Ericsson Awarded First ENGINE Contract in China

Beijing Communication Corporation selected Ericsson's ENGINE gateway solution, hardware, software and professional services. The solution will offer four nodes, supporting a total of about 600,000 trunks. Deliveries will begin in mid-October and the deployment is expected to be complete before the middle of 2004. Nanjing Ericsson Panda Communication Company Ltd., Ericsson's largest joint venture in
China, will provide the equipment and Ericsson (China) Technology Service Co. Ltd. will provide professional services.
http://www.ericsson.com/press/20031009-104631.html

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Samsung, Orca Interactive, Optibase and Kasenna Offer Triple Play

Samsung Electronics, Orca Interactive, Optibase and Kasenna announced a partnership to provide a video over xDSL solution. The triple play set includes Samsung's AceMAP multi-service platform, which provides DSLAM, NG-DLC and Access Gateway functionality; Samsung's home gateway; Kasenna's MediaBase XMP software, which provides the multi-format VOD streaming platform; Optibase's MGW 5100, which provides the headend functionality; and Orca's RiGHTv XVOD (eXtended Video on Demand) and RiGHTv XBIP (eXtended Broadcast over IP) middleware solutions.


The joint solution is also designed to support network-based Digital Video Recording, local content creation, time-shifted television and other advanced video-based services.
http://www.samsung.com
http://www.orcainteractive.com

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Rugby World Cup Carried via Fiber from Australia to Europe

Coverage of the Rugby World Cup was carried from Australia over the GlobeCast fiber network on behalf of France Television (France 2) and S4C Wales. The new fiber link to Sydney, which routes via the SingTel fiber system, was inaugurated in October. GlobeCast's Global ATM Fiber Network connects leading media hubs in Europe (London, Paris and Rome); America (New York, Los Angeles, Miami and Washington DC); and the Asia-Pacific (Singapore and Sydney). The fiber network inter-connects GlobeCast teleports and technical operations centers worldwide for point-to-point video and data delivery between hubs, as well as one-hop global access to GlobeCast's network of DTH and cable satellite platforms on five continents.
http://www.globecast.com

• GlobeCast is a subsidiary of France Telecom.
  

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BellSouth Tweaks it Service Bundling Prices

BellSouth announced new options for its "Answers" bundles, the multi-product offer that combines local calling plans with long distance, Internet and wireless services on one bill. The new bundling options will allow customers to save up to $10 a month on each of their wireless and Internet products. For example, a customer subscribing to Complete Choice and Unlimited Long Distance can add BellSouth FastAccess DSL for $39.95 per month, a $10 savings off its standalone price.


BellSouth said 40% of households are already bundling two or more services and 43% of households are very interested in buying all services from one provider.
http://www.bellsouth.com

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TIA Publishes New Wideband Air Interface Coding Standard

The Telecommunication Industry Association (TIA) published a new standard for digital radio as part of the Public Safety Wideband Data Standards Project. The new standard is called the Wideband Air Interface Isotropic Orthogonal Transform Algorithm (IOTA) Radio Channel Coding (CHC) Specification. Radio channel coding is a function in the wideband air interface (WAI) between the MAC/RLA sublayer and the modulation in the physical layer. Radio channel coding is present in all radios in a system with a WAI. The radio channel coding functions are used to maximize data throughput and minimize delay through the error-prone WAI.
http://www.tiaonline.org

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FCC Issues Plug-n-Play Rules for Digital Cable Devices

The FCC issued new rules to facilitate the direct connection of digital "navigation devices" or customer premises equipment purchased from retail outlets -- including television receivers, set-top boxes and digital recorders -- to cable television and other multichannel video programming distributor ("MVPD") systems.


The plug-n-play ruling, which follows in the wake of a Memorandum of Understanding ("MOU") reached by representatives of the cable television and consumer electronics industries earlier this year, aims to establish a "plug and play" standard for digital cable television, with the goal of proving consumers the opportunity to purchase navigation devices from sources other than their MVPD service provider.


Apart from technical and engineering specifications, two critical issues that have remained unresolved have been the unauthorized access to service (theft of service) and unauthorized redistribution or copying of programming content legally acquired for a limited use (copy protection/digital rights management). No decision on the so-called Broadcast Flag proposal for carrying digital content was reached.


FCC chairman Michael Powell said the new rules would ensure protection of high value content on cable systems by providing incentives for cable and consumer electronics manufacturers to work together to include various content protection technologies in consumer devices. Powell also promised to deliver a draft decision on the Broadcast Flag proceeding in the very near future.
http://www.fcc.gov

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ITXC Gains International VoIP License for Japan

ITXC obtained a General Type 2 telecommunications license from the Japanese Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications, allowing it to deliver international voice services to telecommunications carriers in Japan. ITXC recently opened a sales office in Tokyo and appointed Ryuichi Suguro as Country Manager. Suguro brings ITXC local knowledge and industry experience from Sprint International, Japan Telecom, and International Telecom Japan (ITJ).
http://www.itxc.com

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