Rostelecom Selects Siemens for Optical Network

The Russian carrier Rostelecom selected Siemens to supply and install optical transmission for a 5,000-km transmission link between Novosibirsk and Khabarovsk. The network will use the Siemens Surpass hiT 7500 for the long-haul domain and Surpass hiT 70xx series for the metro domain. Financial terms were not disclosed.
http://www.siemens.com/networks/http://www.rostelecom.ru/en/about/index.wbp

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Telenor Selects Alcatel for its Nordic Network

Alcatel announced two major contracts with Telenor, Norway's largest telecommunications group. First, Telenor has selected Alcatel for the deployment of a business-class VoIP and VPN service. The deployment consists of the Alcatel 5020 Softswitch, the Alcatel 8690 Open Services Platform running the Alcatel 8605 Multimedia Applications Suite, and the Alcatel 7505 and 7510 Media Gateways. The contract will be commercially deployed in the first months of 2004. Second, Telenor has selected the Alcatel 7670 RSP to enhance its data network. Financial terms were not disclosed.
http://www.alcatel.com

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NTT DoCoMo Turns to Micro Base Stations to Speed 3G Rollout

NTT DoCoMo unveiled new micro base stations for its 3G network that are up to 1/30th the size of conventional base stations. The micro base stations have both outdoor and indoor applications. NTT DoCoMo said that for outdoor areas with low population densities, the stations' low cost would enable it to install enough units to ensure necessary coverage on an economical basis. For indoor deployments in buildings and underground malls, where installation spaces are limited, an external antenna allows the stations to be placed out of the way without sacrificing signal strength. The company plans to have a total of 1,600 conventional and micro base stations in operation nationwide by the end of March 2004, and will increase this number to 3,000 by the end of March 2005.
http://www.ntt.co.jp

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Motorola's Chris Gavin to Retire as Chairman and CEO

Christopher B. Galvin, chairman and CEO of Motorola, announced his decision to retire as soon as a successor is appointed. Galvin has served for 36 years at Motorola, including the last six and a half years as chairman and CEO.


On behalf of the Motorola Board of Directors, Presiding Director John Pepper Jr. said, "Chris Galvin has led Motorola through one of the most challenging periods in its history and in the world economy, including the Asian currency crisis, the telecom boom and bust and a coincident semiconductor down cycle. Throughout this period, he restructured the company to position it to return to steady growth. Under his leadership and restructuring initiatives, the company has significantly strengthened its balance sheet, generated positive cash flow for 10 consecutive quarters, returned to profitability, strengthened the Motorola brand throughout the world and put in place a strong, new management team to lead the company forward.
http://www.motorola.com

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Weather Site Turns to Akamai to Handle Hurricane Traffic Surge

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) quickly deployed Akamai's EdgeSuite content distribution service to handle a burst in traffic to its weather-related web sites related to Hurricane Isabel. Since deploying EdgeSuite over a week ago, NOAA.gov has been able to scale on demand to support landmark levels of traffic of over 9 million hits per hour as the public has been contacting the site to access updated satellite images and a tracking map that features the hurricane's projected path and time of arrival. The site normally averages 1.8 million hits per day. The Akamai EdgeSuite service enables the generation and delivery of dynamic content by constructing Web pages from component pieces that can be targeted and delivered from locations optimized for each Web site visitor. Other government agencies using the Akamai service include the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Department of Defense, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of the Navy, the U.S. Geological Survey, the U.S. Government Printing Office, the U.S. House Financial Services Committee, and the Voice of America, among others.
http://www.akamai.com

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Telstar 4 Satellite Fails Due to Short Circuit

A short circuit of the primary power bus onboard the Telstar 4 communications satellite occurred at 8:56 am EDT on 19-Sept-03. The satellite's owner, Loral Skynet, was unable to repair the malfunction. Telstar 4 coverage includes the continental U.S., Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, and southern Canada. Loral Skynet immediately made capacity available to most Telstar 4 customers, many of whom have already had their services restored on Loral's Telstar 5 and Telstar 6 satellites.


Telstar 4 was launched in September 1995. Telstar 8, currently under construction at Space Systems/Loral, will replace Telstar 4, as planned, at 89 degrees West in mid-2004.
http://www.loral.com

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VividLogic Supplies 1394 FireBus to Scientific-Atlanta

Scientific-Atlanta selected VividLogic's IEEE 1394 "FireBus" software for use in its high-definition digital cable set-top boxes. The IEEE 1394 (aka Firewire and iLink) connectivity would enable the set-tops to exchange digital (HD and SD) content among networked devices (Digital TV, Digital VCR) . VividLogic's software can also prevent illegal copying by using 5C content protection scheme. VividLogic is based in Fremont, California.
http://www.VividLogic.com

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Telefónica Adopts Granite Systems

Telefónica has selected Granite Systems' Service Resource Management (SRM) software for use in its Brazilian operations. Telefónica Empresas will leverage Xng's n-tiered, J2EE-based open architecture to ease integration with its other applications and OSSs, including Micromuse's NetCool and Syndesis' Net Provision. Telefonica I+D, Telefonica Group's integration and R&D organization, is driving the implementation at Telefonica Empresas.http://:www.granite.com/

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Navini Cites Progress in KT's Broadband Mobility Trial

KT (formerly Korea Telecom) completed the first phase of a technical field trial testing the ability to retain a wide-area wireless broadband (WWAN) connection in a mobile environment. As part of the trial, engineers demonstrated the ability to maintain a high bandwidth wireless connection in a PCS like footprint at vehicular speeds using Navini Networks' "Ripwave" product line.
http://www.navini.com

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Global IP Sound Supplies Voice Processing Software to Skype

Global IP Sound, a start-up based in Stockholm, Sweden, has supplied its voice processing software to Skype, the recently launch VoIP service from the developers of Kazaa. Global IP Sound's sound processing software is designed to provide better than PSTN quality sound for calls over packet networks. Instead of using buffers, which can add to latency, Global IP Sound's approach is to encode input speech into a series of sound descriptions that are separately transmitted to build a "sound profile" that aids in lost packet compensation. The speech quality processing is thereby provided at the edge of the network, rather than at the core. The software can be implemented in IP phones, softphones, media gateways, and wireless VoIP on PDAs. The company claims better than PSTN quality VoIP even in adverse network conditions of up to 30% packet loss.
http://www.globalipsound.com

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Global Crossing Receives Govt. Approval for Sale to ST Telemedia

Global Crossing received approval from the Committee for Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) for ST Telemedia's proposed investment in Global Crossing. John Legere, Global Crossing's CEO, said ST Telemedia's investment would position the company as a "dynamic competitor in the telecommunications industry with a unique, next-generation IP network."http://www.globalcrossing.com

• The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States ("CFIUS") is chaired by the Secretary of Treasury and includes the Secretaries of State, Defense, and Commerce, the Attorney General, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, the U.S. Trade Representative, and the Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers.



• Global Crossing first filed for Chapter 11 protection in January 2002.

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