SBC Offers “All-You-Can-Eat�? Unlimited Local/Long Distance Calling

SBC Communications unveiled an unlimited, all-distance residential calling plan that moves the company towards the flat-rate billing model. The SBC All Distance Connections plan combines unlimited local and long distance domestic calling with Caller ID and voice messaging for $48.95-$52.95 a month, depending on state.
http://www.sbc.com

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Inventor Celebrates 30th Anniversary of First Portable Cell Phone Call

Thirty years ago today, Martin Cooper placed the first public telephone call using a portable cellular phone. At the time, Cooper was general manager of Motorola's Communications Systems Division. That first call was placed to Cooper's rival at AT&T's Bell Labs from the streets of New York City. Today, Cooper is founder and CEO of ArrayComm, which is leveraging adaptive antenna technology to increase the capacity of cellular systems for delivering high-speed, mobile Internet access.
http://www.arraycomm.com

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Next Level Supplies VDSL and ADSL to Wyoming Telco for Triple Play

Tri County Telephone (TCT), a service provider in northwestern Wyoming, is using Next Level Communications' Full Service Access Platform to deliver both VDSL and lower bandwidth, longer range ADSL+ services. TCT is offering triple-play, digital TV, high speed Internet and telephone services to 13 communities spread over 450 square miles in and around Big Horn County, Wyoming. TCT is positioned against Comcast, the incumbent cable provider. The small telco delivers a package of 131 digital TV channels, digital music, pay per view and multiple high-speed Internet packages, and further differentiates itself from competitors by delivering local programming, like high school sports events, coaches shows and town meetings, and even exclusive interviews with state politicians.
http://www.nlc.com

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Vitesse Introduces Dual Repeater/ Retimer for FC and Gigabit Ethernet

Vitesse Semiconductor introduced a new Dual Repeater/Retimer device to address low signal amplitude and high jitter issues in Fibre Channel and Gigabit Ethernet products. The device is designed for bi-directional signal clean-up of duplex serial signals for a variety of applications, including links between systems, boards and chips using fiber optics, copper cable or printed circuit boards.
http://www.vitesse.com

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D-Link Routers Earn Microsoft's Xbox Compatibility

Two D-Link routers achieved compatibility certification for use with Microsoft's Xbox video game system. Both the D-Link Express EtherNetwork DI-604 4-Port Broadband Router and the D-Link AirPlus Enhanced Wireless DI-614+ Broadband Router allowed the maximum frame-rate possible and experience few enough dropped connections for properly accessing the Xbox Live service over a broadband Ethernet connection.
http://www.dlink.com

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Ixia Provides Virtual Private LAN Services (VPLS) Testing

During Isocore's MPLS interoperability test round in March 2003, Ixia provided Virtual Private LAN Service (VPLS) testing expertise. VPLS enables a private corporate Ethernet network to be extended over a provider managed IP or MPLS infrastructure. The Isocore test round demonstrated VPLS as well as Layer 2 Martini interoperability among a number of major equipment suppliers.
http://www.ixiacom.com

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ARRIS Completes PacketCable VoIP Interoperability Testing

ARRIS is conducting ongoing interoperability testing of 16 VoIP Call Management Servers (CMS) and LCS Gateways with its Cadant C4 CMTS and Touchstone Embedded Media Terminal Adapters (e-MTAs). The testing has resulted in the successful completion of 52 VoIP and High Speed Data trials worldwide with ARRIS DOCSIS 1.1 certified and PacketCable-based products. The ARRIS Interoperability Testing Lab operates 200 km of video-loaded HFC plant, Class 5 switches, softswitches, gateways and provisioning systems that are capable of running approximately 20,000 Cable Modems and e-MTAs simultaneously in order to test any solution to scale.
http://www.arrisi.com

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Convedia Delivers Redundant IP Media Servers

Convedia added support for card level redundancy to its CMS-6000 Media Server, providing the ability to automatically detect and recover from hardware failures without impacting calls that are in progress. The carrier class media server is a 14 slot modular platform available in a 19 inch rackmountable NEBS Level 3 compliant chassis. The platform features hot-swappable components and redundant interfaces, power supplies and fans. It is capable of scaling to 18,000 ports per shelf. The company said it is the first to offer full hardware redundancy in next generation media servers.
http://www.convedia.com

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KPN Selects Nortel Networks for 10 Gbps International Network Upgrade

KPN selected Nortel Networks OPTera Long Haul 1600 Optical Line Systems to upgrade its international network for providing 10 Gbps wavelength services. Deutsche Telekom's T-Systems division has contracted to use the KPN network to provide its customers with 10 Gbps Wavelength services. KPN EURRings can now offer Wavelength services at any point of presence on the KPN international network at speeds up to 10 Gbps on a standardized optical interface. Nortel Networks OPTera Long Haul portfolio offers service transparency and the ability to add 2.5 Gbps streams, Gigabit Ethernet or 10 Gigabit Ethernet channels, as well as standard 10 Gbps SDH wavelengths. The agreement between KPN and Nortel Networks includes the right to use existing Nortel Networks optical equipment and software, as well as network management and services. Financial terms were not disclosed.
http://www.nortelnetworks.com

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Volkswagen Extends ATM Network Contract with Deutsche Telekom

Volkswagen AG extended its existing telecom contract with Deutsche Telekom's T-Systems division for an additional three and a half years. In addition, the partners have expanded the agreement to include IT services. The Deutsche Telekom subsidiary has been operating Volkswagen's network since 1993. The ATM network links all of the German production plants -- in Emden, Brunswick, Salzgitter, Hanover, Kassel, Moselle, Dresden -- as well as the company's Wolfsburg headquarters. T-Systems has also connected Volkswagen to the car industry's ENX (European Network Exchange) network, which links auto manufacturers with their suppliers. Teleworkers at Volkswagen AG are also provided ATM-DSL or ISDN connectivity into a secure VPN. Financial terms were not disclosed.
http://www.t-systems.com

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Sprint and International Partners Provide ATM Network for Jeffries

Jefferies & Company, a full-service investment bank and institutional securities firm, has selected Sprint to deliver a multiple network/single provider global data network. Sprint will work with its international partners to provide Jeffries global voice and data services over an ATM infrastructure connecting offices in the U.S. with affiliate locations in Paris, Zurich, London, Tokyo and Hong Kong. Financial terms were not disclosed.
http://www.sprint.com

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BT Expands Broadband Rollout to 90% of UK Homes, Slashes Wholesale DSL Prices

BT is expanding its broadband rollout to cover 90% of homes in the UK. This represents a major advance from the current enabled footprint of 67% of homes. The expanded rollout involves equipping an additional 600 exchanges with DSL. BT said a key factor in expanding its rollout has been a technological development that enables exchanges to be linked together so that the costs of connecting them to the core BT network are reduced. In addition, BT can now extend the reach of ADSL broadband up to 6kms from the exchange. BT recently passed the 800,000 DSL subscriber mark and anticipates having one million users by summer. The company also revealed that wholesale prices will be cut as of 01-May-2003. The monthly fee for the wholesale consumer product will be reduced by up to £2 and there will be even larger savings on BT's wholesale products that are aimed at service providers who serve small businesses. Prices for the 500kbps, 1Mbs and 2Mbs products will be slashed by over 50 per cent.
http://www.bt.co.uk

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FCC Commissioner Abernathy: More Reforms Needed to Preserve Universal Service

In testimony before the Senate's Committee on Commerce, Science & Transportation, FCC Commissioner Kathleen Abernathy said more fundamental reform may be necessary to ensure the sustainability of universal service funding in the long term. The universal service funds support carriers that provide services in high-cost areas ($3.2 billion in annual cost), supports services to schools and libraries (the e-rate program, $2.25 billion), and provide discounts to ensure low-income consumers have access to basic phone service ($647 million). Currently, federal universal service contributions are assessed only on interstate revenues, which have been shrinking due to falling prices and wireless substitution. Another important trend has been the increase in bundled service plans with buckets of flat-rate, any-distance minutes. Abernathy said this trend makes it difficult to isolate revenues from interstate services and the problem is likely to get worse. In December 2002, the FCC adopted several measures to stabilize universal service funding, including increasing from 15% to 28.5% the safe harbor provision that wireless carriers may use to determine the interstate portion of their revenues. However, Abernathy said these measures may not be enough and the FCC is now considering additional proposals. These proposals include a Wireline Broadband measure that would assess contribution obligations on facilities-based providers of broadband Internet access services.
http://www.fcc.gov

• Last year, wireline long distance companies contributed 63% of the universal service fund, while local exchange carriers and wireless carriers make up the rest.
• 
  
  In July 2002, the FCC received a recommendation that no new services should be added or removed from the definition of services supported by “universal service.�? The main issue under discussion had been whether advanced or high-speed services should be included within the list of core services supported by a federal universal service fund. A Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service, which was composed of three state regulatory commissioners and three FCC commissioners, found that no new service satisfies the statutory criteria of the Communications Act of 1934. The Board concluded that the public interest would not be served by expanding the scope of universal service at this time. The Board reasoned that high-speed service is not “essential�? to consumers because online resources are available by voice telephone, dial-up connections and in public libraries and schools. Moreover, a substantial majority of consumers so far have chosen not to subscribe to high-speed services where they are available.

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