France Telecom Launches EUR5.5 Billion Bond Issue

As part of its recently announced financial restructuring, France Telecom set the final terms of its EUR denominated benchmark issue. Announced as a 3 billion EUR deal in two tranches last Friday, the transaction was increased to 5.5 billion EUR with an additional 30-year tranche, to meet investor demand. The proceeds will be used to refinance existing debt. http://www.francetelecom.comOn 05-December-2002, France Telecom announced a financial restructuring that includes €15 billion in new equity, including € 9 billion from the French government,...

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Catapult Introduces Linux-Based Telecom Test System

Catapult Communications introduced an entry-level, Linux-based system for testing VoIP, 3G and other types of telecom networks. The single-user test system provides a graphical user interface for developing a range of multi-call and multi-protocol test applications. http://www.catapult....

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Ceragon Networks Signs OEM Agreement with China's Datang for Wireless Equipment

Ceragon Networks, a supplier of high-capacity broadband wireless systems based in Tel Aviv, Israel, announced signed an OEM agreement with Datang Telecom Technology Co. Ltd. (Datang), China's leading wireless telecommunications equipment provider. Datang will offer Ceragon's FibeAir product family as a solution for metropolitan access and cellular backhaul applications in the Chinese market. http://www.ceragon....

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Novilit Signs NTT-AT as Distributor in Japan

Novilit, which provides a design environment for embedding communications protocols in software, hardware or firmware, signed a distributor agreement with NTT Advanced Technology of Japan. The Novilit Protocol AnyWare development environment is aimed at embedded system developers and engineers developing protocols for wired, wireless, terrestrial and satellite systems. Novilit is based in Marlborough, Massachusetts. http://www.novilit....

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Latvia's Capitol City Deploys net.com's Service Creation Manager

Riga, the capitol city of Latvia, is deploying net.com's Service Creation Manager (SCREAM) platform in a multiservice broadband network that will connect over 300 schools, hospitals, police stations and other administrative institutions. The Riga City Council initially deployed SCREAM50 and SCREAM100 platforms for ATM switching and traffic shaping. The municipality is now expanding with additional SCREAM50 nodes and SCREAMVue network management. Financial terms were not disclosed. http://www.net....

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FLAG Telecom Opens Internet Exchange in Egypt

FLAG Telecom, together with local partner National Telecom Company, inaugurated the Cairo Regional Internet Exchange (CR-IX), which will serve as a central peering point for domestic ISPs. The new facility also provides global IP, Ethernet and bandwidth services offered jointly with Telecom Egypt. http://www.flagtelecom....

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Marconi Selects Xilinx Virtex-II Platform FPGAs

Marconi is using Xilinx's Virtex-II Platform FPGAs for new SONET and SDH products designed for carrying Gigabit Ethernet traffic. The Xilinx Virtex-II Platform FPGA offers densities ranging from 40,000 to eight million system gates. Xilinx also announced an online resource for designers of products for metro access networking. http://www.xilinx.com/esp/optic...

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Rogers AT&T Wireless Renews Supply Agreement with Ericsson for 3 Years

Rogers AT&T Wireless, Canada's leading wireless provider, renewed its supply agreement with Ericsson for the next three years. Ericsson is Rogers AT&T Wireless' exclusive supplier of wireless mobile network core and radio access gear. The deal includes the rollout of nationwide 850MHz GSM/GPRS capability. http://www.rogers....

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ECI Telecom's NGTS Subsidiary and NexVerse Merge into Veraz Networks

ECI Telecom's NGTS division and NexVerse Networks completed their previously announced merger forming Veraz Networks (previously introduced as Chorale Networks). Additionally, Veraz has closed the planned $30 million financing round. The new company will provide global carriers with packet-based replacements for traditional TDM infrastructure. The ECI-NGTS business, which provides an existing revenue stream, is an established provider of digital compression equipment for the TDM networks of major international carriers. The company also supplies...

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Lufthansa Begins Trial of In-flight Wireless and Wired LAN Service

Lufthansa began a commercial test of Wi-Fi (802.11b) service throughout all the cabins of a 747-400 flight from Frankfurt, Germany to Washington, DC. In addition to Wi-Fi access, an Ethernet connector is available in the passenger seats. Connexion By Boeing, a mobile information services provider, is providing the infrastructure that allows two-way-live data between the plane and the ground, with speeds of 3 Mbps downstream and 128 Kbps upstream. Cisco Systems is providing the technology for the onboard network. Five Cisco Aironet 350 Series...

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SBC Signs 3 Year Supplier Agreement Extension with ADC

SBC Communications signed a three-year extension to its supply agreement with ADC. The agreement calls for ADC to supply copper and fiber connectivity products including digital signal cross connect (DSX) systems, fiber optic panels and frames, and fiber optic cable raceway systems. These products are used in a variety of central and remote office installations. http://www.adc....

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Convedia Delivers IP Media Servers With Native VoiceXML 2.0 Support

Convedia added native VoiceXML 2.0 support to its line of media servers. The company said application developers could use its SIP/VoiceXML control interface to create enhanced services for 2.5G/3G wireless and next generation wireline networks. Examples could include voicemail and unified messaging, IP Centrex and hosted PBX, phone-based Internet information retrieval systems, multimedia conferencing, calling card services, speech-enable applications, Class 5 services, etc. VoiceXML, which is based on the Worldwide Web Consortium's (W3C's)...

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Telefónica Deploys IP/MPLS Backbone in Brazil with Juniper/Nortel

Telefónica's Brazilian subsidiary, Telefónica Empresas, has rolled out a nationwide multiservice network based on Nortel Networks' Passport Multiservice Switches and Juniper Networks' M20 routing platforms. The network supports a range of voice, data, IP and MPLS services, including IP VPNs, Internet access and remote access to corporate intranets. The Nortel equipment is manufactured in Campinas, Brazil. Financial terms were not disclosed. http://www.nortelnetworks.com http://www.juniper....

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CLECs Lobby for Pro-Competition UNE-P Rules

Executives from 22 competitive carriers called on the FCC and Bush Administration officials to uphold the rules requiring Bell monopolies to lease parts of their networks to competitors. The executives warned that the threat to competition posed by the impending FCC Triennial UNE Review decision could stop local phone competition in its tracks. In a statement, the group said current UNE-P rules could be credited for more than 85% of the net growth in competitive access lines during the first half of 2002. The lobby is led by the Competitive...

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Senator Outlines NexGenTen Agenda For Communications Reform

U.S. Senator Conrad Burns (R-Mont.) outlined his ten top priorities for his chairmanship of the Senate Communications Subcommittee during the current 108th Congress. The "Burns NexGenTen Tech Agenda" includes:the reintroduction of the Burns-Wyden CAN-SPAM bill, which requires senders of unsolicited commercial email to provide an easy "unsubscribe" option for consumers and imposes harsh penalties on transgressors who falsify information to mask the origins of the sender. Spectrum Management Reform to move away from the failed auction model and...

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Nielsen//NetRatings Report Shows Solid Growth in US Broadband, Decline in Dial-up

The latest monthly report from Nielsen/NetRatings for the month of December 2002 shows that broadband access at home in the US continues to post double-digit growth with a 59% year-over-year increase, marking more than 33.6 million broadband users (not households or lines). Narrowband users (dial-up) in the US numbered 74.4 million for December 2002, a decline of 10% compared to the previous year. Some other key figures from Nielsen/NetRatings:Broadband users spent an average of 17 hours and 20 minutes online last month, while time spent for...

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