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.com

• Spring 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/von

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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.com

• In 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 qualified bidders could have submitted better offers for the assets during the court process.

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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 City Carriers, Telecom Italia, Telkom South Africa, UK Government, US Federal Government, Verizon and Vodafone Group. In aggregate, these customers accounted for 46% of core sales (previous quarter: ten largest customers equaled 48%). BT remains Marconi's largest customer and accounted for 19% of core sales in the quarter (same as previous quarter).
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  As of the end of December 2002, Marconi had just over 16,000 employees, down by approximately 3,000 since the end of September 2002. The company plans to eliminate a further 1,400 positions in the coming months. Once it has achieved its targeted cost structure, Marconi expects to employ around 14,000 people.

As of the end of December 2002, Marconi's net debt amounted to £2.8 billion, comprised of £3.9 billion of gross financial debt offset by £1.1 billion in cash.http://www.marconi.com

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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.com

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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 in the 2.3 GHz frequency band to complement its wireless LAN-based Nespot service. Technical achievements in the trials included proven, consistent individual data rates of 1 Mbps and 10 Mbps of total throughput in only 2.5 MHz of spectrum. KT and ArrayComm also showed seamless handoff between wireless LAN "Wi-Fi" coverage and wide area i-BURST coverage, as well as smooth interoperability with KT's Nespot VoIP commercial service. The next phase of testing will evaluate the i-BURST system's service capabilities using multiple cell sites in a dense urban environment.
http://www.arraycomm.com

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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 firewall, malicious code protection and operating system lockdown. The software is complementary to desktop anti-virus software. Cisco said the acquisition enhances its security portfolio of network-integrated solutions and appliances for Virtual Private Networks (VPN), firewalling, intrusion protection, and security management. Okena has 52 employees.
http://www.okena.com

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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 traffic
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  International roaming policies for mobile service
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  Broadband access -- the ERG intends to carry out a comparison of the regulatory policies at the national level and decide whether a common perspective/practice/initiative would be necessary and possible..
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  Unbundling the local loop -- the ERG noted that while there has been improvement in the regulatory situation in EU member states, it needs to continue to monitor effective implementation of ULL and will react to any needs in the market place. Special attention will be drawn to the application of cost-orientation and the principle of non-discrimination in that respect.
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  Leased Lines or wholesale lines for competitive carriers -- prices and delivery times of leased lines, including interconnection leased lines, are recurrent issues at the EU level. The European Commission as well as Industry and Users associations, have focused a major part of their work on this area. During 2002, many regulators have adopted regulatory measures to ensure proper wholesale offers for leased lines, in some cases including interconnection of leased lines, in the reference interconnection offers. Service level agreements and penalties in case of delays in deliveries have also been adopted. ERG will monitor effective application of adopted measures and assess non-discrimination and cost-orientation.
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  Telecom accounting -- the ERG will examine the various accounting methods applied across Europe and develop a common policy if needed.
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  Universal service, network security and continuity of operations: -- Several cases across the EU have shown that continuity and security is of the utmost importance for consumers, as well as for competing operators. On a national level, different approaches exist to handle this issue. The European Commission has asked the ERG to analyze these different approaches and advise the Commission on a standard procedure to be applied in these circumstances.
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  Infrastructure Sharing and Spectrum Trading -- issues regarding network infrastructure and spectrum sharing amongst operators (notably for UMTS-networks).
• http://europa.eu.int

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