MCI Offers Enhanced Smart Backup Service

MCI introduced a new fully managed data protection service to help companies strengthen their business continuity efforts. The new Enhanced Smart Backup service enables companies hosting with MCI to more easily and rapidly restore data in the event of anything from simple data loss to major disasters. The disk-to-disk backup service, which uses technology from Avamar, provides an alternative to traditional tape-based backup solutions. http://www.mci.com/

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Alcatel Selected for Telecom Network in Bhutan

Alcatel was awarded a turnkey contract for implementing a rural telecommunications network in Bhutan. The project, to be implemented before the end of 2006, will use microwave links and an Alcatel NGN softswitch to connect remote areas of the country, with some locations situated at elevation of up to 4,700 meters in the Himalayas. Some of the sites are situated 3-4 days walking distance from the nearest road. Each subscriber will be equipped with a solar cell, a telephone set and a small antenna able to receive data from a central radio base station in the village. Most of the sites will be powered by solar power.



The project is funded by DANIDA, the Danish development aid agency. The contract is valued at EUR 16 million. http://www.alcatel.com

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UPC and Cisco Test Cable Speeds of up to 30 Mbps

UPC Nederland has launched a field trial of cable Internet services with download speeds of 30 Mbps and uploads of 1 Mbps. The trial involves 300 subscribers in the town of Almere. Next year UPC aims to run a trial in Amsterdam with speeds as high as 50 Mbps. UPC is using Cisco Systems' CMTS equipped with Broadband Processing Engine (BPE). The platform is EUR-DOCSIS 2.0 compliant and PacketCable 1.1 qualified. http://www.cisco.com

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Cingular Forecasts Better Synergy from AT&T Wireless Acquisition

Cingular Wireless increased its financial guidance in the wake of closing the acquisition of AT&T Wireless. Key integration activities have been completed ahead of schedule. Cingular now expects to realize substantially increased operating synergies and reduced accounting impacts compared with the outlook it provided when the acquisition agreement was announced in February.



As a result, SBC, which owns 60% of Cingular, expects the AT&T Wireless acquisition to have significantly improved impacts on 2005-2007 earnings than earlier forecast. SBC also expects that excluding accounting costs, the acquisition will be earnings positive starting in 2006 - one year earlier than forecast in February. http://www.cingular.com

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PowerDsine One-Port Power over Ethernet Midspan

PowerDsine introduced a one-port Power over Ethernet (PoE) hub designed for remote powering of wireless LAN access points and other low-port density deployments. The PoE midspan eliminates the need for an external power supply and provides remote powering to 802.3af-compliant end-devices, as well as to pre-standard devices. The list price is $59. http://www.powerdsine.com

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Telatinos Raises $20 Million for Latin America VoIP

Telatinos announced $20 million in private equity financing for its launch of VoIP services in Latin America. Miami-based Telatinos recently launched a joint venture in Colombia with local ISPs InterplaNet Medellin, GeoNet Ltda., and Colomsat SA. http://www.telatinos.com

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Italtel and Cisco Renew Alliance and Focus on NGNs

Italtel, a leading supplier of voice/data/video solutions, and Cisco Systems announced a strengthening of their four year technological and commercial strategic alliance to focus on next generation IP networks. The companies will work together to expand the EMEA market, through joint solutions based on Italtel iMSS (Italtel Multi-Service Solutions) and on Cisco IP Communications platforms. The Italtel Multi-Service Solution, based around the Italtel Softswitch, can deliver IP voice services for the business market, and the migration of service providers' traditional TDM networks to next generation networks with IP technology.



Cable & Wireless has recently chosen Italtel and Cisco's Next Generation Communications solutions. http://www.italtel.comhttp://www.cisco.com

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JDS Uniphase Reaches Optical Networking Milestones

JDS Uniphase has shipped over 1,000 wavelength management modules to date. The devices are used by optical communication system manufacturers in next generation designs that can be reconfigured remotely or even automatically. JDS Uniphase wavelength management modules include wavelength blockers, multi-port wavelength switches and reconfigurable optical add/drop modules (ROADMs).



JDS Uniphase also reached the milestone of over 20,000 optical communications circuit packs and subsystems shipped to date. Until recently, system manufacturers purchased discrete optical components and modules, performing the design and manufacture themselves.



Separately, the company introduced a new EDFA (erbium doped fiber amplifier) Subsystem the functions as a fully managed, full-featured amplifier for DWDM systems in metro, regional and long haul applications. The company also launched a Wavelength Blocker Subsystem that can be used to enable ROADMs (reconfigurable optical add/drop multiplexers). It is available in 50 GHz, 128 channels for C-band. http://www.jdsu.com/

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Vodafone Australia Selects Lucent/Juniper for 3G Core

Vodafone Lucent Worldwide Services and Juniper Networks to integrate an IP/MPLS solution for 3G core network in Australia. The network will use Juniper Networks' M320 Multiservice Edge Platform to create an IP/MPLS core that will carry Vodafone's 2G, 2.5G and 3G traffic between Brisbane and Melbourne via Sydney. Much of this traffic has traditionally been carried over lower speed ATM. Financial terms were not disclosed. http://www.lucent.comhttp://www.juniper.net/

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Global Crossing Launches Intelligent Front Office Initiative

Global Crossing launched an "Intelligent Front Office" (IFO) initiative that uses a transparent, seamless information distribution model to add e-bonding capabilities for its customers. The initiative leverages standard API technologies to allow customers to interface their billing or network management systems directly with Global Crossing's back office systems. This provides an interface for order management, service availability, price quotations and other network management tasks.



Global Crossing said the IFO would provide its enterprise and Fast-Track customers with the ability to manage their networks down to the application level. Global Crossing is using the Microsoft .NET Framework.



"We're implementing convergence beyond the delivery of voice, video and data over a single connection and into systems," said Dan Wagner, Global Crossing's chief information officer and executive vice president, business infrastructure. http://www.globalcrossing.com

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Infonet Selects FiberNet for Optical Wavelength Services

Infonet Services Corporation has selected FiberNet Telecom Group to provide 2.5 Gbps optical wavelength services for connecting its points-of-presence within major carrier hotels in New York City and New Jersey. FiberNet will also distribute and exchange Infonet's traffic with other carriers within key carrier hotels. Additionally, Infonet will utilize FiberNet's network construction services to build fiber lateral entrance facilities into its New Jersey network node. http://www.ftgx.com

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Boingo and Tropos Partner on Metro Scale Wi-Fi

Boingo Wireless and Tropos Networks announced a partnership to provide roaming over metro-scale broadband networks. The partnership would enable operators of Tropos-powered metro-scale Wi-Fi networks to allow Boingo Roaming System users to access their networks. The announcement focuses on Tropos' MetroZone Pilot Pack, a turnkey Wi-Fi solution for localized areas of up to one-half square mile. The MetroZone Pilot Pack contains one Pronto Hotzone Gateway with a Pronto OSS software license for up to 100 concurrent users and five Tropos 5110 outdoor Wi-Fi cells, and includes one year of technical support. If the network is a paid-access network, subscribers of the Boingo service and subscribers to services offered by Boingo Platform Services partners (currently MCI, EarthLink, Fiberlink, Infonet and Telecom Italia) can use it as part of their regular monthly service fee, while non-Boingo users can pay a daily connect fee to go online. http://www.tropos.comhttp://www.boingo.com

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Telstra Ousts CEO

Telstra will terminate the contract of its CEO, Dr. Ziggy Switkowski, effective 01-July-05 -- three years prior to the end of his employment agreement. Market analysts speculated that the ouster of Switkowski would clear the way for the privatization of the national telecom giant. http://www.telstra.com

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Cisco Upgrades Catalyst Portfolio

Cisco Systems rolled out more Than 20 new Catalyst switch offerings to address higher levels of security, availability, performance and investment protection.



The additions to the Cisco Catalyst switch portfolio include Cisco Catalyst 6500 and 4500 Series supervisor engines with enhanced security, availability and integrated 10 Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) and/or GbE uplinks, as well as the Cisco Catalyst 6500, 3750 and 3560 10/100/1000 Power Over Ethernet (PoE) products. Also announced were high availability (HA) offerings and the industry's first GbE-enabled IP Phone.



Some highlights include:

• the Cisco Catalyst 6500 Supervisor Engine 32, with Policy Feature Card 3B, allows customers to enable hardware based security features, such as DoS mitigation to protect network application performance, and scaleable support for multicast applications at the network edge.



• the new Cisco IOS high availability features include Layer 3 Non-Stop Forwarding with Stateful Switch Over (NSF/SSO) on the Cisco Catalyst 6500 and Layer 2 SSO on the Cisco Catalyst 6500 and Cisco Catalyst 4500 -- enabling sub-second failover capabilities for services such as IP telephony.



• the new Cisco Catalyst 6500 Supervisor Engine 32 is offered with a choice of two 10GbE XENPAK-based or eight one GbE Small Form Factor Pluggable (SFP) based uplinks.
  
  
• the Cisco Catalyst 4500 Series gains a new Layer 2/3/4 Supervisor Engine that offers dual wire-speed 10 GbE ports or four GbE ports.



• the new Cisco IP Phone 7971G-GE provides GbE bandwidth to desktops.

http://www.cisco.com

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EU Selects BT for Network Services

BT was awarded a framework contract for the provision of external network services to various EU institutions, including the European Commission, the European Parliament, the Secretariat of the Council of the European Union, among others. The total order value for the initial duration of the agreement (4 years) is estimated by the European Commission DG Informatics at approximately EUR 72 million, with a potential of four additional years, bringing the market volume to approximately EUR 162 million. http://www.btplc.com

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BT to Offer Microsoft .NET-based Business Services

BT will implement a Microsoft .NET-based solution to offer e-mail, shared calendar and contacts, as well as other software applications, to smaller businesses. The first new service BT plans to launch is an enhanced e-mail service for smaller businesses based on Microsoft Hosted Exchange. The contract between the two companies is valued at approximately $7 million.



The solution being deployed by BT comprises a suite of Microsoft .NET-based software and service packages. The project follows extensive trials by BT and Microsoft Consulting Services at the Microsoft Technology Centre in Reading, England, and the Microsoft Partner Solutions Center in Redmond, Washington. The projects are being coordinated by Microsoft Consulting Services, which is working with global systems integration provider Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. to implement the integrated solution. HP also will provide services to deliver the security-enhanced and scalable Microsoft Hosted Exchange infrastructure within BT.



"In the telecoms market, fixed-line and mobile operators have recognized that incremental revenues will be driven by their ability to deliver a range of value-added services -- particularly to smaller businesses," said Daren Mancini, U.K. director of the Communications Sector at Microsoft. http://www.microsoft.com http://www.bt.com

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Tellabs Closes AFC Merger, Announces Executive Team

Tellabs closed its $1.5 billion merger with AFC, creating a leading global supplier of access, transport and data solutions for telecom service providers worldwide.



"The new Tellabs is a strategic telecom equipment supplier that will lead the industry's shift to reliable broadband services around the world," said Krish Prabhu, president and CEO of Tellabs. "



The company also announced three new members of its executive team:

• Carl DeWilde joins Tellabs as executive vice president-access products, with global responsibility for developing access products in the AFC portfolio. Most recently, DeWilde served as CTO and COO at Xtera, an optical networking company. Previously, DeWilde served in senior leadership roles at Fujitsu Network Communications, Alcatel Network Systems and Siemens Communications Systems.



• Jeff Rosen, formerly vice president of operations and customer service at AFC, joins Tellabs as executive vice president-operations, with global responsibility for Tellabs' supply chain and global information systems. Rosen joined AFC in 2000, bringing more than 15 years of manufacturing and supply chain experience from companies such as Solectron; Booz, Allen & Hamilton; Raytheon and Teradyne.



• Victoria Perrault, formerly vice president of administrative services at AFC, joins Tellabs as executive vice president-human resources, with global responsibility for Tellabs employees and facilities. Perrault joined AFC in 1996 as director, human resources, and was promoted in 1999 to vice president, administrative services. Previously, she served as director of human resources for the advanced products division at Aegon USA.

http://www.tellabs.com

• In September, Tellabs and AFC amended the terms of their pending merger, which was first announced on May 20, 2004. Under the terms of the amended agreement, which was approved by both companies' boards of directors, AFC stockholders will receive 0.504 shares of Tellabs common stock and $12.00 in cash for each AFC share.

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Verizon to Sell its 20% Ownership Interest in TELUS

Verizon Communications plans to sell its 20.5% minority ownership interest in TELUS, the largest telecommunications company in Western Canada and the second largest in Canada. Verizon has engaged Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley and RBC Capital Markets as managing underwriters. http://www.verizon.com

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AirTight Networks Launches Wi-Fi Firewall

AirTight Networks, a start-up based in Mountain View, California, announced the availability of a Wi-Fi firewall designed to automatically protect enterprise networks from wireless security threats.
The SpectraGuard 2.0 product detects and protects against Wi-Fi security threats, including rogue access points (APs), misconfigured APs, client mis-association (clients connecting to a neighbor's Wi-Fi network), and ad-hoc networks (clients connecting to other clients on the network to create an unsecured Wi-Fi bridge). The product detects all RF activity within sensor range, then accurately and automatically classifies all Wi-Fi devices and events as either authorized, external or rogue. The system provides location tracking of all Wi-Fi devices and events, enabling an administrator to pinpoint a rogue device or security event within a few meters and display it on a live RF map of the building or campus. An intrusion prevention system instantaneously blocks rogue and misconfigured access points and automatically terminates insecure or unauthorized client connections. Unlike competing products that "flood the air" to deny access (bogging down internal WLAN performance and often shutting down neighbors' Wi-Fi devices), the company said its SpectraGuard 2.0 utilizes the minimum amount of bandwidth and RF energy possible to "surgically" block rogue devices and other unauthorized activity. Pricing starts at $7,500 for Policy Management Server software and two sensors.



AirTight recently changed its name from Wibhu Technologies, and announced that it received $10.25 million in venture funding to support its sales and marketing efforts. http://www.airtightnetworks.net

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Terayon Appoints ex-Covad Exec as CFO

Terayon Communication Systems announced the appointment of Mark A. Richman as CFO. Most recently Richman served as executive vice president and CFO at Covad Communications Group, where he was part of the executive team brought in to lead the development and execution of the company's strategic vision post- restructuring. Richman joined Covad in 2001 from MainStreet Networks, where he was vice president and CFOhttp://www.terayon.com/

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D-Link Offers Intelligent AP with Administration Features

D-Link introduced an intelligent 802.11g access point that allows simultaneous management of up to eight adaptive access points as a single unified system allowing configuration information and administration policy to be automatically distributed and shared.



D-Link said its AirPremier Access Point enables small and medium-sized businesses with limited budgets and minimal I.T. expertise to deploy and oversee self-managing wireless LANs with no additional administrative expenses. Advanced features include Power over Ethernet (PoE) for remote placements where power outlets are not within reach, Wireless Distribution System (WDS), adjustable transmit power, and auto channel selection that enables the access point to select the most optimal spectrum available. Security features include IEEE 802.1x user-based authentication and WPA support with AES encryption. WPA can be supported with an onboard RADIUS Lite Server that supports up to 100 users and eliminates the need and expense of an external RADIUS platform. The MSRP is $349.99. http://www.dlink.com

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SOFTBANK Expands Deployment of UTStarcom Optical Products

SOFTBANK is expanding its deployment of UTStarcom's NetRing 10000 STM-64 multiservice optical transport solution to build the operator's new nationwide fixed-line network. Japan Telecom, a unit of SOFTBANK, is using the new network to deliver high-speed broadband, voice and video services to its subscribers. The network ultimately will serve all of Japan, from Hokkaido in the north to Kyushu in the south. The expansion contract is valued at approximately $9 million. http://www.utstar.com

UTStarcom also provides its IP-DSLAM and GEPON transport solutions to SOFTBANK to enable the operator's Yahoo! BB broadband services.

UTStarcom's NetRing product line provides aggregation, grooming, cross-connect, and transport functionality to deliver high-density, highly efficient STM-1 to STM-64, PDH (E1/DS1, E3/DS3), Fast Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet, and ATM services in SDH-based carrier networks.

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Zarlink Offers Digital Timing Chip for SONET/SDH Line Cards

Zarlink Semiconductor introduced a DPLL (digital phase locked loop) for optical line cards operating at rates up to OC-3/STM-1. The DPLL device addresses dense line card "real estate" constraints and may be used in combination with Zarlink's family of analog PLLs to provide an end-to-end timing and synchronization solution for higher-speed SONET/SDH networking equipment. http://www.zarlink.com

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Voiceglo Integrates IM with VoIP

Voiceglo released a beta version of a "GloConnect" application that consolidates the four most popular instant messaging platform, enabling instant messenger (IM) users to text message, voice message and phone each other across platforms. The new GloConnect application uses Voiceglo's proprietary Web- and PC-based GloPhone platform to enhance on-line communications in four ways:

• GloConnect empowers users to message each other across platforms such as AOL's AIM, MSN's Messenger, Yahoo's Messenger and ICQ from the user's preferred messenger application.



• GloConnect enables users to now seamlessly chat via voice or text across multiple platforms using their preferred instant messenger service without requiring accounts with different messenger services.



• GloConnect adds real telephone service, which allows users to make and receive calls to and from an
y phone worldwide, plus make free peer-to-peer calling to other GloConnect or GloPhone users.


• GloConnect delivers voice messaging right to the user's message window allowing emotions to become a part of the user's messaging experience.

The application enables the instant messenger service and does not alter a user's experience with their preferred service. In addition, GloConnect adds a real telephone to all messengers, enabling consumers to make and receive low cost calls to and from traditional phones and wireless phones worldwide via its GloPhone VoIP platform. Instant messenger users can also call any GloConnect "buddy" worldwide for free anytime right from their PC. http://www.voiceglo.com

• In October, Voiceglo 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.

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SunRocket Taps Sylantro for Residential VoIP

SunRocket, a start-up phone company based in Vienna, Virginia, is using Sylantro's consumer broadband voice solution and applications feature server as the foundation for a new residential Internet phone service offering. SunRocket's Signature Service leverages the Sylantro platform and development tools, along with technologies from Convedia, TeleGea and uReach, to deliver innovative features and enhanced control for Internet-based home phone services.



SunRocket has differentiated its residential VoIP services using their unique service pricing model and a variety of Sylantro-based features such as distinctive ringing for multiple household members, find me/follow me, do not disturb, and a browser-based Web account manager, among other features.



SunRocket is offering an all-inclusive, bottom-line annual price of $199, with no hidden charges, cancellation fees or "gotchas". http://www.sylantro.comhttp://www.SunRocket.com

• Nokia Venture Partners is the lead investor in privately-held SunRocket.

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CommASIC Samples Energy-efficient 802.11a/b/g Chips

CommASIC, a start-up based in San Diego, introduced its line of energy-efficient 802.11a/b/g baseband processors designed specifically for VOIP handsets, wireless PDAs, digital cameras and other high volume portable consumer applications. The company said its processors set a new industry benchmark for power consumption, drawing only 50 mA during active receive mode at 54 Mbps. Samples of both chips have been beta tested with several key Asian OEM/ODMs. http://www.CommASIC.com

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Ericsson Selected by NEC As Supplier for 3G Platforms

NEC Corporation has selected Ericsson Mobile Platforms for use in the launch of their next generation global WCDMA/GPRS handsets. The first products to be made available within the 1st half of FY2005 (April 2005 - September 2005), will be based on the Ericsson U100 platform. http://www.ericsson.com

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Lucent Unveils its High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA)

Lucent Technologies unveiled its high-speed downlink packet access (HSDPA) solution, a software upgrade to Lucent base stations for enabling 3G UMTS services .Lucent's end-to-end solution currently supports data speeds of up to 3.6 Mbps. Future upgrades of HSDPA will provide theoretical maximum peak data speeds of up to 14.4 Mbps. The technology also allows operators to maximize available spectrum. For example, the HSDPA will enable operators to support up to six times more users than UMTS in the same spectrum - at substantially higher average data rates. Lucent said HSDPA also lays the groundwork for operators to introduce VoIP and more advanced multimedia services on their mobile networks.



Cingular Wireless is including Lucent's HSDPA solution in its nationwide UMTS deployment. http://www.lucent.com/hsdpa

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United Telephone Deploys IP Triple-Play with GPON

United Telephone Company of Chapel Hill, Tennessee, has selected Optical Solutions FiberPath gigabit Ethernet PON for a triple play deployment. United is an independent telco with 16,000 access lines. The carrier will deploy FiberPath in four new subdivisions, passing more than two thousand homes. The service line-up includes IPTV, data speeds up to 50 Mbps, and multiple voice lines.



Optical Solutions noted that United Telephone is its 24th IPTV customer. http://www.opticalsolutions.com

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mPhase Supplies BB Loop Surveillance System for Saudi Arabia

mPhase Technologies will supply its recently released, automated network access product, Broadband Loop Watch, for the Lucent Technologies International's Saudi Arabia Telecom deployment. The Broadband Loop Watch System enables computer-controlled batch testing and maintenance procedures, thus allowing broadband network providers the ability to isolate network problems before they affect their customers. The system supports ADSL. ADSL2+, and SDSL networks. Financial terms were not disclosed. http://www.mPhaseTech.com

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Juniper Adds VP of Channels

Juniper Networks named Donna Grothjan to the position of vice president of channels. Prior to joining Juniper Networks, Grothjan was with Ingram Micro - a leading IT distributor - where she most recently served as senior vice president of Product Management, North America. http://www.juniper.net

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Cingular Wireless Announces 3G Plans

Cingular Wireless announced its plans to deploy 3G UMTS with HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access) networks in a number of major urban and suburban markets across the U.S. beginning in 2005. The company expects to offer 3G in most major markets by the end of 2006. The upgraded network will offer average data speeds between 400-700 kbps, bursting to several Mbps. Currently, Cingular's EDGE nationwide wireless data network supports average data speeds up to 135 kbps. In the near future, UMTS devices will be backward compatible with EDGE. Cingular's recent acquisition of AT&T Wireless provided the company with the spectrum necessary to build the UMTS/HSDPA networks.



Cingular said intends to make the high-speed network available to not only its regional and rural roaming partners but also enable regional and rural carriers to deploy UMTS services on their networks as well. The UMTS/HSDPA capability will enable simultaneous voice and data sessions, so a customer can use a handset to make a call at the same time they're checking e-mail or browsing the Internet.



Cingular has signed agreements with Ericsson , Lucent Technologies and Siemens to develop and deliver the infrastructure required for a broad-scale deployment of an expanded 3G UMTS/HSDPA network. In addition, Cingular's strategic handset providers -- Nokia, Motorola and LG -- have committed to delivery of competitive UMTS devices in Q4 of 2005. Cingular also signed an agreement with Nokia to enhance its existing GSM/GPRS/EDGE network and possibly support the deployment of its 3G UMTS network. Financial terms of the contracts were not disclosed. http://www.cingularwireless.com

• Earlier this year, AT&T Wireless launched the country's first commercial UMTS wireless networks in Dallas, Detroit, Phoenix, San Diego, San Francisco and Seattle. Cingular will continue to offer UMTS services in those six markets.

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BT Launches Entertainment Division

BT is creating a new division called BT Entertainment within its Retail consumer business to develop, license and bring to market content value added services such as on-demand music, gaming, TV and movies. The new division will incorporate innovative services such as Rich Media -- BT's content platform business, Click & Buy -- BT's online payment system and BT Learning Centre -- BT's online learning offering.



BT Entertainment will be headed by Andrew Burke, currently director of value added services at BT Retail. Burke previously CEO of eVerger the media venture capital fund and before that COO of eVentures the internet capital fund owned by News Corporation and Softbank.



BT Entertainment has also hired Dan Marks to oversee its interests in video-over-broadband services. Marks previously served as President of Universal Studios Networks UK. http://www.btplc.com/

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Scientific-Atlanta Uses Broadcom's VoIP Chips

Scientific-Atlanta is using Broadcom's VoIP chips and software for the development of next generation VoIP adapters. The products are aimed at global markets.



Broadcom is already a supplier of chips and software to Scientific-Atlanta for its digital interactive set-top boxes, voice modems (EMTAs) high speed data modems & wireless residential gateways. Scientific-Atlanta has extensive relationships with both cable multiservice operators (MSOs) and incumbent voice service providers.httop://www.broadcom.com

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Intelsat Loses its Americas-7 Satellite

Intelsat reported the permanent loss of its in-orbit Americas-7 satellite following an unexpected electrical distribution anomaly on November 28. Customer traffic has been diverted to alternative satellites. The satellite, which operated at 129° West, was launched in September 1999 and covered the continental U.S., Alaska, Hawaii, Canada, Central America, and parts of South America. The satellite was self-insured by Intelsat.



A new Intelsat Americas-8 satellite is currently scheduled to launch on December 17, 2004. It will provide 36 Ku-band, and 24 C-band, equivalent transponders to the Intelsat North American fleet and help mitigate the impact of the permanent loss of IA-7.



Intelsat noted that the loss of Americas-7 satellite triggers contingency options in its pending acquisition by Zeus Holdings Limited, which has advised Intelsat it is evaluating the impact of the IA-7 failure. http://www.intelsat.com

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Global Crossing Tightens MPLS SLAs

Global Crossing announced new Service Level Agreements (SLAs) for its converged IP services, including IP VPNs, VoIP and IP video. The upgraded SLAs include:

• end-to-end availability of 99.999%, compared to the previous guarantee 99.9%.



• packet delivery of 99.999%, compared to the previous guarantee of 99.9%.



• jitter of 5 milliseconds (ms), compared to the previous guarantee of 15 ms.



• a new service guarantee ensures that service performance issues trigger availability guarantees and reparations.



• a new performance guarantee equates service degradation with unavailability, and offers reparations to customers experiencing severe latency, jitter or packet delivery issues.

Global Crossing said its IP network has been operating at 99.999% packet delivery and availability, and less than 5 ms of jitter during 2004. Routing is optimized across the network using MPLS. The company also noted that it is currently carrying up to 2.5 billion minutes per month over its private, global VoIP platform, deployed four years ago. http://www.globalcrossing.com

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NETGEAR Offers Low-Cost PoE Switch and AP

NETGEAR announced the launch of its ProSafe 8 Port 10/100 Desktop Switch with 4 Port Power-Over-Ethernet (PoE, IEEE 802.3af ) capability and its PoE-enabled ProSafe 802.11g Wireless Access Point. Power over Ethernet eliminates the need to place wireless access points near a power outlet or pay to install new power outlets to ensure optimum placement of the wireless connection.



The new 8 port Desktop switch with PoE can power up to four IEEE 802.3af-compliant IP-based devices such as wireless access points, VoIP telephones, surveillance cameras, and card scanners, while maintaining connectivity to standard 10/100 Mbps devices. It can provide power for up to four ProSafe Access Points, enabling the flexibility to place these access points high on walls or in ceilings where AC power is difficult to access. The switch has a list price of $181 while the AP has a list price of $250. http://www.netgear.com

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Iridium Announces Subscriber Growth, New Funding

Subscribers to the Iridium Satellite mobile telephone service grew by 29% for the nine months ended September 30, 2004 versus the comparable period in 2003. In July, the company exceeded the 100,000-subscriber mark for the first time. Iridium cited growth in vertical markets, including aviation and maritime applications. The Department of Defense has also exercised its contract option again this year. In related financing news, Iridium recently closed an agreement for a $65.5 million credit facility with Bank of America, which replaces a similar facility with Riggs Bank. http://www.iridium.com/

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Chelsio 10GEAdapters Used for New Bandwidth Records

Chelsio's 10-Gigabit Ethernet server adapters were used to set new world records for LAN bandwidth and distance at the Supercomputing 2004 conference in Pittsburgh earlier this month. The University of Tokyo shattered the world record for speed and distance of Internet communication, sending standard 1500 byte Ethernet packets more than 31,000 kilometers at more than 7 Gbps totaling 225,000 terabyte meters per second to win the SC2004 Bandwidth Challenge award for single stream distance and bandwidth. The Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC), together with its partners, achieved the highest aggregate bandwidth ever recorded to win the SC2004 Bandwidth Challenge award for sustained bandwidth, delivering 101 Gbps, which quadruples the previous throughput record set a year ago. Chelsio's T110 10GbE Protocol Engine provided the TCP/IP offload technology used in both the University of Tokyo's and SLAC's bandwidth challenge demonstrations. http://www.chelsio.com

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Bellsouth Announces Officer Changes

BellSouth named Mark Feidler as its new chief operating officer (COO). Feidler joined BellSouth in 1991 as director of strategic transactions. In 1993, he was promoted to vice president of corporate development and was named president of Interconnection Services three years later. In 1998, he was appointed president of BellSouth Mobility. In 2001, he was named chief operating officer for Cingular Wireless, a position he held until January 2004, when he was named chief staff officer for BellSouth.



BellSouth also announced that Dick Anderson, currently president-Customer Markets, has been named vice chairman-planning and administration, and Isaiah (Ike) Harris, has been named president- BellSouth Advertising & Publishing Group. http://www.bellsouth.com

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Rainbow Orders 5 New Lockheed Satellites for HDTV

Rainbow DBS Company LLC, a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems, selected Lockheed Martin (to build its next five geostationary telecommunications satellites. The five new satellites, designated Rainbow Ka-1 through Rainbow Ka-5, will provide direct broadcast services across the continental United States (CONUS), Alaska and Hawaii. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.



The spacecraft payloads will feature multiple Ka-band spot beams as well as half-CONUS beams. Rainbow Ka-1 through Rainbow Ka-5 are based on Lockheed Martin's A2100AX satellite, with a predicted service life of 15 years.



Rainbow DBS provides the VOOM HDTV service, currently featuring a lineup of 39 HD channels -- more HD programming than any other satellite or cable service provider. http://www.lmcommercialspace.comhttp://www.voom.com

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CableLabs Issues RFP for CableHome Residential Gateway

Key cable operators and CableLabs issued a request for proposal (RFP) that identifies a common set of product requirements for a CableHome-based residential gateway (integrated cable modem and router/wireless access device). The RFP seeks information about a residential gateway that will comply with CableHome 1.1 specifications. The gateway will enable the delivery of value-added services for home networking and high-speed data service subscribers, including but not limited to, services requiring QoS guarantees. The RFP also includes requirements for residential gateways to implement discovery, prioritized QoS and Network Address Translation configuration features as defined by UPnP specifications. The deadline for responses is January 31, 2005. http://www.cablelabs.com

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Azimuth Introduces Voice over WLAN Test

Azimuth Systems announced a new benchmark test suite specifically designed for testing VoIP in the Wi-Fi environment. The new test suite focuses on two key VoWLAN system components. The first component, the VoWi-Fi Benchmark Test for Wireless VoIP Handset, validates the 802.11 behavior of the client handset during motion - ranging and roaming - and analyzes this behavior relative to the voice quality as measured by both MOS and R-Factor. The tests can be run with and without background data traffic. The second component, VoWLAN Benchmark Test for Wi-Fi Infrastructure, focuses on test of the wireless access points. Using the Azimuth testMAC, the system emulates multiple voice calls in conjunction with best effort traffic, and studies the ability of the wireless LAN backbone to deliver quality of service and protect the voice call integrity.



"VoIP and Wi-Fi are the mix of two enabling technologies that represent only the tip of the iceberg. If successful, the need for application validation in wireless environments will grow considerably," said Fanny Mlinarsky, Azimuth's founder and CTO. "Mixed Wi-Fi and cellular networks, along with multimedia distribution, are the next emerging applications. It is critical for the industry to know that the technology exists to precisely validate mobility versus the Quality of Service in these media rich applications."



The Wi-Fi Alliance recently released its QoS certification WMM, which is based on the 802.11e standard that enables interoperability of devices in the Wi-Fi network to deliver the QoS critical to VoIP. http://www.azimuthsystems.com

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Siemens and Enterasys Networks Expand Worldwide Partnership

Siemens Communications will integrate Enterasys' full line of Secure Networks products and solutions into its HiPath Enterprise Convergence Architecture for VoIP and will distribute the technology worldwide. The expanded business relationship is expected to generate millions of dollars in additional annual revenue for Enterasys. The companies also will collaborate on joint development of HiPath solutions, delivery of services, and certification of each other's technology. http://www.enterasys.comwww.siemens.com/communications

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Shaw Finds Speed the Dominant Factor for Broadband Choice

The need for speed and quality remain the driving factors behind consumer choices for Internet service, according to a new survey conducted for Shaw Cablesystems, Western Canada's leading Internet provider. The survey was commissioned by Shaw and conducted in October of this year, by market research firm Ipsos-ASI. In total, 1,341 interviews were conducted among Shaw's recent Internet subscribers through an online questionnaire.



In the survey, 72% of respondents said speed was an important factor in their decision to choose Shaw as their Internet service provider, making it the most popular motivator mentioned by customers. http://www.shaw.ca

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IBM, Sony and Toshiba Unveil Cell Processor

IBM, Sony and Toshiba unveiled some of the key concepts of their jointly developed advanced microprocessor, code-named Cell, which is aimed at next-generation computing applications and digital consumer electronics.



Cell is a multicore chip comprising a 64-bit Power processor core and multiple synergistic processor cores capable of massive floating point processing. The device is optimized for compute-intensive workloads and broadband rich media applications, including computer entertainment, movies and other forms of digital content. It will feature supports for multiple operating systems, and offer substantial bus bandwidth to/from main memory, as well as companion chips. The Cell processor will be implemented in 90 nanometer (nm) silicon-on-insulator (SOI) technology.



IBM plans to offer a Cell processor-based workstation it is developing with SCEI. Sony expects to launch home servers for broadband content as well as high-definition television (HDTV) systems powered by Cell in 2006. Sony Computer Entertainment also expects to launch its next generation computer entertainment system powered by Cell. Toshiba Corporation envisions diverse applications for Cell and expects to launch its first Cell-based product, a high-definition television (HDTV), in 2006.



Design work is taking place at a joint development lab the three companies established in Austin, Texas, after the project was announced in 2001. IBM plans to begin pilot production of Cell microprocessors at its 300mm wafer fabrication facility in East Fishkill, NY during the first half of 2005.



"Massive and rich content, like multi-channel high-definition broadcast programs, as well as megapixel digital still and movie images captured by high-resolution CCD/CMOS imagers, require a huge amount of media processing in real-time. In the future, this digital content will fuse and converge on the broadband network, and start to explode," said Ken Kutaragi, executive deputy president and COO, Sony Corporation, and president and Group CEO, Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. http://www.ibm.com/chipshttp://www.sony.net/

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Powell Warns SBC on VoIP Termination Charges

FCC Chairman Michael K. Powell issued a public statement warning SBC Communications against imposing traditional tariff access charges on VoIP providers or to discriminate against its VoIP competitors. The statement was issued in response to SBC's new interstate connectivity service, known as TIPToP.



TIPToP is a new SBC service that gives VOIP providers the capability to connect traffic to PSTN based voice services. Specifically, TIPToP provides switch port interfaces, which enable trunk groups, transport, SS7 Initial Setup (ISUP), and SS7 Transaction Capabilities Access Part (TCAP) queries for Local Number Portability (LNP) and Customer Name and Address (CNAM). The TIPToP port interface is a TDM trunk side switched circuit interface using SS7 signaling. The TIPToP port interface physically connects the SBC Access Tandem to the TIPToP customer's point of presence in the LATA which connects to the TIPToP customer's IP Gateway Device.



In a public statement, Powell wrote "SBC's tariff makes clear that TIPToP is not a mandatory offering and VoIP providers may continue to utilize alternatives to exchange their traffic. Should we conclude that this tariff is being used to justify the imposition of traditional tariffed access charges on VoIP providers or to discriminate against SBC's competitors, the Commission will take appropriate action including, but not limited to, initiating an investigation of SBC's interstate tariff and any other tariff that proposes similar terms. Nothing in this tariff should be interpreted to force a set of compensation relationships on VoIP providers and their connecting carriers either at this Commission or in other venues."http://www.fcc.govhttp://www.sbc.com/gen/public-affairs?pid=3137

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Nokia Hails ETSI Agreement on Mobile TV

The European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) has selected DVB-H (Digital Video Broadcast - Handheld) as the standard in Europe for mobile TV services. DVB-H leverages traditional broadcasting standards to enable the simultaneous transmission of multiple television, radio and video channels to mobile handheld devices. To receive DVB-H transmissions, handsets require an additional integrated receiver.



Nokia welcomed the ETSI agreement and said it plans to bring a commercial mobile TV handset with integrated DVB-H to market globally in 2006.



"DVB-H is a groundbreaking technology that will facilitate the widespread adoption of mobile TV around the world. We are delighted that ETSI has adopted the DVB-H standard for Europe and started the trend for the global adoption of DVB-H," said Richard Sharp, Vice President, Rich Media, Nokia.



To overcome battery limitations and signal reception challenges, DVB-H uses a variety of techniques including time-slicing to reduce a device's average power consumption, cell identifiers to support quicker signal scan and frequency handover as well as methods to improve signal strength in the mobile environment. DVB-H technology is being piloted in the United States by Crown Castle and Nokia. The pilot has started in October in the Pittsburgh, PA, area and it aims to prove and test the feasibility of DVB-H technology and related service systems in the U.S. http://www.nokia.com

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Germany to Issue "032" Numbers for VoIP

Germany's Regulatory Authority for Telecommunications and Posts (RegTP) published allocation rules for national VoIP numbers. The national numbers will use the "032" prefix and are defined like local numbers, but -- similar to mobile numbers -- are not linked to a particular locality.



Telephone service providers can now apply to RegTP national numbers in blocks of 1,000. To give everyone a fair chance, all applications received by 10 January 2005 will be regarded as having been received at the same time. According to the plans, the first allocations will then be made in that same month.



The allocation rules can be seen on RegTP's website in German. http://www.regtp.de/

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Telstra Appoints Senior VP of Global Accounts

Telstra appointed Andrew Morawski to the position of Senior Vice President of Sales and Global Accounts, where he will be responsible for global sales initiatives in the United States, Australia, India, Hong Kong, China, United Kingdom, Singapore and Japan. He currently manages the US-based sales initiatives of Telstra. Prior to assuming this position, Morawski was Vice President of Enterprise Sales with Telstra Incorporated in the US. Before joining Telstra, Mr. Morawski held the positions of Regional VP of Sales and Director of Sales Operations at Prism Communications Services, a subsidiary of Comdisco. http://www.telstra-usa.com

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France Telecom and Intel to Develop Solutions for the Digital Home

France Telecom and Intel have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the joint development of new solutions for Digital Home. The two companies will work together on the evolution of Home Communication Services gateways and wireless home connectivity solutions driven by broadband connectivity.



The partnership includes the setting up of research and development teams; joint financing of R&D; a possible limited period of exclusivity, the sharing of intellectual property directly resulting from the strategic alliance. http://www.francetelecom.comhttp://www.intel.com

• In recent months, France Telecom has announced several strategic partnerships with leading systems companies, including with Alcatel for the joint definition and implementation of a Next Generation Network Architecture (NGN/IMS) towards a converged fixed/Internet/mobile network.; with Ericsson, in order to jointly develop IP Multimedia Services for the consumer market; with Marconi's Wireless Business Unit focused in RF mobile technologies; with Motorola, for Seamless Mobility Solutions; with Nokia for rich media solutions on mobile terminals; and with Siemens, to jointly develop a New Generation Network Architecture for mobile/fixed networks.

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Thomson Acquires EADS DCS' Video Over IP activity

Thomson has acquired EADS DCS' Video Over IP integration business. Based in Lyon, France, the EADS DCS team has expertise in the design, systems integration and management of IT infrastructure above the IP layer (system administration, messaging, portals and web services), with an emphasis on TV and Video On Demand (VOD) over xDSL solutions.



Thomson said the team adds systems capability to its IP integration service for its telecom and network customers. Thomson believes there is significant demand from its clients for expertise in these services, which currently comprises a broad range of telephony equipment, DSL (gateway) modems and IP set-top boxes. http://www.thomson.net

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Ireland Sets Goal of 100% DSL Coverage by 2007, High Growth Rate

eircom, the incumbent carrier in Ireland, achieved its year-end target of 100,000 broadband connections as of 17-November-2004. eircom's retail division has signed up 77,000 customers. eircom's wholesale division accounts for 23,000 connections. Two thirds of its broadband base today is residential with one-third business.



eircom also announced a new target of 500,000 DSL broadband connections by December 2007, which would position Ireland above the EU average for DSL broadband penetration. The company said Ireland has become one of the fastest growth markets for broadband in the EU due to its eircom's aggressive marketing and promotional campaign. eircom currently has in excess of 3,000 customers signing up for broadband each week.



eircom also announced today that it plans to achieve 90% Broadband coverage in Ireland by March 2006 and is calling on government to deliver the remaining 10% so that Ireland can have 100% Broadband availability by 2007. Coverage today stands at over 74% and is set to reach 80% by March 2005, ensuring that every town in Ireland with a population over 1,500 will be connected to broadband. http://www.eircom.com

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SingTel and KPN Offer Global MPLS VPNs

Singapore Telecommunications (SingTel) and KPN announced an interconnection agreement for their respective IP-VPN MPLS services. The interconnection enables SingTel and KPN to leverage each other's extensive networks in their respective markets in Asia Pacific and Europe. Together, both companies offer coverage to more than one thousand PoPs that cover all major businesses in logistics, healthcare, manufacturing as well as financial centers of the world. The companies will align their marketing and sales efforts to enhance delivery of their networking solutions to their respective enterprise customers. http://www.singtel.com/http://www.kpn.com/

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Alcatel Opens R&D Centre in Genoa, Italy

Alcatel is opening an R&D center in Genoa, Italy focused on broadband networks systems. Initially, in new facility will have 50 engineers and specialized technicians. who are going to be even doubled in the next three years. http://www.alcatel.com

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SingNet Appoints New CEO

SingNet, the wholly-owned Internet subsidiary of Singapore Telecommunications (SingTel), announced the appointment of Mr. Hui Weng Cheong as CEO, replacing Ms Ooi Lay Yong, who will focus on consumer sales and SingTel's retail business. He continues in his role as SingTel's Vice President (Consumer Products) and oversees the development of new services for mobile, Internet, broadband and telephone businesses. http://www.singtel.com

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Cegetel Launches Ethernet WAN Services with Alcatel

Cegetel, an alternative national fixed telecommunications operator in France, launched IXTRANS -- a new, high speed and secure data service for large and medium enterprises. IXTRANS is a secure data service based on PDH, SDH and Ethernet interfaces. Aimed at applications such as interconnection of local area networks, videoconferencing and storage networking, the service supports Ethernet connections at varied bandwidth ranging from 2 Mbps to 10 Gbps. IXTRANS is commercially available across France.



Cegetel is using Alcatel's Optical Multi-Service Node (OMSN) systems equipped with data functionality. The deployed systems are managed by the Alcatel 1350 management suitehttp://www.alcatel.com/http://www.cegetel.com

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Citrix Acquires Net6 for SSL VPN Appliances

Citrix agreed to acquire privately-held Net6, a developer of secure access gateways, for approximately $50 million in cash.



Net6, which is based in San Jose, California, offers an SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) Access Gateway and an Application Gateway with a Voice Office Suite. The Application Gateway delivers applications to users of IP telephones from leading IP PBX vendors including Avaya, Cisco, Mitel, NEC, Nortel Networks and Siemens. The Net6 Voice Office Application Suite enables enterprises to further leverage their IP telephony investment and increase workforce productivity by delivering converged applications to the screens and speakers of IP telephones.



Citrix said these products are complementary to its existing access infrastructure portfolio. http://www.citrix.comhttp://www.net6.com/

• Net6 has approximately 30 employees and more than 150 customers.

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Level 3 Launches Channel Partner Program in Europe

Level 3 Communications has launched a channel partner program in Europe to encourage resellers to offer its VoIP and other services to their small and medium-size business customers. The program will debut in the UK and will expand into other European markets over the course of 2005.
Commencing early 2005, Level 3 will initially focus its partner-recruitment and sales efforts around (3)Tone Business, its hosted VoIP offering for small and medium-sized enterprises. http://www.Level3.com/partner

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Zarlink Gains Compliance for Circuit Emulation Processors

Zarlink Semiconductor announced that its line of Circuit Emulation Services (CES)-over-Packet processors fully comply with the latest recommendations for TDM circuit transmission over MPLS and Metro Ethernet networks. The MPLS & Frame Relay Alliance (MFA) recently released implementation agreement MFA 8.0.0, which addresses the encapsulation formats and setup and teardown of connections for carrying TDM circuits across MPLS networks. The MFA's new agreement simplifies TDM transport over MPLS, allowing network operators to move towards a single, converged network delivering voice, video and data services.



The Metro Ethernet Forum (MEF) also ratified new technical specifications for carrier-class Ethernet. Specification MEF 8 defines the implementation for emulating PDH (Plesiochronous Digital Hierarchy) circuits over Metro Ethernet networks, and outlines requirements for employing CES over Metro Ethernet networks as defined in the earlier MEF 3 technical specification. MEF 8, along with new specifications addressing test procedures and network management for Ethernet services, will guide the rollout of Metro Ethernet as a carrier-class service delivery technology.



Zarlink's three-device ZL50111 high-density and three-device ZL50120 low-density families of CES-over-Packet processors seamlessly "tunnel" from one to 32 streams of TDM voice, video and data traffic, with associated timing and signaling, across MPLS, Ethernet and IP networks. All six devices are in full production. http://www.zarlink.com

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Polycom and Edgewater Team on Enterprise Video Firewalls

Edgewater Networks and Polycom are expanding their co-development and marketing partnership beyond VoIP solutions to those that now simplify the deployment and management of audio and video communication systems connecting across organizations and firewalls for enterprises and service providers. The two companies also announced the availability of open, H.323 standards-based solutions for Network Address Translation (NAT)/Firewall traversal for IP-based video communications, as well as solutions validated as interoperable with other proprietary firewalls and session border controllers popular in the market. The H.323-based Edgewater solutions are available for all Polycom systems. http://www.edgewaternetworks.comhttp://www.polycom.com

• Edgewater Networks offers a line of EdgeProtect session border controllers providing specialized security, NAT/Firewall traversal services and passive call quality monitoring for service providers; and a line of EdgeMarc VoIP CPE appliances.

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MetaSwitch Appoints VP of Technology Strategy

MetaSwitch named Martin Taylor as Vice President of Technology Strategy. Previously, Taylor was CTO at CopperCom from shortly after its founding in early 1998 until late 2002. He was the chief architect of CopperCom's Voice over Broadband system and led the effort by the ATM Forum to create a standard for VoB interoperability. Following CopperCom's acquisition of DTI Networks, Taylor shaped the technology roadmap for the company's Class 4/5 softswitch product. Prior to CopperCom, Taylor was VP Network Architecture at Madge Networks. http://www.metaswitch.com

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WSJ: Telecom Giants Oppose Cities on Web Access

Verizon Communications lobbied the Pennsylvania General Assembly to include as part of a newly passed broadband bill a special provision that would ban cities from providing Wi-Fi services with the service territory of a local exchange carrier, according to The Wall Street Journal. The Pennsylvania bill is currently awaiting the approval or veto of the state's governor. If approved, the new law could be a blow to the City of Philadelphia, among others, that are planning or deploying widescale municipally-owned Wi-Fi networks. According to the article, Verizon argued that it is unfair and unwise for the government to compete with the private sector. http://www.wsj.com

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UK Regulator Publishes Spectrum Framework Review

Ofcom, the official telecom regulator in the U.K., published the Spectrum Framework Review - its strategy for securing the optimal use of the civilian radio spectrum. Spectrum has traditionally been centrally allocated and managed by the regulator. This has resulted in an inefficient system that has limited the innovation and development of higher-value services.



Ofcom's Spectrum Framework Review sets out four key recommendations:



1. Allow the market to decide the best use for new spectrum allocations.

2. Allow licence holders to trade spectrum in an open market and change the use they make of spectrum rights to develop new technologies and offer different services to customers (also known as liberalisation).



3. Clearly define the rights of spectrum users, giving them the confidence to plan for the future.



4. Increase the amount of licence-exempt spectrum which allows businesses to develop and bring to market new technologies and services without the need for a licence.



Ofcom gradually plans to apply this market-led approach to over 70% of the radio spectrum (currently 0%). However, Ofcom will continue to maintain control over spectrum licences where:

• Signals cross international boundaries;



• International mobility is critical, or



• the UK has agreed to harmonise spectrum use in line with important multi-national accords.

Beginning next month, spectrum trading will begin in the UK with the following licence classes:

• Analogue public-access mobile radio



• National paging



• Data networks



• National and regional private business radio



• Common base stations



• Scanning telemetry



• Fixed terrestrial links



• Fixed wireless access.

Additional licence classes will become tradeable next year. http://www.ofcom.org.uk

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Amedia Partners with LightRiver on Switched Ethernet FTTP

Amedia Networks announced a partnership under which LightRiver will distribute Amedia's QoStream FTTP product portfolio. LightRiver's customers include Telephone Companies, municipalities, utilities, government agencies and cable TV providers. http://www.amedia.comhttp://www.lightriver.com

• Amedia Networks offers an active Ethernet-based Fiber-to-the-Premises (FTTP) access solution. The company's Ethernet Switched Optical Network (ESON) technology, which was licensed from and jointly developed with Lucent Bell Labs, provides QoS mechanisms for delivering triple play services at up to 100 Mbps bandwidth per subscriber.

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Thomson and VeriSign to Offer Digital Content Authentication Service

Thomson and VeriSign announced plans to create an on-demand digital content authentication and authorization service bureau to support the secure delivery of electronic entertainment content over digital networks. The new service will provide transaction reporting and essential back-office functions to securely authenticate and authorize digital entertainment content such as movies, music and games. Thomson and VeriSign have recently completed successful proof of concept demonstrations with a variety of entertainment companies, telecom companies, technology companies and online retailers and plan to launch the service by mid-2005.



The new service is aimed at content providers and electronic content distributors and will utilize key technologies and expertise of Thomson's Technicolor business and VeriSign's authentication and network infrastructure. The service will leverage Technicolor's expertise in content security, preparation, management and distribution; and its long standing relationships with entertainment providers. The service will also leverage VeriSign's network security technology and large scale internet transaction authentication infrastructure that currently supports over 400,000 Web sites and 118,000 merchants, as well as VeriSign's extensive Digital Content mediation and distribution platform. In addition, Thomson and VeriSign are developing proprietary technology, already demonstrated through proof of concept, to provide secure authentication and authorization of digital content and a seamless interface between a variety of home networking devices including personal video recorders, mobile devices, computers and recordable media.



Thomson and VeriSign said they aim to support the needs of both content owners and network operators by offering a third-party solution that will work across digital networks. . http://www.thomson.nethttp://www.verisign.com

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CommPartners Deploys TCS' E9-1-1 VoIP Service

TeleCommunication Systems (TCS) has deployed VoIP E9-1-1 service for Las Vegas-based CommPartners, a VoIP facilitator providing IP telephony services and connectivity to service providers. The deployment is the latest in TCS' E9-1-1 services that have been deployed across the United States since 1998.



TCS said its solution meets the requirements and expectations of E9-1-1 services offered to traditional landline and wireless subscribers. It supports a wide range of VoIP solutions ranging from those offering a landline replacement to those providing the business traveler with VoIP connectivity from the road. Whereas location updates to the wireline databases typically take up to 48 hours to activate, TCS provides mechanisms to its customers that allow the information to be updated and validated in a fraction of the time. The updated location information is used to dynamically route the call to the appropriate Public Safety Answering Point, of which there are over 6500 across the country. http://www.telecomsys.comhttp://www.commpartners.us

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SBC Extends its Wi-Fi Service with Avis, Barnes & Noble

SBC Communications announced commercial partnerships with Avis Rent A Car and with Barnes & Noble that will broaden the reach of its Wi-Fi network across the U.S. Under the first deal, the SBC FreedomLink Wi-Fi service will be made available in up to 88 Avis locations at major airports throughout the nation by early 2005. It will also be available in Avis business centers in major airports. Separately, Barnes & Noble announced that SBC FreedomLink Wi-Fi service is now available at more than 600 of its bookstores nationwide.



SBC's FreedomLink Wi-Fi service is also available in select McDonald's restaurants, The UPS Store and Mail Boxes Etc. locations, Caribou Coffee shops, airports, hotels, convention centers, restaurants, state parks, rest stops and welcome centers -- currently more than 5,000 locations throughout the U.S. By the end of 2006, the SBC FreedomLink service is expected to be available in more than 20,000 locations. Customers can view a list of FreedomLink locations by visiting . http://www.sbc.com/freedomlink

• SBC's FreedomLink memberships are available for $19.95 a month and provide unlimited access to all SBC Wi-Fi hot spots and discounted rates in roaming locations. Daily rates start at $7.95. SBC DSL customers are able to use the service at no charge until April 15, 2005. After this introductory period, the price will be $1.99 a month with a one-year term commitment for customers who choose to sign up for the service.

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Tekelec Names Senior VP of Global Marketing

Tekelec promoted Scott Weidenfeller to senior vice president of global marketing. Before joining Santera Systems in 2000 as vice president of product line management, marketing and business development, Weidenfeller held various positions at Nortel Networks. http://www.tekelec.com

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SAIC Licensed by the FCC to Test Mobile 4.9 GHz Solutions

Science Applications International Corporation's (SAIC) Telecom Services Business Unit was granted a new experimental license from the FCC to test fixed and mobile experimental wireless networks and client devices at 4.9 GHz. The experimental license allows the company to conduct multi-city trials of new low cost solutions for public-sector metropolitan area networks (MANs) using technologies in the new, exclusive-use 4.9 GHz public safety band.



Cities have seen the successes of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11a/b/g and the emerging 802.16d/e standards and products, through the interoperability assurance of the WiFi and WiMAX consortia. Standardization of mesh network protocols, as in the draft 802.11s also is proceeding in concert with open solutions for the new band.



SAIC said that by adopting these standards and products for the 4.9GHz band, the public sector stands to benefit from low cost outdoor-rated infrastructure equipment adapted for the 4.9GHz band while still preserving the benefits of standards- based air protocols and high volume chipsets. http://www.saic.com

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deltathree Updates VoIP Calling Plans

deltathree announced the launch of six new Broadband Phone consumer and business calling plans for its retail division, iConnectHere. Each calling plan includes local, long distance and international calling with features such as voicemail, caller ID, 3-way calling, call forwarding and real-time call records. The service also provides end-users with a choice of phone numbers from the United States, Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Israel or the United Kingdom. These numbers are available to end-users no matter where they are physically located around the world. The new service tiers include:

• iCall Unlimited plan, which includes unlimited minutes to call the United States and Canada for US$29.99 a month, from anywhere worldwide.



• iCall North America plan, which includes 800 minutes to call the United States and Canada for just US$15.99 a month, from anywhere worldwide.



• BizCall Unlimited, which provides businesses located anywhere around the world with unlimited calling to the United States and Canada for US$49.99 a month.



• Open Access Plan, which enables advanced VoIP users to mix and match various features and use their own SIP devices.

http://www.iconnecthere.com/

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Global Crossing and India's Sify Link MPLS Services

Global Crossing and Sify, a leading Internet, networks and eCommerce services company in India, have agreed to interconnect their MPLS-based IP networks using Global Crossing's iMPLS interprovider connection service. Customers of either provider will be able to seamlessly scale and provision converged IP and data services including VoIP, IP Video, and Internet access across IP VPN connections to any endpoint in the networks' combined footprint.



The deal provides Global Crossing IP VPN customers with access to 63 major commercial centers in India, while Sify gained worldwide service reach to more than 50 countries and 500 major cities.



Global Crossing's iMPLS service enables seamless, reliable, scalable MPLS-based IP VPN service expansion by carriers and service providers, across Global Crossing's worldwide network. The interprovider interconnection preserves QoS, traffic prioritization and endpoint visibility, permitting end-to-end SLAs and enabling applications such as VoIP and IP Video to work reliably across the connected networks. http://www.globalcrossing.com/http://www.sifycorp.com/

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Motorola Launches New 900 MHz Canopy Broadband Radios

Motorola began shipping an new version of its 900 MegaHertz (MHz) Canopy wireless broadband radio that features a fully integrated antenna. The integrated high-gain antenna enables these Canopy radios to reach up to 40 miles in a point-to-multipoint, line-of-sight application and provide enhanced penetration for non line-of-sight applications. It could be used to extend a service provider's network coverage by offering last mile data connectivity to remote subscribers or in areas of dense foliage.



Motorola also has made available a new software release (R6) for all Canopy 900 MHz modules, which increases the aggregate throughput by a factor of two, up to 2.1 megabits per second to a single user. The new software decreases the latency in the new 900 MHz module to 15 milliseconds from 45 milliseconds giving service providers increased ability to support VoIP and gaming applications for their subscribers. The software download is available for all 900 MHz radios already deployed and can be installed remotely. http://www.motorola.com/canopy

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IPtimize Deploys Kagoor for VoIP over Broadband

IPtimize, a managed VoIP services provider serving small- and medium-size enterprises, has deployed Kagoor's VoiceFlow session border controllers to deliver managed VoIP service to enterprises. Kagoor's VoBB solution eliminates IP address issues and provides call monitoring and statistics gathering. The VoiceFlow platform gives IPtimize the flexibility to direct customer traffic to different service platforms, allowing it to meet a variety of call-routing requirements. It also provides IPtimize with hosted Network Address Translation (NAT) and network protection solutions, which include advanced security features, such as topology hiding and protection from denial of service attacks.



Iptimize is based in Denver, Colorado. http://www.iptimize.com

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SEVEN Completes Series C Financing, Postpones IPO

SEVEN, a start-up based in Redwood City, California, announced that it completed its Series C round of financing. The company develops software that enables mobile operators to offer their subscribers secure, low-cost, real-time access to business and personal email and applications from their mobile phones. SEVEN is currently available across major international network standards, and is sold by Cingular Wireless, KDDI Corp., NTT DoCoMo, O2, Orange, The SingTel Group and Sprint.



The company said a "Qualified Institutional Buyer," as well as its existing investors, contributed to the new funding round. UBS Securities acted as exclusive placement agent to SEVEN in this transaction. Terms of this investment have not been disclosed. Previously, SEVEN raised approximately $55 million in its Series A and Series B rounds in 2000 and 2001 respectively.



SEVEN also announced today that it has withdrawn its S.E.C. registration statement relating to its intent to offer shares of common stock to the public market, opting to postpone its offering until a later date. http://www.seven.com/

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Nokia Names New Chief Strategy Officer

Nokia has named Tero Ojanpera as Chief Strategy Officer and Group Executive Board, replacing Matti Alahuhta who is leaving the company to become President and COO of Kone. Tero Ojanpera, currently heads Nokia's corporate R&D unit, the Nokia Research Center, which is key in ensuring the company's overall technological competitive and innovative edge. http://www.nokia.com

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Global Crossing Offers Private Line Hub Service

Global Crossing introduced "OneConnectPrivate Line", a flexible, flat-rate, high-bandwidth "fan out" solution with global reach. The service us a fully private and secure Layer 2 core network solution for enterprises that need dedicated private line global connectivity in a hub-and-spoke model but with the cost savings of a shared VPN network.



Global Crossing OneConnect Private Line service enables a customer to connect to Global Crossing's worldwide network via DS3/E3 to OC48/STM16 access from a single location or hub and to "fan out" connections to other global locations with variable bandwidth options including T1/E1, DS3/E3, OC3/STM1 and OC12/STM4 interfaces. OneConnect service is available today to customers at a flat monthly rate, exclusive of endpoint local access charges.



Target customers include broadcast media, governments, research and educational groups, and other enterprises seeking to expand or consolidate existing hub-and-spoke wide-area networks.



OneConnect runs on Global Crossing's worldwide optical network, interconnected with Global Crossing's MPLS-based IP network.



Separately, Global Crossing announce the geographic expansion of its partner channel program. Since re-launching its partner channel program in March 2004, Global Crossing has increased its master agent force by 58%. The company is reaching out to IP- centric agents who target multi-located medium enterprises. Global Crossing said its partner program offers flexible pricing models and aggressive compensation plans. http://www.globalcrossing.com/

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Broadcom Boosts Wi-Fi Coverage

Broadcom announced two new 54g wireless LAN chipsets with "BroadRange" technology, enabling Wi-Fi users to maintain high speed wireless connections at distances up to 50% greater than previous generation solutions. BroadRange technology uses advanced digital signal processing techniques to improve the receive sensitivity. Broadcom said the technology complies with IEEE 802.11 standards. The company plans to integrate it into a wide range of Wi-Fi products -- from notebook PCs to routers to cell phones.



The first two products include the new BCM4318E, which is the third-generation product in Broadcom's line of single-chip client solutions. The highly-integrated chip can power down to consume as little as 9mW in idle mode. Broadcom has also enhanced its integrated wireless LAN processor with BroadRange technology. The BCM5352E combines high-performance 54g wireless routing, Fast Ethernet switching and a MIPS instruction set processor into a single system-on-a-chip (SoC). It can be paired with Broadcom's BCM2050 radio for delivering wireless and wired performance and security previously available from devices at up to twice the cost. http://www.broadcom.com

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360networks Completes Sale of its Canadian Assets to BCE

360networks completed the sale of its Canadian assets, primarily Group Telecom, to Bell Canada for US$215 million in cash. Bell Canada also purchased selected northern US interconnection assets and related liabilities. 360networks will use the cash proceeds to retire all of its debt, including the debt from its 2002 restructuring, and for working capital purposes.



360networks will focus on its US operations, which include a low-cost, long-haul network footprint with strategic metro access and a regional Western regional network with unique reach into rural markets.



Group Telecom will now operate as a division of Bell Canadahttp://www.360.net

• 360networks purchased Group Telecom out of bankruptcy in February 2003.

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World Wide Packets Names New VP of Engineering

World Wide Packets named Brower Dimond as its new Vice President of Engineering, where he will oversee the continuing development and evolution of the company's LightningEdge Ethernet Access solution. Most recently, he was responsible for product engineering at Gluon Networks where he oversaw the design and production of its "Converged Local Exchange". Prior to Gluon, he served as Vice President of Engineering for Ericsson. http://www.worldwidepackets.com

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Millennium Digital Media Deploys BigBand's CMTS

Millennium Digital Media, a cable operator serving approximately 130,000 customers, is deploying the BigBand Cuda CMTS (cable modem termination system) and FastFlow Broadband Provisioning Manager to deliver advanced IP voice and data services. The equipment supports VoIP, commercial and advanced data services based on DOCSIS 2.0. http://www.bigbandnet.comhttp://www.mdm.net

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Taiwan's Chunghwa Telecom Selects Cisco for Managed Services

Chunghwa Telecom, the incumbent service provider in Taiwan, selected Cisco Systems to expand the delivery and adoption of IP-based managed network services in Taiwan. Specifically, Chunghwa Telecom will base its new managed network services on Cisco equipment, and Cisco will provide marketing assistance and access to resellers in the region that configure, install and maintain the equipment. The managed network services are targeted towards small and medium sized enterprises. Services will include IP VPNs, managed network security and managed IP telephony. Both parties agree to share market intelligence and conduct joint branded marketing campaigns to promote the service in Taiwan. http://www.cisco.com

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Qwest's OC-192 Network to Remain Core Transport for Internet2's Abilene

Qwest Communications will continue providing optical and SONET network services to Internet2, a university-led research and development consortium that includes more than 300 U.S. universities, research institutions, corporations and government agencies. Under a new agreement, Qwest will continue as the backbone transport provider for the Abilene Network -- Internet2's advanced transcontinental backbone -- through September 2007. The new agreement builds on an original agreement executed in April 1998 and subsequently extended for five years in October 2001.



The Abilene Network will continue using nearly 10,000 route-miles of Qwest's OC-192 network.



The Abilene Network currently connects over three million users, 220 research and education institutions, and 34 state education networks. Abilene supports advanced native services, such as IP multicast and IPv6 and provides a transparent view of network performance through the Abilene Observatory measurement collaboration. http://www.qwest.comhttp://www.internet2.edu

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Freescale Licenses RADVISION Toolkits

RADVISION has licensed both its H.323 and SIP developer platforms to Freescale Semiconductor for the development of a wide variety of chip-based IP communications applications optimized for various Freescale processors. Freescale plans to use the RADVISION toolkit to develop applications that sit on top of and leverage the specialized processing features of various Freescale chipsets including its ColdFire microprocessor core and i.MX21 multimedia applications processor.
The hybrid solution of specialized hardware processors, combined with custom-developed communications applications, provides a video and voice over IP architecture that enables the rapid development of IP communication devices by third parties. http://www.radvision.com

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Atrica Names VP of Global Customer Service

Atrica named Kaushal Agrawal as its vice president of Global Customer Service. Agrawal previously spent six years at Cisco/Stratacom, where he was responsible for product quality for ATM/Frame Relay WAN products and introducing high availability services for most of the Tier 1 carriers worldwide. http://www.atrica.com

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Thomson Joins Microsoft and Time Warner in ContentGuard DRM Venture

Thomson will become a strategic investor in ContentGuard, a closely-held developer of Digital Rights Management (DRM) intellectual property. Microsoft and Time Warner Inc. are also stakeholders in ContentGuard.



Under the deal, Thomson will purchase an aggregate 33% voting stake in ContentGuard from Microsoft, Time Warner and Xerox, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals.



The three companies said their partnership would help promote the development of inter-operable DRM systems, accelerate the deployment of consumer devices that support Digital Rights Management, and encourage content owners to launch exciting new distribution channels. The partners plan to continue development of ContentGuard's intellectual property and to promote innovation in electronic content distribution using DRM technologies.



"This unique partnership brings together content, technology and media services to deploy more rapidly DRM-enabled business models," said Frank Dangeard, Chairman and CEO of Thomson.



"The development of web services and new content distribution systems requires a complete ecosystem of participants. Thomson's investment alongside Time Warner and Microsoft shows that media, software, devices and services companies are committed to developing the infrastructure for web services to flourish", said Bill Gates, Chairman and Chief Software Architect, Microsoft . http://www.thomson.net

• ContentGuard was spun-out from Xerox's renowned Palo Alto Research Center (PARC).



• In April 2004, Time Warner acquired most of Xerox's stake in ContentGuard.



• In October, Microsoft unveiled its new MSN TV 2 Internet & Media Player designed to bring premium MSN content, PC-stored digital media and e-mail to TV. MSN TV 2 is a broadband-home-network-enabled device manufactured by Thomson under the RCA brand. The device is powered by an Intel 733 MHz Celeron processor and the Windows CE operating system. The MSN TV2 device enables the TV to play Windows Media-compatible music, video and photos on their televisions from the Web or shared from files on their networked PCs. MSN will package content, including hundreds of news, sports and entertainment video clips, updated daily from leading content providers.

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Service Availability Forum Releases New Version of Application Interface Specification

The Service Availability Forum (SA Forum) announced the release of the Application Interface Specification (AIS) B.01.01, an interface specification for high availability middleware. The AIS is an interface for highly available applications that allows application developers to write application software that is portable across different vendors' implementations of high availability middleware.



AIS B.01.01 is free to download from the SA Forum site. http://www.saforum.org

• The Service Availability Forum (SA Forum), a consortium of industry-leading communications and computing companies, develops and promotes open interface specifications that enable the industry to build high availability network infrastructure products, systems and services.

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Optical Solutions Wins GPON Contract in North Dakota

Optical Solutions' FiberPath 500 GPON platform was selected by BEK Communications of North Dakota for a multi-year plant replacement in portions of the cooperative's six-county service area. BEK serves 7,000 access lines and 18 telephone exchanges in rural south-central North Dakota. Optical Solutions' FiberPath 500 is capable of delivering IPTV, 100-plus Mbps data speeds and multiple telephone lines. http://www.opticalsolutions.com

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IEEE Forms Study Group for Enhancing PoE 802.3af standard

The IEEE has formed a new 802.3 Study Group to discuss the enhancement of the IEEE PoE 802.3af standard. The purpose of the enhanced PoE standard, dubbed "PoEplus," would be to deliver higher power levels to devices that require more than the 13 Watts currently specified in the 802.3af standard, ratified in June 2003. All new modifications would need to be compatible with the IEEE 802.3 Ethernet standard and backwards compatible with existing IEEE 802.3af PoE equipment.



The ratification of the 802.3af standard has accelerated the deployment of numerous network devices, such as WLAN access points, IP phones and network security cameras.



PowerDsine said it is seeing an increase in the types of Ethernet end-devices that could benefit from safe and reliable PoE powering, but many emerging devices require more power.



Twenty-two companies participated and voted for the creation of the Study Group. http://www.powerdsine.comhttp://www.ieee802.org/3/cfi/request_1104.html

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Marconi Wins £15 Million Managed Services Contract from Energis

Energis awarded a three-year multi-vendor Network Managed Services (NMS) contract valued at £15 million to Marconi. The NMS contract will cover a range of technologies across Energis' network, including a significant estate of multi-vendor assets, giving Marconi responsibility for transmission, routing, access and customer premise equipment (CPE) technologies. http://www.marconi.com

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Alcatel to provide Telefónica Móviles with 3G Video

Telefónica Móviles selected Alcatel to deploy and integrate a video gateway solution into the operator's 3G/UMTS network in Spain. Alcatel's solution handles mobile (H324M) and fixed (H323 or SIP) video protocols, thus making possible video-communications between any mobile and fixed terminal and even between fixed terminals with different video protocols.
Financial terms were not disclosed. http://www.alcatel.com

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Kazaa Integrates Skype Internet Calling into P2P

The newly released Kazaa v3.0 peer-to-peer file sharing program includes the integration of Skype, which allows users to make free online calls. v3.0 also offers advanced search capabilities and a free weblog trial through an affiliate program with TypePad, a hosted weblogging service that gives users tools to share and publish information -- like travel logs, journals and digital scrapbooks.



Sharman Networks, the distributor of the popular Kazaa software, said its application shows that P2P is moving beyond file sharing to become a simple and reliable tool for communicating. http://www.kazaa.com

• Sharman claims over 300 million downloads of the Kazaa application to date.

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U.S. Congress Extends Internet Tax Moratorium

The House of Representatives voted to approve a new three-year ban on state and local governments' taxation of the monthly fees that Internet providers charge their customers. The moratorium cover Internet access, regardless of speed or access technology, but does cover the imposition of taxes Internet voice or similar services. A similar measure had already been approved by the Senate.



Some industry reaction:



Earthlink: "We applaud the efforts of the House and Senate to renew the Internet tax moratorium. This legislation will help make broadband Internet access more affordable and accessible for all Americans by preventing any new state taxation on Internet services," Dave Baker, vice president of law and public policy. http://www.house.gov

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UK Regulator Seeks Changes from BT, Not a Break-up

Ofcom, the official telecom regulator in the U.K., published its proposals to support the growth of greater competition, innovation and investment certainty in the UK telecommunications sector. The proposals are intended to prepare the ground for a new regulatory framework as the market undergoes a migration to next-generation networks based on IP.



Following a strategic review of the market, Ofcom said it has identified two key problems:

• Firstly, an unstable market structure in fixed telecoms, dominated by BT and with alternative providers that are, in the main, fragmented and of limited scale.



• Secondly, the continuance of a complex regulatory mesh, devised over twenty years of regulation and in many areas dependent upon intrusive micro-management to achieve its purposes, yet which, in aggregate, has failed effectively to address the core issue of BT's control of the UK-wide access network.

Rather than a breakup of BT, Ofcom said it prefers an approach that requires BT to deliver real equality of access. Ofcom is proposing that the most effective way to deliver the changes required will be for regulation to address head-on the barriers preventing competitive wholesale access to BT's network. Real equality of access would mean that BT must offer competitors the same or similar wholesale products and prices, as are made available by BT to its own retail businesses, and; transactional processes, as are made available by BT for the use of its own retail businesses. Ofcom would require BT to make changes to its wholesale products, product development process and transactional processes; it would also require BT to commit to substantive behavioural and organisational changes.



Ofcom is proposing that if a fit-for-purpose Wholesale Line Rental product is successfully introduced in 2005, a staged withdrawal of retail voice regulation would follow. This would also be accelerated as converged voice and data services develop and competition between fixed and mobile services increases.



Ofcom also intends to re-examine the scope for deregulation of telecommunications services directed at larger businesses, opening up the prospect of BT having greater flexibility to package services for the largest corporate customers.



In response, BT's Chief Executive, Ben Verwaayen said: "We welcome Ofcom's call for a new settlement where regulation is tightly focused on the parts of the market that need it, with deregulation elsewhere. This would be a real prize for the industry, consumers and for British competitiveness. We will engage constructively with Ofcom and the industry during the final phase of the Strategic Review, looking forward to achieving regulatory certainty that will encourage investment and innovation."http://www.ofcom.org.uk

• The UK government licensed the first telecom competitor (Mercury) in 1980s and encouraged the company to build its own network. From 1994 to 1997, the regulator at that time (Oftel) favored competition between fixed-line companies that owned their own networks - and particularly those with networks that actually came into homes and offices, such as cable operators. Oftel also licensed two extra mobile networks, so that there were four network operators competing from the mid-1990s. However, in the mid-1990s Oftel was less favourable to companies that did not own a network. In fact, it has only been since 1998 that regulation has made it easier for service providers such as Centrica and Carphone Warehouse to launch phone-call services.



• There are five mobile network operators in the UK, plus others which offer services by using another company's network. On the other hand, BT has an 80% share of the residential phone market, and supplies most business lines as well. For Internet access, it seems at first glance that there's a whole variety of internet service providers (such as AOL and Freeserve) supplying narrowband and broadband services to homes and offices. However, almost all of them use just one of two networks -- cable or DSL.

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BT Launches Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) business

In what it described as its first major step to creating the world's first fully converged fixed-mobile service, BT launched its Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) business to the corporate market. The range of new BT mobile services includes a mobile Virtual Private Network service, Business Circle and Conference on Demand, as well as new tariffs to give large and small businesses greater freedom to structure prices according to their needs.



Building on the recent launch of BT-branded BlackBerry handhelds, BT is launching Business Circle, which enables businesses to better manage their communications costs through a mobile Virtual Private Network (VPN). This enables an employee's mobile device to become an extension of the switchboard, and means calls to company mobiles across the VPN are charged at reduced prices. The new Conference on Demand facility is also now available, allowing conference calls to be managed via a mobile handset. BT will also announce soon that it is to offer its BT Mobile business customers the opportunity to experience BT Openzone Wireless Broadband for a reduced monthly fee.



BT will begin marketing and connecting business customers to its new mobile service. All business customers will be account-managed solely by BT, which will be responsible for all marketing, branding, billing and customer service. Network airtime and services will be provided by Vodafone UK, marking the beginning of its new strategic partnership with BT. BT Mobile will extend its service to the consumer market in January.



The announcement also marks the start of building BT's vision for converged services in the business and consumer markets, with plans to introduce a range of future services across fixed and wireless, voice and data networks.



Steven Evans, CEO of BT Mobile said "BT is uniquely placed to deliver a comprehensively-managed experience to business customers. We can draw on expertise in the fixed and mobile markets, as well as emerging mobility services such as Wi-Fi, and our experience of delivering IT and networking services to businesses of all sizes. BT Mobile will ultimately offer the world's first, fully-converged fixed-mobile service, seamlessly bringing together the advanced technologies and networks, whether that's broadband, wireless broadband or 3G."http://www.btplc.com

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WEGENER Announces HD-capable STB for Telcos

WEGENER, which supplies television, audio and data distribution network solutions to the cable industry, announced its first product designed specifically for the telecommunications industry. WEGENER's new IP set-top box, called the Streaming Media Decoder (SMD) 515, is aimed at telco triple play deployments.



WEGENER's set-top supports standard and high definition television through a DSL connection. It supports high definition Windows Media 9 advanced video decoding, widescreen format program guide with scaled HD video and IR remote control. http://www.wegener.com

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SITA Deploys Peribit to Lower WAN Bandwidth Requirements

SITA, the world's leading provider of integrated communications to the air transport industry, announced a partnership with Peribit Networks to improve the performance of critical applications over the WAN and reduce overall network costs. The partnership adds to SITA's existing suite of global communications services -- currently used by 1,800 customers worldwide -- to address the specific need of improving applications performance across global distributed networks.



Peribit Networks' PeriSphere platform improves application performance by addressing issues around network latency, congestion, contention (QOS) and path optimization. Peribit's technology will be added to SITA's new Traffic Management and Optimization Service to deliver a cost effective solution for air transport businesses grappling with performance across distributed Wide Area Networks.


EURCONTROL, the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation, is the first customer to work with Peribit Networks and SITA to deploy the joint solution. http://www.peribit.com

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FCC Report Urges Congress to Let Market Forces Shape Video Industry

Congress should not seek to implement an a la carte programming requirement for Multichannel video programming distributors (MVPD) -- providers of pay TV services -- according to a new report from the Media Bureau of the FCC. The report found that although an a la carte option would allow consumers to pay for only the programming they choose, given current viewing practices, few consumers would experience lower bills for multi-channel programming.



The report found that an a la carte regime would not produce the desired result of lower MVPD rates for most pay-television households. Under an a la carte mandate, networks formerly sold in tiers would need to significantly increase their marketing expenses to induce consumers to affirmatively select the network. This would have a significant negative effect on the programmer's advertising and revenue model. The FCC concludes that the loss of cost savings, combined with the likely loss in advertising revenue and the likely rise in license fees, may cause many program networks to fail, thus adversely impacting diversity in programming. The FCC calculates that consumers selecting 9 or fewer network choices would see their monthly bills decrease, while those choosing more than 9 networks would see the monthly bill rise.



Currently, the FCC estimates that the average household watches about 17 different channels, including local broadcast stations.



An alternative to an a la carte mandate would be to encourage voluntary "mixed bundling" whereby network operators offer a wide choice in channel packages. The FCC report further argues that Congress should let market forces and technological innovation play out. It notes that two significant players are poised to enter the pay TV market soon: incumbent telcos with TV over DSL offerings; and USDTV and others, who plan to use over-the-air spectrum to offer low cost digital TV services. On the technology front, the FCC argues that VOD services and digital video recorders (DVRs) are gaining market momentum, giving consumers far greater control over what they watch and when.



Cable's share has fallen to about 75% of Multichannel video programming distributors (MVPD), compared with nearly 100% ten years ago. http://www.fcc.gov

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FCC Approves First Software Defined Radio.

The FCC announced today it has approved, for the first time, use of a software defined radio device in the U.S. This new class of equipment allows users to share limited airspace, increases flexibility and reduces interference concerns. Software defined radios can change the frequency range, modulation type or output power of a radio device without making changes to hardware components. This programmable capacity permits radios to be highly adaptable to changing needs, protocols and environments.



The FCC's Laboratory Division has issued a Grant of Certification to Vanu, a software development company, for a cellular base station transmitter.



Vanu has demonstrated that its device complies with the FCC rules, and has shown that its software has sufficient controls so that the device cannot be modified to operate outside its FCC-approved parameters. The Commission currently has a rulemaking pending that will further streamline the software defined radio requirements, and it is working with each applicant on a case-by-case basis to facilitate compliance with the current rules. http://www.fcc.gov

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NTT DoCoMo Develops Common Software Platform for 3G FOMA Handsets

NTT DoCoMo has developed a common software platform for its 3G FOMA handsets. DoCoMo will license the platform to handset vendors. The development platform is compatible with both the Linux and Symbian operating systems. The Linux version was jointly developed with NEC Corporation and Panasonic Mobile Communications, and the Symbian version was jointly developed with Fujitsu Corporation.



NTT DoCoMo said some handsets, including its new 901i series and others, are already using the common software platform. http://www.nttdocomo.com

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BT Chooses ip.access for In-building GSM /DSL Service

ip.access ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of TTP Communications, announced that its nanoGSM basestation solution has been selected by BT for a new service for Mobile Network Operators to offer GSM in-building coverage. The nanoBTS basestations use BT's DSL network for backhaul. Mobile network operators could use the solution to offer GSM coverage in a corporate campus.



ip.access' nanoBTS is a GSM picocell basestation that uses IP networks to deliver cellular voice and data services. http://www.ipaccess.com

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Sunrise Telecom Introduces ADSL2+ Test Solutions

Sunrise Telecom announced ADSL2+ test solutions for its SunSet MTT platform. The new ADSL2+ ATU-R module supports multiple deployed and emerging ADSL technologies, including the recent ITU-T ADSL2+ (G.992.5) standard targeted for the combined triple-play of voice, internet, and video services. The SunSet MTT ACM Chassis has been given a 2.2 MHz bandwidth enhancement to accommodate the ADSL2+ frequency spectrum for copper qualification and troubleshooting applications.



The new module could be used by a Tier 1 technician for ADSL2+ service verification. It features a One-Button Test, where the test set attempts to synchronize with the far end DSLAM, and upon achieving Showtime (link-up), presents a summary screen of key results including achieved data rate and SNR margin. This One-Button-Test shows whether or not the ADSL2+ link is working properly from the central office DSLAM to the customer's premises. Additionally, the module's IP ping test verifies Internet connectivity. http://www.sunrisetelecom.com/

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Alcatel Acquires Right Vision

Alcatel will acquire privately held Right Vision, a European provider of software-based Internet appliances that provide Internet access, email and Web applications, as well as security and simplified management capabilities. Right Vision currently has 42 employees. The deal is expected to close in December. Financial terms were not disclosed.



Right Vision, which is based in Sophia-Antipolis, France, provides pure software solutions that run on industry standard server platforms, as well as packaged offerings that include standard hardware and software with support for both Microsoft and Linux environments. The company currently serves more than 5,000 SMB customers through indirect channels that include Hewlett Packard, NEC and ACER. Right Vision also has developed partnerships with leading service providers, including France Telecom, British Telecom, and Belgacom. The company was founded in 1999.



Alcatel is integrating Right Vision's solutions with its Alcatel OmniPCX Office communications server. Alcatel plans to deliver its first SMB offering that includes Right Vision in the first quarter of 2005. Further integration with the Alcatel OmniPCX Office range is planned for 2005 and beyond.



Alcatel said the acquisition of Right Vision supports its vision for delivering converged Information and Communications Technology (ICT) solutions that bring together IT and communications in "all-in-one" packages. Alcatel will target small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) with these solutions, integrating voice, data and Internet functionalities into a single offering. http://www.alcatel.com

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