Fujitsu Introduces ROADM for MSOs

Fujitsu Network Communications introduced its FLASHWAVE 7500 Small System for small- to medium-sized MSOs. The system combines DWDM, a Reconfigurable Optical Add/Drop Multiplexer (ROADM) switch fabric and multi-rate, high-density Optical Line Cards (OLCs) for services up to 10 Gbps per wavelength in a single 19" shelf.



The new system incorporates many of the same features as the larger 40-channel FLASHWAVE 7500 Core System and the FLASHWAVE 7500 Extension System, including access to single or multiple wavelengths, at any node. For low cost or point-to-point applications where the ROADM switch fabric capabilities are not required, the FLASHWAVE 7500 Small System can be configured as a flexible Optical Add/Drop Multiplexer (OADM) with manual access to all wavelengths. Fujitsu features a dynamic, self-tuning equalization system that adapts power levels as the network grows.



A common set of optical line cards (transponders) support for an array of services, including Gigabit Ethernet, traditional SONET, Storage Area Networking (SAN), Video On Demand (VOD) and transparent wavelength services.



Fujitsu already serves a number of North American MSOs, including Adelphia, Brighthouse, Charter, Comcast, Cox, Shaw and others. Over 220 nodes of its FLASHWAVE 7500 have been deployed in MSO applications. http://us.fujitsu.com/telecom

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Cox Adds 82,000 Cable Telephony Customers in Q3

Cox Communications reported Q3 revenue of $1.6 billion, an increase of 11% over last year, primarily due to growth in digital cable, high-speed Internet access and telephony, as well as higher basic cable rates. Operating income increased 14% to $183.8 million for the third quarter of 2004, and operating cash flow increased 8% to $584.7 million for the same period. Some highlights:

• Ended Q3 with approximately 6.3 million basic video customers, up 0.4% from September 30, 2003.



• Ended the quarter with over 6.6 million total customer relationships, up 1.4% from September 30, 2003.



• Ended the quarter with approximately 12.3 million total RGUs, up 11% from September 30, 2003, driven by 25% growth in advanced-service RGUs year-over-year.



• Added 72,868 Cox Digital Cable customers, ending the quarter with approximately 2.4 million digital cable customers, representing year-over-year customer growth of 14%. Cox Digital Cable is now available to 99% of the homes in Cox's service areas with 37% penetration of our basic video customer base.



• Added 184,446 high-speed Internet customers, the most Cox high-speed Internet customers ever added in a quarter. Cox ended the quarter with over 2.4 million high-speed Internet customers, representing year-over-year growth of 32%.



• Added 82,596 Cox Digital Telephone customers, the most Cox Digital Telephone customers ever added in a quarter. Cox ended the quarter with over 1.2 million telephone customers, representing year-over-year growth of 33%.



• Generated $566.3 million in cash flows provided by operating activities and $175.4 million in free cash flow (cash flows provided by operating activities less capital expenditures).

http://www.cox.com

• Cox Communications launched its Digital Telephone service in Tulsa, Oklahoma -- its second market to use VoIP. In December 2003, Cox launched residential VoIP service in Roanoke, Virginia. The company offers circuit-switched Digital Telephone service in 12 other markets.

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VIVO Selects Nortel for CDMA 2000 1X Expansion

VIVO selected Nortel Networks to expand and upgrade its CDMA 2000 1X network in Brazil's Northern, Southern and West-Central regions and the states of Bahia and Maranhao in the Northeast. Nortel Networks solutions for VIVO will include a switching platform that offers an evolution to an all-IP multiservice packet network architecture; radio base stations; and base station controllers. Nortel Networks' Compact Metro Cell 3G base station will also be deployed. Financial terms were not disclosed. http://www.nortelnetworks.com

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Tropos Unveils Metro-Scale, WiMAX + Wi-Fi Strategy

Tropos Networks, a start-up based in Sunnyvale, California, announced a strategy for integrating open-standard WiMAX into new and existing metro-scale Wi-Fi networks. The Tropos WiMAX integration strategy incorporates WiMAX in three phases, as follows:

• Phase 1 (2005): Tropos will support 802.16-2004 WiMAX as a point-to-multipoint backhaul link from Tropos metro-scale Wi-Fi networks to local points-of-presence (PoPs). This standards-based solution will improve price/performance versus current proprietary alternatives and offer operation in both licensed and unlicensed bands.



• Phase 2 (2006): Tropos will introduce 802.16-2004 WiMAX within the metro-scale Wi-Fi network to provide inter-cell connectivity. In conjunction with Phase 1, this will allow quality of service (QoS) capabilities and licensed-band operation to the edge of the network, while still supporting Wi-Fi clients. The Tropos cells will automatically select the frequency bands and access methods that provide the best end-to-end performance.



• Phase 3 (2007-8): Tropos cells will support 802.16e WiMAX client connections in both licensed and unlicensed bands, along with continued support for Wi-Fi clients. This will allow both licensed-band and unlicensed-band client operation and will offer mobility enhancements.

http://www.tropos.com

• The Tropos platform creates a "Wi-Fi cell", which layers intelligence on top of the 802.11 standard. Wi-Fi cells form an intelligent, self-organizing, self-healing, and truly wireless broadband data network that forwards data through the mesh along the optimal path to a wired network. Access nodes can be quickly deployed on city lampposts, or other such outdoor locations, with a backhaul connection needed only every 10 nodes or so. The Tropos system is currently in deployment by metro ISPs and by cities and police departments.

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Comcast Adds 549,100 Cable Modem Users in Q3

Comcast Cable reported revenue of $4.844 billion representing a 10.6% increase from Q3 2003. Video revenue increased 6.6% from Q3 2003, driven by a 5.5% increase in average monthly revenue per basic subscriber and an increase in digital revenue. Some highlights:

• Comcast Cable added 341,000 digital cable subscribers to end the period with over 8.4 million subscribers, or 39.1% of basic subscribers. Basic subscribers of 21.5 million remained essentially unchanged from a year ago but increased 8,500 from the prior quarter. Included in the basic subscriber results for the quarter was the loss of an estimated 10,000 subscribers as a result of the severe hurricane season experienced in parts of Florida and other Southeastern states.



• Growth in video revenue also reflects increasing consumer demand for new digital features, including Comcast ON DEMAND, HDTV programming and digital video recorders (DVRs). During the third quarter, pay-per-view revenues increased nearly 32% to more than $100 million, driven by more movie and event purchases through the Comcast ON DEMAND service. Increasing demand for HDTV and the accelerating rollout of DVRs is also contributing to digital growth. At the end of the third quarter, Comcast had nearly 870,000 set-top boxes in customers' homes offering HDTV and/or DVR service.



• Comcast Cable added a record 549,100 High-Speed Internet subscribers to end the quarter with more than 6.5 million subscribers. Revenues for this service increased 37.9% from the third quarter of 2003 to $808 million reflecting strong subscriber growth and stable average monthly revenue per subscriber of $42.91. Comcast High-Speed Internet service is now available to 94% of the Company's footprint, or 38 million homes.



• Cable phone revenue declined 8.6% from the third quarter of 2003 to $173 million, the result of a 7.5% decrease in subscribers to 1.2 million and stable average monthly revenue per subscriber of $47.18. Comcast said it is continuing to focus on profitability, not unit growth, while it begins the transition from circuit-switched to VoIP.

http://www.comcast.com

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8x8 Reaches 26,000 VoIP Lines

As of September 30, 8x8 had approximately 26,000 activated Packet8 subscriber lines in service as compared to approximately 17,000 at June 30, 2004, a 53% increase. Total revenues for the Company's Packet8 VoIP service and related equipment sales increased to $2.1 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2004, compared with $1.4 million for the first quarter of fiscal 2005, an increase of 50%. http://www.8x8.com

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HomeNet Turns to Level 3 for Wholesale VoIP

HomeNet Communications, an integrated Triple Play Provider, has joined Level 3's "Enabled" Partner Program to use (3)VoIP Enhanced service in 50 markets across the U.S. HomeNet will offer residential VoIP service.

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AboveNet Launches Ethernet WAN Enterprise Service

AboveNet launched an enterprise Ethernet WAN service between 12 major U.S. cities and London. AboveNet said its Ethernet Wide Area Network Services or EWAN products leverage its MPLS backbone and fiber network to deliver a single-carrier solution with flat-rate pricing for any of the cities it serves regardless of distance and local loop access. Three service types are offered:

• AboveNet Ethernet WAN Basic -- customer-managed service offered over a single pair of fiber to AboveNet's redundant, optical IP backbone.



• AboveNet Ethernet WAN Protected -- customer-managed service offered over diverse pairs of fiber to AboveNet's redundant, optical IP backbone.



• AboveNet Ethernet WAN Managed -- AboveNet-managed service offered over diverse pairs of fiber to AboveNet's redundant, optical IP backbone.

http://www.above.net

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Xten Shows its SIP Softphone Over 3G

Xten, in partnership with Vonage, demonstrated new features of its SIP softphone working over a 3G UMTS network. XTEN's eyeBeam SIP softphone for VoIP and Video over IP is adding support for features such as Instant Messaging and Presence Awareness using open standards like SIMPLE and XCAP. Xten also demonstrated interoperation with Microsoft Windows Messenger. http://www.xten.com

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Level 3 Reports Q3 Revenue

Level 3 Communications reported consolidated revenue was $840 million for Q3. Communications revenue was $423 million versus $391 million for the previous quarter, and information services revenue was $392 million compared to $503 million for the previous quarter. The net loss for the third quarter 2004 increased to $171 million, or $0.25 per share, compared to a net loss for the previous quarter of $63 million, or $0.09 per share. Included in the net loss for the previous quarter was a $147 million gain associated with the elimination of a capital lease obligation due to the termination of a vendor contract.



During the third quarter, we experienced rising demand and new contract awards for our communications services offerings, particularly for VoIP services," said James Q. Crowe, CEO of Level 3. http://www.level3.com

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Sprint Extends MPLS VPN Benefits Globally

Sprint is extending its standard MPLS VPN offering to over 100 countries in Europe, Asia and Latin America. The service enables the convergence of voice, video and data onto one network-based IP VPN. Sprint's MPLS VPN provides customers with a secure private IP environment based on the IETF RFC 2547bis standard, supporting both intranet and extranet applications. Sprint is offering a flexible Class of Service (CoS) capability as a standard feature, with no additional setup fees or incremental charges based on the amount of real- time/high-priority traffic. As a network-based solution, Sprint handles addressing, routing and QoS.



Sprint has also extended network-based capabilities beyond the traditional VPN intranet service. Customers can select value-added services like remote access services (RAS), IPSec tunnel termination and secure Internet access protected by network-based firewalls. These offerings are provided at the Sprint network edge and integrate seamlessly with the customer's core MPLS VPN. Access options include DSL, Frame Relay, Private Line, Ethernet and wireless via Sprint PCS Data Link. http://www.sprint.com/business

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Broadcom Adds USB 2.0 to its 54g Wi-Fi Chip

Broadcom introduced its latest 54g wireless chip with integrated USB 2.0 capabilities. The new chip supports Broadcom's SecureEZSetup and 125 High Speed Mode technologies, which could be used by consumers to more easily add Wi-Fi to a range of USB-connected devices.



The Broadcom AirForce BCM4320 integrates an 802.11a/g MAC/baseband, a USB 2.0 transceiver, a processor and memory into a single packagehttp://www.broadcom.com

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Covad Sees Continued Line Sharing for Legacy Copper Loops

Covad Communications applauded the FCC's ruling last week that declined to grant Section 271 forbearance relief to the Bell companies for line sharing, which involves access to legacy copper loops, rather than new fiber facilities. In particular, the FCC removed Section 271 unbundling requirements for fiber-based facilities, while keeping in place Section 271 unbundling obligations for legacy copper facilities, including line sharing.



In a statement, James A. Kirkland, Covad senior vice president and general counsel, said "Even under the most aggressive fiber deployment scenarios, it is clear that legacy copper loops will remain a ubiquitous infrastructure for reaching consumers and businesses for many years to come. New technologies, such as ADSL 2+, will ensure that these copper facilities can be utilized to provide a wide variety of new and innovative services."http://www.covad.com

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FTTH Council Announces Changes in Leadership

Dan Tatarka has stepped down as executive director of the Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) Council to take a position with Optical Cable Corporation. Mike DiMauro, president of the Council's board of directors, will serve as interim executive director of the Council through the end of the year. http://www.ftthcouncil.org

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Motorola Launches its Next Gen Canopy Wireless Broadband

Motorola launched its next generation Canopy wireless broadband platform, enabling greater bandwidth and high-quality VoIP to every Canopy subscriber on the network. The Canopy Advantage Platform is based on software defined radio technology, which will enable new functionality and enhancements through software upgrades.



The 900 MegaHertz Canopy Advantage Access Point (AP) is the first product in the portfolio and is available today. Access points in 2.4 GigaHertz (GHz), 5.2 GHz and 5.7 GHz are planned for availability this quarter. Future planned additions to the portfolio include a Canopy Advantage Subscriber Module (SM), scheduled to be released in the first half of 2005. The Canopy Advantage SM will operate with the Canopy Advantage AP and deliver voice and data services at aggregate data rates up to 15 Mbps.



Motorola also said that backwards-compatibility is a key component of its product strategy. The product line will allow Canopy Advantage CPE to co-exist with license exempt WiMax CPE operating in the same sector off the same access point. http://www.motorola.com/canopy

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