France Telecom Reaches 4.2 million ADSL lines

France Telecom reported consolidated Q3 revenues of EUR 12.05 billion, compared to EUR 11.65 billion for the same period last year on an actual basis (11.53 billion EURs on a comparable basis). This represents an increase of 4.5% on a comparable basis and 3.5% on an actual basis.



Some highlights:

• there were 4.2 million ADSL lines in service in France (not including unbundled lines) at September 30, 2004, an increase of 73% compared with September 30, 2003 (2.4 million). The acceleration of the France Telecom's "Plan Haut Débit pour Tous" (Broadband for All Plan) will enable coverage of more than 90% of the French population at end-2004.



• added almost 400,000 new Broadband Wanadoo clients in Europe in Q3 2004.



• added 2 million wireless customers in Q3, topping 60 million at September 30.



• launched its commercial 3G wireless service for businesses in the U.K. (in mid-July) and France (September 6) and accelerated UMTS and EDGE network rollout in France, as well as in other European mobile networks.



• CAPEX in Q3 amounted to EUR 1.2 billion, up 6.3% on a comparable basis and 4.7% on an actual basis.

http://www.francetelecom.com

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AMD Aims Low-cost Personal Internet Communicator at Developing Markets

AMD launched an initiative to enable 50% of the world's population with Internet connectivity and computing capabilities by 2015. A key element of the program is a new, low-cost Personal Internet Communicator (PIC) consumer device designed for emerging markets. The PIC would be branded, marketed and sold by local service providers such as telecommunications companies and government-sponsored communications programs. The deliver basic Internet functions such as e-mail, downloads and Web browsing, but uses a modified version of Windows designed to limit the installation of additional software.



AMD said microfinancing and bundled service packages could help consumers avoid large, up-front cash deployments at the point of sale. Suggested system price point is $185.00 with a keyboard, mouse, and preinstalled software; or $249.00 which also includes a monitor.



AMD has signed a number of strategic partners to help advance its "50x15" initiative.



India's TATA Group will market the PIC and offer it initially to consumers in five cities in India. CRC will work with local distributors in Mexico to offer the PIC along with a suite of educational software. Cable and Wireless is deploying the PIC in support of disaster relief efforts throughout the Caribbean. http://www.amd.com/us-en/Weblets/0,,7832_12095,00.html

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Oplink to Acquire EZconn for Photonic Components

Oplink Communications agreed to acquire Ezconn, a manufacturer of cable and photonics components, for $30 million in cash and stock. EZconn, which is based in Taiwan and has manufacturing facilities in Taiwan and China, supplies components for broadband cable and FTTX (Fiber-to-the- (Home, Curb, Premise, Node, etc.)) applications.



Oplink, which is based in San Jose, California, provides design, integration and optical manufacturing solutions (OMS) for optical networking components and subsystems. http://www.oplink.com/

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VIVO Launches CDMA2000 1xEV-DO with Lucent

VIVO announced the commercial launch of a 3G CDMA2000 1xEV-DO network in the in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro regions of Brazil. This Lucent-supplied network enables VIVO to provide mobile data services at speeds of up to 2.4 Mbps to laptops and PDAs equipped with 1x-EV-DO PC cards. For the commercial network launch, Lucent upgraded VIVO's Lucent-supplied base stations to support CDMA2000 1xEV-DO. Lucent Worldwide Services provided network integration and installation services. http://www.vivo.com.brhttp://www.lucent.com

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Voiceglo Adds Push-to-Talk Buddy Feature to VoIP Service

Voiceglo, a broadband telephony provider, has added a peer-to-peer voice messaging feature to its proprietary Web- and PC-based service, the GloPhone. The feature is similar to the push-to-talk functionality of cell phones, allowing users to send and receive instant voice messages to other GloPhone users on their buddy list. Specifically, the GloMessenger application allows GloPhone users to send voice messages to one another using MP3 formatted files - without having to initiate a phone call. Users click on a "Send Message" button and record a sound byte that is immediately transmitted to an online buddy. The recipient will then see their GloPhone display window flash - indicating that they have a GloMessage waiting - and can then listen to the audio message and reply. http://www.glophone.com

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NETGEAR's Q3 Sales Rise 34% over Last Year

NETGEAR reported Q3 net revenue of $101.2 million, a 34% increase as compared to $75.8 million for Q3 2003. Net revenue for Q2 was $88.4 million. Net income (GAAP) was $5.9 million or $0.19 per basic share and $0.18 per diluted share, compared to a net loss of ($4.0) million for the third quarter of 2003. Net revenue in Q3 2004 derived from North America was $57.1 million, the Europe, Middle East and Africa, or EMEA, region was $36.2 million, and the Asia Pacific region was $8.0 million. http://www.netgear.com

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Leading Carriers Form ENUM Group for North America

Leading service providers have formed a new group called Country Code 1 ENUM Limited Liability Company to promote the development of consistent, standards-based ENUM technology throughout North America. Founding members include AT&T, GoDaddy.com, MCI, SBC Laboratories, Sprint, and Verizon.



"ENUM technology will play a vital role in the continued growth and development of VoIP," said Keith Cambron, president and CEO, SBC Laboratories. "It is critically important that ENUM technology is developed in a consistent, standards-based manner. http://www.sbc.com

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Alcatel Sees Q3 Sales Rise 11% over Last Year

Alcatel reported Q3 sales of EUR 3.044 billion, up 11% (14% at constant exchange rates) over the same period last year and up 3% sequentially. The company's gross margin was 37.7% of sales. Net income pre-goodwill for the quarter was registered at EUR 187 million or diluted EUR 0.14 per share (USD 0.17 per ADS) and net income after goodwill at EUR 84 million or diluted EUR 0.06 per share (USD 0.08 per ADS). Some highlights for Q3.

• Mobile communications: sales were up 28% YoY with positive indications for Q4. Alcatel cited sales breakthroughs in India and Brazil and expansions in Russia, Africa, the Middle East and China. Alcatel is now investing in a disruptive NGN cellular core technology through its association and planned acquisition of Spatial Wireless.



• Fixed communications: revenue decreased by 3.8% to EUR 1,253 million from EUR 1,302 million in Q3 2003, continuing on a flattish trend. Both the Data and Fixed Solutions businesses turned in significant growth. The IP edge service routing activity now boasts more than 40 customers across diverse geographical regions, with over 10 new accounts added during the quarter. MSWAN sales continued to be strong as a result of increased traffic in access, most notably in Europe. The growth in fixed solutions was driven by triple play services, in particular, the early adoption in Western Europe, Latin America and Russia, while NGN continued to gain momentum, exemplified by wins in China during the quarter wherein Alcatel will deliver one million NGN lines to three different Chinese carriers. Optical networks also grew during the quarter benefiting from the demand in the metro domain as well as for cross connects by the wireless carriers as they build out their network. Compared to a year ago, shipments of ADSL lines grew strongly in China, moderately in Europe, and declined in North America, which overall resulted in a softness in revenues. Alcatel delivered 4.5 million lines in the quarter, bringing cumulative deliveries for the year to 14.8 million. Voice networks continued to decline, even if, emerging countries in the deployment phase showed some strength. During the quarter an agreement was reached to dispose of the power systems business. The company said its investments in triple play technologies, as evidenced by the recent win with SBC for Project Lightspeed.



• Private communications: revenue increased by 11.4% to EUR 935 million compared with EUR 839 million in Q3 2003. Alcatel noted growth in its IP/PBX business particularly in Europe and, to a lesser extent, in Asia. Genesys continued to post solid results, particularly with large US companies as well as in Asia Pacific.

http://www.alcatel.com

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Taiwan's Chunghwa Reaches 2.9 Million DSL Accounts

Chunghwa Telecom, Taiwan's incumbent operator, added 195,000 ADSL subscribers in Q3, giving it a total of 2.9 million lines in service -- a 29% increase of the same time last year. The company has 3.8 million Internet subscribers, up by 72,000 for the quarter.



Chunghwa's total fixed line subscriber base stood at approximately 13.2 million at the end of Q3, a 1.0% YoY increase. However, total fixed line revenues for the first nine months 2004 declined by 7.1%, mainly due to fixed-line competition, mobile substitution and a continuous migration of dial-up subscribers to ADSL broadband services. http://www.cht.com.tw

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SBC Offers $19.95 Monthly DSL Promotion

SBC Communications announced its lowest monthly price to date for SBC Yahoo! DSL -- $19.95 a month for new DSL residential customers who commit to a one-year term and subscribe to the company's unlimited local and long distance calling plan. The All Distance bundle delivers unlimited local and nationwide direct-dial long distance calling, Caller ID, voicemail and the choice of two SBC calling features for $48.95 a month. The $19.95 DSL add-on provides download speeds of 384 Kbps - 1.5 Mbps and upload speeds of up to 384 Kbps. http://www.sbc.com/news_room

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Verizon Cites Growth in Wireless, LD, DSL, Data and Enterprise

Citing growth in wireless, long-distance and broadband services, Verizon reported Q3 revenue of $18.206 billion, up 6.7% over the same period last year. Q3 earnings were $1.8 billion -- 64 cents per diluted share, or 65 cents per share before one special item. For the first time, Verizon Wireless contributed more than 40 percent of Verizon's total revenues. Some highlights for Q3:

• Verizon Wireless: added 1.7 million net new customers, the largest quarterly customer increase in the history of the company, which was formed in April 2000. The total number of customers grew 16.9 percent year-over-year to 42.1 million, including 40.2 million retail customers. Average monthly churn was 1.5%. Average monthly service revenue per customer increased 3.1 percent year-over-year to $51.58. Data services usage continued to climb, contributing $300 million, or 4.7 percent, of third-quarter 2004 total service revenues, up from 4.2 percent in the second quarter 2004 and 2.3 percent in the third quarter of 2003. More than one-third of the company's base -- 14.6 million customers -- use data services and spend an average of $7 per month on data. During Q3, Verizon Wireless logged 2.6 billion text messages, 25.5 million picture messages and 26.8 million Get It Now downloads.



• Long Distance: revenues for all LD services, including traditional intra-region toll services, increased 8.7 percent compared with third quarter 2003, to $1.1 billion in the quarter. The company had 17.3 million long-distance lines in service as of the end of the quarter, an increase of 525,000 lines compared with the second quarter 2004.



• DSL: added a net of 309,000 DSL lines for a total of 3.3 million lines in service, representing 1.1 million net additions over the past year. The company also began rolling out FiOS fiber-optic-based services in the third quarter 2004.



• Data: Revenues (including DSL) were $2.0 billion. Data revenues represented 21 percent of Domestic Telecom's total operating revenues in the quarter, up from 18 percent in the third quarter 2003.



• Bundles: Approximately 53 percent of Verizon residential customers have purchased local services in combination with either Verizon long-distance or Verizon DSL, or both. This compares with 41 percent in the third quarter 2003. The average revenue per month per Verizon residential wireline customer increased by 4.4 percent in the third quarter 2004, compared with the third quarter 2003.



• UNE-P: Resale and Unbundled Network Element-Platform (UNE-P) lines totaled 6.7 million at the end of the third quarter 2004, up from 5.4 million at the end of the third quarter 2003. For UNE-P only, this is a 105,000 increase from the end of the second quarter 2004, which is significantly less than in prior quarters this year. The company had 53.7 million switched wireline access lines in service as of the end of the third quarter 2004.



• Employees: 208,240 compared to 219,927 at the same time last year.

http://www.verizon.com

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PCTEL to Acquire Selected Antenna Assets from Andrew Corp.

PCTEL to acquire selected assets associated with Andrew Corporations' (ANDW) mobile antenna business for $10 million in cash. The assets to be acquired consist of Andrew's GPS, On-Glass, and Antenna Specialists brand of professional antenna products.



PCTEL acquired Maxrad in January, 2004. With the acquisition of the selected Andrew antenna assets, the company estimates that it will achieve over $40 million in antenna-related revenue in 2005. http://www.pctel.com

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America Online Offers Premium Virus Protection

America Online began offering McAfee VirusScan Online protection at no additional cost as part of its basic membership to both broadband and dial-up customers. Until now, this was a premium service sold separately to America Online members. http://www.aol.com

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DSLExtreme Lowers Price to $21.95

DSL Extreme, which offers broadband service in twenty-one markets across the U.S., lowered its DSL price to $21.95 per month for the first year for 1500/384 kbps service. The $21.95 package includes up to 10 email addresses with a total of 1 GB of storage, 250 Megs of Personal Webspace, unlimited Usenet News service, and game server access with gamer-specific peering. http://www.dslextreme.com

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Telefonica Moviles Completes Acquisition of Bellsouth's L.A. Networks

Telefonica Moviles completed the acquisition of BellSouth's cellular operators in Colombia, Nicaragua, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela. These acquisitions mark the conclusion of the second stage of the purchases agreed to by the companies. Together with the acquisition of Bellsouth's cellular operators in Ecuador, Guatemala and Panama on 14 October, Telefonica Moviles has now completed the acquisition of eight of the 10 operators. The company expects to complete the remaining acquisitions (in Argentina and Chile) over the course of 2004http://www.telefonicamoviles.com

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