Australia's Bright Telecommunications Selects Alloptic

Bright Telecommunications, a service provider based in Perth, Australia, selected Alloptic for a fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) system to be deployed in the city's Victoria Park neighborhood. The new system provides a bundle of television, Internet and telephone services. Pirelli Australia is serving as integrator for the project. Bright Telecommunications is a subsidiary of Western Power. Financial terms were not disclosed. http://www.alloptic....

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Nokia to Ship 100 million Color MMS Phones in 2004

At the 2003 Nokia Mobile Internet Conference (NMIC) in Nice, France, Nokia shared its vision of a mobile services mass market and unveiled five new mobile devices. Nokia said it expects to ship approximately 100 million terminals having color displays, Java and MMS in 2004. In addition, the company said its EDGE technology is taking an increasingly important role in its terminal range. So far, Nokia has launched 8 EDGE-enabled phones to date, and it foresees virtually all of its future GPRS and WCDMA phones to include EDGE technology. In 2004,...

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Cox Increases Financial Guidance, Subscribership and Programming

Cox Communications reported total quarterly revenue of $1.5 billion, an increase 15% compared to a year ago, based on significant growth in all its major service categories. The increase was attributed to growth in advanced service subscriptions (including digital cable, high-speed Internet access and telephony), higher basic cable rates and a $5 price increase on monthly high-speed Internet access adopted in select markets in Q4 2002. Cost of services, which includes programming costs, other direct costs and field service costs, was $622.2 million...

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Wanadoo Adds 252,000 Broadband customers in Q3

France Telecom's Wanadoo service added 252,000 broadband subscribers in Q3, giving it a total of 2 million broadband customers. Of this total, there were 138,000 broadband additions in the month of September. Wanadoo had 8.893 million Internet access customers in Europe, including 2.071 million broadband customers (ADSL and cable). Growth in Wanadoo's broadband customer base stemmed primarily from ADSL access, which represented 1.836 million customers at end September 2003, an addition of 239,000 customers in Q3. Broadband customers now account...

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Verizon Reports Customer Growth, Continued Positive Cash Flow

Verizon Communications posted its fifth consecutive quarter of revenue growth, noting a continued shift from traditional services to wireless, long-distance, broadband and bundled offerings. Total Q3 reported operating revenues of $17.2 billion were up 1% compared to the same period last year. Reported earnings were $1.8 billion and EPS was 64 cents, or 67 cents before one special item related to pension settlements. Some highlights of the quarter:domestic telecom revenues were $9.9 billion -- a decline of 4.1% compared with Q3 2002 and essentially...

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Agere Reports First Profit and 11% Sequential Revenue Rise

Agere Systems reported its first quarterly profit since its IPO and its first quarter of positive cash flow from operations. Quarterly revenue was $504 million, up 11% compared to the prior quarter and up 3% compared to a year ago. Net earnings were $11 million or $0.01 per share. Agere said the revenue increase was driven by 18% sequential growth in its Client Systems business, with strength in sales of chips for cell phones, hard disk drives and other PC-related applications. Margins exceeded 40%.John Dickson, president and CEO of Agere, described...

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MCI Hires Former U.S. Senator Warren B. Rudman

MCI has retained former U.S. Senator Warren B. Rudman as a senior advisor to Chairman and CEO Michael Capellas and its Board of Directors. Senator Rudman will focus his attention on ethics and corporate governance, assisting the company in completing and implementing its expanded corporate governance initiatives.Rudman served two terms in the U.S. Senate as is perhaps best known for co-authoring the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings deficit reduction law. Additionally, Rudman was Chairman of the Senate Ethics Committee. http://www.mci....

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Lucent and Juniper Announce IP/MPLS Enhancements

Lucent Technologies and Juniper Networks announced two milestones in IP/MPLS integration that are the result of the joint development agreement the companies signed as part of their strategic partnership announced in May of this year. The joint IP VPN and Multiservice MPLS Core Solutions consist of Lucent multiservice switches, Juniper Networks routers, Lucent OSS solutions, and network services from Lucent Worldwide Services.First, the joint Lucent/Juniper integrated VPN solution allows service providers to offer corporate customers new "IP-enabled...

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Cisco Names 3 More Enterprise IP Communications Customers

Cisco Systems named three new IP Communications customers in the financial services market: VirtualBank, Cole Taylor Bank and Fairbanks Capital Corp. Fairbanks Capital, a residential mortgage loan servicer, has deployed the Cisco IP/VC Videoconferencing system to replace a legacy ISDN system. Cole Taylor Bank, Chicago's largest independent bank serving small to mid-size businesses, has deployed a converged voice and data network comprising 900 IP phones across 12 facilities. VirtualBank, a provider of wealth management services, has adopted a...

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Brix Develops Service Assurance Solutions for Cable Networks

Brix Networks, a start-up based in Chelmsford, Massachusetts, introduced a service assurance solution that lets cable operators continuously monitor the quality and performance of their triple-play voice, video, and high-speed data services. The cable-centric version of the BrixWorx service assurance software system can be used to constantly monitor the quality and operation of VoIP calls, as well as the overall performance of the IP backbone. The new release extends Brix Networks' current support for the H.323 and SIP VoIP signaling standards...

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Nokia Unveils Wireless Accelerator for Enterprise Applications

Nokia unveiled an enterprise data acceleration product designed to efficiently optimize communication over narrowband wireless and fixed networks. With the Nokia Wireless Accelerator, corporate data traffic to and from the mobile device can be compressed and optimized for faster viewing. The platform supports both client-server and server-only acceleration models. Nokia said the Wireless Accelerator works transparently with existing services, including its IP security and IP VPN solutions. http://www.nokia....

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Covad Names New Head for Network Infrastructure

Covad Communications named Stephan DeRodeff as Vice President, Broadband Technologies. DeRodeff will be responsible for the management and vision of the technology path for Covad's network infrastructure. Prior to joining Covad, DeRodeff most recently served as senior vice president at software start-up Cplane, Inc. He has held a variety of senior management positions in both large enterprise and start-up environments. His experience also includes leading facilities management, network engineering and network operations systems at U S West and...

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AudioCodes Launches 'Ardito' Media Gateway Boards

AudioCodes introduced a line of media gateway boards designed for enhanced voice services and Contact Center platforms. The new "Ardito" line of media gateway boards provides PSTN capabilities with an optional VoIP software license. The Ardito boards offer a selection of firmware-based media processing capabilities including low bit rate message record/playback, real time multi-party conferencing, comprehensive IVR support, G.168 compliant echo cancellation, fax processing, DTMF detection and generation and call progress tone detection. Ardito...

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Microsoft Uses Atheros 802.11G Chip for Xbox Wireless Adapter

Atheros Communications' 802.11g wireless-system-on-a-chip (WiSOC) chipset is being used for Microsoft's new Xbox Wireless Adapter. The Xbox Wireless Adapter began shipping in the U.S. and Canada this month at an estimated U.S. retail price of $139.Separately, Atheros announced it has shipped its 10-millionth wireless chip. The company shipped its first WLAN chip in September 2001. http://www.atheros....

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ADVA Adds 8-channel CWDM Capability to its FSP 2000

ADVA Optical Networking announced a major new release of its Fiber Service Platform (FSP) 2000 system with enhanced Coarse Wavelength Division Multiplexing (CWDM) functionality. ADVA's new 8-channel CWDM card with a next-generation universal transponder design and Small Form-Factor Pluggable (SFP) transceivers replaces the need for separate cards for specific groups of protocols, data speeds, and fixed interfaces. New CWDM ring functionality expands network topology options from simplepoint-to-point configurations to include linear add/drop and...

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NETGEAR Reports Growth in Unit Shipments

NETGEAR reported Q3 revenue of $75.8 million, up 10% over the prior quarter and up 18% compared to the same quarter last year. The was a net loss (GAAP) of $4.0 million, as compared to net income of $2.3 million for the same period last year. Excluding special charges, pro forma net income per share was $0.09 per basic share and $0.08 per diluted share. NETGEAR said unit shipments in all its product categories (Ethernet switching, wireless, and wired routers and gateways) grew sequentially from Q2 2003 to Q3 2003. Ethernet switching products,...

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MCI Supplies International ATM Service to China Wireless

MCI will supply international ATM connectivity service for China Wireless Communications' Broadband Wireless Access Network in Beijing. The companies said the agreement will provide China Wireless' broadband access network with the international reach of MCI's network. Financial terms were not disclosed. NAVIS Communications, an MCI Solutions Partner, consulted on the agreement. http://www.naviscom....

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Equinix Achieves First Quarter of Positive Cash Flow

Equinix reported its first full quarter of positive operating cash flow. Revenues for the quarter were $30.9 million, representing a 53% increase over the same quarter in the prior year and a 9% increase over Q2 2003. Recurring revenues, consisting of colocation, interconnection and managed services were $28.4 million, a 78% increase over the same quarter last year and a 9% increase over second quarter 2003. Net loss for Q3 was $19.7 million, or a basic and diluted net loss per share of $2.12.Equinix added 60 new customers in the third quarter...

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i2 Telecom Releases 4-Channel VoIP Microgateway for Small Business

i2 Telecom, a start-up based in Boca Raton, Florida, introduced a 4-channel "Microgateway" that provides four VoIP over broadband channels for small businesses. The E-VoIP 4000 works with small business phone systems to provide four simultaneous voice channels for IP trunking to remote offices, or to provide domestic and international long distance VoIP calls. The rack-mountable system provides full pass-thru service to standard telco lines, enabling users to switch between VoIP and PSTN for local or emergency calls. The unit works with i2 Telecom's...

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