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.com

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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.com

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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.com

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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.com

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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 IADs and Voice over broadband (VoB) products complement its own existing 2 Mbps and below WANsuite product line with no overlap.
http://www.verilink.com
http://www.polycom.com

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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.
http://www.foundrynetworks.com

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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.com

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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.net

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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.com

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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 periodically reconnects to the corporate network to detect if the loop has been removed.
http://www.riverstonenet.com

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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). The CommWorks 4205 Protocol Mediator facilitated the completion of calls between H.323 and SIP networks. CommWorks and Kagoor Networks are working together to market the combined solution to service providers for delivering basic or enhanced voice to enterprise customers. The CommWorks media gateway would provide connectivity between the PSTN and IP networks. The CommWorks Softswitch would provide call control, signaling and application and service creation. Kagoor's VoiceFlow platform would reside at either the edge of the service provider's network or at the enterprise customer's premise, allowing IP phones to traverse NAT and firewall boundaries and access advanced calling features.
http://www.commworks.com
http://www.kagoor.com

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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 override other system traffic in times of emergency. It also supports the range of protocols from ISDN and ATM to TDM and IP to allow for the migration to a converged network. Financial terms were not disclosed.
http://www.avaya.com

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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.com

• The Alcatel 7770 Optical Broadband Exchange (OBX), which replaces the existing 7770 Routing Core Platform (RCP), features an ASIC-driven distributed switching fabric and scales from 100 Gbps to 1.9 Tbps of line card capacity. The new 7770 OBX features a standard, half-height rack mountable chassis, compared to a proprietary form factor in the prior system. Various expansion line-card shelves can be located up to 100 meters away from the switching shelf and connected via optical cable. Alcatel is offering dual stack IPv4/IPv6 as well as tunneling support for IPv6 over IPv4. The 7770 OBX also uses a new generation of network processors on each line card.



• The Poznañ Supercomputing and Networking Center (PSNC) selected the Alcatel 7770 OBX (Optical Broadband Exchange) for its PIONIER 5,000-km network that will connect all academic optical metropolitan area networks in Poland. The Alcatel 7770 OBX also serves as the peering point for GÉANT.



• The GÉANT network has been in full production service since December 2001, replacing the previous TEN-155 network. Nine circuits at the core of the network operate at 10 Gbps, while eleven others run at 2.5 Gbps. http://www.dante.net

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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, a technical sales consultancy that operates throughout Asia.
http://www.movaz.com

• Earlier this month, HiNet, the ISP division of Taiwan's Chunghwa Telecom, selected Juniper Networks M-series platform for the expansion of its backbone. HiNet is currently serving more than 1,600,000 ADSL subscribers, making it one of the world's top broadband providers.



• In September 2002, Chunghwa Telecom selected Nortel Networks' optical long haul solution, including its OPTera Long Haul 1600 DWDM and OPTera Connect DX optical switching platforms. Under the contract, which is valued at approximately US$20 million, Nortel Networks will build what is expected to be Taiwan 's first, island-wide, 10 Gbps optical DWDM backbone.



• Movaz Networks recently announced a multi-million dollar contract to supply its metro optical networking equipment to VIC TOKAI Inc, a network system integrator in Japan. Movaz has been selected by VIC TOKAI as the exclusive supplier for the expansion of its existing optical fiber network infrastructure between Tokyo and Nagoya.

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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 market share for the sector. The platform is marketed as a low-cost investment option for wireless local telephone service that replaces antiquated fixed line systems. It also features a network architecture that can be integrated with 3G and broadband technologies.
http://www.utstar.com

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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 customers in France.



• For France Telecom as a whole, the number of consumer subscriptions for ADSL in France (including Wanadoo ADSL subscriptions) more than tripled to reach 1.359 million at December 31, 2002, up from 408,000 a year earlier. This growth rate accelerated sharply during Q4, when 521,000 new subscriptions were sold.



• Revenues from online services and Internet access were down 2.2% due to the ongoing decline of Minitel



• France Telecom's share of the fixed-line telephony market in France stabilized at 80.9% for local calls and 64.3% for long distance (at the beginning of the year there was an automatic transfer to competitors of local traffic from customers who opted for carrier preselection)



• Equant revenues contributed to France Telecom stood at EUR 2.8 billion at 31-December-2002, a decline of 5.5% compared to the previous year.

For 2003, France Telecom expects broadband will prove to be its source of growth, offsetting the measured decline in revenues from fixed-line telephony in France. A previously announced financial restructuring is underway.
http://www.francetelecom.com

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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 of Genuity, $129 million for merger transition costs, and $42 million in other items. Some other highlights:

• Free cash flow improved by $7.8 billion for the year, aided by improved cash from operations and by reductions in capital expenditures, which totaled $12.0 billion in 2002 compared to $17.4 billion in 2001.



• Verizon's telecom revenues were $10.0 billion in Q4, a 2.6% decrease compared to a year earlier. Wholesale services revenue represented the largest percentage decrease (down 7.6%) followed by business service revenue (down 6.9%), while consumer services revenue increased (up 2.0%).



• Data services revenues grew to more than $1.85 billion in the quarter, driven by data transport services that increased nearly 7% for the quarter compared to same period last year, and 9.2% for the full year. Annual data revenue reached nearly $7.3 billion.



• Verizon Wireless added 964,000 net customers in Q4, giving it a total of 32.5 million.



• In long distance voice, Verizon added 566,000 net customers in Q4, ending the year with 10.4 million customers.



• In DSL, Verizon added 148,000 net customers in Q4, ending the year with 1.79 million customers. A total of 62% of Verizon lines are now qualified for DSL. In Q4, Verizon deployed DSL to 250 remote terminals. The company said it would expand the remote terminal installations this year.
  Verizon said UNE-P competition was having a negative effect on its business. The number of UNE-P lines provided to competitors increased by 470,000 in Q4 to a total of 3,186,000. The majority of these lines are in Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey. Resale lines provided to competitors decreased slightly to 1,049,000.



• For 2002, Verizon's total debt was reduced by $10.2 billion to $54.1 billion, a 15.9% decrease.
  Verizon Wireless withdrew plans for an IPO


2003 Guidance, in brief, included the following:


• Revenue growth: 0 to 2%


• EPS: $2.70 to $2.80


• CAPEX (including software): $12.5 to $13.5 billion


• Net debt: $49 to $51 billion

http://www.verizon.com

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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.com

• The MPLS Forum was formed in March 2000.



• The Frame Relay Forum was incorporated in May 1991.

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