Tellabs Names Krish Prabhu as CEO

Krish Prabhu was appointed president and CEO of Tellabs. Michael J. Birck, a company founder and CEO of Tellabs for 27 of its 29 year history, continues as chairman of the board. Prabhu, 49, previously served as chief operating officer of Alcatel Telecom and CEO of Alcatel USA. Prabhu...

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Intel Announces Silicon Photonics Breakthrough

Researchers from Intel have succeeded in using silicon manufacturing processes to create a novel "transistor-like" device that can encode data onto a light beam. Performance of the silicon-based optical modulator exceeds 1 GHz and the Intel researchers believe they can the scale the technology up to 10 GHz or faster in the future. To achieve the result, a beam of light is split into two beams as it passes through the silicon. Then, a novel transistor-like device is used to hit one beam with an electric charge, inducing a "phase shift." When the...

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Siemens and Huawei Form 3G Venture in China

Siemens Information and Communication Mobile (Siemens mobile) and Huawei Technologies have formed a joint venture company to develop, manufacture and market TD-SCDMA technology. The companies are investing a combined US$100 million in the new venture, which will be based in Beijing. Siemens mobile will hold 51% in the new company and Huawei will hold 49%. TD-SCDMA, which complements GSM and W-CDMA, is currently being put to the test in several trial networks. The Chinese Ministry of Information Industry allocated a 155 MHz spectrum to TD-SCDMA...

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BT Nears 2 Million DSL Lines, Orders at 45,000 per Week

BT now has nearly 2 million DSL lines in service and its taking orders of over 45,000 per week. There was an installed base of 1.93 million wholesale broadband lines by 06-February-2004, three times the number of connections 12 months ago, with net additions growing at more than 33,000 per week. The increasing base is reflected in a 129% increase in broadband revenues to £128 million in the quarter. DSL is now available in central office exchanges serving 85% of UK homes. BT aims to have 100% broadband coverage of every UK community during 2005....

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Industry Reaction to FCC Ruling

Telecommunications Industry Association: "We are very encouraged that the commission is moving ahead to bring some clarity to the regulatory uncertainty surrounding VoIP and IP applications in general. The NPRM will be an important step in the process of defining what we believe should be a light-handed regulatory framework for IP applications such as voice, one that recognizes that you cannot simply impose the legacy rules for ...

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France Telecom and Ericsson to Form Partnership

France Telecom and Ericsson signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), in order to jointly develop IP Multimedia Services for the consumer market. This strategic agreement focuses on developing new services that will enhance consumer experiences and reachability, and leverage on both fixed and mobile network services. The partnership contemplates joint R&D teams, shared R&D funding, and the principle of sharing intellectual property resulting from the partnership. http://www.francetelecom.comhttp://www.ericsson.comEarlier this week, France...

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Deutsche Telekom Foundation to Promote Knowledge Transfer

Deutsche Telekom established a non-profit foundation based in Bonn to promote the transfer of knowledge and ideas between the government, society and industry. The Deutsche Telekom Foundation, which begins with a EUR 50 million grant, will fund projects in the fields of education, research and innovative technology. http://www.telekom...

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FCC approves Intelsat's Acquisition of Loral Satellites

The FCC has approved the transfer of Loral's FCC licenses to Intelsat. The approval was required in connection with Intelsat's proposed purchase of the North American satellite assets of Loral Space & Communications Corporation. http://www.intelsat.comIntelsat was the highest bidder in an auction for Loral's North American telecommunications satellites. The winning bid was $1.1 billion. The other bidder at the auction was EchoStar Communications Corporation. The deal covers the sale of the in-orbit Telstars 4, 5, 6, 7 and 13, as well as Telstar...

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Avaya Raises $251 million in Stock Sale

Avaya sold 14,039,481 shares of newly issued common stock to Morgan Stanley, which reoffered the shares to the public at $17.85 per share. The size of the transaction was approximately $251 million. Avaya said it will use the net proceeds to redeem outstanding senior notes. http://www.avaya....

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FCC Proposes Rules for Broadband Over Power Lines

The FCC proposed new rules aimed at promoting broadband over power lines (BPL). Specifically, the new rules would:require BPL devices to employ adaptive interference mitigation techniques to prevent harmful interference to existing users, such as public safety and amateur radio operators. These techniques would enable BPL devices to cease operations altogether, dynamically reduce transmit power, and/or avoid operating on specific frequencies to prevent harmful interference; develop a public database that would include such information as location,...

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FCC Votes 4-to-1 to Exempt Pulver's VoIP from Telco Regulations

FCC Commissioners voted 4-to-1 to approve a Declaratory Ruling that pulver.com's Free World Dialup (FWD) service is neither a "telecommunications service" nor "telecommunications," and therefore not subject to traditional telephone regulation. The FCC also declared FWD to be an unregulated information service that is subject to federal jurisdiction.Pulver's FWD allows users of broadband Internet access services to make VoIP or other types of peer-to-peer communications directly to other FWD members, without charge. FCC Commissioner Michael K....

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FCC Initiates VoIP Proceedings

The FCC adopted a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that recognizes not only that Internet services should continue to be subject to minimal regulation, but also that mechanisms to implement important social objectives, such as public safety, emergency 911, law enforcement access, consumer protections and disability access, may change as communications migrate to IP services.The FCC will initiate a Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement (CALEA) rulemaking proceeding to address the technical issues associated with law-enforcement access to Internet-enabled...

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ECI Reports a 9% Sequential Rise in Revenues

ECI Telecom reported Q4 revenues of $109 million, compared to $102 million in Q3 and $137 million in Q4 2002 (the figure for Q4 2002 included revenues from ECI's NGTS Division, which was subsequently spun off). The net loss for Q4 2003 was $13.6 million or $0.13 per share, compared to a net loss of $14.7 million, or $0.14 per share in Q3.Gross margins were 39.1%.Doron Inbar, ECI's President and CEO said, "We are pleased to observe both an improving business environment as well as an improvement in the Company's fundamentals. We are also pleased...

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NETGEAR Revenues Rise 15% Sequentially in Q4

NETGEAR reported Q4 net revenue of $86.8 million, up 21% as compared to $71.9 million for Q4 2002 and up 15% compared to $75.8 million in Q3 2003. Net income (GAAP) was $3.9 million, or $0.14 per basic share and $0.12 per diluted share .NETGEAR cited strong demand for its wireless and broadband products worldwide, as it introduced 12 new products during the quarter. Growth in units and the increase in ASP (average selling price) was driven by the introduction of its "Super G" 108Mbps wireless products in Q3 2003 and the DSL 2 broadband gateways...

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Cox Reaches 2 Million Cable Modem Subscriptions

Cox Communications surpassed 5 million digital service subscriptions in January by reaching key customer milestones in its digital video, Internet and telephone services. These include 2 million digital cable television subscriptions, 2 million high-speed Internet subscriptions and 1 million digital telephone subscriptions. Some highlights from Q4 2003:Cox ended Q4 with 11.5 million total RGUs, up 12% for the full year 2003, driven by 31% growth in advanced-service RGUs.Added 82,967 Cox Digital Cable customers, ending the year with over 2.1 million...

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China Netcom Acquire Full Control of Asia Netcom

China Netcom acquired full control of Asia Netcom, a company founded in March 2003 by a consortium lead by CNC which included Newbridge Capital and Softbank Asia Infrastructure Fund. The partners recently agreed to exit the consortium at this time to support CNC in facilitating its restructuring process. Since its launch last year, Asia Netcom's business has been managed as a stand-alone entity. China Netcom said it plans to continue operating Asia Netcom as a separate business and has no immediate plans to fully integrate Asia Netcom into its...

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BCD Forum Develops "Content Aware Network Services"

The BCD Forum launched a new initiative aimed at providing a standard way to signal end-to-end delivery requirements of any content or application to the service control mechanisms of the network and server/software systems along the content delivery path. The goal is to develop a fully integrated network model that prioritizes content and ensures its smooth flow through the network from the content creation point to the consumption point.The BCD...

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