NGN Ventures: Service Provider Perspectives

SBC will deploy a variety of access and metro optical technologies based on the business model for each service, existing network compatibility, and regulatory issues, said Ralph Ballart, Vice President of Broadband at SBC Technology Resources, speaking at the NGN Ventures Conference. On the access side, SBC has more than 2.2 million DSL subscribers, and the service is available to 28 million (more than 65%) of all SBC customers. Deployments of DSL technology will continue. SBC is also selectively using PON based fiber to the home (FTTH) to...

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NGN Ventures: Emerging Optical Architectures

DWDM systems need to be simplified and made less expensive, according to Kevin Ranking, President & CEO Tropic Networks, who spoke at this week's NGN Ventures Conference. First generation DWDM has attributes that pigeon hole it into special situations. A major problem is the complexity of provisioning. Every move/add/change in the network requires a tremendous amount of engineering, resulting in a "Launch and Pray" method of provisioning wavelengths. DWDM needs to be closely integrated with existing SONET/SDH systems to deliver an intelligent...

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SBC Sells 9 Million Shares of BCE

SBC Communications sold approximately 9 million shares of BCE (Bell Canada Enterprises) in a block trade on 15-April-03. Financial terms were not disclosed. http://www.sbc....

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SBC Enhances its Metro Wavelength Service Portfolio

SBC Communications enhanced the features and widened availability of its Multi-Service Optical Networking (MON) service, which uses DWDM to connect the data centers, mainframes and storage networks of large enterprises within a metropolitan area. SBC's MON is now offering up to 160 Gbps of capacity per fiber pair. The enhanced service also provides the ability to connect multiple locations in a metro area using a ring network configuration. Previously, the service was available as a dedicated point-to-point network solution. The enhanced MON...

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Arkansas CLEC Selects Santera for Voice/Data Switching

Ritter Communications, an Arkansas-based independent operating company and CLEC, has chosen Santera Systems' SanteraOne to provide both its data and Class 5 voice traffic in a central location. The SanteraOne is a voice and data switching platform delivering key applications such as full feature IXC Tandem, Class 4/5, PRI Offload, packet/cell switching and Voice over Broadband (VoB) services. Financial terms were not disclosed. http://www.santera.com http://www.callritter....

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SBC Withdraws Long Distance Petition for Michigan

SBC withdrew its FCC petition to offer long distance service in Michigan. FCC Chairman Powell said he believed SBC met the requirements under Section 271 of the Telecom Act, but that a narrow issue related to billing appeared to be unsatisfied. The question involves whether SBC is currently providing wholesale billing functions in Michigan for competitive LECs in a manner similar to the existing precedent elsewhere. http://www.fcc.govSBC said Michigan is the nation's second most competitive market for local phone service and that its application...

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Broadcom's Revenues Grow 10% Sequentially to $327 Million

Broadcom reported Q1 net revenue of $327.5 million, an increase of 10.7% from the $295.9 million reported for Q4 2002 and an increase of 37.1% from the $238.8 million reported for the first quarter of 2002. Net loss (GAAP) for Q1 2003 was $67.9 million, or $.25 per share (basic and diluted). Broadcom said the quarter's financial performance marks a return to pro forma profitability. It also represents the company's seventh consecutive period of revenue growth. http://www.broadcom....

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UTStarcom Reports Record Revenues, 13th Quarter of Profits

UTStarcom reported quarterly revenues of $330.5 million, an increase of 80% over the $183.7 million in net sales reported in the prior year period. Net income for the first quarter of 2003 increased 113% year-over-year to $37.3 million, or $0.33 per share. It was the 13th consecutive quarter of profitability for the company. During Q1, UTStarcom announced more than $350 million in contracts and raised its financial outlook for the year. In China, the number of subscribers on UTStarcom's PAS networks increased by 1.8 million to 9.3 million at...

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Network Equipment Technologies Reports Quarterly Revenue of $33.8M

Network Equipment Technologies reported quarterly revenue of $33.8 million, up from $26.7 million in the same period of the prior year, a 27% increase, and up from $33.0 million posted in the prior quarter. For the quarter, the company posted a profit of $0.02 per share and increased its cash position by $6.1 million. The company said demand for its legacy product remains strong, highlighted by several new large orders from government customers during the quarter. http://www.net....

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Space Systems/Loral Builds World's Largest Communications Satellite

Space Systems/Loral (SS/L) has completed static load testing of iPSTAR-1, the world's largest commercial communications satellite with a launch weight of 14,900 pounds (6775 kilograms). Thailand's Shin Satellite company will use the spacecraft to provide broadband Internet services throughout a large portion of Asia, Australia and New Zealand. Space Systems/Loral said iPSTAR-1 will provide eighty-four spot beams and a total throughput capability of approximately 40 Gbps. The satellite will support individual user data rates of up to 8 Mbps forward...

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UTStarcom Signs Beijing China Netcom

UTStarcom signed a contract with China Netcom valued at approximately $17.5 million for new deployments of its IP-based PAS (Personal Access System) in six suburban counties of Beijing. The deal represents UTStarcom's first iPAS contract with Beijing China Netcom. http://www.utstar....

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ITXC Builds Momentum for VoIP to India

ITXC said its international VoIP network carried 10% of all incoming phone-to-phone traffic to India during the first year following deregulation in that country in April 2002. Traffic into India running over ITXC.net continues to expand, spurred in large part by the continuing growth of prepaid and other calls originating from incumbent, competitive, and mobile carriers worldwide. ITXC has announced interconnections in India with VSNL, the country's premier provider of international telecommunications services and leading ISP, and competitive...

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Lucent Debuts Smaller Voice Switches for Independent and Rural Telcos

Lucent Technologies introduced three new small switching solutions that specifically target service providers who need less than 5,000 lines. The new Lucent VCDX 2400, VCDX 4700 and the 5E-XC Remote Line Unit can be used to supplant existing switches that need replacement or to enter new markets in small towns and rural communities. The 5E-XC Remote Line Unit supports up to 3,000 subscribers and runs off a host 5E-XC switch. It can provide emergency standalone capability, allowing the unit to continue to switch 911 and intra-community calls if...

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Ipsum Networks Raises $6 Million for IP Route Management

Ipsum Networks, a start-up based in Philadelphia, raised $6 million in Series B funding for its development of IP management solutions that assure application infrastructure availability. Ipsum's Route Dynamics solution monitors the network's routing protocols to provide a real-time, Layer 3 view of IP network operations. Route Dynamics said its solution delivers a picture of the logical health of a routed network, which can lead to improved service availability, operational efficiency, fault detection and prevention. The new funding was led by...

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Nortel Networks Bolsters Security Measures for Enterprise IP Telephony

Nortel Networks launched a Secure Telephony initiative aimed at bolstering security measures that cross functional boundaries between traditional, enterprise circuit-switched telephony, IP telephony, wireless IP telephony, or a mixed solution. The Secure Telephony initiative comprises three main elements:Security Best Practices, which relies on comprehensive security audits to provide physical isolation of discrete areas of the network through VLANs and firewalls, ensuring that the voice network component would not be accessible in an intrusion...

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AT&T Offers New Business Local Access Service, Enhances Ethernet Portfolio

AT&T introduced a new High Performance Access Service (HiPAS) that gives the largest global companies and government agencies new options for eliminating local loop charges. The offer is targeted at bandwidth requirements between OC-3 and OC-192. HiPAS extends the AT&T Service Assurance Warranties and performance metrics of its backbone out to the "last mile" with three network access services. These include: AT&T Dedicated Entrance Facility (DEF), a SONET private line service into the AT&T Network, as well as fan-outs to other...

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Pew Research Center Tracks "Net Evaders" and "Net Dropouts"

A new report from the Pew Research Center finds that 42% of Americans say they don't use the Internet, with many of them either have been Internet users at one time or have a once-removed relationship with the Internet through family or household members. The Pew Internet Project tracking data shows a flattening of the overall growth of the Internet population since late 2001. The Internet penetration rate hovers at between 57% to 61% of the population. The report also identifies a trend of people dropping offline -- "Net Dropouts" -- and a certain...

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Tellabs Reports Q1 sales of $223 million, Announces Job Cuts

Tellabs reported Q1 revenues of $223 million and a net loss of $43 million, or $0.10 per share. This compares to Q4 2002 net revenue of $313 million and a Q4 net loss of $84.5 million or $0.21 per share Tellabs ended Q1 with more than $1 billion in cash and marketable securities. Tellabs also announced plans to reduce its ongoing operating expenses to $125 million per quarter by Q4. The plan includes the layoff of 665 employees, or 14% of its workforce, starting in April. To drive revenue growth, Tellabs will continue to reallocate product development...

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