WilTel Adds New Vice President of Enterprise Markets

WilTel Communications has named Terrence J. Connell as its vice president of enterprise markets. In this new position, Connell is responsible for leading the sales of WilTel's portfolio of data and IP services to Fortune 2000 customers and in its four key enterprise verticals: Finance, Insurance, Systems Integrators, and Healthcare. Prior to his new position at WilTel, Connell was vice president of business markets at Broadwing, where he was responsible for launching Broadwing's enterprise sales efforts for the Eastern division. In addition to his time at Broadwing, Connell spent more than 16 years at MCI. http://www.wiltel.com

• In May 2004, WilTel Communications, which provides extensive wholesale carrier services, unveiled a strategy for enterprise networking services. New services include Managed Security, which consists of managed firewalls and intrusion detection and Managed Router, which provides pre-configured hardware and software that reduce deployment timeframes on routers. The company also announced the re-launch of several existing products that have been upgraded to serve the Enterprise market, including MPLS IP VPN and Ethernet WAN.

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BCE Agrees to Settlement with Manitoba Telecom

Bell Canada Enterprises (BCE) agreed to settle its lawsuits for a permanent injunction and damages against Manitoba Telecom Services Inc. (MTS) and for damages against Allstream Inc. The terms of the settlement include a p payment of C$75 million by MTS to Bell Canada in consideration of the early termination of commercial agreements existing between the two companies; a premium payment by MTS to Bell in the event a change of control of MTS occurs prior t January 2006; and the naming of Bell as the preferred supplier of wholesale services to MTS/Allstream.
Also, MTS/Allstream has extended wholesale services to Bell on a preferred supplier basis. Bell and MTS will compete freely with each other in Canada. Existing cellular agreements between Bell and MTS will remain in effect until the end of 2006. http://www.bce.ca

• In June 2004, Manitoba Telecom Services completed its acquisition of Allstream (formerly AT&T Canada). Allstream operates a nationwide network spanning 18,000 km and is focused on the business market.



• In March 2004, Manitoba Telecom Services (MTS) first announced plans to acquire Allstream (formerly AT&T Canada) in a transaction valued at $1.7 billion. BCE (the parent company of Bell Canada) had commenced a legal proceeding against Allstream Inc. claiming damages of $150 million from Allstream for conspiracy and inducing MTS to breach certain obligations to Bell Canada.

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Siemens and Bharti Sign US$50 Million Mobile Contract

Bharti Tele-Ventures, India's largest mobile operator with over 7 million customers, selected Siemens Mobile to optimize its mobile network. Siemens mobile will not only expand the GSM/GPRS network, but also operate and maintain it. The contract is worth around US$50 million and will run for three years. Siemens mobile will expand Bharti's network in the circles of Kolkata, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal. The contract includes the supply of GSM core and radio network infrastructure as well as GPRS technology for providing seamless coverage in over 150 towns across the 3 circles.



Siemens also noted that the contract marks the first time it has been chosen to operate a mobile network in Asia. http://www.siemens.com

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Ericsson's EDGE Delivers 235.6 kbps in Live Test

Ericsson reported a record peak data speed of 235.6 kbps across an EDGE (Enhanced Data Rates for Global Evolution) radio interface - on T-Mobile's network in Hungary. T-Mobile Hungary and Ericsson successfully demonstrated the high-speed mobile data possibilities with EDGE technology over a 2 week period. The aim of the application level measurements was to assess the robustness and performance in a live radio environment. The measurements were performed according to the Ericsson test description for active GPRS/EDGE end-to-end performance testing at pre-selected measurement locations. http://www.ericsson.com

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Cogent Names Former AT&T Exec as President

Cogent Communications named Reed Harrison will become its President and Chief Operating Officer. Harrison most recently served as AT&T's Senior Vice President - Network Engineering & Operations. He will be responsible for Cogent's day-to-day operations and will work closely with Dave Schaeffer, the company's CEO. http://www.cogentco.com

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