Bookham Acquires Ignis Optics

Bookham Technology agreed to acquire Ignis Optics, a provider of small form-factor pluggable (SFP and XFP) single-mode optical transceivers, for $15.5 million in new stock. Ignis Optics is based in San Jose, California. Bookham said the acquisition would accelerate its move to provide a full XFP and SFP product set at multiple speeds and different reaches in order to address the majority of new datacom optics opportunities. http://www.bookham.com http://www.ignis-optics.comEarlier this month, Bookham announced plans to acquire New Focus.In July...

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NEC Selects Ixia to Speed Development of its 10 Gigabit GlobalOpenEthernet

NEC is using Ixia's load modules and Linux Software Development Toolkit (SDK) to facilitate the research and development process of their next-generation 10 Gigabit Ethernet switch, which implements NEC's newly developed GlobalOpenEthernet (GOE) scheme. GOE aims to enhance Ethernet functionality by inserting VLAN-compatible forwarding tags in order to route packets to their destination. The Ixia test equipment has helped prove 80G full wire rate forwarding under the protocol. The architecture of the TXS series of Ixia Load Modules includes a CPU...

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BellSouth Tests 2.3 GHz Fixed Wireless in North Carolina

America Connect and BellSouth are launching a trial of fixed wireless broadband service in two rural North Carolina counties using the 2.3 GHz WCS band. BellSouth holds WCS band licenses throughout the southeast. America Connect and BellSouth are performing this trial with the help of funding from the Rural Internet Access Authority, a state-created authority that is predominantly funded through a private grant from MCNC, a technology nonprofit located in the Research Triangle Park. http://www.aconnect.nethttp://www.e-nc....

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Verizon Calls on FCC to Clarify Broadband Policy

Verizon Communications issued another call on the FCC to clarify the broadband policy contained in its recently issued Triennial Review in order to reverse the "dramatic decline in capital investment in America's telecommunications infrastructure."In a presentation to Cato Institute Policy Forum in Washington, D.C., Tom Tauke, Verizon's senior vice president for public policy & external affairs, said the FCC's order with respect to broadband makes clear that incumbent telcos are not required to lease piece parts of new fiber networks to competitors...

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Equant Supplies Global MPLS VPN to Esselte

Equant will provide a global VPN with 50 locations across four continents to Esselte, a leading global office supplies manufacturer. Under a five-year, multimillion dollar agreement, Equant will implement an MPLS-based IP VPN, replacing a Frame Relay network provided by AT&T. In addition, Equant will provide an IP dial solution for about 500 traveling users. http://www.equant....

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Tellabs Introduces IP/MPLS Managed Edge Platform

Tellabs introduced a new carrier-class, medium capacity (42 Gbps) "managed edge" platform designed to extend IP/MPLS from the edge of the core network to the local exchange or even to the customer premises. The new Tellabs 8600 system could be used by service providers to implement MPLS VPNs and Ethernet over MPLS, delivering application aware services such as intranet interconnectivity, extranet, business Internet access and corporate voice with QoS. It could also be used for aggregating broadband traffic from consumers and small office home office...

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Extreme Networks Confirms Sub 50 Millisecond Ethernet Failover Capability

Tests conducted by BT's research, technology and IT operations business, BT Exact, have confirmed that Extreme Networks' Ethernet Automatic Protection Switching (EAPS) version 2 technology delivers sub 50-millisecond failover on both copper and fiber interfaces. Extreme said its performance is on par with Automatic Protection System (APS) for SONET/SDH-type network infrastructures, and surpasses the performance of the commonly deployed Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) and the Rapid Spanning Tree Protocol (RSTP) running on a switched infrastructure....

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CIENA Signs Reseller and Investment Deals with Luminous

Luminous Networks, a start-up based in Cupertino, California, announced a reseller agreement under which CIENA will market, sell and support its "PacketWave" optical transport products worldwide. Luminous' PacketWave E-Series is a low-cost multiservice transport platform for 1 Gbps or 2.5 Gbps metro rings. Like Luminous Networks' existing M-series (metro core) and C-Series (metro access) platforms, the PacketWave E500 leverages RPR layer 2 technology to integrate Ethernet and TDM services using ring architectures that are cheaper and more bandwidth-efficient...

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Broadcom Realigns Its Businesses Into Four Groups

Broadcom announced a corporate reorganization into four strategic business groups. Previously, marketing and product development were conducted through six business units. The realignment is not expected to result in any reduction in companywide headcount. The new strategic business groups include: Enterprise Computing Group -- focused on large PC and server OEMs, storage system vendors and original design manufacturers (ODMs). Products from this Group include Fast Ethernet and Gigabit Ethernet controllers for network interface cards (NICs) and...

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ArrayComm Names New CEO

ArrayComm, a developer of broadband mobile and smart antenna technologies, appointed Sam Endy as President and CEO. He succeeds wireless industry pioneer Martin Cooper, who will continue to serve as ArrayComm's chairman of the board. Dr. Endy was previously Chief Operating Officer of ArrayComm and played an instrumental role in the technology and market development stages for ArrayComm's flagship products -- the iBurst Personal Broadband system and IntelliCell, ArrayComm's patented smart antenna array processing techniques. Previously, he served...

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Acterna to Emerge from Chapter 11

Acterna received bankruptcy court approval for its plan of reorganization. The company plans to emerge from Chapter 11 status in the next ten days. The debt restructuring process took approximately 5 months.Acterna plans to introduce 12 new products and enhancements over the next three months. http://www.acterna.comIn August 2003, Acterna filed a plan of reorganization with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York that would reduce its long term debt by $770 million, or 80%, and lower its annual cash interest expense by...

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Ohio's Bascom Mutual Builds Competitive Overlay FTTP Network

Bascom Mutual Telephone, an independent operating company, is deploying Optical Solutions' new FiberPath 500 system in the area surrounding the towns of Fostoria and Tiffin, Ohio. An "edge out" policy from the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio allows independent carriers such as Bascom Mutual to expand their territory via a competitive overbuild and offer broadband services in a neighboring area - all without forming a separate CLEC subsidiary. Financial terms were not disclosed. http://www.opticalsolutions....

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China Unicom Awards $230 Million in CDMA Contracts to Lucent

China Unicom awarded CDMA mobile network expansion contracts valued at more than $230 million to Lucent Technologies. As part of the initial stage of China Unicom's phase III expansion, Lucent will supply CDMA2000 equipment to China Unicom's subsidiaries in six provinces including Inner Mongolia, Liaoning, Shandong, Shanghai, Zhejiang, and Guangdong. http://www.lucent.com http://www.lucent.com...

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NTT Photonics Labs Announces KTN Crystal Breakthrough

NTT Photonics Laboratories reported a breakthrough in its efforts to develop better optical waveguides. Researchers at NTT have synthesized a KTN crystals that could be used in optical modulators and optical switches with a driving voltage one order of magnitude lower than that of conventional optical devices. KTN is a transparent optical crystal composed of potassium, tantalum, niobium, and oxygen. http://www.ntt.co.jp/news/news03e/0309/030924.h...

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