BT Announces Further Wholesale ADSL Price Cuts

BT cut the price for its wholesale, consumer IPStream ADSL service from £14.75 to £13.00. Wholesale business ADSL services were cut by more than 50%. Nearly 20 service providers, including Demon, Zen internet and Nildram, have already passed savings on to their customers. BT said there are currently more than 100 ISPs using its IPStream service to provide ADSL to more than 800,000 customers. The pricing changes were first announced in early April. http://www.bt....

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Optinel Launches Optical Transport System for MSOs

Optinel Systems, based in Elkridge, Maryland, launched its PLEXiS MFX Transport System for cable MSOs. The company said its system is capable of supporting from just a few to more than 60,000 video streams over distances of greater than 300 miles (500 km). The optical transport system accommodates multiple traffic formats, including Gigabit Ethernet, SONET, QAM and analog video. Both CWDM and DWDM are offered in the single-chassis system. http://www.optinel.comIn December 2002, Optinel raised $22.4 million in second round venture funding. Investors...

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UTStarcom Signs $20 Million with Jiangsu China Telecom

UTStarcom announced a $20 million expansion contract with China Telecom in Jiangsu province. The contract covers further deployment of UTStarcom's IP-based PAS (Personal Access System) platform in the city of Suzhou. This expansion contract comes just four months after the initial launch of iPAS service in January 2003 in Suzhou, where subscriber numbers have already topped 200,000 customers. http://www.utstar....

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Tyco Global Network Interconnects at telx in NYC

Tyco Telecommunications is interconnecting its global fiber network at the telx "SuperNode" facility at 60 Hudson Street in New York City. Telx's carrier-neutral interconnectivity service provides direct access to over 100 network providers. The Tyco Global Network encompasses some of the world's largest undersea cable systems. Telx, which operates more than 40,000 square feet of secure facilities at 60 Hudson Street, describes its SuperNode as akin to a "seat on the exchange," the world's largest marketplace for communications services. htt...

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Motorola Introduces 900MHz Instant Messaging Appliance

Motorola introduced an instant messaging appliance that operates on the 900MHz ISM band, the same technology as used in many cordless telephones. Motorola's handheld IMfree device, which is about the size of a CD case, is equipped with a large display and full QWERTY keyboard (similar in appearance to a Blackberry 2-way pager). Initially compatible with AOL Instant Messenger and AIM Buddy Lists, the device allows instant messaging addicts to roam throughout the house much like they would with a cordless phone. An IMfree base station connects...

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Calypso Wireless Files Application for NASDAQ Listing

Calypso Wireless, which offers a video phone capable of switching back and forth between cellular networks and Wi-Fi networks, plans to file an application to become listed on the NASDAQ Market by the end of 2003. Calypso Wireless (OTC:CLYW) is currently traded over the counter. Calypso Wireless has previously disclosed plans to supply its mobile phones and network systems to China Telecom. http://www.calypsowireless....

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Qwest Pays $6.5 Million Fine for Violating Long Distance Ban

Qwest Communications admitted to violating a federal ban on providing long distance services in its local service region prior to receiving FCC authorization. Qwest has agreed to make a $6.5 million payment to the United States Treasury. http://www.fcc....

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Telstra Selects Marconi's SmartPhotoniX and 10Gbps SDH

Telstra has selected Marconi's SmartPhotoniX and 10Gbps SDH products for its inter-capital, metropolitan and regional networks across Australia. Marconi will supply hardware as well as commissioning and support services to Telstra when the carrier upgrades its transmission network to 10Gbps capacity. Telstra's existing 2.5Gbps transmission network already includes a large portion of Marconi platforms. Financial terms were not disclosed. http://www.marconi.com http://www.telstra....

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Marconi Reports Core Sales of £426 million, Restructuring Almost Complete

Marconi reported core sales of £426 million for the three month period ending 31-March-2003, down 7% from the previous quarter and 4% lower excluding the impact of core business disposals and closures. Some highlights from the quarter:the company said market conditions "remained tough" across all major geographic regions and worsened considerably in the Middle East. Relative stability in Marconi's core European markets - UK, Germany and Italy - was offset by a substantially reduced level of sales in the Middle East, partly due to the completion...

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Broadcom Develops "TCP/IP Chimney Offload" for Enterprise Servers

Broadcom is working with Microsoft on a "Chimney Offload" technology for enterprise servers equipped with next-generation high-speed Ethernet adapters. Microsoft's Chimney Offload architecture would redirect most of the tasks related to TCP/IP processing to the network controller, reducing networking-related CPU overhead. The companies said other approaches to TCP/IP offload technology have not addressed the issue of seamless integration with the operating system's TCP/IP networking stack. The result is two or more independent and different TCP/IP...

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IEEE Focuses on 10 GigE over Copper

A new IEEE task force has been established to develop the standard for 10-Gigabit copper Ethernet. The goal is to provide a lower-cost option for interconnecting equipment located within roughly 15 meters of twin axial cable, typically within a stack or between equipment racks. Work began in November 2002 and the initial study group has been turned into the new IEEE P802.3ak 10GBASE-CX4 Task Force. More than 30 companies have participated in the development work so far. The group is led by Dan Dove of the HP ProCurve Networking Business. http://www.standards.ieee.org/http://www.hp.com/go/hpprocurveThe...

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PCTEL Offers Software for Turning Wi-Fi Clients into Access Points/Routers

PCTEL announced a software package that permits a Wi-Fi enabled notebook or desktop PC to function as a Wi-Fi access point and router using a wired Ethernet connection to the Internet. PCTEL will offer is software as a bundled solution from manufacturers of retail 802.11 client adapters. It also hopes to license the technology to 802.11 chipset suppliers and motherboard manufacturers as a value added option, or to license the software to wire line broadband service providers as part of their home networking solution. http://www.pctel....

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Internap Japan Names NTT Veteran as New CEO

Internap Japan Co., a joint venture between Internap and Japan's NTT Group, named Mitsuo Yoshida as its new CEO. Yoshida recently completed a five-year assignment in Singapore as Director of Group strategy for NTT Communications Corporation, where he was NTT's chief representative at StarHub Pte Ltd., a joint venture established by the NTT Group, Singapore Technologies Group and British Telecom, together with other Singapore-based businesses. Internap Japan provides managed, high-performance connectivity services to major Japanese and multinational...

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Ixia Enhances Hardware Platform with Seven New Products

Ixia introduced seven new products that address performance validation requirements for Ethernet, ATM, wireless and security testing. New hardware products include an Ethernet Load Module with Layer 2-7 testing capabilities, a two-port ATM Load Module for validation of broadband access devices and routers, and a 10 Gigabit Ethernet UniPHY Load Module that combines the test functions for OC-192 POS, OC-192 Bit Error Rate Testing (BERT), 10 Gigabit Ethernet LAN, and 10 Gigabit Ethernet WAN. Ixia also introduced four new software test suites that...

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T-Mobile USA Awards $300 Million Network Upgrade to Nortel Networks

T-Mobile USA awarded a four year contract valued at US$300 million to Nortel Networks for GSM, GPRS, EDGE (Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution) and packet core Wireless Data Network upgrades and associated professional services. The contract covers core and radio access products from Nortel Networks' Univity portfolio across existing T-Mobile USA network footprints, including the New York, Chicago, Dallas, Milwaukee, Denver, Detroit, and Salt Lake City markets. Nortel Networks has been a supplier to T-Mobile since the company's inception as...

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Alcatel Builds Network for Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro

Alcatel was awarded a $10 million contract by Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro for the East-West Coast Interconnect Project, the final phase of the deployment of a digital microwave radio network for the Canadian utility. The East-West Coast Interconnect Project will complete a province-wide network rollout of high speed data and voice links between the utility company's Energy Control Center, generating stations and remote locations monitoring power delivery to customers. The network uses the Alcatel Microwave Digital Radio (MDR)-8000, the Alcatel...

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Charter Communications Adds Cable Modem Users, Loses Video Subscribers

Charter Communications, the third largest US cable operator, reported Q1 revenue of $1.178 billion, an increase of 9.7% over last year's first quarter. Net loss applicable to common stock and loss per share were $182 million and $0.62, respectively. Charter said it made "steady progress operationally" during Q1 principally as the result of aggressive efforts to build its cable modem customer base while also increasing service and package prices for video and data offerings. Other highlights from Q1:Charter added 134,200 cable modem customers...

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Vocera Raises $8 Million for its Wi-Fi Voice Badges

Vocera Communications, a start-up based in Cupertino, California, raised $8 million in a fourth round of funding for its enterprise voice communications system combining 802.11b wireless , VoIP and speech recognition. Vocera's system is designed to enable mobile workers within networked buildings or campuses to instantly connect and communicate with one another using simple voice commands. The system consists of Vocera Server Software residing on a premise server, and Vocera Communications Badges, which can be clipped to a shirt pocket or collar,...

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Lockheed Martin and Spectrum Astro Set Sights on Next Gen GPS

Lockheed Martin and Spectrum Astro formed a partnership to pursue the development of GPS III, a next generation global positioning satellite system. The mission requirements for GPS III would be to provide "hyper-accurate" positioning, anti-jam capabilities, velocity and timing data with a high level of security. The system would serve both military and civilian applications. http://www.lockheedmartin.com http://www.spectrumastro....

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AT&T Offers Unlimited Local/LD Calling in California

AT&T began promoting an unlimited local and long distance residential voice service in California priced at $48.95 per month. In addition, consumers can select four calling features at no extra charge from a list that includes Caller ID, Call Waiting, and 3-Way Calling features. As a sign-up incentive, AT&T is offering a $5 credit on each monthly statement for the first 12 months. http://www.att....

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