Wisair Announces Multi-Band OFDM Chip

Wisair, a start-up based in Israel, announced its Multi-Band OFDM (MB-OFDM) transceiver chip. The device uses SiGe-BiCMOS technology and supports a range of data rates up to 480Mbps, occupying a frequency spectrum between 3.1 and 7.4GHz. Wisair is one of the founding members of the Multi-Band OFDM Alliance (MBOA) and one of the authors of its UWB radio specification. http://www.wisair.comWisair was founded in May 2001 as part of the RAD Group. In October 2003, Wisair completed its second round of financing led by Apax Partners. Participating...

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Radio Broadcaster Carries Live Audio over MPLS

The GWR Group, a radio broadcaster that operates 31 FM stations across the U.K., is using THUS' national MPLS network to multicast commercial audio broadcasts to its various facilities. The 31-site network forms the backbone of GWR's operation, carrying "traditional" applications such as e-mail, Internet and file transfer as well as broadcast traffic. It also consolidates legacy voice, data and broadcast networks. THUS plc said it had won a £3 million contract to provide the MPLS-based connectivity to GWR over a five year period. http://www.t...

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PocketSkype Provides Free Member Calling for PDAs

Skype released a thin version of its VoIP softphone application for Microsoft PocketPC based handheld computers. PocketSkype is free and enables the user to make Skype voice calls from any Wi-Fi hotspot. The needs to be equipped with WiFi and a 400 MHz processor at minimum to use the instant messaging feature. http://www.skype.com/As of 06-April, 2004, Skype reported 9,904,663 downloads of its free VoIP applicati...

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Discera Raises $12M for Silicon Resonator

Discera, a start-up based in Campbell, California raised $12 million in series B funding for its ultra-miniaturized components targeted at the wireless industry. Discera's Silicon Resonator platform dramatically shrinks wireless architectures by miniaturizing and consolidating passive components in circuitry. Discera's resonator products are in part based on the use of tiny micro-machined silicon beams that vibrate (resonate) at various frequencies. Multiple beams, each about 20 microns in length, can be fabricated in banks onto a single 1mm x...

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Nokia Trims Q1 Guidance, Sees Weaker Sales of Mobile Phones

Nokia trimmed its financial guidance, saying net sales for Q1 2004 are now expected to be about EUR 6.6 billion, representing a decline of 2% compared to the Q1 2003 (vs. guidance of up 3 - 7%). The company expects to meet its reported earnings per share (diluted) guidance with the EPS estimated to be EUR 0.17 (vs. guidance of EUR 0.17 - 0.19). Nokia said sales by its Mobile Phones and Multimedia business groups were below expectations. Mobile Phones sales declined in Europe and Asia due to lower than expected volumes and a product mix weighted...

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Sonus Networks Appoints COO

Sonus Networks named Bert Notini as its president and chief operating officer (COO), reporting to Hassan Ahmed. Ahmed will continue to serve as CEO and, in addition, has been appointed chairman of Sonus' board of directors. Rubin Gruber, a founder of the company, has been named chairman emeritus, and will continue to focus on business development, reporting to Ahmed. Notini has been a member of Sonus' board of directors since March 2003 and will continue to serve as a director on the board. Since October 2000, Notini has served as the CFO of Manufacturers...

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AT&T Expands Residential DSL Services with Covad

AT&T is adding residential DSL service to its bundle of local and long distance services in 11 additional states including Georgia, Florida, North Carolina, Louisiana, Alabama, Tennessee, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Delaware, Arizona and Minnesota. Covad's DSL service is bundled with AT&T local and long-distance services. Launched in early 2003, AT&T now offers Covad's DSL service in a total of 25 states. http://www.att.comhttp://www.covad....

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Nortel Extends Converged Solutions for SMBs

Nortel Networks is extending its enterprise convergence portfolio to small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) as well as enterprise branch offices. The enhancements will include Nortel Networks Survivable Remote Gateway (SRG) and Nortel Networks Business Communication Manager (BCM) Release 3.6. Both are expected to be commercially available in late May 2004. The Nortel Networks Survivable Remote Gateway extends the desktop features and user interface of Nortel Networks Succession 1000 IP PBX (private branch exchange) platform to give remote-site...

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Staccato Raises $20 Million for UWB Silicon

Staccato Communications, a start-up based in San Diego, announced $20 million in Series B funding for its ultrawideband (UWB) wireless technology. Staccato is developing CMOS silicon devices for UWB. In recent weeks, Staccato Communications has revealed several important partnerships including an agreement with NEC Electronics to jointly develop high rate (480Mbps) wireless USB products, and with Wisme, a provider of UWB MAC (medium access control) technology. Other recent announcements include Staccato's release of the first MultiBand OFDM...

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BT Launches Rich Media Platform with Real Networks

BT, in partnership with Real Networks, introduced a digital media platform that allows anyone from a large corporate to a small business to become an online content provider to the mass market. The service, which embeds Digital Rights Management (DRM) into all hosted content, offers the ability to store, retrieve, manage, package, sell and deliver anything from digital music and video footage to live sport and special interest content. BT is using Real Networks' Helix Service Delivery Suite and Helix Media Delivery Platform. The BT Rich Media...

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SWIFT to Deploy 10,000 NetScreen Devices in Global Network

SWIFT, the financial messaging industry-owned cooperative, has selected and deployed NetScreen's purpose-built, integrated firewall and VPN solutions in its global IP network. To date, SWIFT has deployed more than 3,300 NetScreen devices and the security deployment has been running successfully at 100% capacity since June 2003. SWIFT plans to deploy more than 10,000 NetScreen appliances by the time the migration is completed -- currently planned by the end of 2004 -- which is expected to represent one of the world's largest VPN deployments. Specifically,...

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Gateway Launches Low Cost Gigabit Switches, Wireless Aps

Gateway launched a new line of managed and unmanaged Layer 2 network switches targeted at small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), educational institutions and government agencies. Based on Broadcom's switch and PHY chip technology, the new switches officially mark Gateway's entry into the networking market, building out an enterprise systems portfolio that includes Gateway-branded servers, storage and management software. The switching line ranges from the entry-level 7201-16, a 16-port 10/100 switch priced at $79, to the higher-end 7201-24.2,...

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MCI Strengthens Remote Access Security for Mobile and Remote Users

MCI is adding new end-to-end security capabilities to its Remote Access suite of services, including anti-fraud protection, stronger authentication, enhanced Denial of Service support and desktop policy enforcement as well as adding Secure Socket Layer (SSL) VPNs. The anti-fraud solution allows for the proactive identification, notification and termination of fraudulent customer traffic, which occurs when an end user's account is compromised by an unauthorized user. MCI also will enhance its authentication capabilities through the introduction...

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TowerStream Launches Fixed Wireless Broadband in Chicago

TowerStream, a fixed wireless Internet provider, has begun offering high-speed Internet access in the Chicago metropolitan area from a Point-of-Presence (PoP) on top of the 1,100-foot Aon Center (formerly the Standard Oil Building). The facility serves business customers within a 10-mile radius with T1, T3 and 100 Mbps connections and higher. In addition to Chicago, TowerStream currently serves over 600 businesses in Boston, New York City and Providence/Newport. http://towerstream.com/areas.aspTowerStream is using technology from Aperto Networks,...

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Larscom Updates its Ethernet Over SONET

Larscom announced a significant software upgrade for its Orion 7400 Ethernet over SONET (EoS) multi-service access platform. New capabilities include: 1) Ethernet "Q-in-Q" VLAN Tagging support, 2) Advanced Ethernet Performance Management for Service monitoring, and 3) Dynamic WAN bandwidth allocation using LCAS capability. Additionally, the Orion 7400 Release 2 software breaks new ground by providing a full suite of SONET performance parameters for its 10/100 and Gigabit Ethernet interfaces, enabling providers to support a variety of Service Level...

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BizFon Offers IP-Based Key System Under $3,000

BizFon introduced a new IP-based key switch along with a number of SIP-based phones aimed at small offices. The BizFon 6800 system integrates the functionality of a PBX system. Standard system features include voice mail, auto attendant, multi-line conferencing, forwarding, remote access, etc. The standard key switch supports up to six incoming lines and 32 IP and/or virtual extensions. It can be expanded to handle up to 24 incoming lines and 64 IP and/or virtual extensions. Prices for the BizFon 6800 IP-KTS switch start under $3,000. http://...

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