Verilink to Introduce SDH-Version of Orion 7400

Verilink announced plans to extend its Orion 7400 Optical Multiservice Access Transport Platform for SDH-based Optical Ethernet transport services. The Orion 7400, which currently supports Ethernet over SONET (EoS), can be used for fiber extension beyond the reach of existing metro rings for the delivery of Ethernet-based services as well as traditional TDM services. The Orion 7400 can also be used for upgrading legacy SONET and SDH Add/Drop Multiplexers (ADMs) to enable the delivery of Ethernet services.

The 1RU high Orion 7400 incorporates standard Generic Framing Procedure (GFP)-based Ethernet over SONET technology, including LCAS and both Low-order (VT1.5/VC-12) and High-order (STS-1/VC-n) Virtual Concatenation (VCAT), enabling the provisioning and delivery of flexible bandwidth levels in small 1.5/2Mbps or large 34/45 Mbps increments.

In the U.S., the SONET version of the Orion 7400 is undergoing customer trials at several major domestic carriers, including an RBOC, an IXC, and several CLECs. The company plans to introduce the SDH version of its Orion 7400 product line in the first half of 2005. http://www.verilink.com

• Verilink acquired Larscom earlier this year. Larscom offers a range of metro access products, including optical edge access multiplexers for both TDM and Ethernet over SONET, integrated access devices (IADs), inverse multiplexers and CSU/DSUs.

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Mitsubishi Electric Uses Passave's EPON Devices

Mitsubishi Electric Corporation is using Passave's EPON devices for its line of access network equipment for FTTH services in Japan. The selection includes Passave's optical line terminal (OLT) and optical networking unit (ONU) devices. http://www.passave.comhttp://global.mitsubishielectric.com

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Palmetto Rural Telephone Selects Occam Broadband Loop Carrier

Palmetto Rural Telephone Cooperative, an independent local exchange carrier (ILEC) in South Carolina, selected Occam Networks' BLC 6000 System to upgrade its existing access network and to build the network for its new CLEC division. Palmetto is using the BLC 6000 System to build redundant Gigabit Ethernet rings that will provide more than 16,000 new ports providing POTS and ADSL services to its subscribers. Financial terms were not disclosed.

The ILEC will replace its existing SONET network, which had run out of capacity, with a self-healing Gigabit Ethernet ring that will provide an additional 8,000 ports. Palmetto will upgrade 15 to 20 sites in Colleton County with the Occam BLC 6000 System to add redundant Gigabit Ethernet capabilities to these remote locations. All traffic from the company's older digital loop carriers (DLCs) will be transported over the new Gigabit Ethernet ring, which uses the BLC platform's Ethernet Protection Switching (EPS) for failover protection.

Additionally, the company is installing an identical self-healing Gigabit Ethernet ring in the CLEC that will provide a capacity of up to 8,000 new POTS and DSL ports. Palmetto will deploy approximately 10 BLC 6000 Broadband Loop Carriers in the CLEC network. The new CLEC will expand Palmetto's service area to provide high-speed data and POTS service to Walterboro, S.C., and surrounding areas. The CLEC network is currently under construction, and the company expects to begin delivering services from the BLC 6000 in mid-winter 2005. http://www.occamnetworks.com

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Metalink Cuts Q3 Outlook Citing Prolonged VDSL Trials in Japan

Metalink trimmed its third quarter revenue estimates and now expects revenue to be in the range of $4.7 million to $5.0 million, an increase of about 40% compared to Q3 2003, but an approximate 19% decrease compared to Q2 2004. The company attributed the lower than expected revenue to a continuation of trials by Japanese carriers beyond previous indications from our customers, and to a lesser extent, a greater than anticipated seasonality effect in Europe. Metalink said it still views Japan's VDSL market as a very important growth opportunity in 2004 and beyond. http://www.MetalinkBB.com

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Comcast to Reduce Interest in Time Warner Cable, Mulls Adelphia Acquisition

Comcast reached an agreement with Time Warner that provides Comcast with an option to reduce its effective overall interest in Time Warner Cable Inc. from approximately 21% to 17% in exchange for stock of a subsidiary that will hold cable systems and cash. The companies are said to be exploring a joint proposal to acquire all of Adelphia's assets. Comcast is the largest cable operator in the U.S. and Time Warner is the second largest. http://www.comcast.com

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BridgePort Networks Secures $25 Million for Mobile-to-VoIP Roaming

BridgePort Networks, a start-up headquartered in Chicago, with an R&D facility in Cambridge, Massachusetts, raised $25 million in Series B funding for its work in mobile-to-VoIP roaming network convergence. BridgePort Networks offers a software-based Network Convergence Gateway (NCG) that enables the convergence of mobile and IP voice and data services. With BridgePort Networks' software and emerging mobile phones that have both mobile and WiFi modes, phone calls to mobile phone numbers can be seamlessly handled as VoIP calls when in range of a Wi-Fi network. The product also permits low cost SIP-based voice terminals to place and receive calls between Internet and mobile phone numbers.

New investors TD Capital Ventures, which led the round, and BCE Capital (an affiliate of Bell Canada Enterprises), joined existing investors Polaris Venture Partners and General Catalyst Partners, who also participated in this round. http://www.bridgeport-networks.com

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China Netcom and China Telecom Achieve SMS Interconnectivity for Nationwide PAS

China's two fixed-line operators, China Telecom and China Netcom, have established Short Message Service (SMS) interconnectivity enabling users to send/receive messages nationwide regardless of whether they signed up for PAS service with China Telecom or China Netcom. Previously, users could only send messages to other subscribers on the same service provider's system. UTStarcom collaborated on the intergration.

Last month, China Telecom and China Mobile, one of China's two cellular operators, signed a similar interoperability agreement that could potentially speed up network connectivity negotiations between the remaining fixed-line and mobile operators.

Approximately 33.2 million people currently subscribe for PAS service in China on UTStarcom-powered networks.

UTStarcom noted that despite a slowdown on spending on new network construction as operators expand and optimize existing systems, PAS subscriber growth in China continues to be strong with expectations that the service will reach the 100-million-subscriber milestone at the end of 2005. Eight cities in China have recently surpassed the one-million-subscriber mark, including Beijing, which rolled out PAS service a little more than a year ago. Beijing's approximately one million PAS subscribers currently account for approximately 10-15% of the city's mobile market share. http://www.utstar.com

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Fiber Optic Communities Form New Advocacy Group

Fiber Optic Communities of the United States (FOCUS), a new not-for-profit advocacy group, has been established to educate consumers on the benefits of optical access networks. As of April 2004 there were 128 fiber communities in the United States, according to market research firm Render, Vanderslice and Associates. The new group is based in Washington, D.C. http://www.communitiesinfocus.org/

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Nortel Networks Appoints Clent Richardson as Chief Marketing Officer

Nortel
Networks announced the appointment of Clent Richardson as chief
marketing officer. Richardson, 43, will lead a newly formed
global marketing organization responsible for the company's
brand development. Richardson has been with the company for the
past six months. He joined Nortel Networks from T-Mobile, where
he was chief sales and marketing officer. Previously at Apple
Computer, he reported directly to co-founder Steve Jobs as vice
president, worldwide developer relations and worldwide solutions
marketing. http://www.nortelnetworks.com

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UNH InterOperability Laboratory Completes GMPLS Tests

The UNH InterOperability Laboratory (UNH-IOL) completed a week-long series of Generalized Multi-Protocol Label Switching (GMPLS) tests designed to demonstrate some of the technology's newest features in a multi-vendor network. The testing focused on optical signaling, routing and management (OSRM). It probed the functionality of various aspects of hierarchical LSP Setup and Teardown (graceful), Traffic Engineering capabilities in GMPLS such as OSPF-TE, Constrained Shortest Path First (CSPF), LSP re-optimization, Bandwidth on Demand and Multi-layer Cut Through. During several hours of the test event, the participants accessed the public Internet across a provisioned Layer 1 VPN using e-mail and Web browsing. The testing involved both IPv4 and IPv6.



Participants included NTT and optical equipment and IP routing companies Agilent Technologies, Juniper Networks, Lambda Optical Systems, Navtel Communications, Sycamore Networks, and Tellabs. http://www.iol.unh.edu/consortiums/osrm/

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Alcatel Enhances Metro and Regional Optical Transport Platforms

Alcatel announced several enhancements to its metro optical portfolio to help service providers simplify network planning, accelerate wavelength provisioning and ease overall maintenance activities.



The Alcatel 1696 Metro Span uses Reconfigurable Optical Add Drop Multiplexer (ROADM) technology, which allows service providers to remotely provision and reconfigure wavelengths while adding "any-wavelength-to- anywhere" flexibility to their network infrastructure.



The Alcatel 1696 Metro Span also features "Wavelength Tracker", an integrated capability that monitors and traces each wavelength at any point in the network. In addition to simplifying remote provisioning and reconfiguration, Wavelength Tracker provides visibility into the activity of individual wavelengths.



The enhancements also include optical gain equalization capabilities. As new wavelengths are added, optical gain equalization ensures that a high-quality signal is maintained by automatically adjusting the transmitted power of all wavelengths along the fiber. Alcatel said this feature, which is embedded in the ROADM, enables enhanced performance from metro to regional distances over 600 km. http://www.alcatel.com

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CyOptics Raises $10 Million

CyOptics, a start-up based in Lehigh Valley, PA, secured $10 million in new financing for its optical engine technology for broadband metro and access communications solutions. CyOptics has developed "nano-tech" capable robotic manufacturing that delivers high uniformity and low cost for component modules for manufacturers of transceivers, transponders and line cards. The new funding round was led by JVP (Jerusalem Venture Partners) and joined by existing investors including Soros Private Equity Partners. http://www.cyoptics.com

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Thomson Claims Leading Share in Worldwide DSL CPE

For the first half of 2004, Thomson shipped 3.3 million DSL customer premise equipment (CPE) units, givin the company the number one market share position worldwide for such products, according to research from Dell'Oro Group cited by Thomson. The shipment volume represented 16.7 percent of the market share worldwide and 37 percent market share in Europe/Middle East/Asia (EMEA) for the first half of 2004. The Thomson range of DSL products include USB, Ethernet and wireless modems, routers and gateways. http://www.thomson.net

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Atlantic Telephone Deploys Ciena's Broadband Loop Carrier

Atlantic Telephone, a member-owned telephone cooperative in North Carolina with 43,000 access lines, has deployed CIENA's CN 1000 Broadband Loop Carrier (BLC) platform. The CN 1000 provides POTS, DSL and Packet Voice capability on every line, enabling carriers to software-provision these services to any subscriber - remotely, without manual intervention. The platform integrates the functions of a next-generation DLC (NGDLC), a video-enabled DSLAM, a fiber multiplexer and a packet-ready media gateway. Financial terms were not disclosed. http://www.ciena.com

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LongBoard Licenses Global IP Sound

LongBoard, a developer of SIP-based applications for carriers, will license technology from Global IP Sound (GIPS) for its OnePhone Application, which currently in trials with large service providers.



LongBoard said its OnePhone Application allows a user to seamlessly roam between Wi-Fi and Cellular networks. This roaming is transparent to the end user, without dropping or interrupting their voice call. Additionally, the LongBoard OnePhone application extends the same set of business telephony features, with the same phone number and same handset, to the end-user whether they are in their enterprise in WiFi mode, using Voice over WiFi technology, or outdoors in cellular mode, via a standard cellular network.



The GIPS VoiceEngine handles all voice-related tasks for VoIP and offers improved voice quality.ttp://www.longboard.comhttp://www.globalipsound.com

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Centillium Names New VP of Worldwide Sales

Centillium Communications named Wayne Gartin as Vice President of Worldwide Sales. Prior to joining Centillium, he served as Vice President of Worldwide Sales at Bandwidth9, Vice President of Worldwide Sales at Agility Communications and Director, OEM Sales at Lucent Technologies, Microelectronics Group. http://www.centillium.com

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AT&T Wireless Launches "Ogo" - a Wireless Messaging Device

AT&T
Wireless launched a mobile messaging device -- called "Ogo"
-- aimed at teenagers and young adults. The unit carries a price
tag of $99 (after $30 mail-in rebate) and provides unlimited
messaging plans starting at only $17.99 per month. The device
enables unlimited instant messaging (IM) and email from all
three leading providers -- AOL, MSN, and Yahoo! The clamshell
design includes a color screen and full keypad with "hot
keys" to all major messaging functions
http://www.attwireless.com

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Passave Unveils EPON System-on-Chip

Passave introduced its third generation, highly integrated chip for Ethernet passive optical networking (EPON) optimized for low-cost, high-bandwidth customer-premise installations on FTTH networks. The new device incorporates a CPU, MAC (media access controller), SERDES (serializer/deserializer), Layer-2+ switch and packet buffer on a single chip. The device also includes an advanced packet-classification engine for auto-provisioning of network resources.

Passave said its new product could be used for low-cost residential gateways that deliver services such as HDTV, VoIP, interactive gaming and other high-bandwidth services over a single connection. Like its predecessor, the new chip conforms to the recently ratified IEEE 802.3ah standard for Ethernet in the First Mile (EFM). Passave also provides a central-office (CO) chip, which works in tandem with the CPE device.

Passave's previous PON chipsets have been adopted by more than 20 global networking OEMs for PON systems currently in mass deployment, and have shipped in hundreds of thousands. http://www.passave.com

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iBasis Raises $31.5 Million in Private Placement

iBasis announced the closing of a private placement, resulting in gross proceeds to iBasis of approximately $31.5 million. In the private placement, iBasis sold 15.0 million shares of common stock to a group comprising new and existing accredited individual and institutional investors at $2.10 per share. The company said it intends to use the funds for working capital requirements and general corporate purposes. http://www.ibasis.net

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Qwest Extends Business VoIP to Ten Additional Markets

Qwest has extended its "OneFlex" VoIP service to small, medium and enterprise business customers in 10 additional markets throughout its territory. Qwest is also planning an out-of-region business VoIP expansion to other major U.S. cities by the end of the year. These new markets will include: Baltimore; Boston; Chicago; Columbus, Ohio; Los Angeles; New York City; Orange County, Calif.; Philadelphia; San Diego; San Francisco; San Jose, Calif.; and Washington, D.C. http://www.qwest.com

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BellSouth Trims DSL Price

BellSouth is cutting the price of its FastAccess DSL Ultra, which features downstream connection speeds of up to 1.5Mbps and upstream speeds up to 256Kbps, by $7 per month for both new and existing customers. The service is now available for $17.95 per month for the first six months with the BellSouth Unlimited long distance plan for new subscribers. Existing customers will pay $32.95 per month. http://www.bellsouth.com

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AT&T Selects Avici for IP/MPLS Backbone Extension

AT&T
selected Avici Systems to provide core routing equipment for the
extension of its IP/MPLS backbone. Avici has been a supplier of
core routing equipment to AT&T since 2000. AT&T, which
operates one of the largest IP backbones in the world, plans to
accelerate its network transformation by converging services
across a single IP/MPLS infrastructure. Financial terms were not
disclosed.



Avici said its platforms "dramatically simplify the PoP by
matching the longevity and the reliability of the Class 4/5
switch with attributes such as 99.999% availability, in-service
upgrades, multi-generational investment protection, and modular
scalability built in from the beginning."



Separately, Avici trimmed its Q3 financial expectations, saying
it now expects Q3 gross revenues to be in the range of $3.0
million to $4.0 million. As a result, the company said it does
not expect to achieve its target of 20-30% annual revenue growth
in 2004.



Avici attributed the revenue shortfall to delays in anticipated
network build outs and timing of expected orders.
http://www.avici.com

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Telstra announces Share Buy Back

Telstra announced plans to pay between A$4.05 and A$4.65 a share to buy back its own shares. The share buy back program was valued at up to A$750 million,http://www.telstra.com

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