Verizon Extends Deployment of Nortel Packet Switches for Local Service

Verizon is extending its deployment of packet voice switches to serve local business and consumer lines in six additional central offices. Company technicians are currently installing packet-switching systems in five southern California communities and one town in the state of Washington. http://www.verizon.com

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Lucent Partners with Microsoft on IPTV

Lucent Technologies and Microsoft announced a non-exclusive partnership to integrate the Microsoft IPTV software platform with Lucent's network access solutions. This integration enables the delivery of standard-definition, high-definition and on-demand programming to the Microsoft TV IPTV-based set-top box via the Lucent Stinger IP-Enabled DSLAM and Lucent ADSL2+ modem. At SuperComm, the companies are showing high-definition content delivered over a single ADSL2+ connection. http://www.lucent.com

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Powell Praises SBC Move toward Network Investment

"The state of the industry is much better off this year than last because the talk about broadband and convergence is turning into real action and investment" said FCC Commissioner Michael K. Powell at a SuperComm event in Chicago.



Powell describe President Bush's goal of making broadband available to all Americans by 2007 as
achievable but ambitious. He said broadband should not be just about DSL or cable modems, but also include WiFi, WiMax, broadband over powerline and other forms of access.



In reaction to the SBC announcement of investing $6 billion in its access network, Powell responded simply "Hallelujah." He urged all three other RBOCs, as well as CLECs and anyone else interested in competing in this market, to invest in their networks as well. He defended his "light regulatory touch" saying new government regulation should never be pursued for its own sake but only if markets have failed or to ensure a specific social goal, such as emergency services.



As for industry forecasts, Powell predicts the industry will be "on fire" a year from now. By SuperComm 2005, he expects dramatic increases in the number of U.S. broadband subscribers as the industry finally enters the "hockey stick" curve of mass adopters.

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Agere Develops Layer 4 Mechanism for "Unbreakable Access"

Agere Systems unveiled a Layer 4 technology for providing per-service protection in broadband access networks. Agere's "Unbreakable Access," which is an algorithm that runs on the company's network processors, identifies premium traffic streams entering the network and sets up back-up IP paths through the transport network. If a network path for a protected service, such as VoIP, IPTV or VOD, should fail, the system would restore the service using the alternate path. Agere said this restoration occurs up to 20 times faster than existing alternatives, which currently would require restoring BGP routing tables or PNNI. The technology also reduces operational expenses by consolidating equipment platforms, such as digital loop carrier (DLC) equipment functions within DSLAMs.



The Unbreakable Access chip set started as an innovation at BT as part of its 21st Century Network initiative. Fujitsu and Marconi supply access equipment to BT. Fujitsu already utilizes Agere's traffic management network processor chips, and Marconi plans to integrate them into their next-generation gear to complement other processors.



Other types of equipment targeted for use with Unbreakable Access include media gateways; Ethernet switches and services such as VoIP telephony; IP/MPLS VPNs; Ethernet virtual local area network; and wireless local area networks. http://www.agere.com

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SBC's Ed Whitacre Outlines $6 Billion FTTN Plans

Ed Whitacre, chairman and CEO of SBC Communications, outlined plans to invest up to $6 billion over the coming five years to push fiber deeper into neighborhoods and fully compete with cable network operators. SBC expects that a FTTN (fiber-to-the-node) architecture will enable it to deliver 15 to 20 Mbps DSL downstream to every home. Under its previous Project Pronto initiative launched in the late 1990s, SBC extended fiber into remote terminals located 12,000 ft from customers. The new plan would push fiber into remote terminals located with 5,000ft of the customer. SBC will also start using FTTP for all new builds in its territory.



SBC is working with Microsoft on IPTV services that would include standard and high-definition programming, customizable channel line-ups, video-on-demand, digital video recording and other advanced features. Field trials are slated for later this year. So far, SBC's partnership with EchoStar is going very well, said Whitacre, indicating "lots of pent-up demand" for cable competition.



Whitacre said he now felt confident making these investments given the Bush Administration recent decision not pursue a Supreme Court appeal to defend the FCC's UNE-p rules. He expressed optimism on another level as well. Whitacre expects the nation's economic recovery, especially the recent growth in jobs, to translate into new demand for telecom services.



Overall, Whitacre believes the telecom industry will evolve into only a handful of super carriers that are able to deliver a full range of services across an extended geography. Beneath these super carriers will exist a lower tier of competitive carriers offering more specific business services to niche markets. Whitacre suggested this is a "more rational model" for the telecom industry and typical of what is seen in other mature sectors of the economy. http://www.sbc.com

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SUPERCOMM 2004 Opens in Chicago

SUPERCOMM 2004 opened in Chicago with 675 exhibitors, up by 25% over last year. Total attendance is expected to be about 30,000 over the three day event -- a 20% increase over last year.

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Turin Unveils SONET/SDH and Ethernet Edge System for Metro Access

Turin Networks introduced its "TraverseEdge 100" (TE-100), a compact next-generation SONET/SDH and Ethernet edge system for metro access networks. The platform can be used to aggregate a combination of DS1 or E1, DS3 or E3, Fast Ethernet and Gigabit Ethernet service interfaces onto dual high-speed SONET OC-3/12/48 or SDH STM-1/4/16 ports



The TE-100 supports key standards, including GFP (Generic Framing Procedure), LCAS (Link Capacity Adjustment Scheme) and both Low-order and High-order Virtual Concatenation (VCAT), which enable Ethernet traffic to be transported more efficiently over the SONET/SDH infrastructure. In addition, the TE-100 is the first product in its class that integrates Ethernet switching functions to aggregate and manage traffic at layer 2, and deliver next generation Ethernet services such multi-point VPNs (Virtual Private Networks) with guaranteed service levels.



The TE-100 was designed to work seamlessly with Turin Networks' industry leading metro transport network solution, the Traverse Multiservice Transport Platform.



Turin Networks said its TE-100 is differentiated from competing platforms by exceeding standard SONET/SDH facilities protection with optional equipment protection for the high-speed optical network interfaces.



The SONET version of the TE-100 will be available in Q3 and an SDH version will be available in Q4. http://www.turinnetworks.com

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RADVISION Announces ATCA-based Video Media Server

RADVISION has ported its media server platform to the Advanced Telecommunications Computing Architecture (AdvancedTCA).



The AdvancedTCA version of RADVISION's media server is a multipoint video telephony solution powered by Intel Architecture and built with modular communications building blocks optimized for Linux.



The platform is powering a number of live video services demonstrations in Intel's booth at this week's SUPERCOMM tradeshow. The company plans to make available for carrier lab trials in Q4.



RADVISION's existing video telephony solution, based on its own stand-alone NEBS-compliant chassis and called the viaIP400, already powers hosted video telephony offerings by carriers to their broadband residential, 3G mobile, and enterprise customershttp://www.radvision.com

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Nextel Announces Unique 'Push To E-mail' Application

Nextel Communications is launching a "NextMail" application that allows users to send a streaming mp3 voice message from their phone to any e-mail recipient quickly and easily by simply pressing the "Direct Connect" button on the side of every Nextel phone. Because its messages are sent with a time and date stamp, NextMail provides a quick and easy means of communicating the status of current jobs or projects. The application can send the mp3 file to as many as 50 email addresses at once - and the recipient of a NextMail message can easily respond to the originator in text (SMS) form. Customers can also deliver NextMail messages to their own e-mail inboxes as verbal reminders or to record meeting notes.



Nextel describes its 'Push To E-mail' as the convergence of instant walkie-talkie voice communication and e-mail. NextMail is powered by Pacific DataVision (PDV).



The is available on any Nextel handset for $7.50 per month. Airtime charges apply when recording NextMail messages and customers may incur usage charges based on their rate plans. http://www.nextel.com

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Spirent Offers VoIP-PSTN Emulation Test Solution

Spirent Communications introduced new VoIP performance emulation capabilities for Abacus 5000 IP Telephony Test System. The Abacus 5000 can emulate a call agent, signaling gateway, IP end-points, PSTN network elements and generate real voice and RTP packets. Spirent's Abacus 5000 also features the first built-in media gateway controller (softswitch) emulator that can scale up to thousands of simultaneous calls. This feature simplifies testing of VoIP devices by reducing the need to deploy multiple softswitches and by saving time needed to configure and maintain scripts and test setups. Users also may synchronize results across PSTN and IP environments using a high bandwidth backplane. http://www.spirentcom.com

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Verilink Rolls Out a New Generation of VoIP Access Devices

Verilink introduced a new line of VoIP enabled Integrated Access Devices (IADs). Verilink's new 8000 Series supports Session Initiated Protocol (SIP) and Media Gateway Control Protocol (MGCP) and provides a migration path from traditional telephony, TDM or ATM, to IP. Covad Communications is using Verilink's 8000 Series IADs for its valued-added VoIP services. The 8000 Series IADs provide full standards-based SNMP remote management, which enables service providers and enterprises to automate the configuration and provisioning of new services, as well as perform troubleshooting and other network management operations.

Verilink is also introducing VIPER, a new generation of IAD aimed at the SOHO and small to medium-sized business markets. The product family consists of full-featured ADSL and SHDSL IADs supporting either 2-port or 4-port POTS or BRI with Layer 3 routing, Layer 2 bridging and software security. ADSL 2+ and four-wire SHDSL models are also available. 21-Jun-04

http://www.verilink.com

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