eDial Releases Latest SIP-based Feature Server

eDial, a start-up based in Waltham, Massachusetts, released an updated version of its Advanced Communications Server, which is a secure SIP-based feature server that provides control, management and reporting of enhanced telephone communications. With the latest version 5.0 of the eDial Advanced Communications Server, service providers will be able to increase the platform's stacking capability to handle over 900 simultaneous calls within a single network, and over 10,000 users. The platform can be used for control, management and reporting of enhanced telephone communications including mixtures of two-party calls, conferences and broadcasts, PSTN and IP telephones and networks, and audio and web conferencing with instant messaging and presence. The latest version is targeted at service providers, major enterprises, and systems integrators. http://www.edial.com

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Bookham Unveils Optical Mux based on Thin Film Filter Technology

Bookham Technology unveiled a new class of high channel count, scalable multiplexer/demultiplexer solutions based on thin film filter (TFF) technology. Optical filtering based on "banded architecture" arranges separate optical communications channels on a particular wavelength into groups and, instead of processing them one at a time, the filter processes the group. Based on Bookham's proprietary AED III (Advanced Energetic Deposition, version III) technology, a new class of banded filters called "8 skip 0" and "10 skip 0" have been introduced for use in 100 GHz channel spacing DWDM systems. These filters enable 8 or 10 channels at a time to be filtered without skipping, or sacrificing, the neighbouring channels. Bookham said this capability is more than double the level of the industry's more commonplace four-channel versions. The new filters allow multiplexers and demultiplexers to be built with a simplified, flexible, and lower cost architecture. http://www.bookham.com

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Alcatel Acquires MNC for Hosted Mobile Applications

Alcatel has agreed to acquire MNC, a mobile application service provider (mobile ASP) in Switzerland. The MNC technology will enable Alcatel to provide a hosted mobile application solution to service providers. Alcatel would own, maintain and operate the technology on behalf of the mobile service provider, while guaranteeing it retains full control and ownership of its commercial strategy and subscriber base. Alcatel said this approach will allow mobile operators to build rich multimedia service offerings (such as content delivery through MMS, SMS, java downloads and mobile video-based services) and to open their networks to hundreds of external content providers, enterprises and communities, thus creating a "mobile kiosk".



MNC's customers include operators such as Swisscom, Sunrise, television companies like TSR, radios like NRJ, large brands like Philip Morris and the majority of the Swiss football and hockey clubs. Financial terms were not disclosed. http://www.alcatel.comhttp://www.mnc.ch

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OnFiber to Acquire Portland General

OnFiber Communications will acquire a majority of the assets and customer contracts of Portland General Broadband (PGB). PGB's 85 route mile fiber network, which was completed in 2003, serves Portland's business districts and major telecommunication traffic aggregation points, including Beaverton, Hillsboro, Tigard, Tualatin, Sherwood, Lake Oswego, and Milwaukie. The PGB network now becomes one of 16 major metropolitan area networks operated by OnFiber throughout the U.S. Financial terms were not disclosed. http://www.onfiber.com

• Earlier this month, OnFiber Communications, which operates metro networks across the U.S, completed a $12 million Series C round of private equity financing. The funding was raised entirely from current investors, including Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Bear Stearns Merchant Banking and Telesoft Partners.



• In June 2004, OnFiber Communications acquired a majority of the assets and all customer contracts of C2C Fiber of Massachusetts, a competitive carrier operating in the Boston metropolitan area. The deal included approximately 350 route miles in over 25 cities and towns throughout the Boston area, including the I-495 corridor. Financial terms were not disclosed.



• In August 2003, OnFiber acquired a majority of the network assets and customer contracts of Telseon Inc.

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Sonus to Restate Results for 2001, 2002 and 2003

Sonus Networks will restate its consolidated financial results for fiscal 2001 and 2002, and the first three quarters of fiscal 2003, following a detailed review of its accounting over the past three years. The company said the primary impact of the restatements is the adjustment to the timing of revenue recognition and certain other financial statement accounts. Principal adjustments to revenue relate to the timing of revenue where the revenue has been deferred and recognized in subsequent periods. In addition, other material restatements include adjustments to purchase accounting, impairments, accruals and deferred compensation. http://www.sonusnet.com

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Zhone Reports Q2 Revenue of $21 Million

Zhone Technologies reported Q2 revenue of $21.0 million, compared with $20.5 million for the second quarter of 2003. Net loss (GAAP) for Q2 2004 was $7.4 million, compared with a net loss of $6.5 million applicable to common shareholders for the second quarter of 2003.



"Second quarter revenue was slightly lower than the guidance provided during our first quarter conference call," said Mory Ejabat, Chairman and CEO of Zhone. "Bookings were strong and exceeded revenues for the quarter. In addition, we are encouraged by additional traction with new customers for our SLMS products. http://www.zhone.com

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KPN Deploys Lucent for VoDSL Project

KPN awarded a two-year contract to Lucent Technologies for a Voice over DSL (VoDSL) project in the Netherlands. The Lucent Packetstar (PSAX) 2300 MultiService Media Gateways are being used to consolidate KPN's ATM networks in the Netherlands and push broadband services beyond the core to the edge of the network and the central office. Lucent is providing its Navis Voice Activation Manager, an Operations Support System that helps manage and automate switch resource provisioning in support of the 5ESS switch. KPN will use Lucent's Navis AQueView software, a carrier-class element management system, to manage the advanced services offered by the PSAX networking equipment.



The Lucent-provided infrastructure and services will enable KPN to expand its VoDSL portfolio to offer a new converged voice and data solution to its small and medium sized enterprise customers. Lucent will be the exclusive partner for KPN's VoDSL implementation. Financial terms were not disclosed. http://www.lucent.com

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Aruba Wireless Networks First to Bring 802.11i to Life

Aruba Wireless Networks announced support for the newly ratified 802.11i standard on its centralized wireless LAN switching system. Early field trials with select customers are underway, and general beta testing of its 802.11i implementation is slated to begin in August.
Aruba implements all encryption in a centralized high-speed, software- programmable hardware encryption engine rather than in individual access points. Conventional WLAN systems decrypt wireless traffic at the AP, requiring encryption keys to be stored on or pushed to those APs. The company argues that this conventional approach poses security risks if an access point is lost or stolen, or if those encryption keys are otherwise intercepted or redirected. Also, to implement fast mobility between APs, conventional wireless systems must exchange complex state information between all possible APs, causing unwanted latency and complexity. Aruba's WLAN switching solution eliminates the need for complicated authentication state to be exchanged between APs by processing all authentication and encryption within a centralized system. http://www.arubanetworks.com

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Avaya Hires Motorola Exec to Accelerates Circuit-to-Packet Strategy

Avaya appointed Geoffrey Baird as vice president of its Communications Appliances Division.
Avaya plans to extend its portfolio of solutions for converged voice, data and video networks with new devices and software for IP telephony applications. Baird most recently built Motorola's Push-To-Talk over Cellular 3rd party handset licensing program based on VoIP for the European Middle East and Asia markets. He has served as CEO of Commtag Ltd., a wireless application start-up, and XTempus Ltd., a mobile software business, both based in the U.K. He was COO of Psion Computers, the handheld computing company, where he drove new product launches, including the Revo PDA, and established a joint venture with Motorola. Baird also managed the Voice over IP business at 3COM. http://www.avaya.com/

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Mangrove Systems and Ahead Communications

Mangrove Systems and Ahead Communications Systems have formed a technology integration and resale partnership that combines Mangrove's MetroMPLS technology with Ahead's Xedge6000 family of multi-service switches. The joint solution offers Ahead's installed base of service provider and major enterprise customers a roadmap to scalable Ethernet and broadband service delivery over higher-capacity network and service interfaces. http://www.mangrovesystems.com/http://www.aheadcomusa.com

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P-Com Offers New High-Capacity Broadband Solution

P-Com introduced a new line of high-capacity microwave radios for broadband service providers. P-Com's new Encore SX is point-to-point microwave radio system for use in mobile backhaul infrastructure, PTT access and trunk networks, competitive local access networks, and enterprise/campus networks. The new line provides throughput at 155 mbps, whereas P-Com's current microwave products provide up to 45 mbps. The system features a fully compliant SONET/SDH regenerator and provides automatic protection switching, in-band management using radio overhead, and integration with existing SONET/SDH element management systems. The new produces will be manufactured by Millimetrix Broadband Networks. http://www.p-com.com

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Verizon Shows off its "Fios" FTTP Service

Verizon Communications previewed its upcoming "Fios" FTTP service, which it will soon begin offering in Keller, Texas and other select locations in California and Florida. Verizon "Fios" will consist of three consumer Internet access tiers:

• 5 Mbps/2 Mbps for $34.95 a month as part of a calling package, or $39.95 a month stand-alone



• 15 Mbps/2 Mbps for $44.95 a month as part of a calling package, or $49.95 a month stand-alone



• 30 Mbps/5 Mbps at pricing to be announced later

Each consumer data offer includes the suite of services currently available to Verizon Online DSL customers at no additional charge, including: MSN Premium content; Verizon's new Broadband Beat entertainment portal optimized for high-speed access featuring news games, streaming video and more; up to nine e-mail accounts with 30 MB of storage for the primary account and an additional 10 MB for each sub-account; address book and calendar; 10 MB personal Web space and a Web site building tool; and access to newsgroups.



Verizon plans a Fios video offering to give consumers an alternative to cable TV in 2005.



Verizon also announced that the following FTTP plans.

• In California, Verizon plans to pass about 100,000 homes and businesses with FTTP technology in the Huntington Beach area and in other parts of Southern California.



• In Florida, Verizon plans to pass about 100,000 homes and businesses with FTTP technology in the Tampa area and parts of Hillsborough County.



• In Texas, Verizon plans to pass 100,000 homes in part of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, including Keller, which was announced by the company in May.

Verizon confirmed that it intends to pass 1 million homes and businesses in parts of nine states with fiber by the end of the year. http://www.verizon.com

• In February 2004, AFC signed a definitive agreement with Verizon to provide its FiberDirect solution for the carrier's FTTP initiative. Under the terms of the agreement -- which extends through 2008 -- AFC's FiberDirect solution will provide Verizon with the central office and premises electronics, or "active" elements.

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HomePlug Powerline Alliance Works Toward Standards

The HomePlug Powerline Alliance, an industry consortium, is inviting utility companies, service providers, network operators, technology developers and others to participate in the development process for a Broadband over Powerline (BPL) specification. As presented by HomePlug board members at a recent general meeting of the IEEE, the initial step in the process will be the creation of a HomePlug Market Requirements Document (MRD). The MRD will set the goals for the BPL specification, which will define the underlying technologies used to create products that deliver broadband communications to homes and businesses through existing power lines.



Having already developed and released HomePlug 1.0, the world's only standard for powerline communications, the Alliance is currently finalizing its specification for HomePlug AV, a high-speed networking technology designed specifically to meet the needs of digital multimedia networks in the home. Building on this foundation, the Alliance is expanding the scope of its development efforts into the BPL arena. http://www.homeplug.org

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Nortel and Cogent Supply Packet Solutions for UK Military

Nortel Networks and Cogent, a UK-based systems integrator focused on military networks, will deliver a multiservice packet-based transport infrastructure as part of a next generation military satellite network for the government of the U.K. The satellite network - known as Skynet 5 - is expected to provide a secure, reliable and robust communications infrastructure for UK armed forces throughout the world. The packet-based transport infrastructure is based on Nortel Networks Passport 7400 multiservice switches and Meridian 1 PBXs. Financial terms is not disclosed. http://www.nortelnetworks.com

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Broadvox Deploys Telica for its Hosted VoIP

Broadvox will deploy the Telica PLUS Compact Softswitch to enhance its existing VoIP infrastructure. Each PLUS softswitch provides more than 37,600 fully protected voice channels. The three PLUS Compact Softswitches will be deployed in Dallas, Los Angeles and New York. The switches will increase Broadvox's network capacity and provide the SS7 interconnect capability preferred by many large customers. Broadvox can now offer aggregated origination and termination services "on net" via SS7 in 92 of the largest markets in North America. In addition, the new softswitches will enhance Broadvox's service capacity for its hosted IP telephone services and residential broadband telephone offerings. Financial terms were not disclosed. http://www.telica.comhttp://www.broadvox.net

• Broadvox is using Sylantro Systems' hosted VoIP communications solution to address the consumer VoIP market and the business IP Centrex market through the same platform.

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France Telecom Employs Broadband Wireless for Tour de France

France Telecom has deployed broadband wireless base stations continuously along the race route of the 91st Tour de France 2004. The carrier is using Aperto's PacketWave system, which is capable of delivering 14 Mbps of throughput using a single channel in the 3.5 GHz band. The base stations being used for the Tour de France will operate under an environment that is challenging for most other wireless network technologies, moving each day as the race progresses to the next locationhttp://www.apertonet.comhttp://www.letour.com/

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