UK Regulator Proposes Price Cuts for BT Wholesale's Unmetered Dial-up Access

Oftel, the telecom regulator in the UK, believes that BT should cut its wholesale charges for unmetered Internet access for consumers by 17% because it is charging operators for certain call routing and call management measures that Oftel believes are no longer technically necessary. When BT first launched its wholesale unmetered Internet access service, it instituted charges for procedures to route Internet calls through to the appropriate service provider and thereby protect its voice network from being overloaded by the dial-up traffic. Oftel said subsequent improvements to the BT network means the Internet call traffic can be processed without the additional measures. Oftel believes the price cut should be retroactive to December 2001.
http://www.oftel.gov.uk

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THUS plc. Claims BT's DSL Wholesale Price Cuts Will Hurt Margins

THUS plc, a competitive service provider in the UK, claims the new broadband pricing strategy announced recently by BT will cause a "margin squeeze" for competitors. The company points out that BT's price changes relate to "IPStream" connections - the wholesale end-to-end service provided by BT Wholesale to BT's retail operations and other service providers, including THUS. Similar price advantages were not announced for BT Wholesale's "Datastream" service, which allows other service providers to use their own networks, to differentiate and add value to the standard services provided by BT Wholesale. THUS also argues that competitive service providers opting for BT's local loop unbundling will be placed at a significant disadvantage as they see their investment devalued. THUS is calling for a regulatory investigation.
http://www.thus.co.uk

• On 03-April-2003, BT Wholesale announced DSL prices cuts 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%.

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Level 3 to Exit Genuity's Hosting Business

Citing unfavorable economics, Level 3 Communications announced plans to exit the hosting business it recently acquired as part of its purchase of Genuity. The hosting customers and operations will be served by Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC), which will assume certain lease obligations for data centers in Chantilly, Virginia, and Cambridge, Massachusetts. As part of the deal, CSC will also use Level 3's network services to serve hosting customers and has agreed to offer employment to about 125 of the hosting unit's employees. Level 3 said the hosting unit was not profitable and did not fully leverage the operational capabilities of its network. Hosting operations were expected to generate revenues of approximately $40 million, and EBITDA of negative $5 million, for the full year 2003. Level 3 said the hosting business served about 2% of the approximately 5,000 customer contracts acquired by Level 3 through the Genuity transaction.
http://www.level3.com

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Network Associates to Acquire Entercept Security Tech. for $120 Million

Network Associates agreed to acquire Entercept Security Technologies, a start-up provider of intrusion protection technology, for $120 million in cash. Entercept specializes in host-based intrusion protection solutions that proactively detect and stop security attacks. The Entercept products utilize a combination of behavioral rules and signatures to prevent both known and unknown attacks, rather than detecting and reporting an attack after it has occurred. Its products protect servers against attacks launched both externally and internally. Entercept claims a customer base of over 1,100 companies and government agencies. Network Associates said the acquisition builds on its intrusion protection vision.
http://www.nai.com
http://www.entercept.com

• Earlier this month, Network Associates agreed to acquire IntruVert Networks, a start-up offering intrusion detection systems, for $100 million in cash. IntruVert's real-time network intrusion detection technology integrates signature, anomaly, and Denial of Service (DoS) detection techniques on a hardware-based platform designed for multi-gigabit speeds. Network Associates said the IntruVert system is perfectly aligned with its vision of stopping any attack that gets inside the firewall.



• In January 2001, Entercept Security Technologies (then known as ClickNet Security Technologies) raised $33 million in funding from new investors Dell, Intel Capital, Sun Microsystems, JK&B Capital, UBS Capital Americas and Diamondhead Ventures. The company is based in San Jose, California.



• In July 2002, Symantec acquired two companies: Recourse Technologies, which developed a gigabit speed network intrusion detection system and “honeypot�? response solution, for approximately $135 million in cash; and SecurityFocus, a developer of a network “early warning system,�? for approximately US$75 million in cash. SecurityFocus offers an up-to-date database of security vulnerabilities to other security product vendors and managed service providers. In July 2002, Symantec also acquired Riptech, a provider of managed security services, for approximately US$145 million in cash.

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