NGN Keynote: The Wireless Wave

"The state of the industry is a getting just a bit better... there's room for optimism," said Sean Maloney, Executive VP and GM of Intel's Communications Group, speaking at a keynote at this year's NGN conference in Boston. Neither the boom nor bust cycle lasts forever, said Maloney, but even when recovery occurs, OPEX pressures will remain. There will be a constant need to do more for less. Intel is betting that a transition to "modular networks" will be among the major changes in the industry. The shift to modular equipment components will...

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Intel to Supply 802.16 Chips to Airspan, Aperto

Airspan Networks will base its forthcoming WiMAX equipment on silicon from Intel. The products will conform to the IEEE 802.16 standard. The Airspan products based on this technology are expected to debut in the global marketplace shortly after Intel releases its 802.16 compliant silicon solution, which is currently targeted for the middle of 2004.Separately, Aperto Networks signed an agreement with Intel to develop equipment built with Intel's IEEE 802.16 compliant silicon scheduled for introduction in the second half of 2004. The IEEE 802.16a...

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HP to Integrate Packet Design's Route-Analysis into HP OpenView

HP has licensed Packet Design's IP route-analysis technology for integration into the HP OpenView management software suite by early next year. The integration will provide visibility into the routing paths traversed by network traffic, enabling network operators to perform more accurate root-cause analysis of network problems by combining routing-path knowledge with device-status knowledge. HP plans to create extensions that allow Network Node Manager to directly access data gathered by Route Explorer. Beginning in second quarter 2004, HP's worldwide...

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FCC Adopts "Broadcast flag" For Digital TV

The FCC adopted the "broadcast flag" anti-piracy protection measure for digital broadcast television, saying that consumers' ability to make digital copies will not be affected. Under the new order, the FCC permits use of the flag at the discretion of the broadcaster. Equipment capable of receiving DTV signals over-the-air are required to support the broadcast flag requirements by July 1, 2005. Other products such as digital VCRs, DVD players and personal computers that are not built with digital tuners installed are not required to comply with...

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NGN -- Demand: Where Will It Come From?

The first wave of broadband deployment has not been in sync with consumer interest, said Jeffrey Blumenfeld, an attorney with Gray Cary. Blumenfeld, who was part of the original Rhythms NetConnections team (an early DSL network provider in the U.S.) said the basic problem is that the perceived value of broadband is not sufficient for a mass audience to pay for it. He noted that broadband service is already available for most U.S. households, but for most users dial-up is good enough. The market dynamics for business WLANs is similar, said Blumenfeld,...

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NGN 2003: Where the Net is Going Next

The nature of change in the networking business is itself in flux, said Dr. John McQuillan, speaking at the opening of this year's Next Generation Networks conference in Boston. In the past, change was more predictable because network equipment almost became better, faster and cheaper each year. Going forward, this premise may no longer hold true. McQuillan observed that the process of change is now different in four important ways. First, the industry is maturing -- packet switching is 34 years old, email is 32 years old, SONET is 18 years old,...

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Teleglobe to Acquire ITXC

Teleglobe International Holdings announced plans to acquire ITXC, the largest provider of international VoIP wholesale services with direct relationships with carriers in more than 175 countries. Teleglobe has been a major player in international telecommunications for well over 50 years and ranks among the top five providers of international wholesale voice, data, IP and mobile roaming services. Teleglobe's network reaches more than 240 countries and territories and is physically interconnected to approximately 275 fixed-line telecommunications...

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Spirent Announces 10-Gig Copper Test

Spirent Communications introduced a 10-Gigabit Ethernet (10GbE) over copper test interface based on 10GBASE-CX4, the IEEE draft standard 802.3ak. The test interface runs on Spirent's SmartBits 10-Gigabit TeraMetrics XENPAK module and can be used to test and deploy 10GbE switches and servers. The new test interface provides automated performance and interoperability testing and provides multiple key measurements such as packet loss, latency, frame sequencing and load balance. http://www.spirentcom....

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Qwest Creates New Systems Integration Business

Qwest Communications has created a new systems integrator alliances division to focus on collaborating with systems integrators to provide a full range of communications solutions to enterprise customers -- local, state and federal governments, and enterprise business customers. The carrier said the new initiative would position it to respond to systems integrators and their business customers' growing requirements for fully integrated enterprise-wide solutions. http://www.qwest....

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Level 3 Expands Network in Germany

Level 3 Communications has added Leipzig to its German inter-city network backbone. Other nodes on the German network include Dusseldorf, Hamburg, Berlin, Munich, Cologne, Karlsruhe and Frankfurt. Also, Level 3 has signed new agreements to provide network services out of Leipzig with HL-Komm Telekommunikations GmbH and Primacom AG. Specifically, HL-Komm, a city carrier in Leipzig, has purchased Level 3's (3)CrossRoads Internet access service, and Primacom, a German cable operator, has purchased (3)CrossRoads Internet access and (3)Link Private...

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Swisscom/Bluewin Selects IPTV Solution from Microsoft

Swisscom/Bluewin is testing Microsoft's newly announced IPTV solution as a platform for Pay-TV services over an ADSL network. Bluewin, which is Swisscom's broadband services subsidiary, plans to be one of the first companies in Europe and among the first in the world to conduct a trial of pay-TV services over an IP broadband network using Microsoft's IPTV. http://www.microsoft.com/tv/http://www.swisscom.comIn October 2003, Microsoft announced a new technology initiative to develop IPTV solutions based on Windows Media 9 Series encoding technology,...

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TiVo Reaches 1 Million Subscriptions Milestone

TiVo has surpassed the one million subscription milestone ahead of what is expected to be a strong holiday sales season for the company. Michael Ramsay, CEO of TiVo, credited increased growth to both standalone subscriptions and promotions with DIRECTV. Originally offered to consumers in a single set top box, TiVo is now available in a dozen products manufactured by more than eight consumer electronic companies. Toshiba and Pioneer have paired TiVo with DVD. DIRECTV now offers four different integrated tuners with TiVo. http://www.tivo....

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Data Connection Ships IS-IS Source Code

Data Connection Limited (DCL) released its Intermediate System - Intermediate System (IS-IS) protocol source code solution for network equipment manufacturers. The DC-ISIS portable source code solution implements full mandatory IS-IS protocol support, including ISO 10589 and RFC 1195, together with enhancements including GMPLS and Traffic Engineering extensions, Equal Cost MultiPath (ECMP), HMAC MD5 authentication and domain-wide prefix distribution. The IS-IS source code fits into the same architectural framework as DCL's other IP Routing protocol...

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Avaya and Extreme Networks Form Alliance

Avaya and Extreme Networks announced a multiyear, multimillion-dollar strategic alliance to jointly develop and market converged communications solutions. The alliance combines Avaya's IP-based MultiVantage Communications Applications, converged security and media gateways and servers with Extreme Networks' Ethernet platforms.Avaya will also resell Extreme Networks' data networking products and will provide comprehensive planning, design, implementation and management services support through Avaya Global Services. Avaya will continue to offer...

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E2O Unveils 1310 nm-1550 nm Long-Wavelength VCSEL

E2O Communications unveiled an electrically pumped Long Wavelength Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Laser (LW VCSEL) capable of generating wavelengths from 1270 nm to 1610 nm for LAN, metro, data communications and telecommunications applications. The VCSEL was developed for 10 Gigabit Ethernet, Fiber Channel and other applications in LAN, SAN, MAN and access networks. The company has already demonstrated data transmission using these LW VCSELs at both 10.3 Gbps and 4.25 Gbps on 10km of single mode fiber, at 10.3 Gbps on 100m of 62.5 um core...

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Infineon Extends 10 GigE over 300 Meters of Multimode Fiber

Infineon Technologies announced a 10 Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) XPAK-compliant transceiver module capable of operating over 300 meters of low-bandwidth multimode fiber. The XPAK optical transceiver uses a 1310 nm laser with EDC (electronic dispersion compensation) technology to extend the distance over which 10 GbE data can be transmitted error-free. Infineon said its demonstration proves the feasibility of using single-laser transceivers for high-speed transmission over the installed low-bandwidth fiber infrastructure. The EDC technology compensates...

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Telecom Italia to Deploy Cisco 10000 Series Broadband Router

Telecom Italia has decided to enlarge its broadband network infrastructure, currently based on Cisco 7513 Routers and Cisco 6400 NAS platforms, with the introduction of the new generation broadband router Cisco 10000 Series. The deployment will allow Telecom Italia to enlarge the number of supported subscribers. It will also be used to provide IP/MPLS broadband aggregation and leased line services. Financial terms were not disclosed. http://www.cisco....

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