The New Net: Intel and HP to Commercialize PlanetLab Initiative

"To be honest, the Net today is still pretty primitive. We're still in the stone age when it comes to serious networking, " said Vint Cerf, Chief Scientist at MCI, speaking at the Intel Developer's Forum in San Francisco. "There's a great deal more to done," he said, especially in terms of network architecture. To begin with, the Internet will need to scale to accommodate the other 5 billion people on the planet not yet connected. There will also be a far greater number of network-enabled devices and a whole new set of applications (entertainment,...

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Taiwan's Chunghwa Selects Optibase for Live TV over DSL

Chunghwa Telecom, Taiwan's incumbent operator, selected Optibase encoders to enable the delivery of live TV services to 20,000 ADSL subscribers in Taipei. Optibase's MGW 5100 is being used to provide the head-end functionality of live encoding, transcoding and streaming of multiple digital TV channels over IP and ATM broadband networks. http://www.optibase....

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Adelphia Selects Level 3 to Expand Nationwide Network

Adelphia Communications, the fifth-largest cable television company in the U.S., awarded a multi-year agreement to Level 3 Communications to provide additional nationwide network services. Specifically, Adelphia will use multiple wavelength circuits to transport data and voice traffic to and from major cities throughout the country. Adelphia serves customers in 30 states and Puerto Rico, and offers analog and digital video services, high-speed Internet access and other advanced services over its broadband networks. Level 3's (3)Link Intercity...

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YAK Communications Launches Broadband VoIP Services

YAK Communications launched a broadband VoIP service offering local numbers from 50 cities across Canada, the U.S., and overseas. YAK's WorldCity VoIP service, which is priced at $19.95 per month, offers 1,000 minutes of calling per month to the U.S., Canada, Hong Kong and China. The company said 911 service is available for customers who select a telephone number from one of 13 select Canadian cities so long as they reside in that particular city. http://www.yak....

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Covad and SBC Line-Sharing Agreement

Covad Communications and SBC Communications have agreed to resolve an outstanding issue relating to a pre-existing line sharing agreement between the parties. Line sharing allows competitive communications providers to deploy DSL on the same line customers use for their voice phone services. As a result of the new agreement, Covad may continue to provide line sharing service to new subscribers through September 1, 2005 at existing contract rates. The pre-existing agreement sets forth the terms and conditions under which Covad is permitted to...

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Telefonica de Argentina Deploys Lucent's IP DSLAMs

Lucent Technologies has completed the installation of 80,000 new ADSL access ports on behalf of Telefonica de Argentina. More than 60,000 of the new access ports deployed use Lucent's IP-based DSLAMs. Lucent also supplied Telefonica de Argentina with its Stinger MRT (Micro Remote Terminal) access concentrator. Lucent Worldwide Services provided engineering, installation and technical support services for the rapid execution of this project. http://www.lucent....

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Amino teams with Video Games Systems

Amino Communications, an IPTV set-top box (STB) vendor, is working with video game systems provider G-cluster to advanced video games across its range of set-top boxes. The Amino set-top box connects to G-cluster's grid of computer servers in the service provider's central office via broadband connection and receives game graphics and sound to display on the television screen in real time. Amino said the technology would enable service provider to offer on-line games as part of their strategy to reduce customer churn and increase broadband...

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CanalSatellite Expands TV-over-DSL Service with Harmonic Digital Headend

CanalSatellite, France's leading satellite distribution and direct-to-home broadcaster, has deployed Harmonic's high-performance digital video headend systems to deliver premium programming for the CANALSATDSL TV-over-ADSL service. Specifically, CanalSatellite is using Harmonic's DiviCom MV 100 platform to encode the CANALSATDSL premium channels into an MPEG-2 digital format. The headend is monitored and controlled by Harmonic's NMX Digital Service Manager to ensure video quality and service availability. CanalSatellite has also deployed a...

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UTStarcom Signs IP-DSLAM Contract with China Telecom

China Telecom Corporation (CTC) selected UTStarcom to deploy approximately 130,000 lines of its AN-2000 IB IP-DSLAM in six regions throughout mainland China. The deployment will occur in the Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Anhui, Guangdong, and Shangdong provinces, as well as the Tibet autonomous region in southwestern China. Financial terms were not disclosed. UTStarcom noted that the number of Chinese Internet users at the end of June was 87 million, up 9.4% from the end of last year and 28% more than in June 2003, according to the China Internet Network...

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FCC Designates Spectrum for Advanced Wireless Services

The FCC allocated and paired five-megahertz blocks of spectrum at 1915-1920 MHz with 1995-2000 MHz, and 2020-2025 MHz with 2175-2180 MHz for advanced wireless services (AWS), potentially including 3G services. The Commission redesignated the 1915-1920 MHz band for AWS from Unlicensed Personal Communications Services (UPCS) and pairs this five-megahertz block of spectrum with the five-megahertz block at 1995-2000 MHz (which was previously allocated for the Mobile Satellite Service (MSS)). An additional ten megahertz of spectrum at 2020-2025 MHz...

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FCC Report Highlights Growing Broadband Availability

Advanced telecommunication capabilities are being deployed on a reasonable and timely basis to all Americans, , according to a new 60-page report from the FCC. The study found that broadband deployment is accelerating across the U.S. in both rural and urban areas. Some key findings:There were 28.2 million advanced lines (>200 kbps in at least one direction) as of December 2003.Cable modem service represented 58% of these lines, with ADSL representing 34% of these lines as of year end 2003. As of December 2003, only 6.8% of zip codes in the...

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BellSouth Confirms Falling Trend in New UNE-p Activity

BellSouth has seen fewer UNE-p line losses following AT&T's decision to leave the consumer market, said Ron Dykes, Chief Financial Officer at BellSouth, speaking at Morgan Stanley's Ninth Annual Media & Communications Conference in New York. BellSouth expects that it will be able to win back many of the local voice customers that left to UNE-p competitors. UNE-p line number trends are expected to be announced in the company's next quarterly financial report. Dykes also said the transition from circuit to packet is moving "very quickly",...

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Verizon Sells Directory Operations in Canada

Verizon Communications will sell its directory operations in Canada to Bain Capital, a global private investment firm, for US$1.54 billion. The directory operations, SuperPages Canada, is the country's second largest directories publisher and is the official TELUS directory publisher in Western Canada, where its directories enjoy strong market share positions and loyal customer relationships. Online directory operations are also included in the transaction. An affiliate of Verizon Information Services, SuperPages Canada had revenues of US$293...

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Verizon Sees Decrease in UNE-p Activity, FTTP Project on Track

Starting in July, Verizon Communications began to experience a significant decrease in the number of new UNE-p lines it provides to competitors, said Doreen Toben, CFO of Verizon Communications, speaking at Morgan Stanley's Ninth Annual Media & Communications Conference in New York. The trend was especially noticeable in the residential market, reflecting AT&T's decision to exit this segment. Verizon currently has a base of 6 million UNE-p lines in service. Toben said the company is increasing its marketing efforts in hopes of winning...

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