Qualcomm to Build Nationwide, Wireless Mediacast Network

QUALCOMM announced plans to deploy and operate a nationwide "mediacast" network, delivering many channels of high-quality video and audio programming to third-generation mobile phones at mass market prices. The nationwide mediacasting network will deliver multimedia content to wireless mobile devices in the 700 MHz spectrum for which QUALCOMM holds licenses across the U.S. It will be based on QUALCOMM's "FLO" (Forward Link Only) technology and use the MediaFLO media distribution system for content aggregation, delivery and viewing. The network could support 50-100 national and local content channels, including up to 15 live streaming channels and numerous clip-cast and audio channels using QVGA video at up to 30 frames per second.



The mediacast network, which would be operated by QUALCOMM's new subsidiary called MediaFLO, would provide interactive multimedia services to consumers in cooperation with U.S. CDMA2000 and WCDMA (UMTS) operators. MediaFLO will aggregate and distribute the content that is available to all MediaFLO partners and will provide integration of this content with unique content that individual operators provide to maintain their competitive differentiation. MediaFLO would enable the carriers to deliver mobile interactive multimedia to their wireless subscribers without the cost of network deployment and operation.



MediaFLO said its service would also benefit TV stations and networks, cable TV and satellite operators and networks, and other content providers by offering a major new distribution channel that complements their current offerings.



QUALCOMM expects to invest $800 million in MediaFLO over the next four or five years. The company said it plans to eventually spin-off MediaFLO to its shareholders. http://www.qualcomm.com

• QUALCOMM's FLO multicast technology transmits packets using OFDM. It is complementary to existing cellular networks because interactive services are supported within the mobile device using the CDMA2000 1X, 1xEV-DO or WCDMA cellular link. QUALCOMM said FLO is intended as an alternative to other multimedia multicasting technologies, such as DVB-H. The company believes its FLO technology will prove advantageous where low battery power consumption is critical.



• QUALCOMM said that by deploying high-power transmitters on tall towers provides superior coverage with 30 to 50 times fewer towers than cellular and higher frequency-based systems.



• QUALCOMM acquired the majority of its 700 MHz spectrum (UHF channel 55) spectrum in the June 2003 FCC Auction No. 49.

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BT Offers Wireless Broadband for £1 a month

BT will begin offering access to its Openzone public wireless broadband hotspots for just £1 a month to its business and consumer broadband customers. The introductory offer applies for the first three months, after which customers can continue to use the service for a further 12 months at just £5 for up to 500 minutes. http://www.btplc.com/

• BT Openzone currently provides access to 7,000 hotspot locations across the UK including hotels, airports, railway stations and coffee houses. The figure includes hotspots owned by BT Openzone and The Cloud.

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Marconi's COO to Step Down

Marconi's Chief Operating Officer (COO), Mike Donovan, will be leaving the business at the end of December 2004 and has resigned from the company's board. Donovan has had responsibility for the Marconi's North American businesses and has been based in the United States since 1998, where he played a key role in the operational restructuring and turn-around of the company. http://www.marconi.com

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Chris Rust Named General Partner at U.S. Venture Partners

Chris Rust, who co-founded Mahi Networks and most recently served as its CEO, has been named a general partner at U.S. Venture Partners. Rust joins USVP as a Managing Member of USVP Management Company LLC and of Presidio Management Group IX, LLC, the General Partner of USVP IX, a new $600 million fund closing this week. He will specialize in early-stage investments in semiconductor, software, systems and subsystems start-ups targeting consumer and networking applications. http://www.usvp.com

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Passave Expands its EPON Efforts to Japan

Passave, a start-up offering EPON silicon solutions opened an office in Japan. Passave's said its early ties with major networking OEMs and carriers in Japan have helped drive the company's growth, leading to shipments of more than one million ports to date. With second-generation EPON silicon currently deployed in Japan, Passave's chips are compliant with the recently ratified IEEE 802.3ah standard for Ethernet in the First Mile (EFM). http://www.passave.com

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Optical Solutions Hires ex-LightPointe Exec

Optical Solutions named John Griffin as its new executive vice president of marketing. Most recently, Griffin was the CEO of California-based LightPointe. Prior to joining LightPointe, Griffin held several key senior management positions at ADC Telecommunications. He served as general manager and president of the Broadband Wireless Group, which focused on MMDS and broadcast transmission products. He also headed up the Loop Transport Division. http://www.opticalsolutions.com

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Proxim Offers Wireless Access System Supporting WiMax

Proxim introduced a new addition to its family of Tsunami point-to-multipoint Broadband Wireless Access Systems (BWA) designed for migration to WiMAX Forum Certified status in the future.



The new product features a ruggedized enclosure with active heating and cooling technology for outdoor deployment in extreme weather conditions. It supports three 5GHz bands -- 5.25, 5.47 and 5.725 -- with a total of 20 non-overlapping channels. The system's performance scales from 6 to 36 Mbps, all selectable via intuitive user interfaces. Proxim said its Tsunami BWA Software enables WiMAX applications today with unique features for public safety, security and surveillance, last mile access and metro networking applications.http:://www.proxim.com

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TANDBERG Debuts 'Personal' Video Products

TANDBERG introduced three personal video communication products that are SIP-ready. The suite includes a personal unit featuring an 8.4-inch high-resolution screen with optional handset and headset, a 17-inch widescreen system designed to replace the traditional computer monitor, and a mobile system for small meeting rooms and offices.



The 8.4-inch screen TANDBERG 150 is an IP endpoint supporting voice or video calls at up to 512 kbps. The system allows face-to-face communication and viewing of presentations and provides a cost-effective desktop video solution for the entire organization.



The 17-inch TANDBERG 1500 MXP provides 2 Mbps video calls as well as CD-quality stereo audio. Users can share documents and connect to multiple sites. The 1500 also is wireless capable.



The TANDBERG 2000 MXP features a 23-inch video screen. Both the 1500 MXP and 2000 MXP will support multi-protocol environments that include H.323, SIP and SCCP. http://www.tandberg.net

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Peregrine Receives $17.6 Million for RF CMOS Chips

Peregrine Semiconductor closed an oversubscribed $17.6 million round of Series C financing for its RF CMOS and mixed-signal communications ICs. The company's chips are used in cellular handsets and base stations, HDTV, TV tuners and set-top boxes, satellites and military electronics. Peregrine's proprietary UltraCMOS process technology, which competes with GaAs and SiGe, is a variation of Silicon-on-Insulator (SOI) process that uses a rugged sapphire substrate. The company said its technology delivers better linearity and better isolation in a smaller package, enabling higher performance. The new financing led by Ridgewood Capital and Palisades Ventures. The company's existing investors, Morgenthaler Ventures, Technology Venture Partners, Australasian Media and Communications Fund, NewLight Ventures and Wasserstein Ventures, also participated in this investment round. http://www.peregrine-semi.com

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Flextronics Closes Purchase of Certain Nortel Optical Assets

Flextronics completed its acquisition of certain optical design operations and related assets in Ottawa, Ontario and Monkstown, Northern Ireland from Nortel Networks. The deal, which is part of a larger transaction planned by the companies, was first announced in June.



As previously announced, the balance of the divestiture, whereby Nortel Networks will sell to Flextronics certain manufacturing operations and related assets, is anticipated to close in the first half of 2005,http://www.flextronics.comhttp://www.nortelnetworks.com

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Verizon Increases its Service Bundling Options

Verizon customers in the Northeast have a new option to bundle their Verizon Online DSL Internet Service and DIRECTV entertainment service, or link their home and Verizon Wireless bills. Like the original Freedom calling plans, Verizon Freedom Unlimited includes unlimited direct-dialed local, regional toll and domestic long- distance calling, and the most popular calling features at a price that is $5 less than the original Verizon Freedom plan. The addition of Verizon Online DSL, dial-up Internet access (billed on the Verizon bill), DIRECTV services purchased through Verizon, or for customers who choose the ONE- BILL option to include their Verizon Wireless billing on their regular Verizon bill, there is a $5 discount off the local calling portion of the package. http://www.verizon.com

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Vitesse Introduces Gigabit Ethernet Switch System-on-a-Chip

Vitesse Semiconductor introduced a cost-optimized 10/100/1000BASE-T (Gigabit Ethernet) Layer 2 system-on-a-chip targeted at Small Office Home Office (SOHO), Small-Medium Business (SMB) desktop switches, and consumer wireless and DSL broadband router applications. Vitesse said the low-power characteristics of its design (less than 600 mW per port) represents a 40% advantage over competing multi-chip solutions. In addition, the design integrates copper PHY technology that eliminates the need for any additional external PHYs, oscillator circuits, or line terminations. Vitesse is introducing 5-port and 8-port versions of the chip. http://www.vitesse.com

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Volo Chooses Netrake's Session Controller

Volo Communications, Inc. a nationwide wholesale provider of voice and data services, has selected Netrake's nCite session controller to secure its network. Netrake said its session controller delivers the following functionality for Volo Communications: support of multiple signaling protocols and the inter-working between them (SIP, H.323), security (FW/NAT), scalability, QoS services, and 99.999% reliability. Netrake also provides Hosted Firewall/NAT Traversal and User Mobility services all on the same platform. Financial terms were not disclosed.

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NEC Selects AudioCodes Mediant 2000 CPE Media Gateway

NEC has selected AudioCodes' Mediant 2000 Media Gateways to offer carriers and service providers VoIP building blocks for next generation networks. NEC has integrated its softswitch with AudioCodes Mediant digital media gateway for wireline applications to deliver VoIP solutions for carrier and service providers. The Mediant 2000 connects to the PBX at the customer's site allowing carriers and service providers to offer hosted services and IPCentrex services and applications. http://www.audiocodes.com/

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Tata's VSNL to Acquire Tyco's Global Network of Submarine Telecom Cables

Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited (VSNL), India's leading international telecom carrier, agreed to acquire Tyco Global Network for US$130 million. The acquisition, which remains subject to government approval in the United States, India and other countries, would give VSNL control over a network that spans 60,000 kilometers (37,280 miles) and three continents.



VSNL is part of the $14 billion Tata Group, which recently listed Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) on the Bombay Stock Exchange. The TCS listing was the largest initial public offering by a private sector corporate in Indian history. VSNL said it intends to leverage the IT strengths of the Tata Group in providing services to large enterprises across the world. http://www.vsnl.comhttp://www.tycotelecom.com/

• In September, VSNL America, a local affiliate of India's Tata managed Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited, was granted an International Common Carrier 214 License from the FCC to own and manage a U.S. network. The company plans to serve U.S. multinational corporations looking to penetrate key emerging markets such as India.



• In October 2003, Reliance Group, India's largest business house with total revenues of US$16.8 billion, agreed to acquire FLAG Telecom Group for $207 million, representing a premium of more than 50% over the closing price of FLAG's shares on 15-Oct-03. Reliance Infocomm is one India's largest mobile service providers and operates a national, high-capacity network.

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Data Connection and MetaSwitch Report Financial Growth

Data Connection, a privately-held supplier of telecom software and equipment to OEM and service provider customers, released financial results for the 12 months to August 31, 2004. Both revenues and profits were up, to $52M and $15M respectively, representing the 23rd consecutive year of growth in both key measures of commercial success.



Data Connection reported strong revenues from all its business units. MetaSwitch, its next generation softswitch division, saw the fastest growth, with revenues up over 250% compared to the
previous year. The division now has over 70 deployments with incumbent and competitive telephone operators, primarily in North America.



Data Connection's Internet Applications Group, which provides unified messaging, web conferencing and directory solutions, saw strength in service provider, OEM and government markets. Highlights included the introduction of version 3.0 of its MeetingServer product and the introduction of MailNGen, a fully packaged unified messaging solution for service providers.



Data Connection's Network Protocols Group, which supplies VoIP, MPLS, ATM and IP routing software, made key product introductions during the year, including Routing Information Protocol, Protocol Independent Multicast (PIM) and Internet Group Membership Protocol (IGMP) for multicast-enabled routers and switches. Strategic partnerships announced during the year include Agere Systems, Interpeak, Silicon & Software Systems, Seabridge and Personeta.



The company's Enterprise Connectivity Group also recorded increased revenues, derived from a combination of long-term strategic OEM relationships including Cisco, HP, IBM, and Microsoft, and
product sales to blue-chip enterprises such as Citibank and Banco Santander. http://www.dataconnection.com/

• Data Connection has unique ownership structure, in which 100% of the company's shares are held by an Employee Benefit Trust.

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Wind River Releases its Latest VxWorks Environment

Wind River Systems introduced the next generation of three Wind River Market Specific Platforms (MSPs) to support the device software development process. Wind River's new middleware provides a number of capabilities, including an IPv4/IPv6 stack with IPv6 routing support an IPSec/IKE update, Radius, Firewall, 802.1x capabilities; XML/Soap, SNMP and web server updates; and transparent multiprocessor messaging between VxWorks and Linux. http://www.windriver.com

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Verizon Wireless Pays $930M for Nextwave Spectrum in NYC

Verizon Wireless paid $930 million for the purchase of the spectrum license for the New York metropolitan area auctioned by NextWave Telecom Inc. on July 8.



The 10 MHz license is in the 1.9 GHz PCS frequency range and covers a population of 20.1 million people for the New York, New York Basic Trading Area ("BTA"). The BTA covers New York City and northern and central New Jersey, as well as Westchester and Rockland counties. http://www.verizonwireless.com

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Vonage to Add 600 Jobs in New Jersey

Vonage announced plans to hire more than 600 employees at its New Jersey headquarters over the next six months. The company said it is hiring in all areas, including customer care, product development, call processing, network engineering, sales and operations. http://www.vonage.com/

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Thai ISP Deploys Free-space Optics in Bangkok

Internet Thailand Public Company Limited (INET) has deployed LightPointe's free-space optics to expedite high-speed MetroLAN Internet services to Bangkok-area businesses. LightPointe's FlightSpectrum provides 100 Mbps building-to-building connections for INET, enabling the ISP to aggregate voice and data traffic from about two dozen buildings throughout downtown Bangkok to the company's 1 Gbps network backbone. For tenants in MetroLAN buildings, INET installs a CPE device that provides access to the Internet at 10 Mbps increments.



LightPointe's FlightSpectrum features the company's multi-beam, multi-path technology for additional resiliency and network redundancy. http://www.lightpointe.com

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FCC Approves Sales of New Skies Satellites to Blackstone

The FCC approved the sale of New Skies Satellites to affiliates of The Blackstone Group, a leading private investment firm. The deal is expected to close this week. http://www.newskies.comhttp://www.blackstone.comThe Blackstone Group, a private investment and advisory firm, agreed to acquire New Skies Satellites N.V. for $956 million in cash, equivalent to approximately $7.96 per fully diluted share.

New Skies, which is based in The Netherlands, has five satellites in orbit, ground facilities around the world and one additional spacecraft under construction. The company also has secured certain rights to make use of additional orbital positions for future growth.

New Skies said the deal a 14% premium over the price of its stock on April 28th, the day before it announced that it was considering its alternatives, and a 27% premium to the average share price during the twelve months leading up to that date.

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Rio Rancho (N.M.) Plans City-wide Wi-Fi Network

Rio Rancho, New Mexico, is planning to deploy a city-wide Wi-Fi network spanning some 103 square miles. Under the 25-year license agreement, the city will grant rights-of-way to Azulstar to install and operate Wi-Fi equipment that will provide a blanket of "cellular Wi-Fi" coverage. The high performance network, which is being funded by private investors, will use hundreds of small Wi-Fi repeater radios attached to buildings, utility poles and city infrastructure.



Azulstar will offer Internet access starting at $19.95/month for unlimited 256kbps service; mobile connections up to 1Mbps and daily passes will also be offered. Proxim Corp. will deliver a pre-WiMAX wireless backbone solution, Meru Networks will provide the access points, and LogiSense will supply operational support systems, such as billing. http://www.azulstar.comAzulstar Networks is a division of Ottawa Wireless.

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Scarlet Expands Network in Benelux with Redback

Scarlet, a telecommunications carrier with about 1.5 million residential and business customers in the Benelux, is expanding the reach and capacity of its broadband network with Redback Networks' SmartEdge platform. The existing Scarlet broadband network is based on Redback SMS 10000 systems. The upgrade provides an order of magnitude increase in scalability while supporting new, advanced services to both consumer customers and DSL-based business users. Financial terms were not disclosed. http://www.redback.com

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U.S. Carriers Announce MMS Interoperability Pact

U.S. wireless carriers have agreed to provide consumers with MMS (Multi-Media Messaging Services) interoperability. The Inter-Carrier MMS Working Group established a set of guidelines that will allow wireless carriers to phase-in photo and video messaging services over time. Currently, only customers of the same carrier network are capable of exchanging photo and video messaging. The carrier's decision to move forward in a collective fashion on MMS interoperability will permit customers of different networks to now swap multi-media images.



"This is the essence of the wireless industry," said Steve Largent. "Few industries are more competitive than ours, but today we have proven that competitors can and will come together to better serve the consumer."http://www.ctia.org

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FCC to Examine Impact of VoIP, New Services on Numbering System

The FCC will host a symposium n Thursday, Nov. 4 to examine the impact of emerging technologies on the nation's telephone numbering system.



The FCC said that in the face of increased demand for numbers for cell phones, fax machines and new local competitors, it has implemented policies designed to extend the life of the numbering system. By working with state commissions and the telecommunications industry, the FCC substantially increased the estimated life of the system, known as the North American Numbering Plan. But emerging new technologies, such as VoIP, raise new demand for numbers and new challenges. Among those challenges are "portable" VoIP services that use the same number no matter where the customer is located geographically. The symposium is entitled "The Future of Numbering: Will New Technologies, Innovations and Services Affect Number Administration and Optimization." Questions for the panels can be e-mailed in advance or during the symposium to FutureOfNumbering@fcc.gov. http://www.fcc.gov

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Lucent and its Unions Agree to Extend Negotiations One Week

Lucent Technologies, the Communications Workers of America (CWA) and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) agreed to extend their negotiations for a week. Negotiators from the three parties have been meeting regularly since Oct. 7 in Washington, D.C. under the auspices of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service. http://www.lucent.com

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MobilePro Achieves ZigBee Development Milestone

MobilePro has completed the design of its first ZigBee wireless semiconductor chip. The chip design for the so-called "RF layer," or "physical layer," is now being converted into a prototype chip at a facility in Taiwan. The first design is a 2.4 GHz ZigBee chip. MobilePro said it already has a second 900 MHz ZigBee chip on the drawing board. http://www.mobileprocorp.com/

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Atheros Licenses PCTEL's Soft Access Point

Atheros Communications will offer PCTEL's Soft Access Point (SoftAP) software for use with products based on its WLAN chipsets. PCTEL's SoftAP software convert a PC using an Atheros based network interface card into a fully functional access point (AP) with routing and firewall capabilities. The solution enables Enterprise as well as small office and home office users to load software onto a central PC, instead of purchasing additional hardware, to wirelessly connect multiple computers or other wireless devices. Availability for Atheros' SoftAP-enabled products is expected in Q1 2005. http://www.atheros.comhttp://www.pctel.com

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Avaya Expects Growth in 2005 Revenue and Margin

Avaya issued financial guidance for fiscal year 2005 and 2006, saying its operating margin goal for fiscal year 2005 is between 8.5 percent and 9 percent on fiscal 2005 revenues that are expected to grow by between 25 percent to 27 percent compared to fiscal year 2004 revenues of $4.055 billion. Operating margin for fiscal year 2004 was 7.6 percent. Avaya said the expected growth in fiscal 2005 revenues will come from its existing businesses and the impact of its acquisition of Spectel, its majority interest in Avaya GobalConnect (formerly Tata Telecom), and assuming a Jan. 1, 2005 close of its pending acquisition of Tenovis.



For fiscal year 2006 the company has an operating margin goal of between 10 percent and 12 percent.



Avaya reiterated its existing balance sheet goals of maintaining a strong net cash position and keeping debt at a level no higher than its debt level prior to the planned acquisition of Tenovis. The company also said its longer-term goals of improving its credit rating to investment grade, opportunistically deleveraging its balance sheet and maintaining a cash position of approximately one billion dollars remain.



The company also said beginning with the first fiscal quarter of 2005 it will report product revenues in a single segment called products and applications. Avaya's services segment reporting will remain unchanged. http://www.avaya.com

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France Telecom Reaches 4.2 million ADSL lines

France Telecom reported consolidated Q3 revenues of EUR 12.05 billion, compared to EUR 11.65 billion for the same period last year on an actual basis (11.53 billion EURs on a comparable basis). This represents an increase of 4.5% on a comparable basis and 3.5% on an actual basis.



Some highlights:

• there were 4.2 million ADSL lines in service in France (not including unbundled lines) at September 30, 2004, an increase of 73% compared with September 30, 2003 (2.4 million). The acceleration of the France Telecom's "Plan Haut Débit pour Tous" (Broadband for All Plan) will enable coverage of more than 90% of the French population at end-2004.



• added almost 400,000 new Broadband Wanadoo clients in Europe in Q3 2004.



• added 2 million wireless customers in Q3, topping 60 million at September 30.



• launched its commercial 3G wireless service for businesses in the U.K. (in mid-July) and France (September 6) and accelerated UMTS and EDGE network rollout in France, as well as in other European mobile networks.



• CAPEX in Q3 amounted to EUR 1.2 billion, up 6.3% on a comparable basis and 4.7% on an actual basis.

http://www.francetelecom.com

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AMD Aims Low-cost Personal Internet Communicator at Developing Markets

AMD launched an initiative to enable 50% of the world's population with Internet connectivity and computing capabilities by 2015. A key element of the program is a new, low-cost Personal Internet Communicator (PIC) consumer device designed for emerging markets. The PIC would be branded, marketed and sold by local service providers such as telecommunications companies and government-sponsored communications programs. The deliver basic Internet functions such as e-mail, downloads and Web browsing, but uses a modified version of Windows designed to limit the installation of additional software.



AMD said microfinancing and bundled service packages could help consumers avoid large, up-front cash deployments at the point of sale. Suggested system price point is $185.00 with a keyboard, mouse, and preinstalled software; or $249.00 which also includes a monitor.



AMD has signed a number of strategic partners to help advance its "50x15" initiative.



India's TATA Group will market the PIC and offer it initially to consumers in five cities in India. CRC will work with local distributors in Mexico to offer the PIC along with a suite of educational software. Cable and Wireless is deploying the PIC in support of disaster relief efforts throughout the Caribbean. http://www.amd.com/us-en/Weblets/0,,7832_12095,00.html

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Oplink to Acquire EZconn for Photonic Components

Oplink Communications agreed to acquire Ezconn, a manufacturer of cable and photonics components, for $30 million in cash and stock. EZconn, which is based in Taiwan and has manufacturing facilities in Taiwan and China, supplies components for broadband cable and FTTX (Fiber-to-the- (Home, Curb, Premise, Node, etc.)) applications.



Oplink, which is based in San Jose, California, provides design, integration and optical manufacturing solutions (OMS) for optical networking components and subsystems. http://www.oplink.com/

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VIVO Launches CDMA2000 1xEV-DO with Lucent

VIVO announced the commercial launch of a 3G CDMA2000 1xEV-DO network in the in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro regions of Brazil. This Lucent-supplied network enables VIVO to provide mobile data services at speeds of up to 2.4 Mbps to laptops and PDAs equipped with 1x-EV-DO PC cards. For the commercial network launch, Lucent upgraded VIVO's Lucent-supplied base stations to support CDMA2000 1xEV-DO. Lucent Worldwide Services provided network integration and installation services. http://www.vivo.com.brhttp://www.lucent.com

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Voiceglo Adds Push-to-Talk Buddy Feature to VoIP Service

Voiceglo, a broadband telephony provider, has added a peer-to-peer voice messaging feature to its proprietary Web- and PC-based service, the GloPhone. The feature is similar to the push-to-talk functionality of cell phones, allowing users to send and receive instant voice messages to other GloPhone users on their buddy list. Specifically, the GloMessenger application allows GloPhone users to send voice messages to one another using MP3 formatted files - without having to initiate a phone call. Users click on a "Send Message" button and record a sound byte that is immediately transmitted to an online buddy. The recipient will then see their GloPhone display window flash - indicating that they have a GloMessage waiting - and can then listen to the audio message and reply. http://www.glophone.com

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NETGEAR's Q3 Sales Rise 34% over Last Year

NETGEAR reported Q3 net revenue of $101.2 million, a 34% increase as compared to $75.8 million for Q3 2003. Net revenue for Q2 was $88.4 million. Net income (GAAP) was $5.9 million or $0.19 per basic share and $0.18 per diluted share, compared to a net loss of ($4.0) million for the third quarter of 2003. Net revenue in Q3 2004 derived from North America was $57.1 million, the Europe, Middle East and Africa, or EMEA, region was $36.2 million, and the Asia Pacific region was $8.0 million. http://www.netgear.com

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Leading Carriers Form ENUM Group for North America

Leading service providers have formed a new group called Country Code 1 ENUM Limited Liability Company to promote the development of consistent, standards-based ENUM technology throughout North America. Founding members include AT&T, GoDaddy.com, MCI, SBC Laboratories, Sprint, and Verizon.



"ENUM technology will play a vital role in the continued growth and development of VoIP," said Keith Cambron, president and CEO, SBC Laboratories. "It is critically important that ENUM technology is developed in a consistent, standards-based manner. http://www.sbc.com

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Alcatel Sees Q3 Sales Rise 11% over Last Year

Alcatel reported Q3 sales of EUR 3.044 billion, up 11% (14% at constant exchange rates) over the same period last year and up 3% sequentially. The company's gross margin was 37.7% of sales. Net income pre-goodwill for the quarter was registered at EUR 187 million or diluted EUR 0.14 per share (USD 0.17 per ADS) and net income after goodwill at EUR 84 million or diluted EUR 0.06 per share (USD 0.08 per ADS). Some highlights for Q3.

• Mobile communications: sales were up 28% YoY with positive indications for Q4. Alcatel cited sales breakthroughs in India and Brazil and expansions in Russia, Africa, the Middle East and China. Alcatel is now investing in a disruptive NGN cellular core technology through its association and planned acquisition of Spatial Wireless.



• Fixed communications: revenue decreased by 3.8% to EUR 1,253 million from EUR 1,302 million in Q3 2003, continuing on a flattish trend. Both the Data and Fixed Solutions businesses turned in significant growth. The IP edge service routing activity now boasts more than 40 customers across diverse geographical regions, with over 10 new accounts added during the quarter. MSWAN sales continued to be strong as a result of increased traffic in access, most notably in Europe. The growth in fixed solutions was driven by triple play services, in particular, the early adoption in Western Europe, Latin America and Russia, while NGN continued to gain momentum, exemplified by wins in China during the quarter wherein Alcatel will deliver one million NGN lines to three different Chinese carriers. Optical networks also grew during the quarter benefiting from the demand in the metro domain as well as for cross connects by the wireless carriers as they build out their network. Compared to a year ago, shipments of ADSL lines grew strongly in China, moderately in Europe, and declined in North America, which overall resulted in a softness in revenues. Alcatel delivered 4.5 million lines in the quarter, bringing cumulative deliveries for the year to 14.8 million. Voice networks continued to decline, even if, emerging countries in the deployment phase showed some strength. During the quarter an agreement was reached to dispose of the power systems business. The company said its investments in triple play technologies, as evidenced by the recent win with SBC for Project Lightspeed.



• Private communications: revenue increased by 11.4% to EUR 935 million compared with EUR 839 million in Q3 2003. Alcatel noted growth in its IP/PBX business particularly in Europe and, to a lesser extent, in Asia. Genesys continued to post solid results, particularly with large US companies as well as in Asia Pacific.

http://www.alcatel.com

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Taiwan's Chunghwa Reaches 2.9 Million DSL Accounts

Chunghwa Telecom, Taiwan's incumbent operator, added 195,000 ADSL subscribers in Q3, giving it a total of 2.9 million lines in service -- a 29% increase of the same time last year. The company has 3.8 million Internet subscribers, up by 72,000 for the quarter.



Chunghwa's total fixed line subscriber base stood at approximately 13.2 million at the end of Q3, a 1.0% YoY increase. However, total fixed line revenues for the first nine months 2004 declined by 7.1%, mainly due to fixed-line competition, mobile substitution and a continuous migration of dial-up subscribers to ADSL broadband services. http://www.cht.com.tw

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SBC Offers $19.95 Monthly DSL Promotion

SBC Communications announced its lowest monthly price to date for SBC Yahoo! DSL -- $19.95 a month for new DSL residential customers who commit to a one-year term and subscribe to the company's unlimited local and long distance calling plan. The All Distance bundle delivers unlimited local and nationwide direct-dial long distance calling, Caller ID, voicemail and the choice of two SBC calling features for $48.95 a month. The $19.95 DSL add-on provides download speeds of 384 Kbps - 1.5 Mbps and upload speeds of up to 384 Kbps. http://www.sbc.com/news_room

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Verizon Cites Growth in Wireless, LD, DSL, Data and Enterprise

Citing growth in wireless, long-distance and broadband services, Verizon reported Q3 revenue of $18.206 billion, up 6.7% over the same period last year. Q3 earnings were $1.8 billion -- 64 cents per diluted share, or 65 cents per share before one special item. For the first time, Verizon Wireless contributed more than 40 percent of Verizon's total revenues. Some highlights for Q3:

• Verizon Wireless: added 1.7 million net new customers, the largest quarterly customer increase in the history of the company, which was formed in April 2000. The total number of customers grew 16.9 percent year-over-year to 42.1 million, including 40.2 million retail customers. Average monthly churn was 1.5%. Average monthly service revenue per customer increased 3.1 percent year-over-year to $51.58. Data services usage continued to climb, contributing $300 million, or 4.7 percent, of third-quarter 2004 total service revenues, up from 4.2 percent in the second quarter 2004 and 2.3 percent in the third quarter of 2003. More than one-third of the company's base -- 14.6 million customers -- use data services and spend an average of $7 per month on data. During Q3, Verizon Wireless logged 2.6 billion text messages, 25.5 million picture messages and 26.8 million Get It Now downloads.



• Long Distance: revenues for all LD services, including traditional intra-region toll services, increased 8.7 percent compared with third quarter 2003, to $1.1 billion in the quarter. The company had 17.3 million long-distance lines in service as of the end of the quarter, an increase of 525,000 lines compared with the second quarter 2004.



• DSL: added a net of 309,000 DSL lines for a total of 3.3 million lines in service, representing 1.1 million net additions over the past year. The company also began rolling out FiOS fiber-optic-based services in the third quarter 2004.



• Data: Revenues (including DSL) were $2.0 billion. Data revenues represented 21 percent of Domestic Telecom's total operating revenues in the quarter, up from 18 percent in the third quarter 2003.



• Bundles: Approximately 53 percent of Verizon residential customers have purchased local services in combination with either Verizon long-distance or Verizon DSL, or both. This compares with 41 percent in the third quarter 2003. The average revenue per month per Verizon residential wireline customer increased by 4.4 percent in the third quarter 2004, compared with the third quarter 2003.



• UNE-P: Resale and Unbundled Network Element-Platform (UNE-P) lines totaled 6.7 million at the end of the third quarter 2004, up from 5.4 million at the end of the third quarter 2003. For UNE-P only, this is a 105,000 increase from the end of the second quarter 2004, which is significantly less than in prior quarters this year. The company had 53.7 million switched wireline access lines in service as of the end of the third quarter 2004.



• Employees: 208,240 compared to 219,927 at the same time last year.

http://www.verizon.com

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PCTEL to Acquire Selected Antenna Assets from Andrew Corp.

PCTEL to acquire selected assets associated with Andrew Corporations' (ANDW) mobile antenna business for $10 million in cash. The assets to be acquired consist of Andrew's GPS, On-Glass, and Antenna Specialists brand of professional antenna products.



PCTEL acquired Maxrad in January, 2004. With the acquisition of the selected Andrew antenna assets, the company estimates that it will achieve over $40 million in antenna-related revenue in 2005. http://www.pctel.com

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America Online Offers Premium Virus Protection

America Online began offering McAfee VirusScan Online protection at no additional cost as part of its basic membership to both broadband and dial-up customers. Until now, this was a premium service sold separately to America Online members. http://www.aol.com

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DSLExtreme Lowers Price to $21.95

DSL Extreme, which offers broadband service in twenty-one markets across the U.S., lowered its DSL price to $21.95 per month for the first year for 1500/384 kbps service. The $21.95 package includes up to 10 email addresses with a total of 1 GB of storage, 250 Megs of Personal Webspace, unlimited Usenet News service, and game server access with gamer-specific peering. http://www.dslextreme.com

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Telefonica Moviles Completes Acquisition of Bellsouth's L.A. Networks

Telefonica Moviles completed the acquisition of BellSouth's cellular operators in Colombia, Nicaragua, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela. These acquisitions mark the conclusion of the second stage of the purchases agreed to by the companies. Together with the acquisition of Bellsouth's cellular operators in Ecuador, Guatemala and Panama on 14 October, Telefonica Moviles has now completed the acquisition of eight of the 10 operators. The company expects to complete the remaining acquisitions (in Argentina and Chile) over the course of 2004http://www.telefonicamoviles.com

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Fujitsu Introduces ROADM for MSOs

Fujitsu Network Communications introduced its FLASHWAVE 7500 Small System for small- to medium-sized MSOs. The system combines DWDM, a Reconfigurable Optical Add/Drop Multiplexer (ROADM) switch fabric and multi-rate, high-density Optical Line Cards (OLCs) for services up to 10 Gbps per wavelength in a single 19" shelf.



The new system incorporates many of the same features as the larger 40-channel FLASHWAVE 7500 Core System and the FLASHWAVE 7500 Extension System, including access to single or multiple wavelengths, at any node. For low cost or point-to-point applications where the ROADM switch fabric capabilities are not required, the FLASHWAVE 7500 Small System can be configured as a flexible Optical Add/Drop Multiplexer (OADM) with manual access to all wavelengths. Fujitsu features a dynamic, self-tuning equalization system that adapts power levels as the network grows.



A common set of optical line cards (transponders) support for an array of services, including Gigabit Ethernet, traditional SONET, Storage Area Networking (SAN), Video On Demand (VOD) and transparent wavelength services.



Fujitsu already serves a number of North American MSOs, including Adelphia, Brighthouse, Charter, Comcast, Cox, Shaw and others. Over 220 nodes of its FLASHWAVE 7500 have been deployed in MSO applications. http://us.fujitsu.com/telecom

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Cox Adds 82,000 Cable Telephony Customers in Q3

Cox Communications reported Q3 revenue of $1.6 billion, an increase of 11% over last year, primarily due to growth in digital cable, high-speed Internet access and telephony, as well as higher basic cable rates. Operating income increased 14% to $183.8 million for the third quarter of 2004, and operating cash flow increased 8% to $584.7 million for the same period. Some highlights:

• Ended Q3 with approximately 6.3 million basic video customers, up 0.4% from September 30, 2003.



• Ended the quarter with over 6.6 million total customer relationships, up 1.4% from September 30, 2003.



• Ended the quarter with approximately 12.3 million total RGUs, up 11% from September 30, 2003, driven by 25% growth in advanced-service RGUs year-over-year.



• Added 72,868 Cox Digital Cable customers, ending the quarter with approximately 2.4 million digital cable customers, representing year-over-year customer growth of 14%. Cox Digital Cable is now available to 99% of the homes in Cox's service areas with 37% penetration of our basic video customer base.



• Added 184,446 high-speed Internet customers, the most Cox high-speed Internet customers ever added in a quarter. Cox ended the quarter with over 2.4 million high-speed Internet customers, representing year-over-year growth of 32%.



• Added 82,596 Cox Digital Telephone customers, the most Cox Digital Telephone customers ever added in a quarter. Cox ended the quarter with over 1.2 million telephone customers, representing year-over-year growth of 33%.



• Generated $566.3 million in cash flows provided by operating activities and $175.4 million in free cash flow (cash flows provided by operating activities less capital expenditures).

http://www.cox.com

• Cox Communications launched its Digital Telephone service in Tulsa, Oklahoma -- its second market to use VoIP. In December 2003, Cox launched residential VoIP service in Roanoke, Virginia. The company offers circuit-switched Digital Telephone service in 12 other markets.

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VIVO Selects Nortel for CDMA 2000 1X Expansion

VIVO selected Nortel Networks to expand and upgrade its CDMA 2000 1X network in Brazil's Northern, Southern and West-Central regions and the states of Bahia and Maranhao in the Northeast. Nortel Networks solutions for VIVO will include a switching platform that offers an evolution to an all-IP multiservice packet network architecture; radio base stations; and base station controllers. Nortel Networks' Compact Metro Cell 3G base station will also be deployed. Financial terms were not disclosed. http://www.nortelnetworks.com

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Tropos Unveils Metro-Scale, WiMAX + Wi-Fi Strategy

Tropos Networks, a start-up based in Sunnyvale, California, announced a strategy for integrating open-standard WiMAX into new and existing metro-scale Wi-Fi networks. The Tropos WiMAX integration strategy incorporates WiMAX in three phases, as follows:

• Phase 1 (2005): Tropos will support 802.16-2004 WiMAX as a point-to-multipoint backhaul link from Tropos metro-scale Wi-Fi networks to local points-of-presence (PoPs). This standards-based solution will improve price/performance versus current proprietary alternatives and offer operation in both licensed and unlicensed bands.



• Phase 2 (2006): Tropos will introduce 802.16-2004 WiMAX within the metro-scale Wi-Fi network to provide inter-cell connectivity. In conjunction with Phase 1, this will allow quality of service (QoS) capabilities and licensed-band operation to the edge of the network, while still supporting Wi-Fi clients. The Tropos cells will automatically select the frequency bands and access methods that provide the best end-to-end performance.



• Phase 3 (2007-8): Tropos cells will support 802.16e WiMAX client connections in both licensed and unlicensed bands, along with continued support for Wi-Fi clients. This will allow both licensed-band and unlicensed-band client operation and will offer mobility enhancements.

http://www.tropos.com

• The Tropos platform creates a "Wi-Fi cell", which layers intelligence on top of the 802.11 standard. Wi-Fi cells form an intelligent, self-organizing, self-healing, and truly wireless broadband data network that forwards data through the mesh along the optimal path to a wired network. Access nodes can be quickly deployed on city lampposts, or other such outdoor locations, with a backhaul connection needed only every 10 nodes or so. The Tropos system is currently in deployment by metro ISPs and by cities and police departments.

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Comcast Adds 549,100 Cable Modem Users in Q3

Comcast Cable reported revenue of $4.844 billion representing a 10.6% increase from Q3 2003. Video revenue increased 6.6% from Q3 2003, driven by a 5.5% increase in average monthly revenue per basic subscriber and an increase in digital revenue. Some highlights:

• Comcast Cable added 341,000 digital cable subscribers to end the period with over 8.4 million subscribers, or 39.1% of basic subscribers. Basic subscribers of 21.5 million remained essentially unchanged from a year ago but increased 8,500 from the prior quarter. Included in the basic subscriber results for the quarter was the loss of an estimated 10,000 subscribers as a result of the severe hurricane season experienced in parts of Florida and other Southeastern states.



• Growth in video revenue also reflects increasing consumer demand for new digital features, including Comcast ON DEMAND, HDTV programming and digital video recorders (DVRs). During the third quarter, pay-per-view revenues increased nearly 32% to more than $100 million, driven by more movie and event purchases through the Comcast ON DEMAND service. Increasing demand for HDTV and the accelerating rollout of DVRs is also contributing to digital growth. At the end of the third quarter, Comcast had nearly 870,000 set-top boxes in customers' homes offering HDTV and/or DVR service.



• Comcast Cable added a record 549,100 High-Speed Internet subscribers to end the quarter with more than 6.5 million subscribers. Revenues for this service increased 37.9% from the third quarter of 2003 to $808 million reflecting strong subscriber growth and stable average monthly revenue per subscriber of $42.91. Comcast High-Speed Internet service is now available to 94% of the Company's footprint, or 38 million homes.



• Cable phone revenue declined 8.6% from the third quarter of 2003 to $173 million, the result of a 7.5% decrease in subscribers to 1.2 million and stable average monthly revenue per subscriber of $47.18. Comcast said it is continuing to focus on profitability, not unit growth, while it begins the transition from circuit-switched to VoIP.

http://www.comcast.com

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8x8 Reaches 26,000 VoIP Lines

As of September 30, 8x8 had approximately 26,000 activated Packet8 subscriber lines in service as compared to approximately 17,000 at June 30, 2004, a 53% increase. Total revenues for the Company's Packet8 VoIP service and related equipment sales increased to $2.1 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2004, compared with $1.4 million for the first quarter of fiscal 2005, an increase of 50%. http://www.8x8.com

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HomeNet Turns to Level 3 for Wholesale VoIP

HomeNet Communications, an integrated Triple Play Provider, has joined Level 3's "Enabled" Partner Program to use (3)VoIP Enhanced service in 50 markets across the U.S. HomeNet will offer residential VoIP service.

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AboveNet Launches Ethernet WAN Enterprise Service

AboveNet launched an enterprise Ethernet WAN service between 12 major U.S. cities and London. AboveNet said its Ethernet Wide Area Network Services or EWAN products leverage its MPLS backbone and fiber network to deliver a single-carrier solution with flat-rate pricing for any of the cities it serves regardless of distance and local loop access. Three service types are offered:

• AboveNet Ethernet WAN Basic -- customer-managed service offered over a single pair of fiber to AboveNet's redundant, optical IP backbone.



• AboveNet Ethernet WAN Protected -- customer-managed service offered over diverse pairs of fiber to AboveNet's redundant, optical IP backbone.



• AboveNet Ethernet WAN Managed -- AboveNet-managed service offered over diverse pairs of fiber to AboveNet's redundant, optical IP backbone.

http://www.above.net

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Xten Shows its SIP Softphone Over 3G

Xten, in partnership with Vonage, demonstrated new features of its SIP softphone working over a 3G UMTS network. XTEN's eyeBeam SIP softphone for VoIP and Video over IP is adding support for features such as Instant Messaging and Presence Awareness using open standards like SIMPLE and XCAP. Xten also demonstrated interoperation with Microsoft Windows Messenger. http://www.xten.com

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Level 3 Reports Q3 Revenue

Level 3 Communications reported consolidated revenue was $840 million for Q3. Communications revenue was $423 million versus $391 million for the previous quarter, and information services revenue was $392 million compared to $503 million for the previous quarter. The net loss for the third quarter 2004 increased to $171 million, or $0.25 per share, compared to a net loss for the previous quarter of $63 million, or $0.09 per share. Included in the net loss for the previous quarter was a $147 million gain associated with the elimination of a capital lease obligation due to the termination of a vendor contract.



During the third quarter, we experienced rising demand and new contract awards for our communications services offerings, particularly for VoIP services," said James Q. Crowe, CEO of Level 3. http://www.level3.com

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Sprint Extends MPLS VPN Benefits Globally

Sprint is extending its standard MPLS VPN offering to over 100 countries in Europe, Asia and Latin America. The service enables the convergence of voice, video and data onto one network-based IP VPN. Sprint's MPLS VPN provides customers with a secure private IP environment based on the IETF RFC 2547bis standard, supporting both intranet and extranet applications. Sprint is offering a flexible Class of Service (CoS) capability as a standard feature, with no additional setup fees or incremental charges based on the amount of real- time/high-priority traffic. As a network-based solution, Sprint handles addressing, routing and QoS.



Sprint has also extended network-based capabilities beyond the traditional VPN intranet service. Customers can select value-added services like remote access services (RAS), IPSec tunnel termination and secure Internet access protected by network-based firewalls. These offerings are provided at the Sprint network edge and integrate seamlessly with the customer's core MPLS VPN. Access options include DSL, Frame Relay, Private Line, Ethernet and wireless via Sprint PCS Data Link. http://www.sprint.com/business

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Broadcom Adds USB 2.0 to its 54g Wi-Fi Chip

Broadcom introduced its latest 54g wireless chip with integrated USB 2.0 capabilities. The new chip supports Broadcom's SecureEZSetup and 125 High Speed Mode technologies, which could be used by consumers to more easily add Wi-Fi to a range of USB-connected devices.



The Broadcom AirForce BCM4320 integrates an 802.11a/g MAC/baseband, a USB 2.0 transceiver, a processor and memory into a single packagehttp://www.broadcom.com

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Covad Sees Continued Line Sharing for Legacy Copper Loops

Covad Communications applauded the FCC's ruling last week that declined to grant Section 271 forbearance relief to the Bell companies for line sharing, which involves access to legacy copper loops, rather than new fiber facilities. In particular, the FCC removed Section 271 unbundling requirements for fiber-based facilities, while keeping in place Section 271 unbundling obligations for legacy copper facilities, including line sharing.



In a statement, James A. Kirkland, Covad senior vice president and general counsel, said "Even under the most aggressive fiber deployment scenarios, it is clear that legacy copper loops will remain a ubiquitous infrastructure for reaching consumers and businesses for many years to come. New technologies, such as ADSL 2+, will ensure that these copper facilities can be utilized to provide a wide variety of new and innovative services."http://www.covad.com

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FTTH Council Announces Changes in Leadership

Dan Tatarka has stepped down as executive director of the Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) Council to take a position with Optical Cable Corporation. Mike DiMauro, president of the Council's board of directors, will serve as interim executive director of the Council through the end of the year. http://www.ftthcouncil.org

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Motorola Launches its Next Gen Canopy Wireless Broadband

Motorola launched its next generation Canopy wireless broadband platform, enabling greater bandwidth and high-quality VoIP to every Canopy subscriber on the network. The Canopy Advantage Platform is based on software defined radio technology, which will enable new functionality and enhancements through software upgrades.



The 900 MegaHertz Canopy Advantage Access Point (AP) is the first product in the portfolio and is available today. Access points in 2.4 GigaHertz (GHz), 5.2 GHz and 5.7 GHz are planned for availability this quarter. Future planned additions to the portfolio include a Canopy Advantage Subscriber Module (SM), scheduled to be released in the first half of 2005. The Canopy Advantage SM will operate with the Canopy Advantage AP and deliver voice and data services at aggregate data rates up to 15 Mbps.



Motorola also said that backwards-compatibility is a key component of its product strategy. The product line will allow Canopy Advantage CPE to co-exist with license exempt WiMax CPE operating in the same sector off the same access point. http://www.motorola.com/canopy

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Agere Reports Revenue of $439 million

Agere Systems reported quarterly revenue of $439 million, at the high end of the guidance range provided by the company in July. The company's revenues were $495 million in the June quarter and $504 million in the year-ago quarter. GAAP net loss for the quarter was $127 million or $0.07 per share, including $132 million in net restructuring and other charges. Agere reported a GAAP net income of $2 million or breakeven per share in the June quarter, and a GAAP net income of $11 million or $0.01 per share in the year-ago quarter.



"We are encouraged by the progress we have made over the last year: we increased revenues and gross margin, improved our bottom-line performance, and strengthened our cash position," said John Dickson, president and CEO, Agere Systems. http://www.agere.com

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Tellabs Revenues Rise to $284 million

Tellabs reported Q3 revenue of $284 million, up 16% from $245 million in the third quarter of 2003. On a GAAP basis, Tellabs earned 11 cents per share or $46 million in the third quarter of 2004, compared with a loss of $65 million or 16 cents per share in the third quarter of 2003. Tellabs' third-quarter earnings of 11 cents per share included a tax benefit of 2 cents from an IRS settlement. Some highlights:

• Transport -- Revenue from transport systems totaled $138 million, up 31% from $105 million in the third quarter of 2003, primarily driven by wireless demand.



• Managed Access -- Revenue from managed access systems was $73 million, down 10% from $81 million in the third quarter of 2003, primarily due to short-term issues in the relocation of international outsourced manufacturing to a lower-cost location.



• Broadband Data -- Revenue of broadband data products was $8 million, double $4 million in the third quarter of 2003.



• Voice Quality Enhancement -- Revenue from voice-quality enhancement and other systems amounted to $20 million, up 29% from $16 million in the third quarter of 2003.



• Services and Solutions -- Services and solutions revenue was $45 million, up 15% from $39 million in the third quarter of 2003.

Tellabs said it hopes to close its pending acquisition of AFC during Q4. http://www.tellabs.com

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Avaya Launches Service Provider-Delivered Solutions

Avaya launched new IP telephony and contact center communications solutions that enable service providers to offer hosted services through a usage-based monthly fee. The solutions are aimed at mid-sized companies with as few as 100 users that considering outsourced telephony options.



Avaya provides end-to-end support and management tools for its hosted IP telephony and contact center solutions that include building and testing at Avaya Labs and at service provider data centers to validate interoperability in the carrier environment. Avaya also supports these new solutions with new polling and rating tools developed specifically for the service provider market. The company also provides network assessment and implementation support for service providers and their customers through Avaya Global Services.



The new Avaya Service Provider Delivered Solutions complement the company's recent acquisition of Spectel, a provider of audio conferencing solutions for service providers.



Separately, Avaya and Philippines Long Distance Telephone Company announced a three-year agreement through which PLDT will market the Hosted Contact Center solution from Avaya to small and medium-sized enterprises in the Philippine market. The company is launching a new service called PLDT On-Call that offers Avaya-powered contact center capabilities, hosted in PLDT's data center and delivered over its network. http://www.avaya.com

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Avaya Sees Rise in Quarterly Revenue to $1.076 billion

Avaya reported quarterly revenue of $1.076 billion, up 11% from revenues of $971 million in the same period last year. The company said product sales increased 14 percent in the fourth quarter compared to the year ago period and all three business segments were profitable for the second consecutive quarter. Increased sales, as well as favorable channel and product mix contributed to gross margin of 50 percent, an increase from 48 percent in the third fiscal quarter. Net income was $100 million or earnings of 21 cents per diluted share. http://www.avaya.com

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Tekelec Posts Revenue of $106.6 Million

Tekelec reported Q3 revenue of $106.6 million, compared to $70.7 million in the third quarter of 2003. During the quarter, the company exceeded $100 million dollars of revenue for the first time in its history, with revenues increasing 12% sequentially and 51% year-over-year, and orders increasing 102% year-over-year. Tekelec noted $150.8 million of total orders generated during the quarter, surpassing its previous order record of $138.1 million achieved in Q4 2003. On a GAAP basis, Tekelec's net income for Q3 was $18.7 million, or $0.27 per diluted share, for the third quarter of 2004, compared to net income of $8.5 million, or $0.13 per diluted share, in the third quarter of 2003.



Tekelec said that its next-gen switching strategic initiative saw revenues increased 17% sequentially to $15.1 million, as it added 16 new bringing Tekelec's next-gen switching customer total to approximately 150. Revenue for Tekelec's Signaling Group was $81.1 million, up 43% year-over-year, marking the highest signaling revenue in the history of the company, driven by robust sales in the U.S. and continued global expansion. http://www.tekelec.com

• In September 2004, Tekelec acquired VocalData, a start-up offering a hosted IP telephony platform for business and residential customers, for approximately $27.5 million, consisting of $14.5 million of cash and approximately 780,000 shares of Tekelec common stock.

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Tunisie Telecom Selects Redback and Huawei

Tunisie Telecom has selected Redback Networks and Huawei as key suppliers for its nationwide broadband network. Redback is supplying its SMS 1800 broadband subscriber management systems. Huawei is supplying DSLAMs, a centralized network management system and DSL modems. Huawei is a global distribution partner for Redback. Financial terms were not disclosed. http://www.redback.comhttp://www.huawei.com

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Xspedius Selects Juniper/Lucent for Converged Core

Xspedius Communications, an integrated communications provider (ICP) based in Missouri, has migrated its ATM core network to an IP/MPLS core based on solutions from Lucent and Juniper Networks. The deployment includes the Lucent's 5E-XC switch, the Juniper Networks M-series routing platforms and Lucent's PacketStar (PSAX) 4500 Voice over Packet Media Gateways. Financial terms were not disclosed.



The multiservice network solution enables Xspedius to converge IP, ATM and Frame Relay Services on an MPLS core with the same quality of service as the ATM core network. In addition to data services, Xpedius will be providing its business customers with future VoIP applications such as voice virtual private networks, virtual contact centers, managed bandwidth services and unified communications, as well as traditional voice services. http://www.juniper.nethttp://www.lucent.com

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ECI Telecom Releases Mini MSPP

ECI Telecom introduced a miniature Multi-Service Provisioning Platform (MSPP) designed for cellular network applications. ECI's new XDM-50, which carries data over Ethernet, SDH/SONET and CWDM, can be used as a stand-alone system or it can be incorporated into a transmission network with the XDM-100.



The XDM-50 miniature shelf provides multi-ADM and cross-connect functionality in various topologies, including ring, mesh or star. http://www.ecitele.com

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Intrado Tool Lets Consumers Verify 9-1-1 Info

Intrado introduced a new tool that allows telephone subscribers to quickly and easily verify the accuracy of their 9-1-1 address information. The new Intrado 911Plus Info Check supports access to 9-1-1 service information related to wireless and VoIP phones. A large telecommunications carrier has agreed to partner with Intrado in a consumer trial of this system. Details of the trial will be announced at a later date. http://www.intrado.com

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UTStarcom Reports Third Quarter 2004 Results

UTStarcom reported Q3 net sales of $645.0 million, an increase of 10% over net sales of $584.4 million reported in the third quarter of 2003. GAAP net income for the third quarter of 2004 was $5.0 million, or $0.04 per share. This compares to net income of $59.1 million, or $0.46 per share, for the third quarter of 2003. Some highlights:

• Q3 gross margins were 21.3%



• Q3 international bookings of $200 million and $600 million September



• UTStarcom PAS subscribers in China reached approximately 34 million at the end of Q3, with total PAS subscribers in China estimated at approximately 60 million



• More than 6.5 million lines of IP-DSLAM have been deployed globally to date



• More than 55 million lines of mSwitch have been deployed globally to date.

http://www.utstar.com

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Verizon Wireless Tops 100 Million Downloads

Verizon Wireless has delivered more than 103 million "Get It Now" applications to its mobile phone customers since launching the service in September 2002. "Get It Now" provides ringtones, games and other applications for the users' mobile phone. Games and ringtones are the most popular downloads. Traffic volumes are now exceeding nine million downloads per month. http://www.verizonwireless.com

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Verizon Wireless and Yahoo! Team Up

Verizon Wireless is teaming up with Yahoo! to offer an extensive suite of e-mail, mapping, news, and weather-information applications through the Verizon Wireless Mobile Web 2.0 service. Customers can set up their personal preferences on Yahoo!, such as local weather or stock portfolio settings, this information is automatically accessed from their wireless phones each time they log on to Yahoo!. http://www.verizonwireless.comhttp://www.yahoo.com

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China Telecom Selects Lucent DWDM for National Backbone

China Telecom selected Lucent Technologies for upgrades to its national optical backbone network.
Under the project, Lucent will provide its WaveStar OLS 1.6T high-capacity DWDM system to build a transmission network spanning over 2,400 kilometers across China. The contracts were awarded as part of China Telecom's National Transmission Backbone Expansion Project. Financial terms were not disclosed. http://www.lucent.com

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Verizon Selects Motorola for Video Services over FTTP

Verizon awarded a multi-year contract for Motorola to provide video network infrastructure and video consumer premises equipment related to Verizon's launch of video services on the company's new FTTP next year. Motorola will also provide project integration and operational services through its newly-formed Telecom Access Solutions business unit. Financial terms were not disclosed.



"This exciting new network we're building will lead to a true convergence of voice, data and video services on one network," said Paul Lacouture, president-Network Services Group for Verizon. "We currently deliver voice and high-speed data over this new network, and the available bandwidth that fiber provides makes the addition of video services the next logical step. http://www.motorola.comhttp://www.verizon.com

• Earlier this month, Verizon announced expanded FTTP deployment to homes and businesses in Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia -- bringing to nine the total number of states where work is under way. The company had previously announced FTTP deployment in California, Florida and Texas as part its plan to pass some 1 million homes and businesses with the new technology this year. Verizon plans to pass some 2 million additional homes and businesses with the new technology next year. Verizon expects to make an $800 million capital investment in FTTP this year. Verizon also announced plans to hire between 3,000 and 5,000 new employees by the end of 2005 to help build the network.



• In September, Verizon Communications hired Terry Denson, former vice president of programming for Insight Communications, the ninth-largest cable operator in the country, to manage entertainment content and marketing strategies. As vice president of video programming and content marketing and strategy for Verizon, Denson will guide video product packaging, pricing and marketing strategies; video content acquisition and distribution agreements; and customer education, acquisition and retention planning.



• In February 2004, AFC signed a definitive agreement with Verizon to provide its FiberDirect solution for the carrier's FTTP initiative. Under the terms of the agreement -- which extends through 2008 -- AFC's FiberDirect solution will provide Verizon with the central office and premises electronics, or "active" elements.

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Bandwidth.com Launches Business VoIP with Level 3

Bandwidth.com launched a hosted VoIP local and long distance service for businesses through a partnership with Level 3 Communications.



Bandwidth.com currently serves as an intermediary between telecom providers and businesses wishing to purchase Internet access. http://www.bandwidth.com

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Broadcom Names McGregor as President and CEO

Broadcom named Scott A. McGregor as President and Chief Executive Officer, effective January 3, 2005, succeeding Alan E. "Lanny" Ross, who is retiring.



McGregor has served as President and CEO of Philips Semiconductors since September 2001. He joined the Philips Semiconductors group in February 1998 as head of its Emerging Business unit, leading it to profitability and nearly $1 billion in sales before being named President and CEO of Philips Semiconductors in September 2001. Prior to Philips, Mr. McGregor held senior management positions at the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center, where he was involved in designing software for the first personal computers employing graphical user interfaces, and at Microsoft, where he was the architect and development team leader of the original version of Microsoft Windows. Additionally, he served in senior positions at Digital Equipment Corporation (now part of HP), where he led the UNIX workstation software group and was one of the architects of the X Window System, and the Santa Cruz Operation Inc. (SCO), a provider of network computing solutions, where he helped pioneer open software standards. http://www.broadcom.com

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FCC Votes to Approve Cingular/AT&T Wireless Merger

The FCC voted to approve the proposed merger of Cingular Wireless subject to several conditions, including business unit divestitures in 16 markets, limits on Cingular's acquisition of spectrum in an upcoming auction, and additional spectrum divestitures.



FCC commissioners concluded that the proposed merger will serve the public interest and that the public benefits of the merger outweigh the potential public interest harms. http://www.fcc.gov

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Cingular Completes Merger with AT&T Wireless

Cingular Wireless completed its $41 billion acquisition of AT&T Wireless. Shareholders of AT&T Wireless will be paid $15 cash per share by SBC Communications and BellSouth. The newly combined company is the nation's biggest wireless carrier with more than 46 million customers.



Cingular will now start opening access to both the Cingular and AT&T Wireless GSM networks to further improve coverage, allowing customers of both companies to use the new, combined network without roaming charges. Customers also will have the ability to make unlimited mobile-to-mobile calls to any Cingular or AT&T Wireless customer.



SBC Communications said the pending acquisition of AT&T Wireless by Cingular Wireless positions SBC for stronger growth in one of the hottest sectors of telecom today. Specifically, SBC expects:

• the combination of the two wireless companies will increase proportionate revenues from Cingular Wireless from less than 20 percent of SBC's total revenues to more than 30 percent.



• the overall number of U.S. wireless subscribers to increase from 155 million at the end of last year to 200 million by the end of 2008.



• to introduce new SBC products and services that utilize the improved Cingular wireless position to be more competitive across all of the companies' business lines. Details of the new wireless/wireline products have not yet been announced.



• AT&T Wireless' existing strength among large businesses to boost SBC's relationship with these customers.



• the merger of the two wireless companies' networks and spectrum will boost consumer service coverage, call quality and other improvements.

http://www.cingular.comhttp://www.sbc.com

• SBC holds a 60% stake in Cingular, while BellSouth holds 40%.

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AT&T Settles Shareholder Class Action Lawsuit

AT&T reached an agreement to settle a shareholder class action lawsuit underway in U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, three weeks after the trial began. The lawsuit sought damages of approximately $2.4 billion for purchasers of AT&T common stock from December 6, 1999 to May 1, 2000.



AT&T categorically denied any wrongdoing by itself or its officers, but agreed to pay the class $100 million, about four percent of the amount being sought at trial. The payment will be shared equally by AT&T and its former broadband subsidiary, which was spun off in 2002, under the terms of the separation agreement between those entities. In addition, AT&T intends to seek reimbursement from its insurers for the amounts to be paid.



The settlement is subject to final court approval. http://www.att.com

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Cisco Extends Voice Media and Signaling Encryption to IP Phones

Cisco Systems announced new security features for its IP Communications system, including voice media and signaling encryption to IP phones. Specifically, the new and currently shipping Cisco CallManager 4.1 IP telephony system extends voice media and signaling encryption support for new 7940G and 7960G Cisco IP phones and over 2.5 million installed Cisco 7940G and 7960G IP phones. Cisco CallManager 4.1 now also interoperates with a wide range of Cisco Media Gateways, including the Integrated Services Router line, to provide voice media and signaling encryption support.



Cisco said media encryption support complements the Voice over Virtual Private Network (V3PN) and threat defense security capabilities of its Cisco Media Gateways. Media encryption on media gateways enhances voice privacy on Cisco IP phones in remote offices and provides more secure connectivity to legacy devices, including digital telephones and fax machines. In addition, Cisco is also announcing secure private messaging for Cisco Unity. http://www.cisco.com/go/IPCnew

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DOJ Approves Cingular / AT&T Wireless Merger

The U.S. Department of Justice approved the proposed acquisition of AT&T Wireless by Cingular Wireless, a joint venture of SBC Communications and BellSouth. Conditions for the approval include the divestiture by the merged firm of AT&T Wireless's mobile wireless services business, including spectrum and customer contracts, in parts of 11 states--Connecticut, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Missouri, Michigan, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas. The transaction is also subject to review by the FCC.



Cingular officials continue to expect the transaction to close later this quarter. http://www.usdoj.gov

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RF Magic Announces Investment From Comcast

RF Magic, a start-up based in San Diego with design offices in Nice, France, announced that Comcast Interactive Capital has completed an investment in the company. Financial terms were not disclosed. RF Magic is developing highly integrated system-on-a-chip ICs for cost sensitive consumer markets like set top boxes and wireless modems. The company specializes in Band Translation Switch technology for multi-channel Digital Broadcast Satellite (DBS) outdoor units. It also offers a transceiver chipset for WiMAX broadband wireless access. ST Microelectronics has also embraced RF Magic's broadband RF high performance tuner products for their set top box RF front-end solutions. http://www.rfmagic.com

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Orca Updates IPTV Middleware with PVR Functionality

Orca Interactive released an updated version of its IPTV middleware with new features such as RiGHTv XPVR (Personal Video Recorder), SUI SDK (Subscriber User Interface Software Development Kit for TV services customizations) and new capabilities to host 3rd party IPTV applications. Additionally, Orca announced that iVISJON, a Norwegian provider of triple play services over FTTH and DSL, and FiberCity, the leading IP solution provider in the Philippines, have purchased an upgrade license to RiGHTv 4.2. http://www.orcainteractive.com

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Walt Disney Internet Group Expands Wireless Business

The Walt Disney Internet Group announced a strategic expansion of its wireless business with the launch of Starwave Mobile, a licensing and publishing business that will focus on content licenses from third-party companies and non-Disney brands from within The Walt Disney Company. Starwave Mobile will leverage WDIG's established content and operations teams and global industry distribution relationships to a wide range of content beyond Disney-branded properties. http://corporate.disney.go.com/wdig/index.html

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Russian Operator Deploys Marconi for Data/SDH

OAO Bashinformsvyaz, the largest communications services provider in the Russian Republic of Bashkortostan (Bashkirian Republic), has deployed Marconi's next-gen optical technology to launch new data-over-SDH services to its customers. The new service has been enabled by Marconi's next-generation OMS1664 multiservice metro platform, supported by its MS1/4 SDH equipment and ServiceOn network management system. Financial terms were not disclosed. http://www.marconi.com

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Ciena Unveils New Marketing Identity

Ciena unveiled a new marketing identity and corporate logo positioning as the company as the "network specialist" and reflecting its significant organizational changes over the past two years.
Through a series of acquisitions and industry partnerships, Ciena has extended its focus beyond optical transport. The new go-to-market strategy has five areas of concentration, including :

• Access infrastructure upgrades for service delivery;



• Storage and Ethernet service value amplification;



• Network scaling for high-bandwidth applications like video and multimedia on demand;



• Core network convergence and automation; and,



• Packet network integration and optimization for enhanced new services.

Ciena will continue to target four customer segments - service providers, cable operators, government agencies, and large enterprises. The company said it would not try to "be all things to all customers" but would concentrate on applications that deliver greater service and value in the network. Ciena also emphasized its strong net cash position ($769 million, as of Q1 2004) compared to other Tier One network equipment suppliers, as well as its established customer base of leading carriers globally. http://www.ciena.com

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NETGEAR Debuts 108 Mbps Wireless USB 2.0 Adapter

NETGEAR introduced an 108 Mbps Wireless USB 2.0 Adapter based on Atheros Communications' silicon and Extended Range technology. The adapter, which is about the size of a pack of chewing gum and has a list price of $79, also provides hardware-based 40/64 and 128-bit WEP encryption, as well as WPA-PSK encryption. http://www.netgear.com

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Clearwire to Deploy WiMax, Partners with Intel

Intel and Clearwire announced a partnership to jointly develop and deploy wireless broadband capabilities using WiMAX. As part of the collaboration, Clearwire intends to deploy WiMAX using equipment from NextNet Wireless (a Clearwire subsidiary) that includes future Intel silicon products. Intel Capital has also agreed to make an equity investment in Clearwire. Financial terms were not disclosed.



Intel said the collaboration with Clearwire is the next step in its continued development of WiMAX technology beyond "Rosedale," its upcoming wireless broadband chip for WiMAX products based on the IEEE 802.16-2004 standard (previously known as IEEE 802.16REVd). Rosedale is Intel's first "system-on-a-chip" solution for CPE supporting that early standard. http://www.intel.com/capitalhttp://www.clearwire.com

• Clearwire, a start-up based in Kirkland, Washington, was created by Craig McCaw, the founder of McCaw Cellular which was later purchased by AT&T Wireless.



• In August 2004, Clearwire launched services in Jacksonville, Florida, delivering up to 1.5 Mbps to residential users.

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Cogent Acquires Aleron, its Sixth Acquisition this Year

Cogent Communications acquired the assets of Aleron Broadband Services, formally known as AGIS Internet, including its customer base and network. Financial terms were not disclosed. As part of Cogent's sixth acquisition of the year, Cogent will retain all 25 Aleron employees nationwide and will relocate Aleron offices from Virginia to Cogent's Georgetown headquarters.



Cogent repor$18 million in cash to be used for a variety of purposes including network expansion, marketing and sales activities in the U.S. and abroad, and the potential acquisition of additional assets. Ken Peterson of Columbia Ventures Corporation will join Cogent's board as a result of the transaction. Further details were not disclosed.

• In July 2004, Cogent Communications named Reed Harrison as its new President and Chief Operating Officer. Harrison most recently served as AT&T's Senior Vice President - Network Engineering & Operations.

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WilTel Teams with Nortel , EMC for Storage Services

WilTel Communications is working with Nortel Networks and EMC Corp. to offer a storage extension service that enables enterprises to implement network-based business continuity, disaster recovery, server and storage consolidation. Offered by WilTel in more than 100 cities throughout the U.S. and featuring an end-to-end service-level agreement (SLA), StorageXtend is a fully managed solution, bundling Nortel Networks Optical Metro 3500 SONET platform with WilTel Protected Private Line service and implementing virtual concatenation. StorageXtend is interoperable with the market leading EMC Symmetrix DMX and EMC CLARiiON CX families of networked storage systems and leading EMC SRDF (Symmetrix Remote Data Facility) and EMC MirrorView software for remote data replication.



WilTel's StorageXtend is a storage-over SONET service and provides scalable bandwidth in 50 Mbps increments. http://www.wiltel.com

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AFC Reports Q3 revenue of $119.6 million

AFC reported Q3 revenue of $119.6 million, as compared with $85.2 million for the same period last year, an increase of 40%. GAAP net income for the third quarter of 2004 was $17.3 million, or $0.19 per share, compared with $9.3 million, or $0.11 per share, for the same period last year.



"Although our revenue was slightly below our previous guidance, we exceeded our operating profit goals in a challenging spending environment," said John Schofield, chairman, president and chief executive officer at AFC. "The third quarter was characterized by record DSL shipments, growth in FTTP sales to both large and small carriers, and the launch of several new initiatives designed to strengthen our efforts in the IOC market.



Separately, AFC announced that it has scheduled a special stockholders meeting for November 30 to vote on its previously announced merger with Tellabs. http://www.afc.com

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AudioCodes Reports 21% Sequential Growth in Revenue

AudioCodes reported Q3 revenues of $23.1 million compared to $19.1 million for the second quarter ended June 30, 2004 and $11.8 million for the third quarter ended September 30, 2003. Q3 revenues grew 21% sequentially and increased 95% compared to Q3 2003. Net income for Q3 2004 was $1.6 million, or $0.04 per share, compared to a net loss of $1.6 million, or $(0.04) per share, for the corresponding period last year. The company cited strong demand across its portfolio of VoIP enabling technology and media gateway and server products. http://www.audiocodes.com

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Mahi Names Bill Cadogan as Chairman and CEO

Mahi Networks named Bill Cadogan as Chairman of the Board and Interim CEO, replacing Chris Rust, who is returning to the venture capital business and will continue to serve on Mahi's Board of Directors. Bill Cadogan is the former Chairman and CEO of ADC Telecom. http://www.mahinetworks.com

• In June 2004, Mahi announced its acquisition of Photuris, another start-up based in New Jersey. It developed an automated optical transport system for high-capacity metro and regional DWDM networks. Its platform features a “Versicolor�? capability that integrates four functions on a single optical line card: WDM demux/mux at the system input/output; fully flexible, reconfigurable OADM wavelength switching (any wavelength to any port, independent of any other wavelength); per-wavelength power balancing; and real-time per-wavelength optical power monitoring.



• Also in June 2004, Mahi Networks closed $70 million in new funding.

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AT&T Announces New Corporate Customers

Randstad North America, a provider of professional employment services, has signed an estimated $25 million, three- year contract with AT&T for an integrated networking solution supporting approximately 500 locations across the United States and Canada. The contract includes local, long-distance, teleconference services and VoIP supported by AT&T's fully managed, dedicated Internet access.



AT&T also announced a separate, multimillion contract under which United Rentalshttp://www.att.com

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Conexant Unveils Video Encoder for Intel-Developed sDVO Interface

Conexant Systems introduced a line of video encoders for notebook and desktop personal computers that are fully compliant with Intel's new serial digital video output (sDVO) front-end interface. The high-performance CX2590X encoder family combines an integrated dual digital visual interface (DVI) transmitter with standard and high-definition TV-out and VGA outputs that are capable of operating simultaneously and independently from one another through the Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 900 in the Intel 915G Express Chipset. http://www.conexant.com

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Akimbo Launches Internet-to-TV VOD Service

Akimbo Systems, a start-up based in San Mateo, California, rolled out its Internet-to-TV video-on-demand (VOD) service in the U.S. and announced a partnership with Amazon to sell its Akimbo Player. The service offers consumers 50 categories of content, including mainstream, classic and independent films, foreign language, news, health and fitness, sports, children's programs, education and more.



The Akimbo Player, which is available in the Amazon.com Electronics store for $229.99, is a set-top box that can store up to 200 hours of video, and provides consumers with viewing controls such as pause, rewind and archive. After a 3 month promotional period, the Akimbo service costs $9.99 per month. http://www.akimbo.comAkimbo is funded by Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Sprout Group and Zone Ventures.

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BellSouth Adds 134,000 DSL Users in Q3

BellSouth reported Q3 consolidated revenue from continuing operations of $5.1 billion and income from continuing operations of $852 million, compared to $894 million in the same quarter a year ago. Earnings per share (EPS) from continuing operations were 46 cents compared to 48 cents in the third quarter of 2003. Normalized EPS was 49 cents in the third quarter of 2004 compared to 50 cents in the same quarter a year ago. Some highlights:

• total access lines of 21.6 million declined 3.9 percent compared to a year earlier. UNE-P access lines resold by BellSouth competitors decreased by 54,000 in the third quarter compared to an increase of 188,000 in the same quarter a year ago.



• added 134,000 net DSL customers during the third quarter of 2004, for a total of approximately 1.9 million at quarter-end.



• data revenue was $1.1 billion, an increase of 3.7 percent compared to the same quarter of 2003, driven by DSL.



• added 532,000 mass-market long distance customers, ending Q3 with approximately 5.7 million customers.



• 90,000 customers have signed up for BellSouth's DIRECTV bundled offer.



• Cingular Wireless added 657,000 net cellular/PCS customers, bringing its nationwide customer base to 25.7 million. More than 80 percent of net additions were postpaid. Churn remained flat year-over-year at 2.8 percent.



• Cingular's proposed purchase of AT&T Wireless is on track. BellSouth's portion of the acquisition funding is approximately $14.5 billion, which will be funded with cash on hand, proceeds from asset sales and incremental debt.

http://www.bellsouth.com

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Qwest Launches Wholesale IP Voice Termination Services

Qwest Communications announced a IP voice termination service for wholesale customers. The service allows wholesale customers to hand over IP voice traffic directly to Qwest, which will transport it across its OC-192 network and terminate the calls to the public phone network. Qwest manages all the gateway equipment and provides an additional level of protection from malicious users. Key features include:

• Domestic and international termination in more than 250 countries



• Fast re-route capabilities on Qwest's IP network



• Session border control for increased security



• Service level agreements for transport services



• 24x7 network monitoring and management

http://www.qwest.com

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TOM Online to Offer Co-Branded Skype Service in China

TOM Online launched a co-branded TOM-Skype service in China. TOM Online operates one of the most successful Internet portals in China. The company provides a range of services such as SMS, MMS and WAP, and is the largest player of wireless interactive voice response services (IVR services).



Since its launch a little more than a year ago, Skype's user base has grown to more than 13 million worldwide, with up to one million concurrent users. http://skype.tom.com/http://www.skype.com/

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Mpower to Acquire ICG's California Customers, Network

Mpower Communications will acquire ICG Communications' network assets and customers in California for $13.5 million in stock. The deal includes ICG's California retail and wholesale customers; a 1,412 route mile state-wide self-healing DWDM and SONET-based fiber ring connecting San Jose, San Francisco, Oakland, Sacramento, Stockton, Fresno, Bakersfield, San Diego, Anaheim and Los Angeles; 915 route miles of fully-survivable metropolitan SONET-based fiber rings in San Jose, San Francisco, Oakland, Sacramento, San Diego and Los Angeles which connect 128 commercial buildings, 33 of Mpower's existing collocations and 11 ICG collocations that will be added to the Mpower footprint. The acquisition is expected to contribute in excess of $30 million in revenue and $8-$10 million of operating income (excluding expenses related to depreciation and amortization of the acquired assets) in 2006.



In connection with the acquisition, Mpower also announced that telecom investment funds Columbia Capital and M/C Venture Partners, through their ownership of ICG, will invest $2.5 million in cash for 1,988,894 shares of Mpower Holding's common stock. http://www.mpowercom.com

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ADC to Sell Metrica Service Assurance Software Platform

ADC will sell its Metrica service assurance software group to WatchMark Corp. for $35 million in cash and 3.2 million shares of WatchMark common stock, which represents less than five percent ownership of WatchMark. The Metrica service assurance software group, which has about 250 employees, provides solutions to help service providers improve service quality, lower operational costs and optimize network usage and capacity. The applications include Metrica Performance Manager, which provides a complete view of network quality and usage; Metrica Service Manager, which enables the delivery of new services to drive growth; Metrica Service Assurance Framework, a modular and open framework that ensures Metrica solutions support innovation and competitive differentiation; and Metrica/NPR, which allows users to manage data from multiple vendors and forecast performance trends. In the first three quarters of ADC's fiscal year, Nov. 1, 2003 - July 31, 2004, Metrica sales were approximately $21 million with an operating loss of approximately $2 million, after direct expenses only. In ADC's fiscal year ended October 31, 2003, Metrica generated sales of approximately $30 million and an operating income of approximately $5 million, after direct expenses only.



Watchmark, which is based in Bellevue, Washington, provides wireless service providers with software tools necessary to deploy and monitor services at the network, application and customer levels.



ADC said the sale will enable it to focus on its core strengths as a global network infrastructure company. http://www.adc.com

• In June 2004, ADC agreed to sell its customer care and billing software division to Intec Telecom Systems, a supplier of Operations Support Systems (OSS) for fixed, mobile and next-generation networks, for $74.5 million in cash. Intec will assume control of ADC's customer care and billing software offerings including approximately 600 employees, current relationships with existing software customers and related facility space. ADC's customer care and billing software platforms include Singl.eView, a complete revenue, transaction, billing and service management solution that resides at the core of the OSS and business support systems (BSS).



• In May 2004, ADC sold its IP Cable Business Unit to BigBand Networksfor an undisclosed sum. ADC will become a minority interest holder in BigBand Networks as part of the agreement. The acquisition does not include the Homeworx cable telephony system that had also been a part of the business unit. ADC's Cuda CMTS (cable modem termination system) is a widely deployed and carrier-class platform for switching and routing of advanced IP services, and the FastFlow Broadband Provisioning Manager is a server suite that activates and configures such services.



• In March 2004, ADC agreed to acquire the KRONE Group, a global supplier of copper- and fiber-based cabling products, from GenTek Inc.. The deal was valued at approximately $350 million, of which ADC will pay cash of approximately $291 million and assume certain defined liabilities consisting principally of KRONE's pension obligation for its German workforce.

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Siemens Invests in Chinese start-up Zero Global

Siemens Mobile Acceleration has made an equity investment in Zero Global,a Shanghai-based start-up that specializes in mobile enterprise software. Zero Global is developint technology that enables sales force, marketers and service groups to access Enterprise Resource Planning systems (ERP) as well as Customer Relationship Management systems (CRM) while on the road. Siemens Mobile Acceleration is the only investor in the first round of funding. http://www.siemensmobileacceleration.com

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Xten Surpasses 500,000 Softphone

Xten Networks has surpassed the 500,000 installation milestone for its SIP Softphone client. The company also announced the release of a new eyeBeam SIP softphone for MAC OS Xhttp://www.xten.com

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First HyperTransport 2.0 Products Enter Market

The first wave of HyperTransport Specification 2.0 compliant devices have started to enter the market, eight months after the specification was released.



HyperTransport Specification 2.0 is a chip-to-chip interconnect technology offering performance levels of up to 2.8 Gigatransfers/second and mapping to PCI Express. Products conforming to HyperTransport Specification 2.0 support up to 22.4 Gigabytes/second aggregate bandwidth. The new products include HyperTransport-enabled 64-bit processors, I/O chipsets, silicon IP, and development tools. http://www.hypertransport.org

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Nextel Adds 550,000 Subscribers in Q3, ARPU at $69

Nextel Communications ended Q3 with approximately 15.3 million total subscribers including 14.5 million Nextel subscribers and 800,000 Boost Mobile subscribers. During the quarter, Nextel added 550,000 new subscribers, average revenue per user (ARPU) was $69 and customer satisfaction improved as churn was reduced to 1.5%. In addition, Boost Mobile added 195,000 subscribers during the third quarter.



Nextel reported Q3 revenue of $3.40 billion, up 18% from last year's third-quarter revenue. Operating income before depreciation and amortization was $1.32 billion, up 17% from last year's third-quarter. Third-quarter 2004 income was $586 million, or $0.53 per share, up from last year's third-quarter income of $346 million, or $0.33 per share.



"Nextel is experiencing strong demand for its wireless services across all sectors and especially higher growth in government, high-end individuals and our Boost Mobile business," said Tim Donahue, Nextel's president and CEO. http://www.nextel.com

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HomeNet Selects NetCentrex VoIP for iProvo

HomeNet Communications, a full-service Triple Play Provider, selected the NetCentrex platform to deliver VoIP services to HomeNet's iProvo subscribers. iProvo is an open, municipally-owned fiber to the home (FTTH) initiative in Provo, Utah. HomeNet Communications was selected as iProvo's first service provider. After the initial iProvo win, HomeNet Communications and NetCentrex anticipate expanding to other broadband markets by hosting telephony services for additional FTTH markets. http://www.netcentrex.net

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TI Unveils Digital TV Chip for Cell Phones

Texas Instruments unveiled a single chip solution for cell phones. Code-named "Hollywood," the new chip integrates a tuner, OFDM demodulator and channel decoder processor. It interfaces with TI's OMAP multimedia processors for 2.5G and 3G handsets. The chip will use TI's 90-nanometer process technology. Samples are expected in 2006.



TI's Hollywood chip will support newly established and open digital TV broadcast standards, including Digital Video Broadcasting - Handheld (DVB-H), which was developed for Europe and is expected to extend to North America, and the Japanese specification, Integrated Services Digital Broadcasting - Terrestrial (ISDB-T). Dedicated wireless networks supporting these standards are expected to feature high-quality live broadcast TV (24-30 frames per second) paired with full audio. In comparison, cellular alternatives typically offer one-to-15-frames-per- second streaming capability. The new digital broadcasting networks are expected to support pay-per-view programming, interactive television, and menu/guide systems. http://www.ti.com/wireless

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Nokia: Consumers Increasingly Giving Up Their Fixed Line Phones

An estimated 45 million consumers in the U.S., Germany, Great Britain and South Korea are now making all their voice calls from their mobile phone instead of fixed line home phones, according to a survey conducted by MORI on behalf of Nokia.



The study on Fixed-to-Mobile Substitution (FMS) also suggests mobile could challenge fixed line connections for data access in the home, too. On average, those who claim they are certain or very likely to adopt a wireless service for data expect this to happen in 1 to 2 years.



The study also found that the most fertile market for FMS is the young professional group, who use their mobile phone for most of their voice calls. These mobile users are more likely to be male; middle to high income, and make a large volume of voice calls. http://www.nokia.com

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Agere Licenses ARM Processor for System-on-a-Chip Applications

Agere Systems has licensed the latest ARM11 family cores for use in its system on a chip (SoC), application- specific integrated circuit (ASIC) and application-specific standard (ASSP) products.
Agere is already a leading provider of ARM technology in its semiconductors.



The ARM11 family is based on the ARMv6 32/16-bit architecture and features the ARM TrustZone extension for improved device security and the ARM Thumb-2 instruction set enhancement for high performance, high density code. ARM11 family cores achieve high frequencies (335-550MHz) without compromising ARM's leadership in silicon area and power efficiency. http://www.agere.com/

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Telmex Selects UTStarcom for IP DSLAMs

de Mexico (Telmex) selected UTStarcom to supply its IP DSLAM to complement its current network. Revenue from this contract announcement is anticipated in 2005. Additional financial terms were not disclosed. UTStarcom said the contract reflects is globalization strategy. http://www.utstarcom.com

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University of Washington Chooses Looking Glass Dark Fiber

The University of Washington selected Looking Glass Networks' dark fiber to support research and education in conjunction with Pacific Wave, Pacific Northwest Gigapop, and other high-bandwidth networking initiatives. The dark fiber will be used to extend a connection from certain submarine cable landing points in Oregon and California to Seattle. Looking Glass' Seattle network provided the capacity and connectivity to the key carrier and data aggregation locations the University of Washington required. http://www.lglass.net

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EarthLink Reaches 1.3 Million Broadband, 4.0 Million Narrowband Users

EarthLink reported Q3 revenues of $344.0 million, a 1.0% decrease from the third quarter of 2003. Net income was $37.6 million, or $0.24 per share, compared to $3.5 million, or $0.02 per share, from Q3 2003. Some highlights:

• Net subscriber additions of 67,000 during Q3, ending the period with 5.4 million paying subscribers.



• Added 74,000 net broadband subscribers during the quarter and ended the quarter with 1.3 million broadband customers, an increase of 34% from a year ago.



• Broadband subscribers now represent 23.7% of the total subscriber base. Broadband revenues were $104.9 million, an increase of 12.7% over the prior year quarter.



• Added 133,000 net subscribers through PeoplePC Online, EarthLink's value-priced narrowband service, while it experienced a decrease of 136,000 net subscribers in its more mature premium narrowband service. The company ended the quarter with 4.0 million total narrowband subscribers, an increase of 3.4% from the third quarter of 2003. Total narrowband subscribers included 758,000 PeoplePC Online subscribers as of September 30, 2004 compared to 295,000 as of September 30, 2003.



• EarthLink ended the quarter with 149,000 web hosting accounts, a decrease of 9.1% from a year ago.

http://www.earthlink.net

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Verizon Expands FTTP Sites, to Hire Up to 5,000 to Accelerate Rollout

Verizon announced FTTP deployment to homes and businesses in Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia -- bringing to nine the total number of states where work is under way. The company had previously announced FTTP deployment in California, Florida and Texas as part its plan to pass some 1 million homes and businesses with the new technology this year. Verizon plans to pass some 2 million additional homes and businesses with the new technology next year.



Verizon expects to make an $800 million capital investment in FTTP this year.



In addition, the company said it has invested in some 40 new operations support systems to handle everything from electronic processing of customer FiOS orders to remotely diagnosing and correcting problems.



Verizon also announced plans to hire between 3,000 and 5,000 new employees by the end of 2005 to help build the network. http://www.verizon.com

• Verizon's FiOS broadband Internet access services offer download speeds of up to 5 Mbps, 15 Mbps and 30 Mbps, with upstream speeds of up to 2 Mbps for the first two products and 5 Mbps for the third. The 5 Mbps service sells for $34.95 per month, when purchased with a package of Verizon services, and $39.95 when purchased separately.

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Alcatel and Fujitsu Show High-Speed Downlink Packet Access

Alcatel and Fujitsu launched a live HSDPA (High-Speed Downlink Packet Access) demonstration system in France. The system is designed for bringing data speeds of up to 14Mbps into existing W-CDMA networks. HSDPA will enable operators to support a considerably larger number of high data-rate users on a single radio carrier. The system, which was developed by Fujitsu based on technical specifications provided by NTT DoCoMo, is located at Alcatel's 3G Reality Centre (3GRC) in Vélizy, France. http://www.alcatel.com

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