of echo cancellation and voice quality enhancement (VQE) modules for telecom equipment manufacturers. The OCT9600 series is a family of voice processor modules offering a range of densities from 256 to 4032 channels. These modules are powered by Octasic's OCT6100 echo cancellation chips, which use a unique echo cancellation algorithm to improve voice quality. Advanced features of the modules include ITU G.169 automatic level control, automatic noise reduction, integrated debugging and monitoring, extensive in-band...

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Alcatel Tunes is Metro Ethernet Switching Portfolio

Alcatel introduced a Smart Continuous Switching (SCS) feature providing carrier-class reliability for its OmniSwitch 7000 and 8000 series of metro Ethernet products. SCS distributes intelligence functions throughout network interface modules, rather than through a central processor, to ensure that there is no interruption of services or performance during the loss of a critical network element. The Alcatel OmniSwitch also features a distributed ASIC and network processor architecture to ensure no single point of failure. The OmniSwitch line can...

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Marconi to Resell Laurel's Service Edge Router

Marconi will resell Laurel Networks' Service Edge Router as part of its networking solutions for U.S. federal government network operators and global service providers. Under the partnership, Marconi introduces the BXR-5000, a scalable 160 Gbps per rack platform (80 Gbps in and 80 Gbps out) that supports the aggregation of high-density Gigabit Ethernet (GigE) into a high-speed multiservice core over OC-48c / STM-16 or OC-192c / STM-64. The edge router complements Marconi's BXR-48000, a 960 Gbps (480 Gbps in and 480 Gbps out) switch-router by supporting...

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Juniper Advances Network Security Across its Platforms

Juniper Networks introduced new network security capabilities across its E-, M- and T-series platforms. New capabilities within Juniper's J-Protect security solution include: Adaptive Services Physical Interface Card (PIC) and enhanced Tunnel Services Module add integrated, high-performance Network Address Translation (NAT) and Stateful Firewalling capabilitiesMonitoring PIC (M-PIC) delivers integrated high-performance Flow Monitoring to the portfolioPort Mirroring in the E-series simplifies traffic monitoring and analysisNew J-Protect Professional...

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Telica Chooses DCL for VoIP Software

Telica has licensed Data Connection Limited's (DCL's) DC-MGCP, DC-Megaco, DC-SIP and DC-ATM software for its Plexus 9000 softswitch-based switching platform. DCL's SIP, MGCP and Megaco/H.248 products provide portable source code for VoIP applications, with support for advanced distributed and fault-tolerant architectures. The Telica Plexus 9000 is a carrier-grade switch that includes all the elements of a softswitch-based solution, media gateway, media gateway controller and signaling gateway, to provide Class 4/5 switching for the PSTN as well...

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BellSouth Captures 19% of Consumers and 33% of Businesses in Long Distance

Marking the first anniversary of gaining regulatory approval to offer long distance voice services in Georgia and Louisiana, BellSouth said it has captured 18.5% of residential customers and 32.9% of mass market business long distance customers in those states. BellSouth now serves more than 1.9 million long distance customers region-wide. http://www.bellsouth....

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Switch and Data Announces Positive Net Income

Switch and Data, a provider of carrier-neutral interconnection and colocation services, reported two consecutive months of positive net income following its acquisition of PAIX. Switch and Data, which is a privately held firm, has seen a 91% increase in revenues from April 2002 to April 2003 and reports current annualized monthly revenues of $74 million, which is ahead of plan. The company expects positive net income for the full year. Through April, Switch and Data added 53 new customers to its interconnection and colocation facilities bringing...

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Lithuanian Telecom Deploys Cisco MPLS Core

Lithuanian Telecom (AB Lietuvos Telekomas) is deploying a 10 Gbps MPLS IP core based on Cisco 12000 Series routers. The backbone will be used to help underpin next-generation services such as video content delivery and Ethernet access. Financial terms were not disclosed. http://www.cisco....

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White Rock Adds High-Density DS1 and Fast Ethernet

White Rock Networks is adding high-density DS1 and 10/100 Fast Ethernet support to its VLX2020 OC-48/192 SONET platform. The new ETS2 tributary shelf plugs into White Rock's VLX2020 Main Shelf, creating an OC-192 SONET ADM with DS1, Fast Ethernet, DS3, Gigabit Ethernet, and OC-n services in a single network element occupying only five rack units in height. Up to 672 DS1 or 192 Fast Ethernet services (in addition to multiple OC-n, Gigabit Ethernet and DS-3 services) can be delivered directly from a single OC-48/192 SONET network element. Each DS1...

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Tellabs Launches 5500 NGX-MX Transport Switch

Tellabs introduced its NGX family of next-generation transport switches designed to integrate bandwidth management and transport functions while scaling up to 5,376 STS-1 equivalent capacity (2,688 STS-1s for fully-protected TDM applications). The new Tellabs 5500 NGX-MX transport switch reduces central office floor space requirements by 90% compared to first-generation digital cross-connects and stacked add/drop multiplexers (ADMs). Integrating digital cross-connect and transport systems into one switch also reduces inter-machine tie-trunks that...

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AT&T Introduces New Recovery, Availability Services

AT&T introduced new, integrated recovery, availability and reliability services to help businesses meet recent regulatory and legislative requirements for certain business sectors (particularly financial services and health care) to implement more comprehensive risk mitigation plans. The new services include:AT&T StorageConnect Service, which enables clients to extend their remote replication, backup and multi-vendor SAN between their premises and/or AT&T Internet Data Centers (IDCs), over any distance, virtually any bandwidth and storage...

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SureWest Deploys Minerva for its Triple-Play Service

SureWest Communications is using Minerva Networks' video services management software to offer interactive television services to its subscribers. SureWest provides a "triple-play" bundle consisting of digital television, high-speed data and telephone services to residential customers in the Sacramento, California region. Minerva's client server middleware manages the delivery of the television services over the IP network. http://www.minervanetworks....

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Canada's Shaw Communications Combines VoD with Internet Ordering/Control

Shaw Cablesystems launched a new cable video-on-demand service that uses an Internet-based customer interface to control the two-way cable service. Customers access Shaw On Demand's online ordering system through a secure Shaw web site There they can browse the library of available content, view full motion movie trailers and previews, and place their orders. Within seconds of initiating their order, their selection is available for a 24-hour viewing period through the Shaw Digital Terminal on their home television. The company believes it is...

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NTT Communications Deploys Vivace MPLS Multiservice Switch

NTT Communications has completed installation of Vivace Networks' Viva Multi-Service switch in its national network in Japan. NTT Communications is using the Viva Multi-Service node as a consolidated edge and core router. The network is currently delivering Ethernet over MPLS services nationwide. The deployment allows NTT Communications to offer a full range of service offerings including new IP, Ethernet, Frame Relay and ATM services on a single platform. Financial terms were not disclosed. http://www.ntt.com http://www.vivacenetworks....

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NTT DoCoMo Plans 4G Field Trial

NTT DoCoMo is planning to launch a trial 4G mobile network at its R&D facilities in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. The field trial will employ Variable Spreading Factor Orthogonal Frequency and Code Division Multiplexing (VSF-OFCDM) and Variable Spreading Factor Code Division Multiple Access (VSF-CDMA) technologies. VSF-OFCDM enables downlink connections of extremely high speeds, both indoors and outdoors, while VSF-CDMA realizes high-speed, high-efficiency packet transmissions for the uplink. DoCoMo has previously demonstrated 4G performance...

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Lucent Introduces SONET Mux Small/Medium Enterprises

Lucent Technologies introduced its next-generation SONET access multiplexer for enterprise installations in North America. The new Metropolis DMXplore Access Multiplexer is a single shelf, multi-service access device that enables 16 protected or unprotected DS-1s over an OC-3 interface. The unit, which is designed for fiber to the business and fiber to the curb applications, provides a pre-provisioned set of cross-connections (fixed mapping), which aids in quick deployments. The Metropolis DMXplore is supported by Lucent's Navis Optical Management...

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Sony Combines DVD, DVR and Gaming

Sony introduced a new home entertainment box that combines a DVD player, digital video recording capabilities and a PlayStation 2 console. Sony's PlayStation 3 is not expected until 2004. http://www.sony.co...

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Centillium's Maximus ADSL2 Chipset Claims 50 Mbps

Centillium Communications unveiled its "Maximus" 12-channel, central office (CO) chipset compliant with the ITU-T G.992.1 (G.dmt), G.992.2 (G.lite), G.992.3 (G.adsl2) and G.992.5 (G.adsl2plus) standards. The company claims its eXtremeDSLMAX technology is able to deliver up to 50 Mbps of downstream bandwidth for short loops, or reach customers at distances up to 22,000 feet from the central office, while maintaining full backward compatibility with over 30 million deployed ADSL modems. ADSL2plus standard offers downstream data rates of up 24 Mbps...

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HP Introduces Mid-Range Enterprise Ethernet Switch

HP unveiled a new, more cost-effective Ethernet switch designed for mid-size enterprises. The HP ProCurve Switch 2626 is a stackable, multi-layer, managed 26-port switch with wire-speed performance, 24 auto-sensing 10/100 ports and 2 dual personality ports for 10/100/1000 or mini-GBIC SX, LX and LH connectivity. The switch provides layer 3 static routing, which enables VLAN-to-VLAN communication between the wiring closet and data center. Extensive access and management security capabilities include IEEE 802.1x port-based access control with RADIUS...

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India's Data Access Enters North American VoIP Business

Data Access, a fast growing international long distance carrier in India, activated a New York VoIP switching facility. The company was granted a facility-based 214 carrier license in December 2002. The New York switch is interconnected with Data Access' global network and is delivering traffic to 230 countries around the world. All nine nodal switches across the Data Access Network are managed and controlled from the Data Access Super NOC in New Delhi, India. Data Access said this off-shore operational model would give it a cost-advantage compared...

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PCTEL Files Modem Lawsuits Against Agere, Broadcom, Lucent, USR

PCTEL, a provider of 802.11 mobility software and software-defined radio products, filed patent infringement lawsuits against modem manufacturers Agere Systems, Broadcom, Lucent, and U.S. Robotics Corporation. The suits allege infringement of modem technology developed or acquired by PCTEL. A similar complaint was filed against 3Com in March 2003. http://www.pctel.comPCTEL recently divested its modem product line to Conexant Systems. In addition to cash consideration, Conexant granted PCTEL ownership of approximately 50 modem related patents....

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Northrop Grumman Petitions for More Spectrum for Emergency Services

Northrop Grumman is petitioning the FCC for an additional 10 MHz of public safety spectrum that will permit deployment of advanced broadband wireless applications needed by first responders. Specifically, Northrop Grumman is asking the FCC to set aside 10 MHz located below three GHz, preferably at 747-752 and 777-782 MHz or elsewhere in the 700 MHz Band. http://www.northropgrumman....

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Lufthansa to Install Connexion by Boeing on Long-haul Fleet

Lufthansa signed an agreement for the installation of the Connexion by Boeing service on its fleet of approximately 80 long-haul aircraft, beginning in 2004. The companies are working on payment options that would allow passengers to use Lufthansa's Miles and More mileage credits or payment of a nominal service access fee. http://www.boeing.com/connexionIn addition to Lufthansa, British Airways, Japan Airlines and Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS) have announced their intent to install the Connexion by Boeing satellite-based broadband service...

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Telecom Namibia selects Alcatel's LMDS

Telecom Namibia will deploy Alcatel's Local Multipoint Distribution Service (LMDS) broadband wireless solution and high-capacity urban microwave radio systems to deliver broadband services. The deployment will use Alcatel's 9600 USY microwave systems, which cover the frequency range 6GHz to 38GHz, and provide interconnections with SDH fiber facilities. Financial terms were not disclosed. http://www.alcatel....

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Alcatel wins 10 Gbps DWDM Contract with China Telecom

China Telecom awarded a multimillion dollar contract to Alcatel Shanghai Bell for the construction of a new 10 Gbps DWDM network linking western and southern China. Specifically, Alcatel will deliver its 1686 DWDM platform together with its end-to-end 1300 NM network management platform. The new network will span 2,177 km from Sichuan in western China to Yunnan and Guizhou in southern China. http://www.alcatel....

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Marconi to Outsource IT Operations to CSC

Marconi signed a ten year outsourcing agreement for the management of its internal Information Technology (IT) systems to Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC). The deal was valued at £450 million (US$735 million) over the ten year term. As part of the deal, CSC will acquire Marconi's IT assets worldwide, with the exception of its Asia Pacific and the Middle East regions and the company's UK-based Interactive Systems business, for £26.3 million (approximately US$43 million) in cash. http://www.marconi.comIn April, Ericsson announced plans to outsource...

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Vivace Adds Redundancy Features to Multi-Service IP Switch

Vivace Networks announced new redundancy features for its ASIC-driven Viva5100 Multi-Service IP switch, including several unique Layer 3 capabilities. These include:Hitless IP forwarding during switch over of route processor and management processor for connected, static and dynamic routing for true non-stop forwarding to protect mission critical traffic.Layer 2 redundancy for Ethernet, ATM, Frame Relay, and HDLC services on an IP Switch.Graceful and Hitless online software upgrades Static and Dynamic ARP redundancy for growing IP/Ethernet services...

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Terayon Announced DOCSIS 2.0 Deployment in Korea

Hanvit I&B, the second largest Korean cable operator with more than 2 million subscribers, is using Terayon Communication Systems' cable modem termination system to deliver DOCSIS 2.0 services. DOCSIS 2.0 in Korea has already begun. In addition to Terayon's DOCSIS 2.0 CMTS, Hanvit I&B is using Terayon's DOCSIS 2.0 cable modems at the broadband subscriber end. Terayon said its DOCSIS 2.0 system can deliver approximately 40 Mbps of content from the Internet to the subscriber, and allows the subscriber to transmit nearly 30 Mbps upstream...

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Irish Broadband Deploys Navini's Wireless Broadband

Irish Broadband is deploying Navini Networks' Ripwave wireless platform to deliver multi-megabit services to residential and business customers in Dublin beginning next month. Over the course of the next year, Irish Broadband plans to deploy Ripwave base stations in communities throughout the Dublin area. Financial terms were not disclosed. Navini said the contract represents its third European deployment. http://www.navini....

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Tellabs Adds Layer 2 Switching to its Next Gen SDH

As a second phase in its Ethernet-over-SDH strategy, Tellabs is adding Layer 2 switching and guaranteed QoS to its next-generation Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH) portfolio. The new and enhanced Tellabs 6300 uses MPLS to deliver managed Layer 2 Virtual Private Networks (VPN) services using SDH. The Tellabs 6300 also features Generic Framing Procedure (GFP), Virtual Concatenation (VCX) and Link Capacity Adjustment Scheme (LCAS) resiliency. Tellabs said the Layer 2 switching functionality enables network operators to build large Ethernet networks...

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ADTRAN Boosts its DSLAM to 3,000 Ports

ADTRAN announced several enhancements to its Total Access 3000 DSLAM including new network interfaces that add OC-3c and global STM-1 capability. Additionally, the expanded ATM multiplexer architecture allows ADTRAN to deliver over 3000 ports of ADSL in two 7-foot racks. http://www.adtran....

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Sprint Begins its Migration from Circuit to Packet-Switched Voice Network

Sprint launched its migration from a circuit-switched telephone network to a packet network with the replacement of its entire local switching infrastructure in Gardner, Kansas. Sprint will be capable of combining three separate "overlay" networks into a single, ATM network for voice, data and private-line services. Class 5 circuit switches will be replaced using Nortel Networks' Succession Communication Server 2000 superclass softswitches, Succession Multiservice Gateway 4000, Succession Media Gateway 9000, and Nortel Networks Passport 15000...

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Luminous Networks Launches PacketWave Metro Edge RPR Platform

Luminous Networks, a start-up based in Cupertino, California, expanded its portfolio of resilient packet ring (RPR) metro optical transport products with the launch of a new, low-cost multiservice transport platform for 1 Gbps or 2.5 Gbps rings. Like Luminous Networks' existing M-series (metro core) and C-Series (metro access) platforms, the new PacketWave E500 leverages RPR layer 2 technology to integrate Ethernet and TDM services using ring architectures that are cheaper and more bandwidth-efficient than SONET/SDH. RPR is being standardized...

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Atrica Expands its Carrier Optical Ethernet Portfolio, Ramps Shipments

Atrica, a start-up based in Santa Clara, California, announced three additions to its portfolio of carrier optical Ethernet products. Atrica's Optical Ethernet Systems -- including 10 Gigabit Ethernet and integrated WDM -- are positioned as an alternative to SONET/SDH-based equipment or RPR architectures. Key features of the Atrica optical Ethernet platform include high port densities in NEBS-compliant chassis, an MPLS architecture capable of supporting large numbers of flows, SLAs, sub-50 millisecond resiliency, integration with circuit switched...

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ADC to Support Internet Photonics' Optical Ethernet and WDM

ADC will provide installation, commissioning and integration services for Internet Photonics' LightStack family of products, which are used as optical transport platforms for carriers and cable operators. ADC Systems Integration will support the Internet Photonics platform across customers segments throughout North America. http://www.internetphotonics.com http://www.adc.comIn March 2003, Internet Photonics introduced a new LightStack Gigabit Services Line Access Multiplexer (GSLAM) designed to aggregate, switch and multiplex multiple services...

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Vonage Reaches 25,000 Broadband VoIP Customers

Vonage activated its 25,000th VoIP customer line. The company said it is adding about 1,000 new lines to its network every week. To date, over 23 million calls have been completed across Vonage's SIP network. Vonage charges $39.99/month for unlimited calling throughout the US and Canada for residential customers. The service uses an adapter to connect regular phones to DSL or cable modem broadband connections. http://www.vonage.comAs of 08-May-2003, Yahoo! BB was providing VoIP residential service to 2,162,000 broadband customers in Japan....

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Hotsip AB Raises EUR 3 Million from Japanese Customer

Hotsip AB, a start-up based in Stockholm, Sweden, raised EUR 3 million in new funding from Bell Net Corporation, a Japanese systems integrator and one of Hotsip's customers. Hotsip is a developer of SIP enabled presence applications for broadband networks. Hotsip currently has two large-scale live deployments, the first being in Finland with TeliaSonera and the second in Japan. The Bell Net investment values Hotsip at EUR 30 million. Other investors in Hotsip include 3i, Argnor and Ledstiernan. http://www.hotsip....

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Voxpilot Develops Voice-enabled Polling Application

Voxpilot, a developer of VoiceXML, and Voice Business, an Austrian specialist in voice-enabled solutions for the call centre market, provided a speech-enabled telephone polling application that was used for a public opinion survey prior to the Austrian local elections. The poll called more than 3,000 selected opinion leaders to engage them in a natural dialog,, answer questions and make suggestions only a few days before the elections for the Austrian Landtag. The outbound call scheduler was able to make up to 450 calls per hour. http://www....

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Marvell Reports 12% Sequential Rise in Revenue

Marvell reported record quarterly revenue of $168.3 million for the three months ended 03-May-2003, an increase of 70% over net revenue of $98.8 million for the same period last year and a 12% sequential increase from the prior quarter. The period was Marvell's 22nd consecutive quarter of growth. Net income (GAAP) was $4.4 million, or $0.03 per share (diluted). The company said its revenue growth is being driven by the continued adoption of Gigabit Ethernet and its integrated system-on-chip storage solutions. Bookings remain strong for the...

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Equant Names New CFO

Equant announced the appointment of Jacques Kerrest as its new CFO, replacing John Allkins, who is leaving the company to pursue other interests. Kerrest most recently served as CFO of Harte-Hanks, a customer relationship management and business solutions company. http://www.equant....

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NYT: Phone Companies See Their Future in Flat-Rate Plans

The trend toward flat-rate, unlimited local + long distance calling has spread from mobile networks to nearly all the major US wireline service providers. With usage and distance-based pricing models out of favor, carrier will rely on service bundling to sustain the revenue. Commentators tell The New York Times that network usage typically has doubled when all-you-can-eat plans are introduced. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/23/business/23PHON.h...

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Nikkei: Japan Considers Lifting NTT's Fiber Lease Obligations

The government of Japan is considering eliminating the requirement for NTT to lease its fiber lines to competitors, according to Nikkei Electronics Asia. The Ministry of Telecommunications submitted the proposal to the Diet's upper house following complaints from NTT that electrical utilities, which also are building fiber networks, do not have a similar burden.http://neasia.nikkeibp.com/wcs/leaf?CID=onair/asabt/news/248...

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NEC Wins DSLAM Contract with SingTel

NEC Australia has won a contract to supply xDSL systems to Singapore Telecommunications Ltd (SingTel) . Specifically, NEC supplied its AM31 Multi-Service Access platform to SingTel in February 2003. The order was valued at US$10 million. http://www.nec.co.jp/press/en/0305/2201.htmlAs of December 2002, SingTel was serving 129,000 DSL customers in Singapore....

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Time Warner Cable Deploys Cisco's VoIP for Triple Play

Time Warner Cable began delivering VoIP cable primary-line residential telephone service in Portland, Maine using Cisco Systems' IP voice solution. The new "Digital Phone" service is part of a "triple play" bundle of services using standards-based technologies and intelligent networking based on Cisco products, including voice, video and Internet access. The deployment uses the Cisco BTS 10200 Softswitch, uBR7246VXR cable modem termination system, and MGX 8850 voice gateway products. Financial terms were not disclosed. http://www.cisco.comIn...

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Global Crossing Announces MPLS-based IP VPN Service

Global Crossing announced an MPLS-based IP VPN Service featuring three classes of service and multiple access options in more than 300 cities in 52 countries. Global Crossing has offered both IPSec-based and an MPLS-based IP VPN services since October 2001. The new service integrates the two in a single management platform. Three classes of service -- Basic, Enhanced or Premium -- are backed by Service Level Agreements (SLAs) that include latency, packet loss, jitter and availability. In addition, Global Crossing IP VPN Service provides users...

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CompTel: RBOCs are Making a Profit on UNE-P Lines

The Competitive Telecommunications Association (CompTel) published the results of a new study that finds that UNE-P leasing is actually a profitable business for the Regional Bell Operating Companies (RBOCs) at current rates. CompTel claims that the four Bell companies were earning wholesale profits of at least $605 million a year on the unbundled network element platform (UNE-P) lines as of Q1 2003. According to the CompTel's study:SBC Communications was earning $275 million in annualized profits on some 5.78 million UNE-P lines as of 31-March-2003.Verizon...

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Analog Devices Introduces its Seventh Generation ADSL Silicon

Analog Devices expanded its broadband access portfolio with four new products for ADSL central office (CO) and customer premises equipment (CPE) applications. The new silicon includes a highly-integrated chipset for ADSL bridges, routers and WLAN access points; a 16-point central office solution supporting the emerging high-speed ADSL2+ standard; a chipset for cost-sensitive routers; and an analog front end (AFE) component of ADI's CPE chipsets The new 16-port central office chipset represents Analog Devices seventh generation of DSL silicon....

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Lucent and McData Team on SAN Solutions

Lucent Technologies will partner with McData Corporation to offer comprehensive solutions for storage networking both in and between data centers. The joint solutions will integrate Lucent's OptiStar EdgeSwitch 2.0 with McDATA's suite of Intrepid Directors and Sphereon Fabric Switches. Lucent's OptiStar EdgeSwitch is an optical IP and storage router that extends Fibre Channel traffic, along with Ethernet-based LAN and network-attached storage traffic, over network backbones. An upcoming update to the OptiStar EdgeSwitch will add Domain Virtualization...

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Marconi to Offer Fuel Cells as Power Backup for Telecom Gear

Marconi announced a partnership with Metallic Power, a developer of zinc regenerative fuel cells, to provide backup power sources for the telecommunications industry. Marconi will also combine Metallic Power's unique regenerative fuel cells with its own equipment enclosures and DC power supplies. The turnkey power systems would provide an alternative and redundant power backup for wireless and wireline networks in North America. Metallic Power's zinc fuel cells are capable of powering loads from 1 to 5 kW for up to 24-hours, or more. When power...

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Alcatel Shows Optical Interconnection between 3G Base Stations

In a trial demonstration, Alcatel's data-aware SDH systems transported 3G mobile traffic between NTT DoCoMo's FOMA 3G commercial systems located in Japan and its base station modem at KPN Mobile's premises in the Netherlands. The traffic traversed the network at speeds 40 times greater than conventional GSM traffic. NTT DoCoMo's 3G wireless systems employ Alcatel's metro Optical Multi-Service Node (OMSN) products equipped with Integrated Service Adapter (ISA) plug-in cards to bridge ATM traffic. The integration of ISA plug-in cards transforms...

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BT Reports Strong Results, Profitability Rises 61%

BT posted annual revenues of £18,727 million for the fiscal year ending 31-March-2003, up by 2%. Earnings per share rose to 14.2 pence, up 61% compared to the prior year. BT said the substantial growth in earnings and cash flow reflects an improved operational efficiency of its business. Some key points:BT had 936,000 broadband end users as of 16-May-2003. The company is adding about 25,000 new DSL accounts per week and says that "broadband is at the heart of BT." The DSL footprint currently covers 69% of UK households.orders for MPLS-based...

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Broadband Reaches 2 Million Users in the UK

There are now more than 2 million broadband subscribers in the UK, according to Oftel, the nation's official telecom regulator. New broadband sign-ups are running at about 35,000 per week. http://www.oftel.gov...

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Senior Citizens Oppose Government Contracts for WorldCom

The Gray Panthers, a senior citizens pressure group, began running advertisements in The Washington Post and other national newspapers criticizing the federal government for awarding lucrative telecommunications contracts to MCI WorldCom in the wake of the $11 billion accounting fraud that has negatively impacted so many people's retirement accounts. The Gray Panthers ads claim that since the massive fraud was uncovered, MCI WorldCom has become the government's biggest telecom provider with over $750 million in federal government revenues in 2002...

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NEC Licenses DCL's Optical Control Plane Software

NEC has licensed optical control plane software from Data Connection Limited (DCL) to provide OIF-compliant network-to-network interface (NNI) functionality. Financial terms were not disclosed. DCL's integrated optical control plane includes source code components for MPLS (UNI, NNI, GMPLS and RSVP), IP Routing (OSPF-TE, IS-IS-TE and DDRP) and LMP. http://www.dataconnection....

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CIENA Reports Revenue of $73.5 million

CIENA reported quarterly revenues of $73.5 million, representing sequential growth of 4% from the prior fiscal quarter. On a GAAP basis, CIENA's reported net loss for the period was $75.5 million, or a net loss of $0.17 per share. Without special charges, the company's net loss in the quarter would be $0.10 per share. CIENA said that carriers continue to exercise extreme spending caution, perpetuating the challenging telecom equipment environment. Some highlights of the quarter:there were 65 customers in the quarter, including 7 new, unannounced...

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BT and Toshiba Launch "Hotspot in a Box"

BT and Toshiba have launched a "hotsot in a box" initiative designed to appeal to thousands of local businesses in the UK - like small hotels, bookshops and golf clubs - who want to offer Wi-Fi to their customers. Toshiba will manufacture the hotspot technology and BT will be the wireless ISP. Roaming agreements between the two companies are designed to link up BT's Openzone network with Toshiba's global hotspots. The local hotspots created using the product from BT and Toshiba will be in addition to the BT Openzone access points that will be...

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Tropos Networks Unveils Cellular Wi-Fi Architecture

Tropos Networks (formerly FHP Wireless), a start-up based in San Mateo, California, unveiled a cellular Wi-Fi mesh networking system designed to provide city-sized coverage at a fraction of the cost of current hot-spot architectures. Rather than having wireline backhaul at each Wi-Fi node, Tropos creates an intelligent, switch mesh among overlapping Wi-Fi cells. Routing intelligence embedded into each node enables the Wi-Fi cells to self-organize and, using wireless backhaul, forward data to each other along the optimal path to a wired network...

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D-Link Offers Outdoor Wireless Access Points and Bridges

D-Link introduced two Wi-Fi products designed specifically for outside use, the AirPremier Outdoor Wireless Access Point and the AirPremier Outdoor Wireless Bridge/Router. Both devices feature a die-cast watertight housing with built-in lightning protection, Power-over-Ethernet (PoE) functionality, extended range, advanced firewall features and compatibly with existing 802.11b compliant devices. The D-Link AirPremier Outdoor Wireless Access Point has a range of up to 600 meters. When paired with a D-Link High-Gain Directional Antenna, the D-Link...

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CIRPACK Softswitches Deployed in Belgium

IRISnet, the Region of Brussels' high speed network jointly operated by Mobistar and Telindus on behalf of the regional government, is deploying CIRPACK's softswitches to provide packet telephony over broadband local loops. Cirpack switches are now replacing existing voice infrastructure equipment to connect users' ISDN PBXs to the IRISnet IP/ATM backbone, and later provide voice services directly over IP or ATM networks. Cirpack's equipment manages all voice services and provides the link to Mobistar's network. Financial terms were not disclosed....

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U.S. Army Awards $50M Network Upgrade Contract to Lucent

The U.S. Army awarded a multi-year, $50 million contract to Lucent Technologies for a major data infrastructure upgrade at Army installations in North America and Asia. Lucent will provide a range of professional services, including planning, design, implementation and operations in support of the upgrade, as well as on-going maintenance, program management and engineering services throughout the duration of the contracts. Lucent also is working to integrate the upgraded network into the existing multi-vendor Army environment. http://www.lucen...

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Canada's SaskTel First to Deploy Nortel's Succession VoIP

SaskTel, the incumbent service provider in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan, signed a US$5 million contract for the supply of Nortel Networks Multimedia Communications Portfolio and Succession VoIP equipment. SaskTel is expected to be the first service provider worldwide to offer new revenue-generating multimedia and packet voice services using Nortel Networks Succession equipment. SaskTel is evolving its Nortel DMS circuit switched network to the Succession Communication Server 2000 platform. In addition, SaskTel will deploy Nortel Networks...

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Sweden's Tele 2 Selects Tellabs' Next Gen SDH

Tele 2 Sverige AB, a competitive service provider, is deploying the Tellabs 6300 managed transport series to integrate Ethernet into its existing network. Specifically, Tele2 is using the new Tellabs 6350 switch node, a digital cross-connect, and the Tellabs 6310, an edge node platform for access and customer premise installations Applications supported by the Tellabs 6310 include 2 Mbps, 34/45 Mbps, Fast Ethernet and ATM services. All of the Tellabs 6300 managed transport system elements are monitored and managed end-to-end from a single network...

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Indiana's Hancock Telecom Selects Extreme Networks for Ethernet/FTTH

Hancock Telecom, part of a statewide consortium of telecommunications providers in Indiana, selected Extreme Networks' BlackDiamond switching platform with 10 Gigabit Ethernet to meet present and future network needs. High-speed Ethernet delivered over fiber will be made available to consumers for intensive applications such as uncompressed IP video and VoD. Extreme Networks said it captured the number one market share position for Layer 3 10 Gigabit Ethernet port shipments, according to Q1 2003 figures reported by the Dell'Oro Group. http://www.extremenetworks.com...

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VSNL and ITXC Double VoIP Capacity in India

Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited (VSNL), an international service provider and ISP in India, and ITXC have doubled their network capacity to handle increasing volume of VoIP traffic. As a result of an interconnect agreement signed in October 2002, VSNL benefits from call termination minutes and revenue originated from all over the world. ITXC brings global traffic to VSNL across ITXC.net. Last month, ITXC announced that ITXC.net carried 10% of all incoming traffic to India during the first year following deregulation in that country. The interconnect...

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China Netcom Launches Fixed Wireless in Beijing with UTStarcom

Beijing China Netcom awarded a contract valued at $57.9 million for deployment of UTStarcom's IP-based PAS (Personal Access System) (iPAS) platform in central Beijing. UTStarcom's softswitch-based iPAS system will offer comprehensive voice and data services to customers in a 400-square-kilometer area in the central city area of Beijing. Beijing China Netcom is launching the fixed wireless service this week targeting large corporate users such as government institutions, hospitals, and universities. Once deployment is complete, PAS will be available...

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FLAG Telecom Enhances Its European Network with Verizon

FLAG Telecom will enhance the reach of its European network through an agreement with Verizon Global Solutions. This agreement is a key element in FLAG's global network plan. FLAG will also open new POPs in Amsterdam and Frankfurt to provide seamless connectivity to its submarine cable systems: FLAG Atlantic-1 (FA-1), FLAG Europe Asia (FEA) and FLAG North Asia Loop (FNAL). Financial terms were not disclosed. http://www.flagtelecom.comIn March 2003, FLAG Telecom announced a capacity expansion to key segments of its cable system from Western Europe...

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SBC Handles 100 Million Calls for American Idol Final Voting Night

SBC Communications handled more than 260 million calls during the three-hour voting window for television's American Idol competition on Tuesday night -- over 100 million calls greater than a typical three-hour period of weeknight calling, an 80% spike in traffic. http://www.sbc....

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Lucent Updates Network Management Software

Lucent Technologies released a new version of its VitalSuite Network Management software featuring new tools to identify the root cause of network performance events, such as potential and actual overloads, equipment failures and traffic issues. Some of the key enhancements in the VitalSuite 9.1 software include: topographical views of the network allowing administrators to investigate and accurately diagnose potential problems quickly; enhanced support for monitoring applications over WiFi (802.11b) and 3G networks; and additional capabilities...

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UTStarcom Signs $20 Million Contract with China Telecom Guangdong

UTStarcom signed a contract expansion valued at approximately $20 million with China Telecom Guangdong province for additional handsets for new subscribers, as well as expansion of its IP-based PAS (Personal Access System). In April, five cities in Guangzhou province launched low-cost, fixed wireless local telephony service using UTStarcom's PAS. Demand for the service has been strong, with nearly 300,000 subscribers added in less than two months of service. Additionally, China Telecom Guangdong province will soon offer value-added services with...

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Verizon Sees Fastest Growth in Consumer Services

Despite the most challenging environment in memory, a focus on fundamentals has enabled Verizon to emerge from the telecom storm with a stronger business model, said Doreen Toben, Verizon CFO, speaking at the Banc of America "Media, Telecommunications, and Media" conference in New York.She highlighted consumer services, which already represent the largest percentage of Verizon revenues, as the fastest area of growth and the segment with the greatest upside potential for the company. In the past two weeks, Verizon has launched several initiatives...

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Multi-Vendor Metro Ethernet Services Demo Planned for SuperComm

The Metro Ethernet Forum (MEF) will host a multi-vendor interoperability demonstration of carrier-grade metro Ethernet services at the upcoming SUPERCOMM exhibition in Atlanta. The interoperability demo consists of 22 company specific access (aggregation) networks interconnected via a 10G Ethernet switched core. The 22 equipment suppliers will demonstrate E-Line (Ethernet Line) and E-LAN (Ethernet LAN) services, which were recently defined by the Metro Ethernet Forum. The interoperable E-Line and E-LAN services will carry webcam video at a committed...

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Ericsson Wins DSL Expansion Contract in China

Jiangxi Nanchang Telecom, part of China Telecom, awarded an extension contract to Ericsson to further the rollout of its DSL network in Nanchang, capital city of Jiangxi province. The ADSL lines will be delivered using Ericsson's new ultra-compact Ethernet DSLAM. The solution enables standard ADSL lines to be offered economically at smaller sites (starting from eight subscribers) as well as medium to large sites (up to thousands of subscribers). Ethernet, instead of ATM, is used in the second mile network. http://www.ericsson....

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SBC Cites Growth Opportunities in DSL, Long Distance

SBC is growing increasingly optimistic, according to William Daley, president of SBC Communications, as the company becomes more confident in weathering the telecom storm and executing its business plan. Daley, who spoke at the Banc of America "Media, Telecommunications, and Media" conference in New York, said the thinking at SBC is changing from "survival mode" to "growing the business." In what its expects to be a fiercely competitive industry, SBC intends to become the top telecom service provider in the US. Daley highlighted financial disciple...

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Tropic Launches its Reconfigurable Optical Add/Drop Multiplexer

Tropic Networks, a start-up based in Ottawa, Canada, has added reconfigurable optical add/drop multiplexer (R-OADM) capabilities to its TRX-24000 metro DWDM platform. The new capability gives service providers any-wavelength-at-any-node reconfigurability with zero service disruption. Tropic said its Open Photonic Layer approach to metro-regional optical networking enables interworking with the existing installed equipment base. In addition to R-OADM capability, the Tropic platform features a Wavelength Tracker technology and the ability to transparently...

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Spirent and Sheer Networks Collaborate on Network Management Solutions

Spirent Communications and Sheer Networks announced a strategic agreement under which the companies will deliver an integrated solution for managing ATM, DSL and IP-VPN services. The solution will combine Sheer's BOS (Broadband Operating Supervisor) with Spirent's Perform operations support system (OSS) for performance management. Sheer's BOS (Broadband Operating Supervisor) manages communication between network elements and enables service providers to activate new services, detect faults, and reconcile inventories. Spirent's Perform reaches...

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Sonus Builds Wireless VoIP Testbed for TU Berlin

Sonus Networks is providing its packet voice infrastructure solutions to the Technische Universitaet Berlin (TU Berlin) for deployment in the University's "Beyond 3G" Testbed and Serviceware Framework. The German government support project will include the participation of Deutsche Telekom AG, T-Mobile, T-Systems, Fraunhofer Institut FOKUS and the Technical University of Dresden. Sonus is providing its SMARRT Wireless solution, including its GSX9000 Open Services Switch, the Insignus Softswitch and Sonus Insight Management System. http://www.sonusnet.com...

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Cisco Expands its Network Security Offerings

Cisco Systems announced 14 security solutions and services. These include:Cisco IOS AutoSecure -- a command-line-interface (CLI) based feature that provides "one touch" router lockdown, disabling non-essential operating system processes, enforcing secure access, and enabling secure forwarding featuresCisco Security Device Manager (SDM) version 1.0 -- wizards for configuring firewall and IP Security (IPSec) VPN services on Cisco 830 to 3700 series access routers CiscoWorks Security Information Management Solution (SIMS) version 3.1 -- security...

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