NTT Sees Revenues Decline, but Returns to Profitability with Broadband Growth

The Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Group posted a profit of 233.4 billion yen (US$2 billion) for its recently completed fiscal year, reversing a loss of 835 billion yen for the prior year. The improved performance was largely attributed to cost cutting measures, while the company acknowledged continued fixed line losses and declining voice revenues in a new era of broadband competition. Highlights from some of NTT's major divisions include:NTT East returned to profitability, reporting operating revenues of 2,352.2 billion yen (down 8.6% from...

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Cablevision Reaches 22% Penetration for Cable Modem Subscriptions

Cablevision added 83,700 high-speed data (HSD) cable modem customers in Q1 2003, giving it a total of 852,800 customers. This represents a 22% penetration rate for its high-speed data service, compared to 17% in the same period a year earlier. Cablevision added nearly 185,000 digital video customers in Q1, giving it a total of 401,400 such subscribers, a 14% penetration rate. However, there was a loss of 11,600 cable customers in the quarter, although figures for March, April and May indicate a return to subscriber gains. http://www.cablevision.comCablevision...

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Cablevision Selects Siemens for Cable VoIP Solution

Cablevision, which serves 3 million households located in the New York metropolitan area, selected Siemens' SURPASS platform to support its new "Optimum Voice" IP telephony service. Cablevision aims to begin deployment of a true voice-over-cable, IP-based solution over its HFC network. The Siemens' solution consists of the SURPASS hiQ softswitch as a call management server, the SURPASS hiG trunking gateway, and the SURPASS media server, all of which are compliant with CableLabs' PacketCable standard. Financial terms were not disclosed. http...

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Avanex to Acquire Alcatel's and Corning's Optical Components Divisions

Avanex will acquire Alcatel's and Corning's optical components businesses in combined transactions valued at approximately $63.5 million. The deal brings together the optical businesses of three of the industry's leading providers of optical components, modules and subsystems for fiber optic transmission networks. After the mergers, the new Avanex would offer products that address optical wavelength generation and modulation, multiplexing and demultiplexing, signal amplification, wavelength routing and dispersion compensation. Alcatel and Corning...

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Nortel Networks Teams with Ubiquity for Open VoIP Environments

Nortel Networks announced several key initiatives in its Succession Interactive Multimedia Server (IMS) programmability plan designed to create an open application environment for packet voice and multimedia applications. The initiatives include a joint marketing and customer engagement partnership with Ubiquity Software Corporation. The two companies will conduct session initiation protocol (SIP) interoperability testing between Ubiquity's SIP Application Server (SAS) and Nortel Networks Succession Interactive Multimedia Server (IMS). Nortel...

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Agilent Begins Shipping First Hot-Pluggable DWDM Transceivers

Agilent Technologies began commercial shipments of the industry's first hot-pluggable DWDM transceivers, enabling network service providers to plug in a DWDM transceiver exactly when and where it's needed, and at any wavelength, thereby reducing inventory costs. Agilent is offering two such hot-pluggable transceivers to provide transmit and receive interfaces for DWDM switch and router equipment, multi-service provisioning, and optical transmission platforms. Agilent's hot-pluggable DWDM transceivers provide SONET/SDH-compliant links at 2.488...

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Sycamore Reports Quarterly Revenue of $10.6 Million

Sycamore Networks reported quarterly revenue of $10.6 million, compared with $13.6 million for the same period last year. Net loss for the quarter was $11.9 million or $(0.04) per share, compared with a net loss of $22.8 million last year. Sycamore said it continues to focus on technology innovation and customer relationships. It recently signed an outsourced manufacturing contract with Plexus for its optical switches. http://www.sycamorenet....

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Nuera Raises $20 Million for its VoIP Gateways

Nuera Communications raised $20 million in new funding to support is VoIP infrastructure solutions for cable television, broadband, and telecommunications service providers. Nuera manufactures carrier-grade VoIP gateways and softswitches. Its media gateway has been deployed by Comcast, Eastern Broadband Telecom (Taiwan), StarHub (Singapore), and Liberty Media (Puerto Rico). The investment was led by Comcast Interactive Capital, Cox Communications, Sandler Capital Management, and Argo Global Capital. Existing Nuera investors HarbourVest Partners,...

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Howard Janzen Joins Sprint to head Global Markets Group

Howard E. Janzen has been named president of Sprint's Global Markets Group (GMG), responsible for leading the division's domestic and international marketing, product development, sales, and support services. Janzen recently served as chairman, president and chief executive officer of Williams Communications, where he led the company in completing its next-generation fiber network.Sprint also announced two other key appointments. Michael W. Stout has been named executive vice president and chief information officer, responsible for providing...

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Gary Forsee Outlines Sprint's Top 5 Priorities for 2003

In a shareholder meeting, Sprint's new chairman, president and CEO, Gary Forsee, outlined his top 5 management priorities: Grow top line revenues faster than peers in the market Improve customer service and satisfaction Protect and improve Sprint's bottom-line results Nurture and develop a culture of winning at Sprint Build on the company's strong brandBundled service offers will play a key role in future plans. Currently, 49% of Sprint's residential local customers subscribe to Sprint long distance, around 30% of Sprint's residential long...

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Spirent Adds Web Services Testing to Avalanche Product Line

Spirent Communications has added Web Services testing features to its Avalanche 2200 product, allowing enterprises to more fully stress test and validate their Web applications under realistic network and user scenarios. The new features include the ability to test SOAP messaging, trace files sent and received, and monitor correlations between response time and server CPU utilization or server memory utilization. http://www.spirentcom.com/avalan...

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Equant Offers GPRS Access for VPN Customers

Equant began offering General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) access for its corporate VPN customers. The service allows traveling employees to connect securely to their networks when a phone line is not available. Equant will provide the 2.5G connectivity in partnership with mobile service providers, including Orange, in Belgium, France, the United Kingdom and Russia. http://www.equant....

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Verizon to Deploy 1,000 Wi-Fi Hotspots in NYC, Free Access for DSL Subscribers

Verizon confirmed plans to activate 1,000 Wi-Fi HotSpots by year-end in New York City. More than 150 HotSpots are already up and running. The hotspots are at public phone locations across the city. Verizon Online's DSL and dial-up subscribers will have free access to the Wi-Fi high-speed Internet connectivity. The service is currently not available to people who are not Verizon customers. Verizon said it is evaluating future deployment of its Wi-Fi network in other cities. A map of Verizon HotSpot locations can be found online. http://w...

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BellSouth Moves to interLATA MPLS backbone

BellSouth said it is the first RBOC to utilize a region-wide, interLATA MPLS backbone. The BellSouth Regional IP Backbone (BRIB), which has POPs in all major areas of the BellSouth territory, uses RFC 2547 compliant MPLS-architecture and other MPLS mechanisms to provide control of end-to-end services, traffic redundancy and immediate expansion capabilities. The BRIB also allows BellSouth to offer and improve advanced end-to-end information services such as recently announced BellSouth Managed Network VPN Service and upcoming VoIP solutions. Currently,...

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Conexant to Complete Mindspeed Spin-Off Ahead of Schedule

Conexant Systems plans to complete the tax-free spin-off to shareholders of Mindspeed Technologies, Internet infrastructure business, ahead of schedule on 27-June-03. Mindspeed's three key product families include multiservice access solutions designed to support voice and data services across wireline and wireless networks, T/E carrier physical- and link-layer solutions, and ATM/MPLS network processors, complemented by a family of high performance analog transmission devices and switching solutions. Conexant will focus on silicon for digital...

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Verizon Online Moves to MSN 8 Broadband Service, Plans Voice Call Portal

Verizon Online debuted MSN 8 Internet service for its DSL subscribers. The service results from an agreement between Verizon and MSN to deliver co-branded high-speed DSL Internet access and services. The companies are planning a Verizon Central member services portal with a set of tools that allows customers to fully integrate their e-mail, address books, to-do lists and more with online call tracking, call dialing, voice mail, call forwarding and short messaging. Other highlighted features in MSN 8 include junk e-mail filters, parental controls,...

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Nortel Networks Advances VoIP Interoperability

Nortel Networks launched an interoperability program focused on end-to-end VoIP solutions and SIP-based multimedia applications for enterprises and residential subscribers. The new program will focus on enabling interoperability of Nortel Networks Succession Interactive Multimedia Server (IMS), Succession MX and Succession Communication Server 2000 superclass softswitches with key third-party products. The program provides access to state-of-the-art laboratory facilities configured to represent `real-world' carrier networks. http://www.nortel...

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MSN Messenger Tops 100 Million Users, Enhancements Planned

Microsoft's MSN Messenger service recently topped 100 million active users per month worldwide. A new version planned for this summer will add a new user interface, personalization options, integrated games and video chatting capabilities. For Windows XP users, video conferencing, or synchronized video and audio will be provided in the new version. http://www.microsoft....

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Microsoft Positions Xbox for Digital Entertainment Lifestyle

At this week's Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), Microsoft unveiled its lineup of new games and enhancements for its online service, saying its vision is to expand the definition of video game entertainment by driving the convergence of content and services. Microsoft is also planning to launch an Xbox "Music Mixer" device to enable DVD playback, CD playback, photo viewing, gaming, music storage, online gameplay, enhanced party visualizers and even karaoke on Xbox. The device will debut this holiday in the United States for an estimated retail...

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Tellabs to Acquire Vivace for its Multiservice Edge Switches

Tellabs announced plans to acquire Vivace Networks, a start-up building multiservice edge switches, for $135 million in cash and employee stock options.The acquisition enables Tellabs to expand into the global service provider edge router and switch market, estimated at $3 billion in 2003 and growing to $5 billion by 2005, according the companies. Vivace is currently shipping two multiservice IP edge switches that combine native Layer 2 switching and Layer 3 routing capabilities, enabling Frame Relay, ATM, Ethernet and IP services to be transported...

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