Verizon Builds 10 Gbps SONET Service for Medical Group

UMass Memorial Health Care, the largest health care system serving central Massachusetts, awarded a seven-year, $9.6 million contract to Verizon to provide a managed SONET service that will allow medical specialists to collaborate in the diagnosis and care of patients throughout the region. The 10 Gbps service will transport critical patient history and diagnostic data to the academic medical center from three campuses, four community hospitals and several additional care facilities. http://www.verizon.com

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MCI Opens VPN Network Gateway to Public IP Networks

Representing the second phase of its Secure Interworking Gateway (SIG) strategy, MCI announced the deployment of a VPN Network Gateway that enables corporate customers to bridge their private data networks with public IP networks. MCI said the new platform gives its customers a means to derive more life and functionality from their existing Frame, Private IP and IP VPN networks.



The VPN Network Gateway allows companies to use multiple technologies for dedicated connections and local loop access on a site-by-site basis. As a network-based solution, MCI owns, manages, monitors and updates the secure gateway deployed within its own infrastructure and ensures seamless delivery of customer traffic from origination to destination. http://www.mci.com

• In June 2003, MCI introduced an IP VPN Remote network-based service designed to securely and seamlessly connect remote and traveling workers to their existing corporate networks via the Internet. MCI said its Secure Interworking Gateway (SIG) provides enterprises with access to their existing frame relay, ATM, Private IP and IP VPN networks via the Internet. The gateway automatically authenticates the connection, requesting user name and password confirmation from the edge server. Once a user is granted access, communications are routed to a customers' data network via a Permanent Virtual Circuit or an IPSec tunnel. As a managed offering MCI owns, manages, monitors and updates the secure gateway deployed within its network. Until now, MCI's CPE-based remote access VPN offering required equipment residing at the customer's location.

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TowerStream Adds Wireless POP on Top of Empire State Building

TowerStream, a fixed wireless ISP, has added a new PoP at the top of the Empire State Building in NYC. The latest addition to the company's network, which includes the MetLife Building and 32 6th Avenue, allows for increased wireless to businesses within a ten-mile radius of Manhattan.



As an active member of the WiMAX Forum, TowerStream said it is likely deploy WiMAX Forum Certified products once they enter the market next year. http://www.towerstream.com/

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BellSouth Pledges Uninterrupted Service to Wholesale Customers

BellSouth announced that there would be no disruption of service if current rules on wholesale leasing of its unbundled network elements (UNEs) are vacated next month. Specifically, BellSouth pledged to take no unilateral action to disconnect service to its wholesale customers as a result of the recent order of the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals, which is due to go into effect on June 16. http://www.bellsouth.com

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Cingular Selects Lucent for Trial 3G HSDPA Network in Atlanta

Lucent Technologies will deploy a 3G UMTS trial network in the Atlanta market for Cingular Wireless. The UMTS network will operate in Cingular Wireless' 1900 MHz spectrum, and will include testing of High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA), a technology that will ultimately support data speeds of up to 14.4 Mbps according to the company. The network also will be designed to support VoIP in the future.



Lucent's UMTS solution can support HSDPA with a software-only upgrade to its existing equipment.



Lucent will also supply its Merlin U520 UMTS Wireless PC Modem Cards - jointly developed by Lucent and Novatel Wireless -- which support speeds of up to 384 kbps. http://www.lucent.com/

• In February 2003, researchers at Bell Labs announced a “turbo decoder chip�? for 3G data terminals that supports the evolving High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) standard. HSDPA is an evolutionary enhancement to Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) spread-spectrum technology, also known as wideband code division multiple access (W-CDMA). The chip uses a highly parallel architecture and a new compression technique that enables it to operate at a low clock frequency and yet still achieve high data rates. Lucent said the new chip is fast enough not only to support first-generation HSDPA systems, which will offer transmission speeds between 5 and 10 Mbps, but also future Multiple-Input/Multiple-Output (MIMO) HSDPA systems, which are expected to achieve peak data rates up to 20 Mbps. Design work for the device was done by a Bell Labs research team in Sydney, Australia.

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Pedestal Networks Appoints VP of Marketing

Pedestal Networks has appointed Corey Geiger as vice president of marketing. Prior to joining Pedestal, Geiger held several executive positions at Advanced Fibre Communications, including vice president of product management and marketing. At AFC, Geiger also served as vice president of operations, and vice president of global customer and professional services. Previously, Geiger held senior director positions in sales and marketing at DSC Communications (since acquired by Alcatel). He also held technical and marketing positions in the US and abroad at AT&T Network Systems (now Lucent Technologies) and AT&T Bell Laboratories. http://www.pedestalnetworks.com

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OFC and NFOEC to Combine into One Event

The Optical Fiber Communication Conference and Exposition (OFC) and the National Fiber Optic Engineers Conference (NFOEC) will combine into a single event now scheduled for March 6-11, 2005 at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California. The stand-alone NFOEC meeting, originally planned for September 12-16 in Anaheim, California, will not be held.



Telcordia Technologies has turned over assets and management of its NFOEC event to OFC. http://www.ofcconference.orghttp://www.telcordia.com

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Net Insight Provides OC-48/STM-16 Module for Triple Play

Net Insight announced the availability of a 2-port OC-48/STM-16 X-ADM switching mulitplexer module for its Nimbra transport platform. The Nimbra platform combines next-gen SDH/SONET transport, Ethernet and specific video and legacy interfaces for multi-service networks. The new module will allow for interconnection of up to seven double-rings in its Nimbra One multi-service switch. Net Insight's solution is aimed at carriers delivering triple-play services. http://www.netinsight.net

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ALLTEL Selects ADTRAN DSLAMs

ALLTEL has selected ADTRAN's Total Access HDX, Total Access 1200 and Total Access 1100 platforms for central office, remote terminal and outside plant locations. Specifically, ALLTEL will deploy the Total Access HDX in central office and larger remote terminal locations. In addition, the Total Access 1200 Series of Mini-DSLAMs will be deployed in smaller central offices and remote locations. The environmentally hardened Total Access 1100 OSP DSLAMs are being deployed by ALLTEL in outside plant locations. Financial terms were not disclosed. http://www.adtran.com

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China Netcom's Liaoning Communication Selects Redback

China Netcom's Liaoning Communication Corporation is deploying Redback Networks' SmartEdge 800 Service Gateway systems to provide business and consumer broadband access and services in the northeastern Chinese province. In the implemented configuration, Redback's SmartEdge Service Gateway systems will simultaneously manage consumer broadband and business IP services on a single, unified "converged edge" platform. Financial terms were not disclosed.



The Redback Service Gateway platforms integrate the B-RAS functionality of Redback's SMS family of subscriber management systems with its SmartEdge platform to provide subscriber management with dynamic policy enforcement, carrier-class IP routing, ATM mediation, MPLS VPNs, multicast and advanced video capabilities and high performance QoS. http://www.redback.com

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Spirent Adds ADSL2 Diagnostic Module

Spirent Communications unveiled an ADSL2 module for its REACT Diagnostic OSS, which helps service providers improve DSL service activation, monitor performance, and better isolate service problems from the central office to the home. The new technology is offered with Spirent's service assurance solution -- REACT diagnostic software and CopperMax testhead series. http://www.spirentcom.com

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ALLTEL Selects Calix for Central Office DSLAMs

ALLTEL has selected the Calix C7 ultra-broadband loop carrier (UBLC) for deployment in select central office DSLAM applications. Calix equipment is already deployed in ALLTEL's outside network. Financial terms were not disclosed.



Operating as a DSLAM, the Calix C7 supports up to 480 DSL interfaces in a compact 8RU enclosure. With integrated POTS splitters, the Calix C7 is able to support voice on every line and, with integrated IGMP functionality, enabling the platform to support video services. In central office applications, the Calix C7 is able to support up to 2,400 ADSL or ADSL2+ interfaces in a single seven-foot rack with ten OC-48s worth of uplink capacity. This same rack is able to alternatively support up to 400 Gigabit Ethernet, 1,200 Fast Ethernet, 100 OC-48, 1,200 DS3, 1,200 DS-1, or 2,400 POTS interfaces. http://www.calix.com

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Comcast Confirms Plans for Residential VoIP

At its annual meeting of shareholders, Comcast confirmed plans to offer residential VoIP services across its entire cable system by 2006, pending a successful market acceptance in the three VoIP rollouts it currently has underway -- Philadelphia, Indianapolis and Springfield (MA). The company expects 50% of its cable plant to be VoIP ready by year-end 2004 and to have 95% of its cable plant VoIP ready by year-end 2005.



Comcast CEO Brian Roberts said the company's vision is to provide a fully integrated triple-play service in which telephony is combined with video, messaging and other advanced features.



Comcast currently has about 1.25 million circuit-switched cable telephony customers. Cable phone revenue declined 20.3% from 2003 to $178 million in Q1 2004, reflecting a 12.1% decrease in subscribers and a 9.5% decline in average monthly revenue per subscriber to $47.34. Over the past year, Comcast has been focusing on the profitability of its telephony service rather than trying to scale the circuit-switched deployments.



Some other notes from the annual shareholder meeting:

Michael Armstrong' stepped down as non- executive chairman of the company. Brian L. Roberts has now become chairman of the board


• Comcast currently has 5.7 million cable modem subscribers, making it the largest U.S. broadband provider. It expects to add 1.5 ~ 1.6 million more high-speed Internet subscribers this year.



• CAPEX for 2004 is expected to be in the $3.3 ~ $3.4 billion range, compared to $4.1 billion last year and $5.2 billion in 2002.



• Comcast expects to add 700,000 to 1 million digital cable subscribers this year. It ended 2003 with 7.6 million digital cable subs.



• All of the company's sponsored proposal were approved at the meeting. All five shareholder sponsored proposals were voted down.

http://www.comcast.com

• Cablevision, which provides cable TV service to some 3 million households in the New York metropolitan area, launched a residential VoIP service in September 2003.



• Cox Communications announced plans in April 2004 to launch its Digital Telephone in Northern Virginia beginning next month to compete with the incumbent local carrier, Verizon. Cox will be using circuit-switched technology in Northern Virginia. Cox's Northern Virginia cable system includes franchises in Fairfax County and Fredericksburg. Cox said it is already the third largest local exchange carrier in Virginia, with existing service in two other Cox markets - Hampton Roads and Roanoke. In December 2003, Cox Communications launched its first VoIP-based cable telephony service in Roanoke, Virginia.

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Charter's First All-Digital Network Deploys nCUBE

Charter Communications is using nCUBE's all digital advertising system and on-demand platform for its all-digital network in Long Beach, California. Charter activated its all-digital network in January. The service includes the two key elements that define an all-digital system -- a digital advertising system, provided by nCUBE, and a digital compression system, provided by Harmonic, which encodes the program line-up. http://www.ncube.com

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360networks to sell Canadian assets to Bell Canada, CallNet

360networks will sell its Canadian assets, primarily Group Telecom, to Bell Canada for US$205 million in cash. Bell will also purchase selected northern U.S. interconnection assets and related liabilities.



360networks said it would use the cash to pay off its debt. Following the closing of the deal, 360networks will focus on its US operations, which include a long-haul network footprint with metro access rings and a regional network across the Western U.S. with unique reach into rural markets.



Bell Canada intends to retain 360networks' facilities and customer base in Western Canada and will sell significant portions of 360networks' business customer base in Eastern Canada. The deal will give Bell an extensive fiber network that includes local facilities in Vancouver, Victoria, Calgary, Edmonton and other cities in Western Canada. The company will also gain access to almost 200 office buildings in Western Canada.



Call-Net Enterprises, a Canadian integrated communications provider known primarily by its wholly-owned subsidiary Sprint Canada, entered into an agreement with Bell Canada to acquire certain assets of 360networks. This deal includes significant portions of 360networks' business customer base and specific network facilities in Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Canada. Call-Net will enter into a two-year transitional services agreement with Bell to provide technical and operational services to the newly acquired customer base and in exchange be paid approximately 70 per cent of the total retail revenue. Call-Net's acquisition price for the business customer base represents approximately three months of acquired revenue and will be paid over the term of the agreement. The 360networks business customer base in Eastern Canada is expected to add in excess of $50 million to Sprint Canada's total business revenue. http://www.360.nethttp://www.bell.ca

• In January 2004, 360networks completed its acquisition of Touch America. The network assets included approximately 10,300 route miles within a regional network that stretches throughout fifteen western states.



• In November 2002, 360networks acquired GT Group Telecom for approximately C$260.5 million (US$164 million) in cash. Group Telecom operated a national fiber network across Canada with 17 metro fiber rings.

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Comcast and T-Mobile Open Outdoor Wi-Fi Hotspot

Comcast and T-Mobile USA are opening an outdoor Wi-Fi hotspot at Philadelphia's historic Headhouse Square Plaza. The companies will offer free, public access for the first six months. The deployment is T-Mobile's first outdoor hotspot.



T-Mobile's U.S. hotspot network now covers more than 4,600 locations. http://www.t-mobile.com/

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