NanoOpto Boosts its Venture Funding by $3.3 Million

NanoOpto Corporation, a start-up based in Somerset, New Jersey, closed on an additional $3.3 million in venture financing for its proprietary nano-fabrication technology for optical components. The company combines its nano-meter scale optical function design capability combined with wafer-based manufacturing methods. The additional funding is from existing equity partners Morgenthaler Ventures; U.S. Trust's Excelsior Venture Partners III, L.L.C.; Draper Fisher Jurvetson (DFJ) Gotham Ventures and New England Ventures; Bessemer Venture Partners; and the Harris & Harris Group. http://www.nanoopto.com

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Cablevision Reaches 115,050 Cable VoIP Customers

Cablevision Systems reported Q2 net revenue of $1.2 billion, up 25% compared to the prior year period, based on continued strong growth at both Telecommunications Services and Rainbow Media's Core Networks. Consolidated operating income totaled $159.1 million compared to operating income of $26.2 million in the prior year period.



Some operating statistics for Q2:

• 5,421,560 Revenue Generating Units, up 211,580 or 4% from March 2004 and up 924,530 or 21% from the prior year period



• iO: Interactive Optimum digital video customers up 109,990 from March 2004 to 1,165,710



• Optimum Online HSD customers up 50,110 from March 2004 to 1,179,040



• Optimum Voice customers up 44,235 from March 2004 to 115,050



• Basic video subscribers increased 7,490 from March 2004



• Total cable television revenue per basic video customer up 18% to $82.60 from $70.23 in the prior year period



• VOD/SVOD revenue of $5.10 per digital subscriber per month, up 30% from the prior year period's $3.91



• a 24% increase in advertising revenue from the prior year period.

http://www.cablevision.com

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Charter Reports Loss of Analog & Digital Customers

Charter Communications reported Q2 revenue of $1.239 billion, an increase of $71 million over the same period in 2003. Operating costs and expenses were $759 million, an increase of $64 million compared to the year ago period. The rise in second quarter 2004 operating costs and expenses was primarily a result of a 10% increase in programming costs, a 9% increase in service costs and a 29% increase in marketing costs. Second quarter 2004 income from operations totaled $15 million. The net loss was $416 million, or $1.39 per common share. There was a negative cash flow of $60 million.



Some operating statistics for the quarter:

• Charter ended the second quarter with 10,526,000 revenue generating units (RGUs), reflecting a net decrease of 2,700 RGUs from Q1 2004. The decrease in RGUs was driven by a net loss of 58,800 analog video customers and 7,200 digital video customers, partially offset by the gain of 58,400 residential HSD and growth in telephone customers during the quarter.



• Analog video customers numbered 6,133,200



• Digital video customers numbered 2,650,200



• Cable modem customers numbered 1,711,400. The company has migrated substantially all of its cable modem customers to a new pricing structure, resulting in average monthly revenue (ARPU) per customer of $35.87, a 4% increase over the first quarter of 2004.



• Telephony customers numbered 31,200 telephony customers as of June 30, 2004. The company as nearly tripled the number of telephony homes passed to 327,600 over the past quarter.

http://www.charter.com

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BT Deploys Netegrity for Identity Management

BT has purchased an enterprise wide license for Netegrity's identity and access management line of products, including its SiteMinder, IdentityMinder Web, IdentityMinder eProvision and TransactionMinder technology. Netegrit said its identity and access management products will be used to provide a common identity authentication infrastructure across BT and will enable BT to securely manage millions of user identities including BT customers, partners, employees, and contractors. http://www.netegrity.com

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Fiberlink Selects Lucent for Managed Services

Fiberlink Communications Corp., a provider of managed security and remote connectivity solutions for global enterprises, awarded a multi-year contract to Lucent Technologies to provide global network management services. Lucent Worldwide Services will provide a variety of fault management services, including alarm reporting, trouble ticketing, fault resolution, provisioning, and management of all staging and installation for Fiberlink's enterprise VPN customer sites. These services will be provided from Lucent's Global Network Operations Center (GNOC) located in Denver and also supported by Lucent's other two GNOCs in Sydney, Australia and Hilversum, The Netherlands.



Lucent has announced more than $280 million in managed services' contracts over the last year with more than a half-dozen service providers in more than a dozen countries. http://www.lucent.com

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Motorola to Resell MeshNetworks' Ad Hoc Wireless

Motorola agreed to resell MeshNetworks mobile ad hoc networking solution through its sales force and re-seller network. Specifically, MeshNetworks' self-forming, self-healing mobile broadband networking and precision position-location solutions will be offered as part of Motorola's advanced wireless broadband data portfolio for enterprise, utility and public safety. MeshNetworks' systems have been deployed worldwide in public safety, Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) and municipal government applications.



The agreement also gives Motorola rights to integrate components of MeshNetworks technology, including the MeshNetworks Positioning System (MPS) and MeshConnex software suites into future data products, including those in the recently allocated 4.9GHz FCC licensed band for public safety users. http://www.motorola.comhttp://www.meshnetworks.com

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ITC^DeltaCom Tests Nortel's Multimedia Communication Server

ITC^DeltaCom, a leading CLEC in Arkansas, Texas, Virginia and all nine BellSouth states, has selected Nortel Networks' Multimedia Communication Server (MCS) 5200 to trial VoIP and multimedia services for its customers. ITC^DeltaCom has been conducting an internal trial during the last several months. Nortel Networks MCS 5200 is an open platform based on SIP. Financial terms were not disclosed. http://www.nortelnetworks.com

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Avanex Names New CEO

Avanex named Jo Major as its new president and CEO, replacing Walter Alessandrini, who will continue as Chairman of the Board of Directors. Major most recently held the position of Senior Vice President and General Manager of the Components Business Group of JDS Uniphase, which he joined in 2001. Prior to joining JDS Uniphase, Major was Vice President of Optical Pump Business Unit at SDL. http://www.Avanex.com

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Nortel Networks Invests in Global IP Sound

Nortel Networks will invest in Global IP Sound (GIPS), a Swedish start-up offering embedded voice processing technologies. The warrant issue represents five percent of the fully diluted value of Global IP Sound and is exercisable after five years.



The investment build upon the expanded licensing agreement announced by the companies in June, affirming GIPS' role as a strategic supplier of voice processing software for Nortel Networks IP-centric communications systems. Nortel has licensed the GIPS VoiceEngine and SoundWare suite of embedded voice processing software for use in multiple products, including Nortel Networks PC- and web-based SIP soft phone clients, Nortel Networks i2004 IP phone, and Nortel Networks Multimedia Communication Server (MCS) 5100 and 5200 platforms.



GIPS SoundWare provides better than PSTN voice quality and fidelity in end-to-end IP communications with robustness against packet loss. http://www.globalipsound.comGlobal IP Sound, which is based in Stockholm, also supplies its voice quality software to Skype, Ericsson and others.

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SBC Boosts its DSL Upload Speed

SBC Communications announced a two-pronged plan to increase the upload speed for its SBC Yahoo! DSL subscribers at no extra charge. SBC Yahoo! DSL Express, offering download speeds of 384 kbps to 1.5 Mbps, will include upload speeds of up to 256Kbps, compared to 128 kbps previously. Later this year, the upload speeds will be increased to up to 384Kbps.



Customers subscribing to the flagship service, SBC Yahoo! DSL Pro, receive download speeds of 1.5 to 3.0 Mbps and upload rates of up to 416Kbps--an increase from up to 384Kbps which was previously offered. The second phase of increased speeds will provide SBC Yahoo! DSL Pro subscribers with upload rates of up to 512 Kbps. http://www.sbc.com

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SureWest Expands its FTTP Network

As of 30-June-2004, SureWest Communications was serving over 32,000 revenue-generating units (primary voice, video and data subscribers over its IP-based FTTP network in the Sacramento, California region. Subscribers to SureWest's data service, a dedicated 10mbps synchronous fiber connection, increased by 85% year-over-year to nearly 11,400. SureWest also now offers fiber service for the small-and-medium-enterprise (SME) business market.



In SureWest's incumbent local exchange (ILEC) territory, total DSL subscribers -- including those employing new modems to receive video over ADSL -- increased 17.8% year-over-year. Combined video and data DSL penetration of residences is now 22.6%.



SureWest's ILEC lines decreased 1.9% from second quarter 2003 levels due to continued wireless substitution, the replacement of traditional business access lines with digital trunks and a reduction in second lines. However, year-over-year growth in DSL subscribers offset second line losses, and nearly 30% of SureWest Wireless subscriber base resides in the ILEC territory. http://www.surewest.com

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Freescale Receives First FCC Certification for Ultra-Wideband

Freescale Semiconductor received FCC certification for its Ultra-Wideband (UWB) communications solution, enabling it to begin commercial shipments of its XS110 chipset immediately. Freescale said it was the first company to receive UWB certification from the FCC. Freescale said initial consumer applications are expected to include large screen displays (plasma, LCD), digital video recorders and set-top boxes, with mobile applications such as portable hard drives and digital cameras to follow later in 2005.



Freescale's XS110 chipset uses the DS-UWB approach, which is currently a leading candidate for the IEEE 802.15.3 standard for high-speed wireless personal area networks (WPANs). Using DS-UWB, the chipset achieves over 110 Mbps data rates. http://www.freescale.com

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CIENA Teams with Telcordia on EoS, OSS Integration

CIENA and Telcordia Technologies are jointly developing and delivering solutions to help ILECs introduce and manage Ethernet services over their existing network infrastructures. The collaboration aims to establish Operations Support Systems (OSS) features to support the cost-effective deployment of advanced Ethernet-over-SONET services, specifically those enabled by CIENA's CN 2600 Multiservice Edge Aggregator. The companies said they are co-investing in numerous enhancements for SONET Virtual Concatenation enabling dynamic inventory management, alarm notification and automated flow-through provisioning of capacity for Ethernet services. http://www.ciena.comhttp://www.telcordia.com

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Chinese Broadcaster Transforms Fiber Network with Juniper Networks

China's Yuanshen Broadcasting Network, located in the northern city of Harbin, is deploying Juniper Networks' E- and M-series routing platforms for delivering new broadband access services to residential customers and enterprises. Yuanshen Broadcasting is using the M-series to create a backbone network and the E-series to build an aggregation and access network at the edge.
Yuanshen Broadcasting will also be able to offer MPLS-based services tailored to enterprise customers, such as MPLS VPN. Financial terms were not disclosed. http://www.juniper.net

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T-Networks offers CWDM 10Gbps Components

T-Networks, a start-up based in Allentown, Pennsylvania, announced the availability of its LIM (Laser Integrated Modulator) product line in Coarse Wavelength Division Multiplexed (CWDM) versions. These products will operate at the standard CWDM wavelengths from 1470nm to 1610nm with the same specifications as the current C-band product line. T-Networks entire 10 Gbps product line, with up to 110km transmission performance, NRZ and RZ transmission, and up to +4dBm output power is now offered in CWDM wavelength versions.



T-Networks' LIM platform incorporates integrated Indium Phosphide (InP) lasers, modulators and optical amplifiers in a standard 7-pin EML-compatible package with inter-chip isolated coupling. http://www.tnetworksinc.com

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The Quilt Names Five Bandwidth Suppliers

The Quilt a coalition of advanced regional networking organizations, selected Cogent, Global Crossing, and WilTel as new Authorized Quilt Vendors (AQV) for Internet service. The organization has also extended agreements with Level 3 Communications and Qwest Communications.



The Quilt, which gathers more than 20 leading research and education networking organizations in the U.S., provides network service for more than 200 Internet2 universities and thousands of other educational institutions. To be selected as a bandwidth vendor, the carriers had to provide national pricing for The Quilt participants; provide public and private peering; and ensure the availability of advanced services such as multicast and IPv6. http://www.thequilt.net/

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XO Raises $200 Million in Preferred Stock Offering

XO Communications completed a private placement of 6% Class A Convertible Preferred Stock and has received total proceeds of $200 million. XO privately offered the shares of preferred stock to XO stockholders that currently hold an aggregate of approximately 85% of XO's outstanding common stock. Affiliates of Carl C. Icahn, XO's chairman and owner of approximately 50% of XO's outstanding common stock, purchased $190 million of the preferred stock, and an affiliate of Amalgamated Gadget, L.P., holder of approximately 9.4% of XO's outstanding common stock, purchased an additional $10 million. http://www.xo.com

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Meru Eliminates 802.11g Client Performance Penalty

Meru Networks, a start-up based in Sunnyvale, California, has developed a Dual Speed WLAN technology that enables its Wi-Fi access points to overcome the "802.11g client performance penalty" that occurs when even one 802.11b device joins an 802.11g network.



Meru Networks said that although 802.11g is designed for 54 Mbps rates, typical real-world performance averages about 25 Mbps. Because 802.11g is backwards compatible with 802.11b clients, the access point radio needs to throttle-down whenever an 802.11b client is active. This drops the performance of the entire WLAN to about 8 Mbps.



Meru is introducing a new AP200 Access Point with Dual Speed WLAN technology to overcome this issue. The system uses deep packet classification in order to determine the bandwidth requirements of the 802.11B and 802.11G clients, as well as predicting the traffic patterns at a low level. It then divides channel access time on the air medium such that the 802.11B and 802.11G clients receive a proportionate channel access. Only one type of client access (802.11b or 802.11g) is permitted at any given instant. The 802.11g and 802.11b clients do not see each other and operate at full speed during their allotted channel access periods. No changes are needed on the client side.



The new AP200 access point incorporates two radios that are software programmable to be either Meru Dual-Speed 802.11b/g or 802.11a. http://www.merunetworks.com

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