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.com

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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, Nokia expects to have approximately 15 EDGE handsets in the market and cumulative deliveries of EDGE-enabled handsets to reach approximately 100 million by the end of 2005.


Among the new product offering being introduced was the Nokia 7700, the company's first media category device featuring a "true mobile Internet and personal media experience" via a 640x320 color touch screen. Additional features include music and video streaming and playback, an integrated VGA camera, FM radio, multimedia messaging and email support, as well as a full complement of personal information management features. The Nokia 7700 media device will also support the Nokia Streamer SU-6 accessory, the first mobile DVB-H/IP Datacast receiver designed to demonstrate the mobile phone television experience. The Nokia Streamer attaches to the Nokia 7700 like a battery pack, and will be used in a pilot project to showcase the future of digital broadcasting on mobile devices.
http://www.nokia.com

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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 for Q3 2003, an increase of 15% over the same period in 2002. Operating income increased 46% to $161.4 million for Q3 2003, and operating cash flow increased 20% to $543.5 million. Some additional highlights:

• the company increased its guidance on advanced-service revenue generating units (RGUs) from the original guidance of 1.0 million to 1.1 million net additions. The company now expects to add 1.1 million to 1.2 million advanced-service RGUs in 2003 driven by bundled offerings. The company expects to be free cash flow positive for the full year 2003.



• ended the quarter with just over 6.3 million basic video customers, up 0.7% from September 30, 2002.



• ended the quarter with 11.1 million total RGUs, up 4% for the quarter, driven by 8% growth in advanced-service RGUs. Total RGUs and advanced-service RGUs were up 12% and 33%, respectively, compared to September 30, 2002.



• achieved Cox Digital Cable net additions of 121,744 customers, ending the quarter with just under 2.1 million digital cable customers. Cox Digital Cable is now available to 98% of the homes in Cox's service areas with penetration of its basic video customer base exceeding 32%.



• added 169,290 high-speed Internet customers, a record net add quarter, ending the quarter with 1.8 million high-speed Internet customers.



• added 73,019 Cox Digital Telephone customers, ending the quarter with 0.9 million telephone customers, representing year-over-year growth of 40%.



• reduced capital expenditures to $382.7 million for the quarter, down 8% from the third quarter of 2002.

http://www.cox.com

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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 for 23.3% of the total customer base, compared with 20.7% at the end of Q2.


Wanadoo's customer base in France totaled 4.363 million active subscribers at end September 2003, including 1.488 million with ADSL access. In the U.K., Wanadoo had 2.604 million customers, including 123,000 broadband customers. In Spain, Wanadoo had 1.417 million customers, including 148,000 with ADSL service. In the Netherlands, Wanadoo had 500,000 customers, including 236,000 broadband customers.
http://www.francetelecom.com/

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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 flat compared with Q2 2003.



• Long Distance: added 1.3 million net long-distance lines. Long-distance revenues increased 17.2% to $1.0 billion in Q3 2003, compared with Q3 2002.



• Wireless: added 1.4 million net subscribers in Q3 -- the highest quarterly increase in its history -- bringing its customer total to 36.0 million. ARPU was more than $50 in Q3, up 1% over the prior-year quarter. Verizon Wireless added 1.2 million net retail customer in Q2.



• DSL: added 185,000 DSL lines giving it a total of 2.1 million lines. approximately 74% of Verizon's 56.2 million access lines qualify for DSL service . The company said it will hit its target of 80% by year's end.



• Bundling: approximately 44% of Verizon's residential customers have purchased local services in combination with either Verizon long- distance or Verizon DSL, or both.



• Access Lines: The total number of switched access lines in service declined to 56,155,000 from 58,456,000 at the end of Q3 2002. The number of resale and UNE-p lines increased to 5,378,000 from 3,891,000 at the end of Q3 2002. UNE-p net additions for Q3 were 479,000 compared to 518,000 UNE-p line losses in Q2.



• Data services: signed nearly 330 Enterprise Advance contracts in Q3, giving it over 800 customers in total for its corporate data networking service. The average contract length is 2.5 years. The company has signed 59 of the Fortune 500 firms. Revenues for high-capacity and data services were $1.8 billion in Q3, down slightly from the year-earlier period



• Debt: there was $800 million in free cash flow for the quarter. Net debt was reduced to $44.7 billion at the end of Q3, compared to $51.8 billion at year-end 2002.

http://www.verizon.com

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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 the quarter as the strongest in the company's history as a public company.
http://www.agere.com

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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.com

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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 frame" services -- new IP services over existing Lucent multiservice switches and Juniper Networks routing platforms. This includes the ability of Lucent Navis OSS to manage Juniper Networks routing platforms.


Second, service providers will be able to carry ATM and Frame Relay services over a packet-based MPLS network while maintaining the same quality and reliability as is available today on an ATM-based network. The trunking is the initial step in the companies' joint plans to deliver ATM-to-MPLS interworking.
http://www.lucent.com/partner/alliances/juniper.htmlhttp://www.juniper.net

• In May 2003, Lucent Technologies and Juniper Networks unveiled a strategic partnership focused on delivering joint core, data, broadband and metro optical network solutions to service providers. Under the non-exclusive alliance, Lucent becomes a worldwide reseller of the entire Juniper product line (with the exception of the J20 product developed in conjunction with Ericsson). The partners said the deal was not simply a reseller agreement, as both companies are committed to joint development efforts to integrate their products for maximum value. The companies have entered into a cross licensing agreement for certain intellectual property. The joint solutions encompass VPN services over a common IP/MPLS core network , an MPLS Core for evolving ATM and Frame Relay networks (available Q1 2004), IP Centrex, Enhanced DSL, and Ethernet Optical Edge (under joint development).

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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 single IP-based network serving more than 300 IP telephony users with Cisco Unified Messaging across the company. In addition, Cisco's IP Contact Center is performing call routing, computer telephony integration and reporting as an integrated part of VirtualBank's existing Interactive Voice Response system from Edify.


Cisco said additional recent wins in the financial services sector include the Cottonport Bank, Dah Sing Financial Holdings, First Commercial Bank, Southtrust Bank and State Street Corporation.


Cisco now claims more than 10,000 IP communications customers worldwide and has shipped in excess of two million IP phones.
http://www.cisco.com

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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 to also now include the Media Gateway Control Protocol (MGCP) and the Network-based Call Signaling (NCS) specification - the control and signal protocols of choice for PacketCable networks.


In addition to BrixWorx for Cable, Brix said it plans to offer cable operators related product test suites and enhancements that will allow them to conduct end-to-end and edge-to-edge testing between Brix hardware Verifiers, for inside-out testing from Verifiers to phones, and for "Golden Phone" testing from phones to Verifiers.
http://www.brixnet.com

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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.com

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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 product development and management at Oracle.
http://www.covad.com

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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 products permit each channel to operate independently and perform full media processing functions while utilizing the full flexibility in the endpoints for future upgrades. Ardito boards support a wide range of PSTN protocols including CAS, ISDN PRI and SS7 MTP3 termination.
http://www.audiocodes.com

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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.com

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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 simple
point-to-point configurations to include linear add/drop and ring topologies.


The new 8-channel CWDM card includes a universal transponder design that transports all typical enterprise protocols for speeds ranging from 100 Mbps to 2.5 Gbps at all CWDM wavelengths between 1470nm and 1610nm. SFP transceivers on the card adapt to single mode and multimode 850nm and 1310nm requirements and various protection schemes can be optionally included.


The parallel use of CWDM/DWDM and Time Division Multiplexing (TDM) technologies enable up to 512 applications to be transported over one single fiber pair up to 200 kilometers. Additional features include
per channel TDM with channel bit rates ranging 8 Mbps up to 10 Gbps.
http://www.advaoptical.com

• ADVA's FSP 2000 was launched in May 2001 and is now on its seventh major feature release. The platform is also sold by Cisco Systems as the Metro 1500.

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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, primarily for small businesses grew 16% sequentially in units, and wireless products, including wireless cards, access points, routers, firewalls and home gateways, grew 25% sequentially in units. Wireless shipments increased from 628,000 nodes in Q2 2003 to nearly 800,000 nodes in Q3 2003. As expected, unit shipment growth of wired routers and firewalls was up 7% sequentially because of the ongoing accelerated adoption of more popular wireless technologies.


Reported net revenue in North America grew 8% to $46.2 million in Q3 2003, compared to $42.8 million in the second quarter of 2003. The company said sales in North America were buoyant due to strong back-to-school seasonal promotions.
http://www.netgear.com

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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.com

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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 including Amazon.com, Apple Computer, Comcast IP Services, Deutsche Boerse AG, GTSI, Keynote Systems, KVH Telecom, Macromedia, SAIC, Savvis and Standard Bank Asia Limited. The company received additional orders in the quarter from greater than 45% of its existing U.S. customers including EDS, IBM, Microsoft and the U.S. Government. The company ended the quarter with greater than 650 customers.
http://www.equinix.com

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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 worldwide network to provide the VoIP service. The E-VoIP 4000 is available through i2 Telecom's network of VARs at a suggested price of $1,495.
http://www.i2telecom.com

• Earlier this month, i2 Telecom launched its flagship InternetTalker product, and announced that it was working with Staples and NETGEAR to deliver a total voice solution for small and medium sized business customers.



• In January 2003, i2 Telecom acquired SuperCaller Community, a small engineering company that was working on a VoIP microgateway.

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