ShoreTel Names New CEO

ShoreTel, a supplier of enterprise IP telephony solutions, named John W. Combs as its new president and CEO, succeeding Thomas T. Van Overbeek, who will remain on the company's board of directors. Combs has previously served as a senior executive at Mitel and Nextel. He joins ShoreTel from wireless infrastructure supplier Littlefeet, where he served as CEO and Chairman. Before that, he was CEO of InternetConnect, a broadband networking solutions provider.



ShoreTel said its revenues more than doubled between July 1, 2003 and June 30, 2004, with its most recent quarter bookings growing more than 60% compared to the previous quarter. The company attributes much of this growth to stronger-than-anticipated demand for its new IP phone family. http://www.shoretel.com

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Airspan to Supply Fixed Wireless in Colombia

Airspan Networks will supply its broadband fixed wireless access solution to the Comsat International - America Inalambrica Consortium for the deployment of a turnkey project in Colombia. The Colombian government, through COMPARTEL, conducted a competitive tender for the installation and operation of a turnkey telecommunications network which will provide broadband internet access to locations throughout the country. The tender called for bids on 5 designated zones, of which the Comsat-led Consortium bid on three. The Consortium bid an innovative combination of VSAT and WipLL technologies. COMPARTEL will pay the Consortium in excess of $20 million over five years as it builds and operates the networks.



The COMPARTEL Program is a six-year initiative to provide telecommunications access to public institutions in Colombia. The Project was divided into three phases to support Rural Telephony, Telecenters and Broadband Internet access. In particular, this third phase was designed to support Broadband Internet access for more than 3,700 sites throughout Colombia, of which approximately 2,300 sites are in the zones to be built by the Consortium.



Airspan said anticipates initially that approximately one third of the sites in the three zones will be served by its WipLL base stations and customer premise equipment, which will be installed over the next 18 months. The equipment will operate in the 900MHz and 2.4GHz frequencies. The VSAT equipment will be used to backhaul the traffic from most of the WipLL sites. http://www.airspan.comAirspan is headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida with its main operations center in Uxbridge, U.K.

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Nortel Networks Declares Preferred Share Dividends

The board of directors of Nortel Networks Limited declared a dividend on each of the outstanding Cumulative Redeemable Class A Preferred Shares Series 5 and the outstanding Non-cumulative Redeemable Class A Preferred Shares Series 7. The dividend on each series is payable on September 13, 2004 to shareholders of record of such series at the close of business on August 31, 2004. http://www.nortelnetworks.com

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American Fiber Sys. to Acquire Marietta

American Fiber Systems, which operates metro fiber networks in five cities nationwide, to acquire Marietta FiberNet, a CLEC, offering voice, data and Internet services to business clients in the north metro Atlanta area. Financial terms were not disclosed.



Marietta FiberNet was the first municipally owned telecommunications operation to be certified in the State of Georgia.



AFS has deployed over 76,000 miles of metropolitan fiber optic cable since 2000 in several cities, including Cleveland, OH; Kansas City, KS/MO; Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN; Nashville, TN; and Salt Lake City, UT. It has over 400 capacity enabled on-net buildings. http://www.americanfibersystems.comhttp://www.mfn.net

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Korean Government Endorses 801.16

South Korea's Ministry of Information and Communication issued a statement endorsing the IEEE
802.16 standard as Korea's base technology for portable wireless broadband access. Plans are being developed for the licensing of carriers interested in offering "WiBro" portable broadband services based on the standard. Initial commercial services are forecast to launch in 2006. http://www.mic.go.kr/eng/index.jsp

• In April 2004, the U.S. Trade Representative and South Korea's Ministry of Information and Communication (MIC) negotiated a compromise agreement regarding the wireless Internet platform for interoperability (WIPI) standard that was developed in Korea. Under the deal, the Korean government can require mobile carriers to use WIPI. However, on top of WIPI, mobile operators will also be allowed to add other specifications such as QUALCOMM's binary runtime environment for wireless (BREW), which currently in in use by an estimated 7 million Korean mobile users.

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SIP Forum Releases SIP Test Framework

The SIP Forum announced the completion and release of its first SIP test suite, called the SIP Forum Test Framework. The open source test framework allows SIP device vendors to test for common protocol errors. It is freely available under the GNU General Public Licence (GPL) to test implementations against a test suite and framework that is SIP RFC 3261 compliant.
This license, commonly used in the software engineering community, enables anyone to copy, distribute and modify the open-source program, thus insuring wide distribution and use. RFC3261 is the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) document that describes the SIP communications protocol.



The SIP Forum Test Framework (SFTF) v1.0 is being hosted at SIPfoundry.org's Web site. http://www.sipforum.orghttp://www.sipfoundry.org

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India's Reliance Infocomm and MCI Partner on MPLS VPNs

Reliance Infocomm, in partnership with MCI, launched India's first MPLS Global VPN service. The agreement enables Reliance Infocomm to offer its business customers seamless global MPLS-based VPN connections by leveraging MCI's expansive global network.



MCI is installing MPLS network nodes in New Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore that will enable MCI to deliver seamless access to its global Private IP network throughout India using connections to the nationwide Reliance Infocomm MPLS VPN network. http://www.relianceinfo.com

• Reliance Infocomm is India's largest mobile service provider with over 7.5 million subscribers. Reliance Infocomm has established a pan-India, high-capacity, integrated (wireless and wireline) and convergent (voice, data and video) digital network.

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Canadian Government Embraces IP for its Embassies

Bell Canada was awarded a three-year $68 million contract by the Government of Canada to design, deliver, install, integrate and manage all engineering, implementation and network monitoring services for MITNET 2004, a global network that will provide international voice and data communications for the country's diplomatic missions around the world. The contract provides a fully managed, end-to-end IP communications solutions for Foreign Affairs Canada.



Bell Canada's plans are currently in place to commence the migration of Foreign Affairs Canada's existing International Private Line (IPL) sites to Bell Canada's IP VPN, working with its best-in-class partners including Infonet, Telstra and Intelsat along with others.



Foreign Affairs Canada currently operates in 110 countries, with 160 missions around the world and locations in Africa, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, Pacific Rim, in addition to North America. http://www.bce.ca

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Tropos Cites Growing Deployments of Municipal Wi-Fi

Tropos Networks, a start-up based in Sunnyvale, California, cited another deployment of its metro-scale Wi-Fi. The City of Corpus Christi, Texas, will deploy the Tropos Wi-Fi system for use by the city-owned water and gas utilities, public works departments, and public safety agencies.



In addition to the utility applications, the network will be available for use by city public works crews, as well as the Corpus Christi Police and Fire Departments. The public safety agencies, with more than 315 police, fire, and EMS vehicles in their collective fleet, will use VPN authenticated access to all of the applications currently available only in their offices. The city also plans to operate GPS-based asset and vehicle tracking applications over the Wi-Fi network. Financial terms were not disclosed.



The first phase of the network will utilize approximately 300 Tropos 5110 Wi-Fi cells, an outdoor-optimized and ruggedized wireless mesh router based on the 802.11 standard.



Tropos Wi-Fi cells form a wireless mesh, dynamically routing traffic along the highest throughput path to a wired gateway. This intelligent routing negates effects of radio frequency (RF) interference, wired backhaul failure and node failure. http://ww.troposnetworks.com

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UTOPIA Gets Financial Go-Ahead for Municipal FTTP

The Utah Telecommunication Open Infrastructure Agency (UTOPIA) closed $85 million in revenue bonds to finance Phase I of a fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) network that will serve residents of 11 pledging member cities across the state. Construction of the FTTP network will begin in August. Phase I will connect more than 50,000 premises in portions of six cities in Salt Lake County (Murray, West Valley and Midvale) and Utah County (Orem, Payson and Lindon). Phase II, which will expand the network to other cities (Brigham City, Centerville, Layton, Perry, and Tremonton) and additional connections in the Phase I cities, will require additional financing.



UTOPIA noted that tax dollars will not be used to build or operate the system. The network will rely on revenues from service providers to repay the bonds. Eleven of the participating cities have pledges that guarantee a portion of the entire project. The pledges may only be called upon if the project is unsuccessful. http://www.utahpolicy.com

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Cox Reaches 2.2 Million Cable Modem Users

Citing growth in digital cable, high-speed Internet access and telephony services, Cox Communications reported Q2 sales of $1.6 billion, an increase of 12% over the same period last year. Higher basic cable rates, an increase in business service customers, as well as an increase in advertising sales, also contributed to overall revenue growth. Cox ranks as the nation's third-largest cable television provider.



Some highlights for Q2:

• Ended the quarter with approximately 6.3 million basic video customers, up 0.6% from June 30, 2003.



• Ended the quarter with approximately 6.6 million total customer relationships, up 1.8% from June 30, 2003.



• Ended the quarter with over 11.9 million total RGUs, up 12% from June 30, 2003, driven by 27% growth in advanced-service RGUs.



• Added 60,351 Cox Digital Cable customers, ending the quarter with approximately 2.3 million digital cable customers, representing year-over-year customer growth of 18%. Cox Digital Cable is now available to 99% of the homes in Cox's service areas with 36% penetration of our basic video customer base.



• Added 97,517 cable modem customers, ending the quarter with over 2.2 million high-speed Internet customers, representing year-over-year customer growth of 34%.



• Added 66,265 Cox Digital Telephone customers, ending the quarter with over 1.1 million telephone customers, representing year-over-year customer growth of 35%.



• Generated $478.6 million in cash flows provided by operating activities and $155.3 million in free cash flow (cash flows provided by operating activities less capital expenditures).



• Reduced capital expenditures to $323.3 million for the quarter, down 4% from the second quarter of 2003.



• Generated 12% revenue growth during the quarter and six months ended June 30, 2004, compared with the same periods in 2003.

http://www.cox.com

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British Government Moves to IP Telephony with Siemens

Siemens Information and Communication Networks (ICN) and Global Crossing will supply an IP telephony solution serving more than 110,000 public sector personnel in the U.K. in over 550 locations. The project is described as a first step towards ultimately migrating government users to a fully converged IP VPN communications solution. The deployment will use Siemens' HiPath technology, providing the ability to use any device, in any location to gain the functionality of the desk phone. Financial terms were not disclosed. http://www.siemens.com/hipath

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Japan's KVH Telecom Deploys Atrica's Optical Ethernet

Japan's KVH Telecom, a competitive carrier, is deploying Atrica's Carrier-class Optical Ethernet Systems to support a new Ether-MAN Plus next-generation Ethernet service offering in the Tokyo metropolitan region and other selected areas of Japan. Financial terms were not disclosed.



KVH's Ether-MAN Plus service, which is enabled by Ethernet over Multi Protocol Label Switching (EoMPLS), combines the reliability of leased lines with the flexibility of a wide-area Ethernet service to deliver integrated voice, video, and data connectivity. The service can be configured as a point-to-point or point-to-multipoint topology, depending on the end user's requirements and network environment. In addition to TDM (T1/E1) services, interfaces such as 10Base-T, 100Base-TX and 1000Base-SX are supported, and bandwidth is scalable from 1.5Mbps to 1Gps with a variety of options.



Atrica's Optical Ethernet Systems portfolio is comprised of the A-2000 family of Optical Ethernet Edge Switches, the A-4000 family of Optical Ethernet Aggregation Switches, the A-8000 family of Optical Ethernet Core Switches, and the Atrica Service Platform for Ethernet Networks (ASPEN), an integrated service provisioning and management system. http://www.atrica.comhttp://www.kvh.co.jpTokyo-based KVH Telecom was established in 1999 by the Fidelity Group.

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Siemens Forms New Communications Unit focused on Convergence

Siemens has formed a new business unit combining wireless and wire line infrastructure, devices, and IP convergence applications.



Siemens Communications, which will be based in Boca Raton, Florida, will combine all Siemens wire line and mobile businesses. It will serve all major customers in the industry -- wireless and wire line carriers, enterprises, cable operators and service providers.



Andy Mattes, who has been leading Siemens' U.S. networking business, will be appointed president and CEO of the new U.S. companyhttp://www.usa.siemens.com/

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BT Reaches 2.7 million DSL Users, Adds 36K per Week

BT reported quarterly turnover of £4,567 million, down 0.4% including the impact of mobile termination rate reductions. However, BT noted that turnover for its "New Wave" services rose 32% over last year to £936 million. New wave turnover is mainly generated from Information and Communications Technology (ICT) solutions, broadband, mobility and managed services. ICT turnover grew by 15 per cent to £634 million partly reflecting the strong order intake last year. Mobility turnover at £43 million achieved growth of 169 per cent. Broadband turnover doubled to £186 million.



DSL : As of 30-June-2004, BT had an installed base of 2.7 million wholesale broadband lines, an increase of 154% on the number of connections 12 months ago, with net additions in the quarter growing at more than 36,000 per week. BT Retail had 1,102,000 broadband connections at 30-June-2004, an increase of 98% on 30-June-2003.



During the quarter, BT Retail's market share of DSL net additions was 29%.



Traditional Business : Turnover from the BT group's traditional businesses declined by 6% (5% lower excluding the impact of reductions in mobile termination rates), a percentage point improvement compared to the preceding quarter.



Free cash flow (before acquisitions and disposals, dividends and financing) was a net inflow of £157 million in the quarter. http://www.btplc.com

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Ericsson/Juniper Selected for IP Backbone Upgrade by China Mobile

China Mobile Communications Corporation (China Mobile) selected Ericsson to provide a major IP backbone upgrade in all 31 Chinese provinces and autonomous regions. The expansion will leverage MPLS to improve overall scalability in China Mobile's network and facilitate more efficient use of bandwidth. Ericsson is the IP/MPLS routing platforms through its long-term strategic relationship with Juniper Networks. Ericsson was also the sole equipment supplier of China Mobile's Phase One IP backbone network in 2000. Financial terms were not disclosed. http://www.ericsson.com/presshttp://www.juniper.net

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Riverstone to Deliver Active Ethernet FTTP to 14 Utah Cities

Riverstone Networks will immediately begin shipping Ethernet equipment to the Utah Telecommunications Open Infrastructure Agency (UTOPIA) for its FTTP municipal networks across the state. The network design uses an open, active Ethernet architecture recommended by DynamicCity. The UTOPIA project uses Riverstone's RS 38000 core routers and RS 8600 metro aggregation routers. It also employs MPLS-based Ethernet to support Virtual Private LAN Service (VPLS) that carries a combination of voice, video and data traffic to end-users .



The UTOPIA project is expected to take three years to build at an estimated cost of $300 million. Upon completion, the UTOPIA network will provide a wholesale active Ethernet network to approximately 140,000 residential and business subscribers. The network will utilize DynamicCity's patent-pending Open Service Provider Network (OSPN) model, keeping network ownership separate from the service providers and enabling service providers to simultaneously operate on the network's bandwidth to deliver retail communications services. End-users will only pay for the services provided over the network, not access. http://riverstonenet.com

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Alcatel Reports Rise in Q2 Sales with Growth in Broadband Access

Alcatel reported Q2 sales or EUR 3.078 billion, compared with EUR 2.967 billion in the second quarter 2003, up 3.7% and 7.2% at a constant EUR/USD exchange rate. Net income pre-goodwill for the quarter was EUR 125 million, or diluted EUR 0.09 per share (USD 0.11 per ADS).



Some highlights for the quarter:

• Fixed communications : Revenue was stable at EUR 1.353 billion from EUR 1.360 billion in Q2 2003. Significant growth was registered in broadband access, data networking, and solutions. In broadband access, growth was seen both in Western Europe and in North America, with new business ramping up in emerging markets such as Turkey and Egypt.



• DSL : 4.8 million DSL lines were delivered during the quarter, up 50% over the same period last year, bringing the year to date cumulative deliveries to 10.3 million.



• IP Business : 10 new customers were added in Q2 for edge service routing, which included customers in the U.S., China, and Belgium. A total of 30 customers exist to date in addition to 40 on-going trials, including a new one added in the UK this quarter.



• Softswitching : Five new customers were added during the quarter for various softswitch solutions, resulting in a cumulative total of 26 customers for the softswitch and over 50 customers for NGN/VoIP solutions to date.



• Optical networks: growing momentum was seen in North America with deployment of cross connects, in particular for metro applications for both fixed and wireless networks, and in Western Europe where the complete optical portfolio has been deployed as service providers focus on building out their metro networks. Submarine networking remains depressed.



• Voice networking : the decline continued, though slowing down by shifting the focus to revenue generating maintenance service of the installed base.



• Mobile communications : revenue increased slightly to EUR 842 million from EUR 834 million in Q2 2003, impacted by the transitioning to a new product in wireless transmission and some slippage in revenue recognition in mobile networks.



• Private communications : revenue increased by 7.0% to EUR 929 million compared with EUR 868 million in Q2 2003. The IP/PBX business registered a solid quarter with the activity continuing to grow, particularly in Europe, once again solidifying its leadership position. Genesys also continued to increase its business, confirming its traction in North America where some significant wins were registered. The enterprise data business was soft during the quarter, partly due to IT spending being under scrutiny in the U.S.



• Gross margin : 38.3%, compared to 31.8% for the same time last year.



• Geographical distribution of sales : W. Europe: 43%, Other Europe: 7%, North America: 17%, Asia: 16%, RoW: 17%

http://www.alcatel.com

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Level 3 Reports Revenue of $391 Million

Level 3 Communications reported revenue of $391 million for its Communications business, compared to $389 million for the previous quarter. Revenue for Level 3's information services business was $503 million compared to $494 million for the previous quarter. The net loss for the second quarter 2004 decreased to $63 million or $0.09 per share compared to a net loss for the previous quarter of $147 million or $0.22 per share.



During the quarter, the company announced two new consumer VoIP services aimed at cable operators, enhanced service providers, ISPs, IXCs and others who provide residential voice services to end-users: (3)VoIP Enhanced Local service, which is targeted towards customers who currently operate their own switching infrastructure, but want to deploy residential voice services cost effectively with minimal involvement in local interconnection issues; and HomeTone, which is a turnkey VoIP residential service offering local and long distance capabilities. http://www.level3.com

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Sprint and Novatel Offer Wi-Fi/PCS Connection Card

Sprint and Novatel Wireless are offering a new PCMCIA that offers seamless always-on connectivity via the Sprint Nationwide PCS Network and Wi-Fi networks. The Sprint PCS Connection Card by Novatel Wireless (Merlin C201) now comes packaged with Sprint PCS Connection Manager Software.



While connected to the enhanced Sprint Nationwide PCS Network that covers 99% of the nation's largest cities, customers can wirelessly access the Internet and corporate applications at data speeds averaging between 50 and 70 Kbps, with peak speeds up to 144 Kbps prior to bandwidth optimization. The Sprint PCS Wi-Fi Access provides connectivity at up to 11 Mbps. http://www.sprint.com

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Telefónica Reaches 3.7 million ADSL Lines

Telefónica reported a 5.6% growth in operating revenues to EUR 14.324 billion for the first half of 2004, compared to the same period in 2003. First-half operating profit was EUR 3.421 billion, 21.4% more than in the year-ago period.

Some highlights:

• Telefónica enlarged its worldwide customer base by 12.6% to 103.8 million.



• The number of ADSL connections rose by 1.7 million net versus June 2003 to 3.7 million. The 2 million connections operative in Spain (+58.2% vs June 2003) equate to an estimated 74% share of the overall broadband market, while Telefónica Group's 1.6 million retail clients give it 58% of this ADSL segment. In Latin America, ADSL connections now number over one million (0.6 million one year back), of which 0.6 million fall to Telesp (+58% year-on- year).



• Telefónica de España operating revenues rose 2.2% year-on-year to EUR 5.399 billion at the 1H04 close. Worth noting is the clear spurt in revenue growth in the second-quarter period, which owes in part to the rise in the monthly fee effective as of 01-April-2004.



• A geographical breakdown shows Spain representing 61.6% of the Group's consolidated revenues at the end of the second quarter, though its weight had dropped 1.3 p.p. vs. June 2003 with the slack taken up by Brazil (17.6% vs. 16%). Latin America raised its share of total revenues by 0.9 p.p. to 33.1%.



• The Group's net debt amounted to EUR 18.776 billion in June 2004, down by EUR 459 million down from the end of 2003 .

http://www.telefonica.com

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Motorola to Offer Apple iTunes on its Mobile Phones

Motorola is partnering with Apple to enable users to transfer songs from the iTunes jukebox on their PC or Mac, or from the iTunes Music Store, to Motorola's next-generation mobile phones. Apple will create a new iTunes mobile music player, which Motorola will make the standard music application on all their mass-market music phones, expected to be available in the first half of next year. The interface will be USB or Bluetooth. http://www.motorola.com

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Comcast Adds 4 Mbps to Service Tiers

Comcast has added a new 4 Mbps cable modem service tier. Comcast customers now can choose between two options: 4Mbps and 3Mbps, which are priced at $52.95 and $42.95 respectively, for customers also buying cable TV service.



Comcast is also increasing e-mail storage for its users to 1.7GB, as compared to the previous 70MB. http://www.comcast.com/

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Alcatel provides BT with SIP-based Solution

BT awarded a multi-million EUR contract to Alcatel to supply a suite of Session Initiation Protocol (SIP)-based multimedia applications. The Alcatel solution will help BT generate additional revenue through the new BT Communicator with Yahoo! Messenger service offering.



The contract includes the Alcatel 8690 Open Services Platform (OSP) - which allows the customization and rapid roll-out of high-value services and hosts the Alcatel 8605 multimedia application suite - and the Alcatel 5020 Softswitch, which provides the necessary bridge between the voice and data worlds. The selection of Alcatel follows BT's recent decision to employ the Alcatel 8690 OSP as the cornerstone of its common intelligence services layer (CISL) project and reaffirms Alcatel's pedigree as a leader in delivering innovative VoIP-based applications over broadband networks. http://www.alcatel.com

• Earlier this month, BT and Yahoo! launched a residential service that allows consumers to manage all their home communications - phone calls, webcam, emails, texts and instant messaging - together in one place from a Web browser.



• BT Communicator with Yahoo! Messenger is an integrated software package that combines voice services over the web with Yahoo!'s instant messaging. Users are able to make free calls when connecting from their PC to another PC or make calls to a landline or mobile from their computer at the same cost as a phone call on their "BT Together" fixed line phone package. Call records will appear on the standard BT telephone bill as ‘Clic2call' rather than ‘mobile' or ‘local number'. BT customers traveling abroad can make international calls back to any UK number for the price of a domestic UK call.

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Verilink Closes its Acquisition of Larscom

Verilink closed its merger with Larscom. The company is aiming to become a leading provider of next-generation broadband access solutions. Its portfolio encompasses voice over packet and voice over TDM IAD solutions including VoIP, VoDSL and VoATM. The Larscom merger adds to the company's position in the integrated access space as well as introducing solutions for the Optical Ethernet Access market. http://www.verilink.com/

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Nortel Networks Expands Carrier VoIP, Multimedia Developer Program

Products from AFC, ARRIS, Mediatrix, Ubiquity and Verilink have successfully completed interoperability testing with its Carrier VoIP and Multimedia portfolio. As a result, these companies have each been awarded a Certificate of Compatibility under Nortel Networks Developer Program.



In addition, Nortel Networks also announced the following new program members: Bloophone, Computer Talk Technology, Inc., Entrisphere, i3micro, Interval Research, NewHeights, Polycom, SS8 Networks, Inc. and Terayon. http://www.nortelnetworks.com

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SEC Drops its Investigation in Charter's Cable Business

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has concluded its enforcement action against Charter Communications. The investigation generally concerned the Charter's determination of the number of its customers, various accounting practices and procedures concerning capitalization of certain expenses and dealings with certain vendors, including programmers and digital set-top terminal suppliers.



In the Settlement Agreement and Cease and Desist Order, Charter neither admitted nor denied any wrongdoing, and the SEC assessed no fine against the company. http://www.charter.com

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Time Warner's Road Runner Accelerates to 6 Mbps

Time Warner plans to introduce a new option for its Road Runner Premium cable modem service that doubles the top download speed to 6 Mbps. The uplink will run at up to 512 kbps. Pricing for the premium service ranges from $64.95-$84.95 per month, depending on the package or bundle of other services they take from Time Warner Cable. This compares to the core Road Runner cable modem service, which offers speeds of up to 3Mbps downstream and 384kbps upstream, and is typically priced at $44.95 retail, with discounts in a bundle or multi-service package.



Time Warner Cable currently has 3.4 million cable modem customers, which represents 18%of eligible homes. http://www.timewarner.com

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Kasenna Announces Secure Video Delivery Network Design

Kasenna outlined its plans for a Secure Video Delivery Network (Secure VDN) for enabling widespread broadband service provider distribution of premium video content. Kasenna's Secure VDN delivers content in an encrypted format all the way from the studios to viewers' homes, thereby addressing the digital rights management (DRM) concern that has so far impeded direct broadband delivery of first-run studio content.



Over the past few months, Kasenna has introduced its own management and application development platforms and acquired ViewNow, which has content distribution relationships with the major film studios. Kasenna's Secure VDN combines ViewNow's studio distribution relationships with end-to-end encryption and a full suite of content management, distribution, delivery, and tracking tools based on Kasenna's MediaBase and vFusion products. The system includes real-time usage tracking capability.



In the past, studios have had to rely on monthly reports from VOD providers to determine which titles were most popular. Kasenna said its ViewTrak application, enables the studios and the network operators to see up-to-the-minute statistics on the number of people purchasing any given title at any time. http://www.kasenna.com/

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Alvarion to Acquire interWAVE for GSM/CDMA Expertise

Alvarion agreed to acquire interWAVE Communications International in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $56 million.



interWAVE is a provider of compact mobile GSM and CDMA network equipment and services, primarily aimed at low density markets in developing regions, as well as specialty vertical applications. The company's solutions are deployed in over 50 countries by more than 100 operators, mainly local and regional cellular operators. interWAVE, which is based in Mountain View, California with engineering facilities in China and Ireland , had 12-month trailing revenues of about $39.4 million.



Alvarion is a leading supplier of wireless broadband solutions and is actively involved in WiMAX initiatives. The company said interWAVE's fixed and mobile cellular solution complements its own eMGW residential voice and data solution serving regions of the world where wireline infrastructure is missing or inadequate. http://www.alvarion.com

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Mpower Plans Launch of VoIP Hosted PBX Services

Mpower Communications, a facilities-based broadband communications provider serving areas throughout California, Nevada, and Illinois, announced its plans to launch a VoIP Hosted PBX service beginning in Q4. Mpower will utilize the hosted IP platform of VocalData. The VoIP Hosted PBX application will extend Mpower's services into the customer premise, providing access to advanced features and functionality remotely through a web portal interface tied directly to an Mpower application server. http://www.mpowercom.com/http://www.vocaldata.com/

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MCI Raises Bar on Internet SLAs

MCI tightened its service level agreements (SLA) for IP traffic between key global business centers. All of MCI's Internet service customers worldwide are automatically covered by the enhanced SLAs, which include more stringent network performance guarantees for latency and additional packet delivery guarantees for Latin America, Asia Pacific and EMEA. The North American performance guarantees for average round-trip transmission is now 45 milliseconds or less between hub routers in North America, representing nearly 20% faster transm



MCI is also introducing a jitter guarantee of one millisecond for U.S. traffic that will enable customers to better carry time-sensitive applications like VoIP over their networks. The new metrics are being applied across all MCI IP services, including dedicated and remote Internet access, IP VPN Dedicated and Remote, and Internet Colocation services, at no additional cost to customers.



MCI will also enhance its Remote Access Services this fall with the addition of new end-to-end SLAs for all MCI Internet Dial Corporate customers to ensure a positive experience for each and every end-user. Utilizing MCI's Dial Analysis monitoring and reporting platform, customers will be able to measure end-user performance against the new end-to-end SLAs. http://global.mci.com/terms/us/products/internet/sla/

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Comcast Surpasses 6.0 Million Cable Modem Users

Comcast reported strong operating cash flow for Q2, reflecting robust growth in new video and high-speed Internet services and a decrease in capital expenditures now that its network rebuild program is essentially complete.



Some highlights:

• Comcast Cable reported revenue of $4.839 billion for Q2, representing a 10.4% increase from the Q2 2003. Video revenue for the quarter increased 6.9%, driven by a 5.7% increase in average monthly revenue per basic subscriber and a 20.5% increase in digital revenue primarily reflecting a 1.1 million increase in the number of digital cable subscribers.



• Basic subscribers of 21.5 million are essentially unchanged from a year ago but down 96,000 or 0.4%, from the prior quarter due to seasonality and modestly lower gross additions. During the second quarter of 2004, Comcast Cable added more than 206,000 digital cable subscribers to finish the quarter with nearly 8.1 million subscribers, or 37.5% of basic subscribers.



• Video revenue growth reflects increasing consumer demand for new digital features, including Comcast ON DEMAND, HDTV programming and DVRs.



• Pay-per-view revenues increased 26.0%, driven by more movie and event purchases through the Comcast ON DEMAND service. Increasing demand for HDTV is also contributing to digital growth - at the end of the second quarter, Comcast had almost 600,000 HDTV set-top boxes in customers' homes.



• Cable modem revenues increased 39.2% to $763 million in Q2, reflecting continuing growth in subscribers. Comcast Cable ended Q2 with more than 6.0 million subscribers, a 36.8% increase from the same quarter last year. During quarter, Comcast Cable added 327,000 high-speed Internet subscribers resulting in a penetration rate of 16.1% of available homes. Comcast Cable added more than 1.1 million homes to its cable modem footprint in quarter, and this service is now available to 37.3 million, or 92.6%, of homes passed. Average monthly revenue per high-speed Internet subscriber was $43.52 in Q2, in line with Q2 2003 and a $1.07 increase from the $42.45 reported in Q1 2004.



• Advertising revenue for the second quarter of 2004 increased 15.3% to $330 million, reflecting growth of 6.0% in local advertising and strong growth of 25.4% in regional/national advertising as a result of the continuing success of our regional interconnect strategy.



• Cable capital expenditures declined 14.8% to $893 million compared to the $1.047 billion in the second quarter of the prior year.

http://www.cmcsk.com/

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France Telecom Reaches 4.7 Million ADSL Lines

France Telecom reported consolidated revenues for the first half of the year of EUR 23.2 billion, a year-on-year increase of 4.2% on a comparable basis, driven by strong performance by Orange, which recorded an 11.2% increase in revenues on a comparable basis and by Wanadoo, which saw revenues rise 11.9% on a comparable basis. Growth in wireless and Internet businesses offset the decline of 1% on a comparable basis in revenues from the Fixed Line, Distribution, Networks, Large Customers and Carriers segment.



Some highlights:

• ADSL: The total number of ADSL access lines more than doubled in one year, reaching 4.7 million at 30-June-2004 (including unbundled lines and Wanadoo sales), compared with 2.2 million a year earlier. Excluding unbundled lines, ADSL access lines totaled 4 million, versus 2.1 million a year earlier.



• Wanadoo: There was an 80% increase in new broadband subscribers in Europe. Some 35.4% of Wanadoo customers in Europe now have broadband



• Consumer Services: Revenues declined 4.5% on a comparable basis, reflecting lower prices (free unlisted number service and lower rates for calls to cell phone numbers), coupled with loss of market share for telephone calls. Flat rate call time packages nevertheless continued to experience rapid growth, totaling nearly 10 million customers at end June 2004, an increase of 26% over end June 2003.



• Business Services: Revenues declined 4.2% on a comparable basis due to the decrease in voice telephony. Revenues from business network services remained stable as the migration to IP technologies (IP VPN services) accelerated. Hosting and outsourcing services also experienced rapid development and represent a significant growth driver. Revenues from voice telephony services for Businesses declined 9.7% due to lower prices and loss of market share for telephone calls.



• Network and Carrier Services: Revenues grew 14.5% growth on a comparable basis due to the strong increase in unbundling of telephone lines and wholesale ADSL access sales. Revenues from international carrier services also contributed to this increase.



• Market Share: France Telecom's market share (measured through interconnection) of the French local telephony traffic is 72.5%, and 59.7% on the long distance telecommunications market.



• CAPEX: EUR 2.1 billion EURs for H1 2004, a decrease of 1.1% on a comparable basis. The CAPEX/revenues ratio was 8.9% . France Telecom maintains its objective of a CAPEX/revenues ratio of approximately 11% for full year 2004, since investments are historically higher in the second half of the year.



• Free cash flow: EUR 6 billion in H1 2004, compared with EUR 4.5 billion in H1 2003.

http://www.francetelecom.com/

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RCN Boosts its Top Cable Modem Speed to 7 Mbps

RCN Corporation will begin providing its premium cable modem customers a top download speed of 7 Mbps. The premium service previously offered 5 Mbps download speeds. Customers of RCN's 3 Mbps cable modem service will be automatically boosted to 5 Mbps rates. This is the second time in the last 12 months that RCN has increased the speed of its cable modem service at no additional cost to its customers.



RCN provides service in the Boston, New York, Eastern Pennsylvania, Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles metropolitan markets. http://www.rcn.com

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Brazil's VIVO Selects Motorola SoftSwitches for its CDMA Network

VIVO, the largest mobile telephone carrier in South America with more than 22 million subscribers, will deploy Motorola SoftSwitches for CDMA (MSS-C) in its established networks as well as in new greenfield locations.



The MSS-C is a packet-based switching platform. The CDMA interface between the Motorola radio access network and the softswitch is fully compliant with the InterOperability Specification (IOS) open standard. In addition, the open architecture of the MSS-C, built on the same platform as the portfolio of Motorola's core solutions including IP Multi-Media System (IMS) and Push-To- Talk over Cellular (PoC).



Motorola said this contract is its largest to date for the MSS-C platform. The VIVO deployment covers 25 Motorola SoftSwitches that will serve a capacity of over six million subscribers for the Brazilian network. The Motorola MSS-C currently in the VIVO network in Londrina is serving more than 100,000 commercial subscribers. VIVO has MSS-Cs slated for commercial deployment within third quarter 2004, with additional deployments scheduled for the remainder of 2004 and 2005. http://www.motorola.com

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Motorola Measures Peak OFDM Downlink Speeds of 300 Mbps

Motorola Labs has demonstrated that existing Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) technology can support high-speed mobile networks with a peak downlink speed of up to 300 Mbps. The company said future all-IP mobile networks using OFDM technology have the capability to provide a broadband user experience that was previously thought to be unattainable.



Motorola Labs recently completed a series of mobile wide area broadband wireless field experiments using OFDM on a 20 MHz bandwidth channel with multiple antenna handheld devices. Applying data from the field experiments in laboratory tests, Motorola Labs validated that a 20 MHz mobile OFDM channel can support peak uncoded channel data rates of up to 300 Mbps.



The field tests of Motorola Labs' mobile OFDM system were conducted in the greater Chicago area in both urban and suburban environments. In the field tests Motorola Labs attained data throughputs exceeding 20 Mbps with a latency of just 25 milliseconds while simultaneously demonstrating real-time applications including videoconferencing, multi-Mbps streaming video, and voice over IP and traveling at typical highway speeds (in excess of 100 kilometers per hour or 62 mph).



Motorola said it would be sharing its OFDM research experience in cooperation with IEEE, ITU, ETSI, 3GPP and 3GPP2, and will be an active contributor in introducing OFDM to the standards bodies. Motorola also recently joined the WiMAX Forum as a principal member. http://www.motorola.com/

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8x8 Enhances its Broadband Phone and Videophone Service

8x8 added a number of enhancements to its residential broadband telephone and videophone service. The new features include: Call Return (*69), Call Waiting Disable (*70), Do Not Disturb (*78/*79), Anonymous Call Blocking (*77/*87), and Local Number Portability (LNP). http://www.8x8.com

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UTStarcom Reports Q2 Revenue of $689.6 Million, Competitive Pressure in China

UTStarcom reported Q2 revenue of $689.6 million, an increase of 70% over net sales of $405.8 million reported in the second quarter of 2003. GAAP net income for Q2 was $43.2 million, or $0.32 per share. This compares to net income of $39.4 million, or $0.33 per share, for Q2 2003. Q2 gross margins came in at 25.4%, as compared to projected gross margins of 27-28%.



UTStarcom blamed competitive pricing pressure in China as well as supply-chain constraints that delayed recognition of some higher-margin international revenues for margins that were below expectations. In order to better accommodate growing international demand and increased product portfolio diversification, UTStarcom has engaged a leading global supply chain-consulting firm to assist in transforming the company's supply chain management. http://www.utstar.com

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Alcatel Invests in Tropic Networks for ROADMs

Alcatel has made and equity investment in Tropic Networks, a start-up offering metro-area optical networking gear. In addition to the financial investment, Alcatel has also entered into a global agreement to market and distribute Tropic Networks products and technology. Financial terms were not disclosed.



Tropic Networks, which is based in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, developed a Reconfigurable OADM (ROADM) that enables service providers to remotely reconfigure add and drop capacity at each node. Tropic's system features an advanced optical layer management technology called "Wavelength Tracker". http://www.alcatel.com/

• Tropic Networks TRX-24000 platform, which was first introduced in October 2002, takes ITU grid wavelengths from an existing SONET/SDH ADM, switch or router and transports it across multiple rings while staying in the optical domain. The platform has a range of 600 km. Tropic also features a Wavelength Tracker technology that monitors and provides failure detection functionality to manage the signal as it travels throughout the network. The reconfigurable optical add/drop multiplexer (R-OADM) capabilities gives service providers any-wavelength-at-any-node reconfigurability with zero service disruption.



• Tropic Networks was founded in May 2000 by Kevin Rankin, formerly co-founder of the Broadband Copper Access division at Newbridge Networks; Dr. Dan Oprea, former senior architect at Nortel Networks and Mitel; Dave Coomber, former assistant VP of xDSL at Newbridge Networks; and Ben Bacque, co-founder of the Broadband Copper Access division at Newbridge Networks.

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Calix Ships ADSL2+ Line Cards

Calix announced volume shipments of ADSL2+ interfaces for its Calix C7 platform. The company said its Calix C7 ultra-broadband loop carrier (UBLC) has the capacity to drive all ADSL2+ ports at peak line rates on a sustained basis. The Calix C7 offers 200 Gbps of capacity in a compact form factor, supporting 2,400 ADSL2+ ports in a single seven foot rack and as many as 1,920 ADSL2+ ports from its line of patented outdoor cabinets. Individual ADSL2+ ports can be clocked at downstream speeds as high as 24Mbps and will typically support services consuming 15Mbps of bandwidth at loop lengths of about 8Kft. The new ADSL2+ line cards are backward compatible with all existing ADSL CPE.



CenturyTel, the eighth largest ILEC in the United States based on access lines, is among the first Calix customers to deploy services based on ADSL2+.



Calix noted that ADSL2+, combined with codecs such as H.264 / MPEG-4, Part 10 and Microsoft's Windows Media Player 9, provides the capacity to deliver HDTV programming along with multiple standard quality video streams, tiered Internet access, and packet voice over existing copper infrastructure. http://www.calix.com

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Taiwan's Seednet Selects Nortel's SIP-based Portfolio

Seednet, one of the leading ISPs in Taiwan, has selected Nortel Networks' Multimedia Communications Portfolio to deliver VoIP and multimedia communication services to its customers. With Nortel Networks MCS 5200 Multimedia Communication Server, Seednet is planning to provide a wide range of multimedia services to customers, including: Video Calling; Find Me/Follow Me features; Personal and Group Directories; Whiteboard and Web Push Services -- collaborative web tools to enhance the communication and collaboration between individuals, regardless of locations.



Seednet is planning to provide the new services by the end of 2004. The MCS 5200 network will be deployed by Nortel Networks channel partner Hitron International Inc. Financial terms were not disclosed. http://www.nortelnetworks.com

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NoaNet Deploys CIENA's CoreStream in Pacific Northwest

The Northwest Open Access Network (NoaNet) is deploying CIENA's CoreStream Agility Optical Transport System to upgrade its network serving utility and rural community customers in the Pacific Northwest. NoaNet is a non-profit wholesale carrier providing TDM, Ethernet and IP terminations, primarily to a rural customer base. The carrier is deploying CoreStream Agility on a new route extension requiring OC-192 capacity. Financial terms were not disclosedhttp://www.ciena.com

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CinemaNow Secures $11 Million in New Funding

CinemaNow has secured $11 million in Series D financing led by Menlo Ventures. Additional investments were made by Cisco Systems, and existing investor Lions Gate Entertainment. The company said the proceeds will be used to further technology development, content acquisition and marketing. The company also expects to broaden its presence in Europe and Asia to meet the rising market demand for its products and services.



CinemaNow's Web site currently boasts over 5,000 titles with content from nearly 200 licensors including Disney, Fox, Lions Gate, MGM, Miramax and Warner Bros. The site makes content available on a pay-per-view, subscription and download-to-own basis and is accessible worldwide.



CinemaNow has also developed "PatchBay", a proprietary content-on-demand distribution and management system that runs the CinemaNow web site, and is licensed to operate third-party sites such as NHL.com and LiveMetallica.com. http://www.cinemanow.com

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McLeodUSA Launches VoIP Service Trials

McLeodUSA launched its first market trials of a new VoIP Dynamic Integrated Access service for medium-to-large business customers. The integrated services run over a single T-1 facility to the customer location. McLeodUSA plans to expand its VoIP service offerings into major markets across its 25-state footprint while adding additional VoIP features, functionality and products beginning in early 2005. http://www.mcleodusa.com

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Verizon Posts 6% Growth in Revenues, Strength in Wireless

Led by wireless growth of 25%, Verizon Communications reported Q2 operating revenues of $17.8 billion, compared with $16.8 billion in Q2 2003 -- exceeding market forecasts. Growth businesses, such as wireless, data and broadband, accounted for 52% of Verizon's Q2 revenues, compared with 46% of the company's second-quarter revenues last year.



Some highlights for Q2:

• Wireless: industry-record 1.5 million total net customer additions, 40.4 million total customers; 25.0% growth in total revenues; The company posted record-low churn of 1.45% per month. Wireless total revenues were $6.8 billion in Q2, compared with $5.5 billion in Q2 2003. This was the eighth consecutive quarter of double-digit, year-over-year wireless revenue increases. ARPU increased to $50.80.
  
  
• Domestic Telecom: operating revenues were $9.6 billion in the second quarter 2004, a 2.9% decrease compared with the second quarter 2003 and a slight increase compared with the first quarter 2004. Second-quarter results included an increase of 14.7% in revenues from all long- distance services, which were $1.0 billion compared with $0.9 billion in the second quarter 2003, and an increase of 5.7% in total data revenues, which were $1.9 billion compared with $1.8 billion in the second quarter 2003.
  
  
• DSL: 280,000 net additions in the quarter, for a total of more than 2.9 million lines
  
  
• Wireline Access Lines: there were 519,000 residential line losses in Q2, compared to 387,000 in Q2 2003. There were 155,000 business line losses in Q2, compared to 184,000 line losses in the preceding quarter.
  
  
• Long-Distance: 14.7% growth in revenues
  
  
• Bundles: Approximately 50% of Verizon residential customers have purchased local services in combination with either Verizon long-distance or Verizon DSL, or both.
  
  
• Enterprise Advance Initiative: the company is now targeting $250 million in new revenue for 2004
  
  
• Total company revenues: 6.0% growth in operating revenues; 64 cents in diluted earnings per share; consolidated operating income margin (operating income divided by operating revenues) of 20.9%
  
  
• Free Cash Flow: $1.6 billion in the quarter, up 25.2%
  
  
• Debt: Total debt at the end of the second quarter 2004 was $41.9 billion, compared with $45.4 billion at year-end 2003.

http://www.verizon.com

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Avaya Unveils Voice-over-Wireless Gateway and APs

Avaya introduced a new set of converged mobility products for bridging Wi-Fi and cellular networks for enterprise users. The products form part of a converged mobility architecture that Avaya is developing with Motorola and Proxim. Avaya said its aim is to improve the delivery of IP applications and voice communications for a mobile workforce.



The new products -- the Avaya W310 WLAN Gateway and Avaya W110 WLAN Access Points -- incorporate co-developed technologies from Avaya and Proxim. The gateway and access points, along with Avaya's Communication Manager IP telephony software, deliver a voice over wireless LAN (VoWLAN) solution. The gateway and access points provide QoS based on Wireless Multimedia Extensions (WME) standards. They also provide support for the Motorola CN620, a new dual-network Mobile Office Device, capable of roaming between the WLAN and a public GSM network. In addition to VoWLAN and GSM, the Motorola CN620 delivers access to advanced IP capabilities, such as listening to e-mail, accessing corporate directories and overseeing multi-party teleconferences, as they move across a WLAN and onto public cellular networks.



The seamless mobility solution from Avaya, Motorola and Proxim is in the final stages of development and currently undergoing trials in several enterprises throughout North America. Commercial availability of the solution is expected later this year. http://www.avaya.com/

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AT&T Wireless to Provide Wireless Priority Service

AT&T Wireless was selected to provide Wireless Priority Service (WPS), which helps national security officials, emergency responders, and those in critical infrastructure industries communicate during times of emergency. WPS works by giving a limited number of government-authorized wireless phone users priority access if the wireless network capacity is strained during an emergency. The National Communications System (NCS) oversees the WPS program.



AT&T Wireless will implement WPS on a phased-in basis, beginning with Boston and the Democratic National Convention. Future deployment locations will include AT&T Wireless markets nationwide. http://www.attwireless.com/

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Cox Selects Fujitsu FLASHWAVE 4020 Access Platform

Cox Communications has selected the Fujitsu Network Communications' FLASHWAVE 4020 Ethernet Service Platform (ESP) for delivering business services. Cox will use the FLASHWAVE 4020 to extend SONET to the edge of their metro networks and simultaneously deliver low cost DS1 and Ethernet services to customer premises within all their U.S. markets.



The FLASHWAVE 4020 ESP is a compact optical access module that supports up to seven DS1 and four 10/100Base-T Ethernet services simultaneously over protected or unprotected OC-3 or OC-12 network interfaces. The dual optical interfaces allow the FLASHWAVE 4020 ESP to support Unidirectional Path Switched Ring (UPSR) or 1+1 Automatic Protection Switching (APS) configurations with sub-50 ms SONET protection switching, as well as unprotected network applications.



The Fujitsu platform offers Ethernet over SONET (EoS) capabilities, including support for high- and low-order Virtual Concatenation (VCAT) and Link Capacity Adjustment Scheme (LCAS). Cox will install FLASHWAVE 4020 nodes at customer premises and use EoS functionality to map Ethernet circuits into SONET to maintain full compatibility with their vast embedded SONET network.



Financial terms were not disclosed. http://www.fujitsu.com/us/telecom

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Sandburst Supplies Merchant Silicon for 10GigE Boxes

Sandburst Corporation and Accton Technology Corporation of Taiwan announced a reference design for a 10 Gigabit Ethernet MetroBox switching platform which the companies are positioning as a "category killer" due to its line rate IPv6 switching performance, scalability and low-cost.



The MetroBox, designed by Accton, features Sandburst's HiBeam packet switching chipset. It supports 20 ports of Gigabit Ethernet and two 10-Gigabit uplinks. The 40-gigabit platform delivers packet forwarding capabilities including IPv4 and IPv6 forwarding and Ethernet bridging. The non-blocking architecture supports MPLS, VPLS, stacked VLANs, and VLAN translation.



Sandburst said its HiBeam chipset uses a packet-optimized approach to context resolution that enables it to determine the packet's destination, bandwidth and behavioral rules without succumbing to the software intensive packet analysis and look-up functions that degrade the performance of conventional network processors. This enables wire-speed decisions on different parts of the packet (such as L2 and L3) simultaneously. The MetroBox offers simultaneous IPv6, IPv4 and MPLS support at line rate. It has an integrated fabric capacity of 80 Gbps and supports aggregate forwarding of 60 Mpps with address tables capable of supporting up to 128K MAC addresses, 128K IPv4 prefixes/hosts, or 32K IPv6 prefixes/hosts. Additionally, the HiBeam chipset can scale to support architectures with an aggregate system capacity of nearly 1 billion packets per second, with up to 1.28 Tbps of cross-connect bandwidth.



Accton Technology Corporation of Taiwan will manufacture and supply the MetroBox to network equipment OEMs. http://www.sandburst.comhttp://www.accton.com

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ADVA Optical Networking acquires Ethernet Start-up

ADVA Optical Networking agreed to acquire the remaining 70% ownership stake in privately-held Metro Packet Systems that it doesn't already own for EUR 4.1 million in stock and up to EUR 4.5 million in cash if certain 2005 sales targets are met.



ADVA said the acquisition underscores its commitment to building up a second core business around Ethernet access solutions. ADVA initially purchased a thirty percent (30%) stake in Metro Packet Systems in September 2003. Metro Packet Systems has a team of nine engineers focused on systems targeted at metropolitan access networks and customer premise sites. Lars Ramfelt, Chief Executive Officer of Metro Packet Systems, will become a Vice President Technology Strategy at ADVA. http://www.advaoptical.com

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Paradyne To Acquire Net to Net for DSLAM Portfolio

Paradyne Networks will acquire Net to Net Technologies' complete product line and intellectual capital portfolio for up to $3 million in cash and 604,839 shares of Paradyne stock, subject to certain purchase price adjustments. In addition, Paradyne will issue to Net to Net a warrant to purchase up to 1,008,065 shares of Paradyne stock at an exercise price of $5.95 per share, which will expire on December 31, 2005. Following closure of the deal, Paradyne plans to offer positions to many of Net to Net's engineering, sales and support personnel in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.



Net to Net is a privately-held supplier of DSL access equipment based in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Among its offerings, the company supplies a bonded SHDSL platform and a line of "Network Extenders."



Paradyne said the acquisition supports its strategy to provide the most complete range of broadband access products to support service providers worldwide that are migrating voice and data to packet-based networks. http://www.paradyne.comhttp://www.nettonet.com

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Verizon Wireless Awards 3-Year Contract to Motorola

Verizon Wireless awarded a three-year general purchasing agreement to deploy Motorola's CDMA2000 1X radio base stations, Internet Protocol (IP) call processing platforms, and advanced messaging solutions in major markets, including Denver, Minneapolis, Sacramento, and the Carolinas. The upgrades will increase Verizon Wireless' network capacity and coverage. Financial terms were not disclosed. http://www.motorola.com/

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HP's iPAQ Handhelds Bundles T-Mobile Connectivity

HP announced new suite of HP iPAQ handheld devices and an alliance with T-Mobile USA aimed at the growing converged data/voice market. HP is partnering with T-Mobile USA to offer customers an enhanced mobile experience by seamlessly linking its iPAQ handhelds to T-Mobile's national GSM/GPRS wireless voice and high-speed data network, as well as the T-Mobile HotSpot Wi-Fi Internet service. The handheld devices will automatically connect to the fastest available network and automatically switch to an alternate network if the initial connection is lost. The iPAQ can also be matched to Microsoft Exchange Server 2003, enabling e-mail, attachments and calendar updates to be automatically sent and synched over a Wi-Fi or T-Mobile's GPRS network.



The first device with these capabilities, the HP iPAQ h6315, carries estimated U.S pricing of $499.99 with T-Mobile activation. http://www.hp.comhttp://www.t-mobile.com

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Nayna Offers Gigabit Class EFM Access Switches

Nayna Networks, a start-up based in San Jose, California, three new gigabit class intelligent EFM access switches. The new products build on Nayna's intelligent multi-network, multi-service ExpressSTREAM platform to allow triple play service to campus and high-density residential and business buildings. The products work over point-to-point or point-to-multipoint (multi-network) topologies. Key features include QoS capabilities such as individual upstream and downstream per port rate control, and hot swappable SFP Ethernet transceivers for long reach fiber interfaces. Nayna's EFM access product set includes the ExpressSTREAM XE-1100 (1.2 Gbps throughput), the ExpressSTREAM XE-1200 Fiber Switch and the ExpressSTREAM XE-1400 Multi-port 3.2 Gbps Switches. Standard and CWDM SFP transceivers are sold separately. http://www.nayna.com

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Provo, Utah Deploys World Wide Packets for FTTP

The city of Provo, Utah has begun widescale deployments of World Wide Packets' LightningEdge suite for one of the nation's largest municipal fiber-optic service delivery networks.



World Wide Packet's solution is based on Active Ethernet, which supports a fully symmetrical, dedicated 100 Mbps connection per user. The company estimates the cost-per-subscriber for its access equipment and the fiber infrastructure is under $1,500 per home, compared to other FTTP deployments which can cost upwards of $3000 per subscriber and deliver significantly less bandwidth.



The City of Provo has employed a phased approach. The first phase created the City's metro backbone, connecting traffic signals, government buildings, schools, and power stations. The second phase was designed as a pilot program to validate construction techniques, total cost of deployment, and gauge customer demand for the phone, Internet and cable television services that were available over the fiber network. The success of the first two phases far exceeded expectations. The third phase of the program extends the broadband fiber-optic service delivery network to all the residences and businesses of Provo.



"We view the fiber network to be a critical part of the City's infrastructure, as important as sewer, water, electricity and roads," said Lewis Billings, Mayor of the City of Provo. "The fiber network and the services it enables will ensure continued economic growth and vitality for Provo and we want these benefits to be extended to every business and resident in the city."http://www.worldwidepackets.comhttp://www.iprovo.net

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Taral Networks Acquires Schlumberger Messaging Solutions

Taral Networks, a start-up focused on messaging infrastructure to mobile operators and content aggregators, has acquired Schlumberger Messaging Solutions (MSG), a UK-based supplier of messaging infrastructure. The two companies will be combined into a new entity called airwide solutions.



Taral Networks provides carrier grade platforms that enable wireless operators to set-up, maintain and grow a dynamic and highly profitable content messaging business. Specifically, Taral Networks focuses on multimedia messaging (MMS) and enabling the delivery of content from any application server to any MMS enabled device over any operator network.



Schlumberger Messaging Solutions developed the SMSC infrastructure that sent the first SMS message in 1992 and has since provided messaging solutions to 69 customers around the world.



The deal was supported by a US$10 million Series C round of equity financing led by Key Venture Partners, a Waltham, Massachusetts-based venture capital firm. New investor Axiom Venture Partners and existing investor Kodiak Venture Partners also participated in the financing.



airwide solutions will be based in Reading, U.K. and have 200 employees worldwide. Simon Everitt, General Manager of Schlumberger Messaging Solutions has taken on the role of airwide CEO while Vinit Nijhawan, Taral Networks' CEO, has assumed the position of Executive Director. http://www.taralnetworks.com/

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BellSouth Reports Flat Revenue, Continued Line Losses

BellSouth reported Q2 revenue of $5.1 billion, equal to revenue for the same quarter of the previous year. Overall income from continuing operations was $939 million compared to $908 million in the same quarter a year ago. Earnings per share (EPS) from continuing operations was 51 cents, a 4.1% increase over the same period last year -- exceeding market estimates. However, overall access line losses outpaced gains in DSL.

Some highlights from the quarter:

• Operating free cash flow from continuing operations was $1.3 billion.



• Capital expenditures for continuing operations were $731 million compared to $677 million in the same period in 2003.



• Long distance and DSL contributed to the slight increase in Communications Group revenue for the quarter.



• BellSouth added 535,000 mass-market long distance customers during Q2, giving it a total of 5.1 million LD customers -- about a 40% penetration of its mass-market base.



• Data revenue was $1.1 billion, up 4.8% compared to the same quarter of 2003, driven by DSL and wholesale improvements.



• BellSouth added 120,000 net DSL customers during Q2, giving it a total of 1.7 million DSL customers



• Total access lines of 21.8 million at June 30 declined 3.7 percent compared to a year earlier. Residence and business access lines served by BellSouth competitors under UNE-P increased by 216,000 in Q2.



• Cingular Wireless added 428,000 net cellular/PCS customers, giving it a nationwide customer base of 25 million.

http://www.bellsouth.com

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Toshiba Selects Avaya IP Telephony Solutions to Connect 12,000 Employees

Toshiba Corporation will deploy Avaya's SIP-enable IP telephony solutions at their headquarters building in Tokyo, Japan. When completed in early 2005, Toshiba will host one of the largest SIP-enabled IP telephony implementations, connecting 12,000 employees. The installation will include the Avaya Communication Manager, Avaya Media Servers and Avaya Converged Communications Servers. Financial terms were not disclosed. http://www.avaya.com

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Fujitsu Access and Metalink Announce 100 Mbps VDSL Plus

Fujitsu Access Limited announced the commercial availability of a VDSL platform capable of delivering 100 Mbps access speeds; The Fujitsu Access platform incorporates Metalink's VDSLPlus chipset, which leverages a 5 band VDSL implementation to enable speeds exceeding 100 Mbps downstream and 50 Mbps upstream. Metalink said its VDSLPlus chipset also offers a migration path to 6-band VDSL, which targets 100 Mbps symmetric communication over copper.



Testing of the Fujitsu Access VDSL-163G system is underway in Japan by major carriers. http://www.access.fujitsu.com/http://www.metalinkbb.com/

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Aruba Wireless Networks Raises $42 Million

Aruba Wireless Networks, a start-up based has secured an additional $27 million in equity financing and a $15 million, fully-committed debt and working capital facility, for its enterprise-class wireless LAN security systems . This brings the total equity investment in the company, since its inception In April 2002, to $59 million.



Aruba said it is now generating predictable quarterly revenue and has shipped over 700 WLAN switching systems to more than 300 customers around the world since it announced general availability of its Wi-Fi switching system in June of 2003. The customer list includes major corporations and campuses, such as Ariba, BEA Systems, Dartmouth College, eBay, Leeds University, Legal Services of New York, Microsoft, Sharp HealthCare, Spring Independent School District, University of Virginia Medical Center and Yahoo.



The new round of financing was led by WK Technology Fund and included existing investors Sequoia Capital, Matrix Partners and Trinity Ventures. Aruba will use the new capital to fuel its growth in the enterprise wireless security market by augmenting and accelerating engineering, sales and marketing efforts. http://www.arubanetworks.com

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Marconi and France Telecom Target RF Optimization Software

Marconi's Wireless Business Unit and France Telecom announced an R&D pact focused in RF mobile technologies. Specifically, the companies will develop and integrate France Telecom Research and Development RF design and optimization technologies into Marconi's Planet EV software portfolio. The new tools will complement Marconi's existing portfolio and will be specifically targeted to maximizing the performance, quality and profitability of existing mobile networks. http://www.rd.francetelecom.fr/fr/medias/medias.phphttp://www.marconi.com/

• In recent weeks, France Telecom has announced several strategic partnerships with leading systems companies, including with Alcatel for the joint definition and implementation of a Next Generation Network Architecture (NGN/IMS) towards a converged fixed/Internet/mobile network.; with Ericsson, in order to jointly develop IP Multimedia Services for the consumer market; with Motorola, for Seamless Mobility Solutions; and with Siemens, to jointly develop a New Generation Network Architecture for mobile/fixed networks.

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Sprint Expands Business "Complete Access" Competitive Service

Sprint announced the availability in 35 major markets of a customizable telecommunications services bundle and new local-access alternative aimed at mid-size businesses as well as larger enterprise customers.



Sprint Complete Access, which provides a competitive alternative to incumbent local phone service, consists of a suite of modular local, long-distance and data services on a single bill. Three primary service offers are available:

• Local Exchange Services (business lines, digital PBX trunks, ISDN PRI) for local loop access to the network for voice services, voice mail and custom calling features



• Voice Bundle(local and long-distance). Add Sprint Voice Solutions to local exchange, with flexible terms, annual commitment options and competitive pricing, all on one bill



• Voice/Data Bundle (local, long-distance and data). Sprint integrated T1 for customers seeking voice, Internet, intranet and extranet access; frame-relay or dedicated-IP transfer; voicemail and business applications at cost savings over traditional trunks and separate lines; and billed on one invoice.

Sprint has been providing these services to business customers in St. Louis; Dallas; Houston; Kansas City; Columbus, Ohio; and Orlando, Fla., and is now offering them in an additional 29 markets. http://www.sprint.com

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NewSteps' Calling Service Node Bridges TDM and IP Applications

NewStep Networks, a start-up based in Ottawa, introduced an IP service control solution that enables service providers to integrate telephony services with enterprise applications and deliver them across both TDM and IP networks. NewStep said its "Calling Service Node" extends IP applications across public and private network environments. It connects to legacy and next-generation signaling systems via SS7 or SIP signalling protocols, creating a service control layer between IP-based applications and the underlying signaling systems. This service control layer enables applications to reach users on any standard device, across any type of mobile or fixed network. By decoupling service control and management from voice transport within both TDM and IP-based infrastructures, NewStep's Calling Service Node would give service providers access to IP functionality for TDM networks.



Later this year, NewStep plans to introduce an "Office Anywhere" IP collaborative suite that leverages the Calling Service Node control technology to enable remote workers to access enterprise IP telephony applications regardless of their location, device or access network.



Bell Canada is using NewStep's Calling Service Node in its toll-free contact centers to incorporate advanced IP features -- including dynamic pre-termination routing under contact center control, advanced screening and queuing, blind transfer and conferencing functions -- without reprogramming its central office switches or AIN service platforms. http://www.newstep.com

• NewStep Networks, a spin-out from Bell Canada, was established as a separate company in January 2003. The company is funded by Newbury Ventures, VenGrowth Capital Partners, BDC Venture Capital, B.E.S.T. Capital, Bell Canada, and Terry Matthews (founder of Mitel and Newbridge Networks).

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MCI Closes the Sale of Embratel's Control Stake to TELMEX

Telefonos de Mexico (TELMEX) completed its acquisition of MCI's equity stake in Brazilian carrier Embratel. TELMEX paid an aggregate of US$400 million cash for MCI's 19.26% economic interest and 51.79% voting interest in Embratel. Embratel's network has countrywide coverage with 28,868 km of fiber routes. http://www.mci.comhttp://www.embratel.net.br/

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European Commission Urges More Spectrum for New Wireless Applications

The European Commission issued a report calling on EU member nations to expand their efforts to free up parts of the radio spectrum for innovative wireless technologies. The report looks at measures taken under the new telecoms package (in particular the Radio spectrum Decision) to allocate the radio spectrum more efficiently, to expand the single market for innovative new radio-based technologies. http://europa.eu.int

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Verizon Proposes Higher Local Telephone Rates in WA

Verizon filed a rate design proposal with the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission (WUTC) for a substantial increase in the basic monthly rate the company charges for telephone service. Under the proposal, Verizon's basic monthly rate in the state would increase by $9.80 - from $13 to $22.80 for residential customers and from $29.70 to $39.50 for business customers.



Verizon estimates that these and other proposed changes would generate about $109.8 million in revenue. It noted that the filing represents its first general rate proceeding before the WUTC in 22 years and that its local network currently has a revenue shortfall of $239.5 million a year. The company said it would use the higher rates to reinvest in customer service. The company said that the proposal would not affect consumers in low-income households who are eligible for the Washington Telephone Assistance Program. These customers would continue to pay $8 a month for basic services.



Verizon operates about 850,000 lines in Washington, most of them clustered in the Puget Sound area from Blaine to Redmond, as well as the Pullman, Tri- Cities and Wenatchee areas of Eastern Washington. http://www.verizon.com/.

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Skype Signs 4 Carrier Agreements to Provide Global Call Termination

Skype Technologies announced agreements with COLT, iBasis, Level 3, and Teleglobe to provide call termination services worldwide. The agreements are in place in preparation for SkypeOut, a soon-to-be-launched pre-pay service that allows people to call any landline or mobile number in the world from anywhere in the world using the Skype software. Terms of the agreements were not disclosed.



Skype reports more than 7 million users in over 170 countries for its free VoIP service since its Internet telephony software was launched last year. The company said it is averaging more than 400,000 active users at any point in time. It's web applications has been downloaded nearly 17 million times since last August. http://www.skype.com

• In March, Skype, the free VoIP service from the developers of KaZaA, raised US$18.8 million in second round funding for its consumer voice offering. Skype uses P2P (peer-to-peer) technology to provide free worldwide phone calls to other Skype users. The company is building a global user directory. It is also offering headsets and handsets that work with its service. The venture money will be used to expand global operations and enhance its consumer offering. The investment round was led by the venture capital firms, Draper Fisher Jurvetson and Index Ventures.

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Wave7 Optics Announces $6M in Additional Funding

Wave7 Optics, a start-up based in Alpharetta, Georgia, announced an additional $6M in funding for its active and passive Ethernet- and IP-based FTTP network equipment, Total venture capital investment in the company is now $68.5 million. The additional funding comes on a pro-rata basis from the company's six current investors: Advanced Technology Partners, Armada Venture Partners, Lucent Venture Partners, Mellon Ventures, Morgenthaler Ventures and Oak Investment Partners.



Wave7 said it now has over 30 network operator customers around the world. http://www.wave7optics.com

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ING DIRECT Selects Sprint's "Peerless IP" Network

ING DIRECT, a large bank with more than 1.8 million customers, has selected the Sprint "peerless IP" network architecture for its highly secure communications network services. The service provides an IP-VPN without any connections to the public global Internet. Sprint said its government-grade "peerless IP" network was originally aimed at meeting the security and performance demands of many federal and state government agencies. The FBI, National Guard and other key agencies have implemented the Sprint peerless IP solution. Since announcing government availability in April 2003 and the commercial availability of the service in January 2004, Sprint has signed contracts with more than 25 commercial customers to connect more than 3,000 sites on the peerless network. http://www.sprint.com

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U.S. Senate Committee Amends Proposed VoIP Legislation

The Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee approved an ammended version of the proposed "VOIP Regulatory Freedom Act of 2004," which was introduced earlier this year by Senator Sununu (R-NH). This legislation is aimed at encouraging the growth of VoIP by definitively classifying it as an information service and limiting potential state regulations.


Two new ammendments to the bill would preserve the ability of states to require VOIP applications to provide 911 and E911 services; and would allow states to continue to require VOIP providers to contribute to state universal programs and to pay intrastate access charges. http://commerce.senate.gov/newsroom/printable.cfm?id=224501

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Broadcom Grows Revenues 12% Sequentially and 70% Year-over-Year

Broadcom reported record Q2 revenue of $641.3 million, an increase of 11.8% from the $573.4 million reported for the first quarter of 2004 and an increase of 69.7% from the $377.9 million reported for the second quarter of 2003. Net income (GAAP) was $63.8 million, or $.18 per share (diluted), compared with GAAP net income of $39.9 million, or $.12 per share (diluted), for the first quarter of 2004.


Q2 marked the company's twelfth consecutive quarter of revenue increases. The strongest revenue growth on a sequential basis was experienced in the company's broadband communications and enterprise networking businesses. http://www.broadcom.com

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Telstra Selects 3G Solution from Nortel Networks

Telstra will deploy CDMA2000 1xEV-DO (evolution-data optimized) equipment from Nortel Networks. Deployment of CDMA2000 1xEV-DO is underway in major capital cities and selected regional areas across Australia. The network will provide speeds bursting up to 153 kbps nationally and bursting in excess of 1 Mbps in 1xEV-DO coverage areas. 1xEV-DO users can expect 300 to 600 kbps average throughput.


The upgrade builds on an existing CDMA network supplied by Nortel Networks to Telstra in 2000 and a subsequent CDMA2000 1X upgrade in 2002. Financial terms were not disclosed. http://www.nortelnetworks.com

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AT&T to Withdraw from Consumer Circuit-Switched Services

AT&T announced an historic decision to shift its focus away from traditional consumer wireline telephony. Going forward, the company will concentrate its efforts on business customers and emerging IP services, including consumer VoIP.



David W. Dorman, AT&T's Chairman and CEO, said the recent changes in regulatory policy governing local telephone service, meant that AT&T could no longer compete in residential local and standalone long distance (LD) consumer markets.



AT&T also reported its Q2 financial results. Some highlights:

• consolidated revenue of $7.6 billion, declined 13.2 percent versus the second quarter of 2003, primarily due to continued declines in LD voice revenue.



• operating income totaled $348 million, resulting in a consolidated operating margin of 4.6 percent. Operating income included $54 million of net restructuring and other charges taken during the quarter primarily related to employee separations.



• $1.1 billion in cash from operations while spending $0.5 billion on capital expenditures.



• net debt of $7.9 billion, a $0.5 billion decrease from the end of Q1 2004.

AT&T Business

• Revenue was $5.6 billion, a decline of 12.7 percent from the prior-year. Pricing pressure and mix shift from retail to wholesale negatively affected the unit's revenue performance.



• Long distance voice revenue decreased 17.6 percent from the prior-year second quarter, driven by continued pricing pressure as well as a continued mix shift in volume from retail to wholesale. Volumes were flat on a quarter-over-quarter basis, with growth in wholesale volumes offset by a decline in retail volumes.



• Local voice revenue grew 5.0 percent from the prior-year second quarter. Local access lines totaled more than 4.6 million at the end of the current period, representing an increase of over 85,000 lines from the end of the first quarter of 2004.



• Data revenue declined 10.4 percent from Q2 2003 Revenue was negatively affected by pricing pressure, weak demand and technology migration.



• IP& Enhanced Services (IP&E-services) revenue grew 2.3 percent over the prior-year second quarter. The quarter-over-quarter growth was primarily driven by strength in advanced services, including Enhanced Virtual Private Network and IP-enabled Frame Relay.



• Outsourcing, professional services and other revenue declined 18.9 percent from the prior-year second quarter, due to customers reducing scope and terminating outsourcing contracts.

AT&T Consumer

• Revenue was $2.0 billion, a decline of 14.6 percent versus the prior-year second quarter, driven by lower standalone LD voice revenue as a result of the continued impact of competition, wireless and Internet substitution and customer migration to lower-priced products and calling plans, partially offset by targeted price increases.

http://www.att.comIndustry Reactions to AT&T's Withdrawal


PACE: "AT&T's withdrawal from consumer markets is a blow to residential and small business consumers across the nation. The goal of the Telecom Act was robust local competition, with more choices, greater innovation and lower prices. If not soon moderated, the same ideological zeal that brought the nation the California energy crisis will have a similarly devastating impact on the telecommunications industry." Peter Karoczkai, Chairman of the Promoting Active Competition Everywhere (“PACE�?) Coalition, which does not include AT&T or MCI.


SBC: "Today's announcement underscores the fact AT&T left the traditional consumer business years ago when they decided against investing in their own local facilities and networks in order to compete. It also underscores the reality of today's competitive marketplace. Vigorous competition is flourishing and will only intensify as wireline, cable, wireless, satellite and VoIP companies slug it out. Consumers today have more choices than ever before and that will not change, especially if AT&T is serious about pursuing new technologies like voice over IP."

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Earthlink Adds 47,000 Broadband Subscribers in Q2

EarthLink added 31,000 net subscribers during the second quarter and ended the quarter with 5.3 million paying subscribers, an increase of 296,000 subscribers, or 5.9 percent, from a year ago. During the quarter, EarthLink added 47,000 net broadband subscribers and ended the quarter with 1.2 million broadband customers, an increase of 21.5 percent from a year ago. In the second quarter, the company also added 102,000 net subscribers through PeoplePC Online, EarthLink's value-priced narrowband service, while it lost 113,000 net subscribers in its more mature premium narrowband service. The company ended the quarter with 4.0 million total narrowband subscribers, an increase of 2.4 percent from the second quarter of 2003. Total narrowband subscribers included 625,000 PeoplePC Online subscribers as of June 30, 2004, compared to 197,000 subscribers as of June 30, 2003.


Monthly subscriber churn was 4.4 percent in the quarter, an increase from 3.9 percent in the second quarter of 2003, but declining slightly from the prior quarter. The higher churn rate was primarily due to the continued migration of premium narrowband subscribers to broadband access services, including those of competing providers, and the effect of early life churn associated with the higher level of gross subscriber additions.


Looking ahead, EarthLink expects to add 50,000 to 100,000 subscribers in Q3, driven by continued growth in broadband and value-priced narrowband offerings, partially offset by a decline in premium narrowband subscribers. http://www.earthlink.net

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Juniper Hires Ex Cisco and 3Com Execs to Build Sales Channel

Juniper Networks announced the appointment of three new executives: Tushar Kothari, vice president of worldwide channels, Bob Bruce, vice president of America's channels and Neal Oristano, vice president of America's sales.


Tushar Kothari joins Juniper Networks from Cisco Systems, where he served most recently as vice president/General Manager of Linksys, a division of Cisco Systems. From 1997 to 2002, he was vice president of worldwide channels for Cisco. Kothari has previously held positions in sales and marketing with National Semiconductor and View Engineering.


Bob Bruce, vice president of America's channels -- formerly vice president of U.S. channels, including service provider partners, at Cisco Systems -- will oversee all Juniper Networks service provider and corporate channels throughout the United States, Canada and Latin America. In his previous role at Cisco, Bruce was instrumental in building the U.S. enterprise channel sales and operations as well as service provider channels.


Neal Oristano, who formerly served as vice president of America's sales at 3Com Corporation, will oversee all service provider and corporate sales throughout the United States, Canada and Latin America. While at 3Com, Oristano led a two-tier distribution channel supported by a "direct touch" sales force. http://www.juniper.net

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Tekelec Report Growing Sales for its Next-Gen Switching Gear

Tekelec reported Q2 sales of $95.6 million, compared to $62.9 million in the second quarter of 2003. Orders received in the second quarter for Tekelec products and services were $123.6 million, compared to $68.0 million in the second quarter in 2003. The $123.6 million of total orders booked during the quarter is the second highest order total in the history of the company, surpassed only by the order level achieved in Q4 2003. Tekelec credited its next-generation switching business unit (Santera) for contributing significantly to this order total. The company cited new deployments at two Tier 1 operators:


Sprint has deployed Tekelec's next-gen equipment in both its commercial network carrying live traffic, and in its lab for testing purposes.


Through the Company's relationship with Spatial Wireless, the Tekelec 8000 Wireless Multimedia Gateway has been deployed at a Tier 1 wireless operator.


Meanwhile, Tekelec's Network Signaling business unit generated $72.3 million of revenue, up 35% year-over-year, its highest revenue total in the history of the company.


On a GAAP basis, Tekelec's Q2 net loss was $304,000, or $0.00 per diluted share, compared to net income of $1.2 million, or $0.02 per diluted share, in the second quarter of 2003. Second quarter 2004 net income includes an $8.0 million one-time, non-cash charge for the write-off of in-process research and development related to the Taqua acquisition. http://www.telelec.com

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Global Crossing and TELMEX Sign Bilateral Voice Agreement

Global Crossing and Telefonos de Mexico have signed a commercial agreement for bilateral voice interconnection. The agreement allows Global Crossing to send traffic to Mexico and TELMEX to transport long distance voice traffic to the U.S.


Voice traffic exchange has commenced in Los Angeles, where Global Crossing and TELMEX have collocated points of presence (POPs).


The agreement expands an existing business relationship between the two companies: TELMEX has been Global Crossing's primary local access provider for data services in Mexico since 2001, and Global Crossing also has interconnection and renders services in Latin America to a number of TELMEX affiliates. http://www.globalcrossing.comhttp://www.telmex.com

• Separately, TELMEX owner Carlos Slim has recently received state regulatory approvals that would enable him to increase his ownership stake in Global Crossing to between 10 and 20%.

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Sprint Canada Launches Broadband VoIP

Sprint Canada, a subsidiary of Call-Net Enterprises, launched a nationwide VoIP service aimed at households and small/home offices. Sprint Canada Internet Phone Service (IPS), which rides over any DSL or cable modem connection, is supported on the company's own back office systems.


The service is available as a standalone product and includes all standard home phone features such as operator services, 911, 411, and 711. Call waiting, call display and voice mail are also available. IPS is also available as part of bundled package with local home phone service and Fido wireless service. Introductory pricing starts at $19.95 per monthhttp://www.sprint.ca

• In May 2004, Call-Net Enterprises, a Canadian integrated communications provider known primarily by its wholly-owned subsidiary Sprint Canada, entered into an agreement with Bell Canada to acquire certain assets of 360networks. This deal includes significant portions of 360networks' business customer base and specific network facilities in Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Canada. Call-Net will enter into a two-year transitional services agreement with Bell to provide technical and operational services to the newly acquired customer base and in exchange be paid approximately 70 per cent of the total retail revenue.

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SBC Cites Growth in Data, LD, DSL

SBC Communications reported a return to positve wireline revenue growth, following nearly three years of declines. During Q2, traditional wireline revenue growth was 1.1%, compared to -6.7% for Q2 2003. However, DSL activations were below expectations, which the company attributed to seasonality (end of the school year) and the labor strike at the end of May.


Some highlights for Q2 2004:

• Data revenues - SBC's data revenues increased 9.5 percent to $2.7 billion in the quarter, SBC's best-ever quarterly data revenue total and its strongest year-over-year growth in data revenues in more than two years. Data growth was driven by gains in DSL Internet services and expansion in the large-business market.
  
  
• Bundles - SBC's penetration of consumer retail lines with at least one key service - long distance, DSL, Cingular Wireless or SBC / DISH Network video - increased to 54 percent at the end of the quarter, up from 31 percent at the end of the year-earlier second quarter.
  
  
• Long distance - SBC's long distance revenues grew 33.2 percent in the second quarter, driven by strong line growth over the past year. SBC ended the quarter with 18.4 million long distance lines in service, up from 9.8 million a year earlier. In the second quarter, SBC's total long distance lines increased by 1.4 million, including an upward adjustment of approximately 100,000 lines to align long distance counting methodology with that used for other products.
  
  
• DSL - SBC's net gain in DSL lines totaled 315,000. giving the company a total of 4.3 million DSL lines in service, up 54 percent over the past year. SBC's DSL penetration is about 11%
  
  
• Retail access lines - SBC's retail consumer line base declined by 558,000 in the second quarter, reflecting typical seasonality due to the end of the school year. This compares with declines of 721,000 in the year-earlier second quarter and 305,000 in the first quarter of this year. SBC's retail business access line base declined by 228,000 in the quarter, compared with declines of 401,000 in the second quarter of 2003 and 242,000 in the first quarter of this year.
  
  
• Video - At the end of June, SBC had 121,000 SBC / DISH Network subscribers in service, 100,000 of them added in Q2. SBC began marketing its integrated SBC / DISH Network satellite TV service in March, expanding from a soft launch to full sales-channel coverage in April.
  
  
• Cingular Wireless - Cingular Wireless' net subscriber additions in the second quarter totaled 428,000, bringing its nationwide cellular/PCS customer base to 25 million, an increase of 2.4 million over the past four quarters.

http://www.sbc.com

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deltathree Provides Back Office Support for Verizon's VoiceWing

deltathree announced an agreement with Verizon Communications to provide VoIP consulting, management and integration services for Verizon's new VoiceWing consumer service. Specifically, deltathree is providing a suite of back office integration and management services including: account sign-up, billing, account management, credit card processing and fraud management, as well as VoIP telephony features as they relate to the end user experience. deltathree will also provide its Customer Service Interface (CSI) for utilization in supporting the customer service function.


The agreement has a two-year initial term with an annual renewal after the initial term. Financial details were not disclosed. http://corp.deltathree.com/

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Verizon Launches is VoiceWing Consumer VoIP in 139 Markets

Verizon Communications launched its "VoiceWing" consumer VoIP service. The initial rollout allows broadband users to choose area codes in 139 markets in 33 states and the District of Columbia. Verizon's VoiceWing offers features such as unlimited local and domestic long distance calls, call waiting, caller ID, call logs, enhanced call-forwarding and online voice mail.


VoiceWing does not support traditional 911 or E911 access to emergency services. The company recommends that users maintain an alternate means of requesting emergency services, such as a mobile phone or traditional land line. Verizon said it was confident in the voice quality and reliability of the new service, but that it should be seen as a complement to regular phone line service rather than a replacement.


VoiceWing is priced at $39.95 per month; however, subscribers to Verizon Online DSL can get VoiceWing for $34.95 a month. Those subscribers can also benefit from an introductory price of $29.95 a month for the first six months if they order VoiceWing by Oct. 31. Users of other broadband services will get an introductory price of $34.95 for the first six months of service if they order VoiceWing by Oct. 31. Verizon is supplying the VoIP adapter with a one-time set-up fee of $39.95.


By early 2005, Verizon plans to launch a premium VoIP service aimed at small businesses and home workers. The premium service would run over Verizon's own last mile facilities, enabling it to support QoS on the VoIP calls. http://www.verizon.com/voicewing

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VoiceGenie and Data Connection offer VoiceXML-based Unified Messaging

VoiceGenie Technologies is collaborating with Data Connection to offer service providers a VoiceXML-based Unified Messaging solution based on commodity hardware. The co-marketing and technology partnership combines VoiceGenie's " NeXusPoint" VoiceXML-based framework with Data Connection's "MailNGen" next-generation messaging solution. NeXusPoint is an open, VoiceXML-based framework for the development, deployment and hosting of sophisticated speech or touch-tone services. MailNGen is a flexible, modular multimedia messaging solution providing a range of voicemail, email, webmail and fax message services through a single mailbox universally accessible from the phone or the desktop. The two companies reported that extensive testing of the joint offering has been successfully concluded. http://www.dataconnection.comhttp://www.voicegenie.com.

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KT Selects Redback's Next Gen SmartEdge

KT has selected Redback Networks' SE800 SmartEdge Service Gateway platform for managing broadband subscribers and services. KT has already deployed platforms from Redback for a significant portion of its existing ADSL networks and now plans to utilize Redback platforms in its expanding VDSL, Wi-Fi, and metro Ethernet networks. Redback's next-generation SmartEdge Service Gateway platforms with its NetOp Policy Manager will provide advanced subscriber management and edge routing functionality supporting KT's value-added services, including managed/integrated URL filtering offerings today and integrated home surveillance, tiered bandwidth and time-limit based services in the future. Financial terms were not disclosed. http://www.redback.com

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Siemens Offers Dual Stack Broadband Client for IPv4 and IPv6

Siemens Subscriber Networks announced dual stack IPv4/IPv6 functionality for its tango Access broadband client software for Windows. The end-user software client gives broadband service providers the flexibility to begin deploying IPv6 over their existing Point-to-Point Protocol over Ethernet (PPPoE) infrastructure. Siemens said its dual stack software approach is transparent to subscribers, except that their access to such advanced broadband services as video-on-demand, IP television, video conferencing, voice and video telephony and multiparty online gaming may be enhanced.



The Siemens tango software suite has more than 15 million installations worldwide. The company believes its dual stack architecture for the "Access" module can help to unlock the availability of IPv6 for mass markets. http://www.usa.siemens.com

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Cox Digital Telephone Receives J.D. Power and Associates Award

Cox Communications received the highest honor in the West in J.D. Power and Associates' 2004 Residential Local Telephone Customer Satisfaction Study for overall customer satisfaction. The local telephone service study rated overall customer satisfaction based on six factors: customer service, billing, performance and reliability, company image, cost of service and offerings and promotions.



In a separate study, Cox's bundled customers nationwide also ranked Cox highest for customer satisfaction in J.D. Power and Associates' 2004 Residential Long Distance Telephone Service. http://www.cox.com

• Cox first launched telephony service in Orange County, California in 1997. Since then, the company has expanded its telephony footprint to 12 additional markets and grown to become the 12th-largest telephone company in the country, with 1.1 million circuit-switched telephone customers over its cable infrastructure.

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Nortel Networks Joins Texas A&M Research Project on E9-1-1 for VoIP

Nortel Networks has joined a Texas A&M University research project focused on Enhanced 9-1-1 (E9-1-1) access for next generation Internet Protocol (IP) networks. The company has donated its Multimedia Communication Server (MCS) to the Texas A&M research project, which looks at what the industry has identified as the future 'third stage' of E9-1-1 deployment - emergency communications in a pure-IP environment.



Nortel Networks said the technology for E9-1-1 was originally designed for the traditional circuit-switched telephone network in which the telephones remain at a fixed location. In March, FCC Chairman Michael Powell urged the telecommunications industry to make the development of a nationwide VoIP E9-1-1 solution a top priority. Nortel Networks initially responded by submitting a detailed proposal to the National Emergency Number Association (NENA) to address key technology challenges.



NENA has outlined a three-stage approach to resolving VoIP E9-1-1 issues. In its submission to NENA, Nortel Networks proposed a solution for the second stage - implementing a VoIP E9-1-1 solution that works with existing circuit-switched interfaces already deployed in the network. Mark Lewis of Nortel Networks is the leader of the NENA VoIP migration working group which focuses on migration of the current 9-1-1 network from TDM to VoIP.



In this new research project, Texas A&M will be focused on the third stage - E9-1-1 in a pure-IP environment, using Nortel Networks MCS system in the public safety answering points (PSAPs). The project scope includes creating a vision for the future of E9-1-1 and conducting a practical trial. The trial is scheduled for the first quarter of 2005.



Texas A&M is the official VoIP lab for the Internet 2 community, a consortium of 206 universities working in conjunction with the industry and government to develop advanced network applications. This research project has received funding from the 911 board of Texas and the State of Virginia. In addition, Texas A&M has applied for a grant from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), a Presidential advisory agency. http://www.nortelnetworks.com

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