Sunday, May 23, 2004

Thai Telephone Selects Redback's SmartEdge Platform

Thai Telephone & Telecommunication has selected Redback Networks' SmartEdge platform. Initially, the new nationwide network will provide MPLS VPN and ADSL broadband services to businesses. Financial terms were not disclosed. http://www.redback.com

Cavium Offers Secure, Multi-Gigabit NIC

Cavium Networks, a start-up based in Santa Clara, California, introduced a family of secure Ethernet NICs that deliver up to Quad GbE Inline IPsec functionality and TCP offload functions. The network adapters utilize Cavium Networks' NITROX II In-line security processor to significantly accelerate IPsec, SSL and Wireless LAN security processing, offload TCP functions and support both IPv4 and IPv6 traffic in enterprise server and appliance configurations. http://www.cavium.com/

VeriSign to Acquire Jamba for Wireless Content Services

VeriSign announced plans to acquire Jamba! -- provider of wireless content services in Europe -- for approximately $273 million in cash and VeriSign stock.



Berlin-based Jamba! serves millions of wireless subscribers in nine European countries through distribution and billing relationships with carriers, including Vodafone, T-Mobile and KPN. In addition, Jamba! has worked with leading content publishers to build a downloadable library of over 50,000 individual products, including popular music, graphics, games and applications.



VeriSign described the acquisition as an extension of its Communications Services Intelligent Communication, Commerce, and Content (IC3) strategy, which "provides carriers with the intelligent infrastructure services they need to help their customers find, connect, secure, and transact over any network, anywhere. "http://www.verisign.com

FiberNet Deploys Lucent Accelerate VoIP solution

FiberNet, a West-Virginia-based telecommunications company, is deploying Lucent's Accelerate portfolio to deliver VoIP services over residential broadband connections, including cable modem, DSL, T1 and Ethernet connections. FiberNet is affiliated with Fanch Communications, formerly the largest cable television system operator in the state. Financial terms were not disclosed. http://www.lucent.com

Aperto Launches Stackable Single-Sector Base Station

Aperto Networks introduced a stackable single-sector broadband wireless access (BWA) base station supporting QoS with intelligent classification of traffic and dynamic per-subscriber link optimization. The 1-RU PacketWave 760 is packaged in a modular, pay-as-you-grow, single-sector Access Point form factor for the unlicensed and licensed 2.5 GHz, 3.5 GHz and 5 GHz frequency bands. It is based on the same architecture as Aperto's existing PacketWave 1000 (PW 1000).



Separately, Aperto announced its roadmap for WiMAX Forum certification, multi-vendor interoperability and shipment of fully IEEE 802.16 WiMAX-compliant systems. This roadmap will be implemented for all frequencies in which Aperto's carrier-class systems operate, i.e., in the 2.5 GHz, 3.5 GHz and 5 GHz bands. The company will build its first generation of WiMAX Forum-certified systems with 802.16-compliant chipshttp://www.apertonet.com

TelCove Selects Fujitsu FLASHWAVE for Metro Ethernet Transport

TelCove, which operates fiber-optic networks in 50 markets across the eastern U.S., is activating a new metro and intercity Ethernet service with Fujitsu Network Communications' FLASHWAVE 4000 Multi-Service Provisioning Platforms (MSPPs) as a key transport component. TelCove's Metropolitan Ethernet Transport service leverages the existing SONET network to provide 10/100Base-TX and Gigabit Ethernet services. The Ethernet over SONET (EoS) capabilities of the FLASHWAVE 4000 MSPPs allow TelCove to utilize existing network capacity and provide these advanced services without requiring wholesale changes to their embedded network or existing operating procedures. Nationwide deployment of the FLASHWAVE 4500 core transport system and FLASHWAVE 4100 optical access platform to support these new data applications has already begun.



TelCove's SONET infrastructure already includes Fujitsu's FLASHWAVE 4300 MSPP. http://www.fujitsu.com/us/telecomhttp://www.telcove.com

Millennial Net Raises $15M for Sensor Wireless Meshes

Millennial Net, a start-up based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, closed $15 million in Series B funding for its ultra low-power, self-organizing, wireless mesh networking systems. Millennial Net's deployment-ready, wireless mesh networking system targets sensor and electronics OEMs and system integrators. The system combines mesh networking software and tiny micro-power hardware elements, called i-Beans, that allow instrumentation and sensing devices like gauges, sensors and actuators to connect and communicate with each other over self-organizing, self-healing networks. The company said its i-Beans operate with an extremely low rate of power consumption on the energy of a 3-volt coin-sized battery for years at a time. Applications could include ubiquitous remote data monitoring applications for building automation, industrial, medical, utility and security markets. With Millennial Net's end-to-end wireless sensor networking solutions, end users are equipped with increased visibility and improved control over their dynamic network environments.



New investor BCE Capital, the venture arm of Bell Canada Enterprises, led the round, which also included participation from all Series A investors: General Catalyst Partners, Globespan Capital Partners and Kodiak Venture Partners. http://www.millennial.net

Juniper Marks Two Years Since T-Series Launch

Marking the second anniversary of its T640 routing platform, Juniper Networks announced that the core routing platform is now deployed by customers in over 60 production networks worldwide. Major customers include China Telecom, China Unicom, Cox Communications, Dacom, DREAM TRAIN INTERNET, France Telecom, Hokkaido Telecommunication Network (HOTnet), Japan Telecom, Korea Telecom, NTT Communications, Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) for the U.S. Defense Information Systems Agency's GIG-BE Program, SK Telecom, T-Com (a division of Deutsche Telekom), Telecom Italia, Telefonica, TeliaSonera and Verio.



Juniper Networks also announced shipment of intelligent logical router services on the M- and T-series. This accommodates multiple applications without requiring additional physical routers. One example is application specific routing, which gives service providers the ability to virtually separate traffic types that require unique network attributes. Network resource virtualization is another key application for intelligent logical router services and is an important element of the Infranet Initiative. http://www.juniper.net

PowerDsine Files for IPO

PowerDsine filed a registration statement with SEC for an initial public offering of its ordinary shares.



PowerDsine designs, develops and supplies integrated circuits, modules and systems that enable the implementation of Power over Ethernet in local area networks. http://www.powerdsine.com

AT&T To Build MPLS VPN for Booz Allen

AT&T was awarded a $5 million contract to build an MPLS-based VPN solution for Booz Allen Hamilton Inc., a strategy and technology consulting firm with more than 14,000 employees across six continents. AT&T packaged a secure VPN that integrates multiple services, including IP-enabled Frame Relay and ATM services, DSL-to-Frame Relay, and leased-line access connecting directly to the AT&T global IP backbone.
. http://www.att.com

Bookham Acquires Onetta for Optical amplifiers

Bookham has acquired Onetta, a start-up supplying optical amplifier modules and subsystems, for £13.0 million ($23.3 million). Onetta's Erbium Doped Fiber Amplifiers (EDFA) incorporate advanced optics, control electronics and firmware to provide leading edge performance. Onetta is based in Sunnyvale, California. http://www.bookham.comhttp://www.onetta.comIn February 2001, Bookham announced $56 million in second round funding. Investors include HarbourVest Partners, Sumitomo Corporation, J.P. Morgan H&Q, J&W & Seligman, Sequoia Capital and Matrix Partners.

Onetta was founded in February 2000 by Dr. Robert MacDonald (previously with New Focus) and Dr. Yan Sun (previously with Lucent's optical networking group).

Broadcom Introduces 4 Gbps Fibre Channel Fabric switches

Broadcom introduced 4 Gbps Fibre Channel fabric switch devices for us in storage and server Fibre Channel fabric interconnect solutions. In addition, they are designed to enable the replacement of traditional loop-switch architectures in high-density enterprise storage arrays. Broadcom said the industry adoption of 4 Gbps Fibre Channel products at 2 Gbps price points is expected to duplicate the highly successful and similar transition to 2 Gbps from 1 Gbps Fibre Channel. http://www.broadcom.com

Lucent to Acquire Telica for $295 million

Lucent Technologies agreed to acquire Telica for approximately $295 million in stock and options (92.7 million shares), plus additional employee-related cash payments, for its softswitch platform.



Janet Davidson, president of Lucent Technologies' Integrated Network Solutions (INS) business, said the acquisition would strengthen the company's "Accelerate" VoIP portfolio and enable it to address a much wider range of network build-outs. She said Telica's 2500 port media gateway and signaling gateway complements Lucent's own softswitch solutions.



Telica's product portfolio includes the Plexus 9000 Media Gateway, PLUS Signaling Gateway, and PLUS Media Gateway Controller. Its Plexus Unified Service Architecture (PLUS) supports a mix of legacy TDM, packet, Class 4, Class 5, wireline and wireless services. The second generation platform, which was introduced in September 2003, provides greater scalability by means of new Compute Modules for its Media Gateway Controller. Each new module delivers processing power that is equivalent to an entire first-generation softswitch platform. A single PLUS second-generation softswitch now supports up to 7.5 million calls per hour, the equivalent of five to 10 legacy switches. The PLUS architecture also is designed to interoperate with other softswitches provided by other suppliers via either SIP-T or BICC protocols.



To date, Telica has deployed more than 3 million ports and is supporting about 4 billion minutes of use per month on its PLUS systems. The company claims more than 60 customers. Telica had revenues of about $19 million in 2003.



Following the acquisition, Lucent's Accelerate VoIP portfolio will include the following elements.

  • Application layer: Broadsoft feature server, MiLife, PacketIN, EBS Communications Manager


  • Session Control Layer: IMS Lucent softswitch, SDHLR


  • Media and Endpoint Layer: 5E-XC, iMerge, Intelligent Media Gateway, Telica Gateway Controller, Cisco Media Gateway, Universal Gateways, PSAX Multiservice Gateway, Telica Media Gateway, Telica Signalling Gateway
http://www.lucent.comhttp://www.telica.com
  • Telica has about 250 employees worldwide and is based in Marlboro, Massachusetts. The company was co-founded in 1998 by John St. Amand.


  • In April 2004, Telica enhanced its Plexus 9000 and PLUS second generation softswitch family with a new Advanced Multi-key Routing application that allows service providers to route calls based on hundreds of parameters, including least-cost routing, time-of-day routing, class/quality of service routing, switch ID routing, domestic and international routing, and other factors. Telica said carriers could use this capability to define multiple routing plans that support individualized handling of each customer's traffic.


  • In February 2004, Lucent Technologies and Cisco Systems announced a joint VoIP solution targeted at mobile service providers. The solution, which combines the Lucent Softswitch (LSS) and Cisco MGX 8000 Series Media Gateways, is part of Lucent's recently announced Accelerate VoIP portfolio.


  • In January 2002, Telica announced $60 million in third round funding for its softswitch-based voice and data infrastructure products, bringing total funding at the time to over $120 million. Highland Capital Partners and Oak Investment Partners co-led the financing. Other investors included venture firms, service providers and strategic corporate investors.


  • In February 2002, Telica announced a five-year OEM deal with Alcatel.

Zhone Adds to its Management Team

Zhone Technologies announced several additions to its management team: Larry Orr will serve as vice president of operations; Michael Fischer has joined the company as vice president of independent carrier and channel sales; Doug North has joined as director of Canadian Sales;
Lori Martin has joined as director of information technologies; Paul Castor has joined as director of legal affairs; Stephen Klein has joined as director of triple play marketing. http://www.zhone.com

Accenture and AT&T Team to Provide Managed Messaging Solutions

Accenture and AT&T have formed an alliance to market and deliver managed messaging solutions on a global basis to large and medium enterprises and U.S. government agencies. The offering, Enterprise Messaging Service, aims to reduce the total cost of ownership of an organization's e-mail and other messaging platforms. The offering includes hosted messaging services based on the Microsoft Exchange Server platform and provides a foundation for future optional, advanced capabilities such as enterprise-class secure instant messaging and unified communications. http://www.att.comhttp://www.accenture.com

Verilink Announces New Vice President of Marketing

Verilink has appointed Mr. Sab Gosal to the position of Vice President of Marketing. Prior to joining Verilink, Gosal was Director of Product Marketing for Polaris Networks. Gosal has also held key positions for other major companies such as VINA Technologies, Cisco Systems, Fujitsu Europe Telecom and British Telecom. http://www.verilink.com/

BT Continues Investment in the Americas

BT unveiled an international strategy that includes continued investment in the Americas. Highlights of the plan include:

  • Expansion of its MPLS infrastructure, including new nodes in Charlotte, NC, St. Louis, Cleveland and Minneapolis. Nodes in Phase I cities (Detroit, Denver, Houston, Miami, Seattle, Washington, DC, Toronto and Mexico City) were activated on schedule in Fall 2003 When completed, the Americas network will include 23 POPs.


  • Offer a "Manager of Networks" service that integrates the products and services of multiple network suppliers into a single BT network service with BT defined and contracted quality parameters.


  • Develop information and communications technology (ICT) solutions. New propositions include solutions in the areas of CRM/Contact Centers, Security, Mobility and Office Agility.


  • Build on current relationships with leading IT players to develop a range of "sell to", "sell through" and "go-to-market" relationships.


  • Kick-off a U.S. advertising campaign, targeted at senior IT decision makers, with poster ads at Dulles International Airport, Washington, DC. The campaign includes ads at other U.S. international airports as well as print and online media.


  • Pursue major opportunities in Canada and Central and Latin America through strategic relationships
http://www.bt.com

Elantic Closes Acquisition of Dominion Telecom

Elantic Networks closed its acquisition of Dominion Telecom. The new company, Elantic Telecom, provides wholesale fiber bandwidth and carrier services to long-distance, international, wireless carriers, CLECs, cable companies and large enterprises across its fiber network, which spans 16,000-miles east of the Mississippi.



The sale, announced previously in March, was awaiting regulatory approval by the FCC and regulators in 11 states.



Elantic Networks, was formed to own and operate telecommunications networks. Investors in Elantic include MC Venture Partners, Bank of America Capital Investors and BB&T Capital Partners. The company has entered into an agreement with Cavalier Telephone, to operate and manage the network on Elantic's behalf. Cavalier Telephone currently has over 850 employees and operates one of the largest telecommunications networks in the mid-Atlantic area serving over 150,000 business and residential customers. http://www.elantictelecom.com

Chelsio Shows Fasters 10GE Adapter Card

Chelsio Communications, a start-up based in Sunnyvale, California, announced it has broken through the 10 microsecond (μs) latency barrier for 10-Gigabit Ethernet -- a new record, according to the company. Chelsio has developed a TCP (Transport Control Protocol) offload engine (TOE) in silicon, significantly raising the performance and latency bar for 10G Ethernet adapters. Chelsio is also the first to deliver 10G iSCSI in silicon.



Chelsio is demonstrating its host bus adapter this week at the Grid Today 2004 conference in Philadelphia. In the demo, Chelsio's solution will be shown transmitting standard 1500-Byte Ethernet frames in a peer-to-peer configuration at 7.9Gb throughput with less than 10 microseconds latency from user space to user space and 50% CPU utilization with a 2.2GHz Opteron-based server. The line-rate performance of the adapter stays consistent with equal and stable bandwidth per TCP connection, whether there is one or 10,000 connections. Chelsio said the best performance other 10GE adapters on the market can claim in transferring standard Ethernet frames is only 3 to 4Gbps, with higher latency and more than 100% CPU utilization. http://www.chelsio.com
  • Chelsio is headed by Kianoosh Naghshineh, who previously was CEO and president of ASIC Designers, Inc., an intellectual property firm providing silicon cores for communications-systems markets. Prior to that, Kianoosh was one of the primary architects of the Origin supercomputer at Silicon Graphics.


  • Chelsio's investors include Sequoia Capital, New Enterprise Associates (NEA), Global Catalyst Partners, Pacesetter Capital Group and Horizon Ventures.

Seranoa's Service Concentrators Address T1 Backhaul Congestion

Seranoa Networks, a start-up based in Boxborough, Massachusetts, introduced a new family of Service Edge Concentrators designed to reduce the number of backhaul circuits used to deliver T1-based packet and TDM services to business subscribers over current SONET/SDH metro access networks. Seranoa said the by leveraging IP at the edge of a metro network its platforms could increase access bandwidth efficiency two-to-five fold, resulting in a significant reduction in operational costs. However, unlike other TDM-over-IP architectures, Seranoa's design peels off the packetized traffic but lets TDM flow through in native format.



Seranoa's new IPeX Service Edge Concentrators are packet-aware switching platforms that could be deployed in a central office or collocation (co-lo) facility. The IPeX 200 performs IP-aware Layer 2 switching to multiplex and aggregate T1/T3-based IP/VoIP subscriber packet services onto standard clear-channel T3 (DS3) backhaul circuits. It offers 12 channelized or clear-channel T3 (DS3) interfaces, up to four of which can be configured as T3 (DS3) trunks with the remaining configured as IP subscriber interfaces.



A larger IPeX 400 provides the same IP-aware Layer 2 switching benefits and also supports TDM DS0 grooming capabilities of a wideband 3/1/0 Digital Cross-Connect System (DCS) to optimize the delivery of traditional TDM services. The IPeX 400 offers 12 channelized or clear-channel T3s (DS3s) and up to two Gigabit Ethernet interfaces. It can be used to multiplex IP subscriber traffic with simultaneous grooming and aggregation of TDM voice and non-IP data onto shared backhaul links. Seranoa said this approach enables major improvements in SONET bandwidth efficiency and significantly reducing carrier backhaul costs for IP, TDM or integrated IP/TDM service delivery. http://www.seranoa.com
  • Seranoa was founded in 2000 and has raised $25 million in financing from St. Paul Venture Capital, YankeeTek Ventures, FA Technology Ventures and Advent International.


  • Seranoa is headed by Graham Pattison, who previously was President and CEO of Verilink Corp. The company was founded by Paul Kelley, who previously was also a founder and Vice President of Engineering of Net2Net (acquired in 1998 by Visual Networks).

ShoreTel Selects eyeP Media Softphones

eyeP Media, a start-up based in Switzerland, announced a VoIP softphone based on MGCP for use with ShoreTel's IP telephony system. http://www.eyepmedia.com

Sprint Pushes its Nationwide Walkie-talkie Service

Sprint la launchinga new line-up of feature-rich moblie devices, along withand more affordable pricing, for its nationwide walkie-talkie service. Since launching the Sprint PCS Ready Link push-to-talk service in November 2003, the company has signed up 275,000 customers. In addition to business customers, Sprint is seeing significant adoption among teens and families.



Customers can add Sprint PCS Ready Link to their service plan for a $10 monthly recurring cost, or they can select Sprint PCS Ready Link and a Sprint PCS Vision Pack for a $20 monthly recurring cost. As part of a promotional offer, customers can receive Sprint PCS Ready Link and Sprint PCS Vision free for two months. http://www.sprint.com