Nokia Forecasts Camera Phone Market to Reach 600M Units in 2008

Nokia outlined its forecasts and expectations for the global mobile communications market for the coming years. Regarding the market, Nokia expects:

• the mobile device industry in 2005 to grow approximately 10% in volume from the 630 million units Nokia estimates for 2004 and to grow also in value, but to a lesser extent



• the annual 2008 camera phone market to be more than 600 million units and the smartphone market to be more than 200 million units



• the global mobile subscriber base to surpass two billion users in 2006



• the overall mobile infrastructure market in 2005 to be slightly up compared with 2004 in EUR terms

As for its own ambitions, Nokia aims to increase its competitiveness by broadening its product portfolio and launching approximately 40 new mobile devices in 2005, while maintaining market share of 40%. The company is also targeting:

• somewhat faster than market growth in mobile devices and infrastructure



• to achieve a mobile device operating margin of 17% - 18% in the medium term (two to three years)



• to achieve an infrastructure operating margin of 14% in the medium term (two to three years)
  Enterprise Solutions now to reach breakeven in the first half of 2006



• by the end of 2006 to bring overall Nokia R&D expenditure down to 9% - 10% of net sales, Nokia mobile device R&D expenditure down to 8% of net sales, and infrastructure R&D expenditure down to 14% of net sales.

http://www.nokia.com

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Net2Phone Awarded Cable VoIP Contracts by Altice One

Net2Phone announced contracts to provided outsourced cable VoIP services for Coditel Belgium, Coditel Luxembourg and Est Videocommunication in France, all members of the Altice One group, representing franchises passing 520,000 homes. These cable franchises will begin offering Net2Phone's cable VoIP solution to their subscribers in the fourth quarter of 2004.



Net2Phone also announced that it has introduced a warrant incentive program, allowing selected cable operators to earn warrants to purchase shares of Net2Phone common stock. The Board of Directors has reserved up to five million shares for issuance under this plan. The Altice One group represents the first of several cable operators who have opted to join the warrant program. http://www.net2phone.com

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BT Adds 600,000 DSL Customers in Q3

BT added a record 600,000 DSL connections in Q3, taking BT Wholesale's end user base to 3,294,000. The UK has now overtaken Germany in terms of broadband users per 100 people in the population. BT also confirmed that BT Retail's share of the net additions for the quarter had improved from 29 per cent to 30 per cent taking its installed base to 1,283,000 customers.



"The huge surge in connections was largely due to BT Wholesale's innovation in stretching the limits of ADSL so that homes beyond 6kms from an exchange can now access broadband. This breakthrough led to a dramatic increase in orders as we were suddenly able to satisfy the pent-up demand that existed in many areas. It was also the case that many more communities had access to broadband in the quarter thanks to the continuing roll out of broadband by BT," said BT Wholesale CEO Paul Reynolds. http://www.bt.comIn October, BT trimmed the monthly price for its Broadband Basic ADSL service to £17.99 a month, down from £19.99. Usage is capped at 1GB per month.

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Mobistar Selects Nortel for Belgian 3G Network

Mobistar, Belgium's second largest wireless operator, has selected Nortel Networks as the sole supplier to upgrade its national wireless network. Nortel Networks previously supplied about one-half of Mobistar's second generation wireless radio network. The upgrade agreement calls for Nortel Networks to deploy Node B Internet base transceiver stations (BTS) and Radio Network Controllers (RNCs) for Mobistar. The Nortel Networks hardware is HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access)-ready. Financial terms were not disclosed.



Mobistar is a member of the Orange group of wireless operators. In September 2003, Orange selected Nortel Networks as one of three radio technology vendors to support its Pan-European 3G network build out. Nortel Networks recently launched 3G networks with Orange in Cannes, Nice, Lyons and Marseille, France and is deploying 3G across the entire Provence - Cote d'Azur and Rhone Alpes regions of southern France. http://www.nortelnetworks.com

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Qwest Adds 102,000 DSL Subscribers in Q3

Citing improved revenue trends, expanded margins and solid growth in cash flow, Qwest Communications reported Q3 revenue of $3.45 billion, a 0.2 percent increase sequentially and a 3.4 percent decrease from third quarter 2003. The fully diluted loss per share was $0.31 compared with a loss of $0.43 cents last quarter, which includes special items of $0.16 and $0.27, respectively.



Some highlights:

• wireline revenue totaled $3.3 billion, up 0.1 percent sequentially and down 2.9 percent from a year ago.



• wireless revenue increased to $132 million in the third quarter, up 3.1 percent sequentially and 13.2 percent lower year-over-year.



• added 102,000 DSL lines, up 12 percent sequentially, to a total of 956,000 subscribers. The company is expanding its retail channel distribution with Office Depot, Best Buy, Staples, Comp USA, and Micro Center.



• deployed approximately 700 remote terminals during the quarter, expanding DSL availability to more than 6.2 million households, or 63 percent of households within its operating region. The company is on track to meet its DSL service availability goal of 65 percent of households within its operating territory by year end.



• total access line loss improved to 1 percent sequentially and stabilized at 4.1 percent year-over-year. Consumer access line loss improved to 1.4 percent sequentially, or half the rate of loss in the second quarter. The company cited bundling, aggressive win-back programs and alternate acquisition channel initiatives for the improved trending.



• primary retail consumer access lines declined by 86,000. This compares to a decline of 218,000 lines in the second quarter, and is the company's smallest decline in five quarters.



• business retail access lines declined 0.4 percent sequentially and 4.9 percent compared to the third quarter of 2003.



• total UNE-P lines increased by 8,000 -- a significant improvement from an increase of 125,000 in the second quarter and 138,000 in the third quarter of 2003.



• long-distance voice revenues increased 11 percent sequentially and total long-distance lines increased by 339,000 or 8 percent. Qwest ended the quarter with 4.4 million long-distance lines, up from 1.7 million a year ago.



• Qwest is currently carrying 2.1 billion minutes per month of VoIP traffic over its national IP network.

http://www.qwest.com

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Conexant Reports $213.1 Million in Quarterly Revenue

Conexant Systems reported quarterly revenue of $213.1 million, down 20% from the previous quarter's revenues of $267.6 million and consistent with the revised outlook provided by the company of 30-September-2004.



The net loss for the quarter was $367.5 million, or $0.79 per diluted share, compared to net income of $37.2 million, or $0.12 per diluted share, for the same period in 2003. Pro forma operating loss was $9.6 million, or 4.5 percent of revenues, compared to a pro forma operating profit of $6.7 million in the year-ago quarter.



Gross margin for the fourth fiscal quarter of 2004 was 40 percent of net revenues.



"Conexant's sequential decline in revenues to $213.1 million in the fourth fiscal quarter was largely due to excess channel inventory that resulted from lower-than-expected customer demand," said Armando Geday, Conexant's chief executive officer. "As is often the case during an inventory correction, our revenue decline was exacerbated by average selling price erosion caused by an unfavorable product mix as newer, more valuable products were slower to ramp. While our visibility continues to be limited, we remain confident in Conexant's long-term prospects."http://www.conexant.com

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Irish Broadband Expands Order for Alvarion's WiMax-Ready Systems

Irish Broadband issued follow-on orders valued at $1.4 million for Alvarion's WiMAX-ready BreezeACCESS and BreezeMAX platforms. Irish Broadband will be using BreezeACCESS VL to expand an existing Alvarion-based network operating in 5.7GHz, while they will use their recently awarded 3.5 GHz licenses to deploy the BreezeMAX 3500.



Irish Broadband is a CLEC that serves business and residential customers in Dublin, Cork and Derry in Northern Ireland. The BreezeMAX network will extend coverage to the cities of Dundalk, Drogheda, Galway, Limerick, and Waterford. http://www.alvarion.com

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Covad Extends its Business VoIP in 14 Markets

Covad Communications has extended its business-class VoIP services to 14 new markets: Austin, TX: Birmingham, AL: Burlington, NC; Dayton, OH; Grand Rapids, MI; Greensboro, NC: Holland, MI; Jacksonville, FL; New Orleans, LA; Ogden, UT; Orlando, FL; Provo, UT; Salt Lake City, UT and San Antonio, TX. Covad currently offers two VoIP products for small- to medium-sized businesses, and for enterprises needing a virtual Private Branch Exchange (PBX). Covad vPBX is designed as a full PBX alternative. Covad PBXi is designed to work seamlessly with existing PBX equipment.



The company plans to make its VoIP service available in 125 major metropolitan markets nationwide by the end of 2004. http://www.covad.com

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Redback Wins Phase Two of KT Next-Gen Broadband Network

KT has selected Redback Networks' SmartEdge Service Gateway platform and NetOp Policy Manager as the primary platform and policy intelligence infrastructure for the second phase of its next-generation broadband network. The SmartEdge Service Gateway platform was the exclusive system for the first phase of deployment at KT, and now it is expected to serve the majority of all deploying provinces. Financial terms were not disclosed.



KT makes use of Redback's Dynamic Subscriber Identification technology for seamless identification and authentication of subscribers and broadband-enabled devices, ranging from home PCs to mobile computers, game consoles, set-top boxes and IP telephones, across all modes of access, including KT's existing ADSL, VDSL, Metro Ethernet and WiFi. Dynamic Subscriber Identification utilizes PPP, DHCP and other means to identify subscribers and devices. http://www.redback.com

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MCI Reports Q3 Revenue of $5.1 billion

MCI reported Q3 revenue of $5.1 billion, a decline of 3%versus Q2 2004 and 15% versus Q3 2003. Operating expenses declined significantly in the quarter, reflecting the progress of MCI's cost reduction initiatives. Access costs fell to $2.6 billion, down 14% from Q3 2003, while costs of products and services declined 3%.



Third quarter results include previously announced non-cash, pre-tax impairment charges of $3.5 billion that reduced the carrying value of intangible assets and property, plant and equipment. As a result, MCI reported an operating loss of $3.4 billion for the third quarter, compared to operating income of $77 million in third quarter 2003. Excluding the impairment charges, the Company would have realized operating income of $121 million.



The $3.5 billion in impairment charges reduced the carrying value of assets to reflect the overall industry environment, including recent regulatory decisions that impact the prospects for MCI's consumer business.



MCI said revenue trends are stabilizing in its key business segments. http://www.mci.com

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BT Deploys Novell eDirectory for Identity Management

BT Exact is working with Novell on a directory-based program to integrate identity information among its various lines of business. The companies said the creation of a core repository of digital identities would allow BT to maximize existing IT investments and ensure employees had access to the most up-to-date information. When completed, the initiative will involve more than 100,000 users globally, including employees, agencies and partners.



The Directory Enablement Program, based on Novell's eDirectory, has four main objectives:

• Identity Management to establish the core meta-directory service and infrastructure that will ensure accurate and timely information is available from the "One BT" identity repository.



• Asset Management will utilize information from the meta-directory, allowing BT to manage the ownership of its assets, whether they are physical assets such as computers, mobile phones and company vehicles, or business-critical digital assets such as business intelligence and
  intellectual property.



• Role-based Provisioning to create, change and manage digital identities across different applications. This means that when employees join the company, change responsibilities, relocate or leave the company, their access rights can be changed once and updated across all of their applications across the network.



• Third Party Management will extend these functions outside the company to include customers, suppliers, partners and contractors enabling them to become more involved in BT's business.

http://www.novell.com/

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Shandong Unicom Selects Lucent's IMS Solution

Shandong Unicom, a provincial subsidiary of China Unicom, selected Lucent Technologies' IMS (IP Multimedia Sub-system)-based solution to offer VoIP to residential users and VoIP and IP Centrex services to enterprises in Jinan City, the provincial capital, and surrounding areas. The Accelerate solution for Shandong Unicom includes the IMS-ready Lucent Network Controller (a media gateway controller) and Lucent feature servers to deliver next generation IP services, as well as installation and deployment by Lucent Worldwide services. Financial terms were not disclosed. http://www.lucent.com

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Industry Group Supports Sender Policy Framework to Stop Spam

The Messaging Anti-Abuse Working Group (MAAWG), an industry group that includes leading carriers and ISPs, announced that its members will work toward adopting common standards for the deployment of sender authentication technologies.



Members of the MAAWG technical committee are evaluating the proposals left following the MARID working group, disbanded earlier this year by the IETF. Already, MAAWG technical committee members have begun deploying the Sender Policy Framework proposal for validating the return address of an email message (commonly known as SPF Classic), the latest proposal on SenderID and Client SMTP Validation (CSV). MAAWG will share and discuss the results of this deployment in the upcoming weeks and months.



MAAWG members have also committed to continuing their collaboration efforts to implement additional messaging security measures, such as the use of cryptographic signatures, reputation systems and accreditation agencies and accountability systems.



MAAWG Members include America Online, Bell Canada, BellSouth, Charter Communications, Cloudmark, Cox, EarthLink, France Telecom, Goodmail Systems, Openwave Systems, Verizon, Internet Initiative Japan, IronPort, Sprint, and others. http://www.maawg.org/

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Orange Chooses Nokia as 3G Supplier in Switzerland

Nokia will be the supplier of both core and radio-access networks for 3G for Orange Switzerland. Nokia has previously supplied WCDMA 3G networks to Orange UK and Orange France. In addition, the company's latest WCDMA smartphone, the Nokia 6630, will be included in Orange Group's offering of 3G products. Financial terms were not disclosed.



Deployment of the Nokia WCDMA 3G system has already begun and it will be ready for use by the year end. In addition, Orange Switzerland will be using the Nokia NetActa Service Quality Manager for network and service monitoring, allowing it to monitor its MMS, SMS, GPRS and GSM services from the subscriber's point of view. http://www.nokia.com

• Nokia has been a complete GSM supplier to Orange Switzerland since 1998.



• Orange Switzerland serves over 1 million subscribers.

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Openwave Names Peterschmidt as CEO

Openwave Systems named David Peterschmidt as president and CEO and a member of the Openwave board. Don Listwin will remain on the board as vice chairman. Listwin will also serve as a consultant to Peterschmidt and the executive team during a transition period until the end of the year.



Peterschmidt previously served as chairman and CEO of Inktomi. Most recently, he was CEO and chairman of Securify, a security software company, and will continue to serve as a director on its board. http://www.openwave.com/

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UTStarcom Announces $20 Million Contract With China Netcom

UTStarcom signed a contract valued at approximately $20 million with China Netcom to expand its existing IP-based PAS network in seven cities in Liaoning Province in northeast China.



In 2000, China Netcom launched PAS service in three cities in Liaoning Province. Four years later, more than 2.6 million people subscribe for PAS service in 14 cities throughout the province. UTStarcom said it continues to be the leading PAS equipment vendor in the province with better than 50% market share in both infrastructure and handsets."http://www.utstar.com/

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Alcatel Reaches 1 million DSL Milestone in Brazil

Alcatel reached the milestone of 1 million digital subscriber lines (DSL) installed in Brazil. The company said this milestone is more than twice that of its nearest competitor in the country.
Alcatel's DSL customers in Brazil are Telemar, Telefonica, and Brazil Telecom. http://www.alcatel.com

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Alcatel to Deliver Metro Ethernet Network to Chilean Operator

GTD Group, a Chilean telecommunications operator, selected Alcatel to provide an MPLS-based metro Ethernet network to deliver virtual private network (VPN) services to corporate customers throughout the Santiago metropolitan area. Specifically, GTD will use the Alcatel 7450 Ethernet Service Switch, Alcatel 7750 Service Router and Alcatel 5620 Service Aware Manager.
The network will also provide GTD the flexibility to offer any service at any port, including such high-value services as IP VPNs, virtual private LAN service and virtual leased line. In addition, GTD can ensure application-level QoS for multiple, concurrent classes of service from best effort to mission critical. Financial terms were not disclosed. http://www.alcatel.com

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