Regulator Publishes Review of Broadband Market in the UK

Pending parliamentary approval, a new regulatory framework for electronic communications networks in the UK will go into effect on 25-July-2003. The new policies are based on five EU Communications directives and are designed to harmonize regulations across Europe, reduce barriers to entry, and stimulate market competition. In advance of the new framework, Oftel, the official telecoms regulator for the UK, published a 151-page review of current market conditions. The report is available online. http://www.oftel.gov.uk/publications/eu_direct...

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Accenture and Microsoft Build .NET Services for Carriers

Accenture is developing a new set of Web Service-enabled solutions for wireless and wireline carriers built on Microsoft's .NET framework. The applications support key operations including customer care, sales, billing, service delivery, enterprise management and business intelligence. Accenture said the .NET-connectivity would introduce a higher level of agility and real-time transactional capability through the use of Web services. By using repeatable processes, middleware and configuration, the .NET-connected version of the joint solutions significantly...

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France Telecom Sees Revenue Stabilizing, Targets 2.8M ADSL Users this Year

France Telecom reported Q1 revenues of EUR 11.376, an increase of 7.3% compared to the year-earlier period. There was an increase in operating free cash flow to EUR 3.1 billion in Q1, compared to EUR 1.9 billion in Q1 2002. On a comparable basis, France Telecom's consolidated revenues increased 3.3% annually. Some highlights for the quarter:The number of broadband lines for retail customers (including Wanadoo's ADSL access) was 1,777,000 at the end of the quarter, more than triple the year earlier count. FT is targeting 2.8 million ADSL customers...

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Openwave Introduces New Email/Messaging Platform for Carrier Services

Openwave Systems released a major upgrade to its email/messaging platform designed for large-scale, carrier email services. Openwave Email Mx Version 6.0 (Mx 6) features new anti-spam and anti-virus capabilities, a new web mail interface, a new "extensions" technology to allow third party applications to run on the message server, and lower cost due to architecture changes. Anti-spam features include the ability to block "Receipt to" messages that spammers harvest to steal email addresses. Performance enhancements have resulted in a decrease...

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Deutsche Telekom Extends IP MPLS Service to North America

Deutsche Telekom's T-Systems division has extended its IP-VPN MPLS network services into North America. T-Systems is offering custom-build MPLS solutions that address and adapt to specific requirements at each site in terms of availability, class of service mix, service level agreement and support parameters. Four "application-aware" classes of service are available. The service runs entirely over an IP backbone. http://www.t-systemsus....

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UTStarcom Announces First Contracts with India's Tata Teleservices

UTStarcom has signed its first contracts to deploy 56,000 lines of its AN-2000 platform with Tata Teleservices, the largest private basic service operator in India. Financial terms were not disclosed. UTStarcom has signed five other basic service operators in India as customers and had over 600,000 lines of its AN-2000 multi-service access platform deployed as of the end of 2002. UTStarcom also cited a strong interest for its Personal Access System (PAS) in India. MTNL, the incumbent PTT operator in New Delhi, has deployed and commercialized...

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NEC America to Resell SpectraLink's Systems

NEC America agreed to resell SpectraLink's new NetLink e340 and i640 Wireless Telephones utilizing NEC's proprietary IP protocol. This WLAN solution will incorporate NEC's Dterm desktop features to provide a migration path to a wireless communications infrastructure for new and existing enterprise customers. The wireless handsets will utilize the IEEE 802.11b (Wi-Fi) WLAN standard, allowing users to share a single wireless infrastructure with mobile data devices. http://www.cng.nec.com http://www.spectralink....

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McLeodUSA Links 538 Walgreens Stores

Walgreens, the largest drugstore chain in the US, selected McLeodUSA to be the primary local telecommunications services provider to 538 Walgreens stores, with nearly 5,000 business lines, in its 25-state footprint. McLeodUSA aims to install local services in all 538 stores in approximately three weeks. http://www.mcleodusa....

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GDC Reenters Service Business for its Products

General DataComm (GDC) will once again begin offering support services for its products beginning 01-May-2003 and has selected Telsource Corporation to deliver on-site services for its contract customers via a custom outsourcing partnership. Telsource will provide maintenance and support for all of GDC's products in the US, Canada and Puerto Rico. http://www.gdc....

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PMC-Sierra Introduces Multi-Rate PHY/Framers

PMC-Sierra introduced two new devices that offer a physical layer solution for simultaneously aggregating, transporting and terminating OC-3/STM-1, OC-12/STM-4, and OC-48/STM-16 Packet-over-SONET (POS) and ATM traffic on a single line card. The S/UNI MULTI devices are designed for use in physical interfaces to connect network elements that demand rapid bandwidth expansion like DSLAMs, CMTSs, and wireless base-station controllers, edge routers and multi-service switches. PMC-Sierra said a single multi-rate line card powered by one S/UNI MULTI-48...

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Zhone Announces Smaller Multi-Access Line Concentrators

Zhone Technologies announced the newest addition to its Multi-Access Line Concentrator line, which supports both traditional voice and broadband data services over a common loop infrastructure. The new MALC 300 measures 3U in height and uses the same line cards and components as the company's existing MALC 700 models. The MALC supports software selectable service ports, integrated cross-connect, integrated loop qualification with internal splitters, and flow-through provisioning capabilities to clearly differentiate the platform from traditional...

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Yahoo! Platinum Expands its Broadband Content Line-up

Yahoo! is expanding its recently launched premium broadband content service to include video and audio content from Showtime, the National Hockey League, National Geographic, Major League Soccer, and Warren Miller Entertainment. In coming weeks, Yahoo! Platinum plans to add financial news from CNBC, in addition to a mix of entertainment and news programming from the BBC . Content already available on the service includes CBS' Survivor Insider, FOX's American Idol, ABC News, CBS MarketWatch, and NASCAR.com. Pricing remains at $9.95 per month....

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Spirent Unveils Avalanche AfterBurner for Gigabit L4-7 Testing

Spirent Communications introduced a new "Avalanche AfterBurner" that boosts the performance of its Avalanche SmartBits product line for testing Layer 4-7 systems. Spirent's Avalanche AfterBurner enables in excess of 400,000 TCP connections per second on a single Gigabit link. Foundry Networks is using the solution for testing its high-performance ServerIron systems. http://www.spirentcom.com/avalan...

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Alcatel to Resell General Bandwidth for VoATM in FTTU

Alcatel signed an OEM agreement to resell General Bandwidth's G6 Packet Telephony Migration Platform for providing Voice over ATM in fiber to the user (FTTU) networks. Alcatel will integrate, resell, and support General Bandwidth's carrier-class platform to selected customers and engage in joint marketing activities as appropriate. The G6 features a scalable 60 Gbps backplane, supports IP, ATM and TDM in the same platform, and offers an element management system that is Telcordia OSMINE certified. http://www.genband.com http://www.alcatel.comIn...

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Extreme Announces 4th Generation Networking Silicon for 10-GigE Core

Extreme Networks unveiled its for fourth generation silicon, designed for scalable core networks with dense, wire-speed 10-Gigabit Ethernet performance. Extreme's 4GNSS silicon architecture promises wire-speed IPv4, IPv6, MPLS, HVPLS and NAT services for metro and regional networks. The new silicon also includes a new feature, called T-Flex, that uses ASIC-based programmable packet parsers and editors to allow new protocols and services to be deployed without hardware upgrades. Extreme's first incarnation of the new 4GNSS architecture, code named...

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Cisco Announces Intelligent Processor Engine for the WAN Edge

Cisco Systems introduced a new Network Processing Engine for handling IP/MPLS services on its Cisco 7300 routers, which can be deployed by enterprise customers as an Internet gateway application, or used by service providers as a high-end customer-premise-equipment (CPE) router for managed service offerings. The Cisco 7304 NPE-G100 processor supports advanced IP features, including multicast; Any Transport over MPLS (AToM); and Virtual Routing and Forwarding (VRF)-Select, which enables network operators to provide the appearance of multiple network...

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Portal Software and SAP Team on Telecom Solutions

Portal Software and SAP AG signed a global strategic alliance and software development agreement to deliver an integrated management solution for the telecom industry. The solution from Portal and SAP seamlessly integrates key billing system processes with financial business processes, enabling telecommunications providers to more effectively deal with revenue assurance issues by providing complete, real-time visibility into customer transactions. http://www.portal.com http://www.sap....

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