KPN Selects Huawei for CWDM/DWDM

KPN signed a formal contract with Huawei for a CWDM/DWDM project. The project includes access layer CWDM covering the whole of the Netherlands and the national backbone DWDM. Financial terms were not disclosed.Huawei described the contract as it second recent breakthrough in Europe. Earlier this year, Huawei was named as a preferred supplier of MSAN and transmission equipment to BT 21CN. http://www.huawei....

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India's VSNL Completes Acquisition of Tyco Global Network

Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited (VSNL), India's leading provider of international telecommunications and internet services, completed its acquisition of the Tyco Global Network (TGN), a state-of-the-art undersea cable network that spans 60,000 km (37,280 miles) and the continents of North America, Europe and Asia. With the acquisition of TGN, VSNL is now one of the world's largest providers of submarine cable bandwidth. VSNL acquired the network for $130 million (not including the assumption of certain liabilities).In addition to the submarine cables,...

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Telenor Selects Juniper/Siemens for IP/MPLS

Telenor has commissioned Siemens Communications to upgrade its broadband network to a next-gen IP/MPLS backbone using Juniper Networks' core and edge routing platforms. Telenor is upgrading its entire network to a new IP/MPLS network, including the distribution, access and core with Juniper Networks routing platforms supplied by Siemens. The new network is also based on RESIP (RESilient IP), a program of next-generation network design and engineering principles developed jointly by Siemens and Juniper. By using a single IP/MPLS-based network, Telenor...

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Telco Systems' President Steps Down

Telco Systems announced that Larry Asten, the company's president, has resigned to pursue other opportunities. Bob Resinger, the Chief Operating Officer, will assume the responsibilities of president. Telco Systems is a wholly owned subsidiary of BATM Advanced Communications.http://www.telco....

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Microsoft TV Hires Juniper Exec to Head its Marketing

The Microsoft TV Division named Christine Heckart as its new general manager of marketing. Heckart most recently served as the vice president of marketing at Juniper Networks. Prior to Juniper, she served as president of the strategic consulting firm, TeleChoice. http://www.microsoft....

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Essent Kabelcom Selects Siemens for Cable IP

Essent Kabelcom, the second largest cable company in the Netherlands with 470,000 subscribers, has commissioned Siemens to deliver, install and maintain a new IP platform based on its Surpass solution. The network will enable a range of integrated services, including digital television, voice and video. The platform will be installed in the cities Groningen and Tilburg, which will add redundancy to the network. The management system for the new platform will be set up in Zwolle. http://www.siemens....

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Siemens Delivers WiMAX-based Telemetering in Belarus

The government-owned telecommunications operator in Belarus (BEST) selected Siemens for the delivery of a WiMAX network is designed to provide large parts of the population with internet access. In addition, the Belarussian government wants to use the WiMAX network for a telemetering application in which all household consumption data for electricity, gas and water will be transmitted over the air to a central billing system. The network and the remote wireless meter reading system are scheduled to go live at the end of 2005.The network will use...

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China Mobile Selects Nortel to Upgrade Zhejiang Optical Backbone

China Mobile, the world's largest GSM carrier in terms of subscriber numbers with 210.62 million subscribers, selected Nortel to upgrade its optical backbone network in Zhejiang province to address accelerating subscriber growth and prepare for migration to 3G. Zhejiang Mobile, a provincial affiliate of China Mobile, operates the province-wide network. Two Nortel optical platforms - Optical Cross Connect HDX Multiservice Switch and Optical Multiservice Edge (OME) 6500 - are being deployed in Zhejiang Mobile's provincial backbone network to optimize...

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IEEE Develops Standard for Broadband-over-Powerline Systems

The IEEE has begun work on a standard to define the nature of the communication channel to be used to adapt the installed base of electrical power lines for Internet and other broadband communications. The standard, IEEE P1901, "Standard for Broadband over Power Line Networks: Medium Access Control and Physical Layer Specifications", will make it easier for high-speed communication equipment to be used with AC power lines. It is targeted for completion in early 2007.IEEE P1901 will apply to broadband-over-power-line (BPL) devices for first-mile/last-mile...

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SaskTel Mobility Selects Nortel for Wireless Upgrade

SaskTel Mobility selected Nortel to expand its 3G CDMA2000 1X and 1xEV-DO network in the province of Saskatchewan. Nortel will provide CDMA2000 1X radio base stations, base station controllers, switching platforms and other related equipment. Nortel will also supply SaskTel Mobility with CDMA2000 1xEV-DO equipment for initial deployment in Regina and Saskatoon. http://www.nortel....

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Ericsson to OEM Airspan's WiMax Products

Airspan Networks has signed a General OEM agreement under which Ericsson will resell Airspan's AS.MAX family of WiMAX broadband wireless access products. The deal gives Ericsson worldwide rights to resell Airspan's HiperMAX, MacroMAX and MicroMAX base-station products, as well as EasyST and ProST customer premise equipment. Airspan's AS.MAX product family has been designed for indoor, self-installable deployment of customer premises equipment. The product family will be commercially available in the third quarter 2005. http://www.airspan.comulIn...

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Broadcom Surpasses 50 Millionth Wi-Fi Chipset

Broadcom has surpassed the milestone of over 50 million Wi-Fi chipsets shipped. The majority of Broadcom's Wi-Fi shipments have consisted of its 54g wireless LAN chipsets. The company said that in 2004 it sold more Wi-Fi chipsets than any other semiconductor vendor and that to date, more than 200 million Wi-Fi products have been sold worldwide.http://www.broadcom....

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Sprint and Motorola in WiMax Development Pact

Sprint and Motorola agreed to conduct joint wireless broadband technology testing and equipment trials in 2005 and 2006. The collaboration is expected to spur IEEE 802.16e (2.5GHz) technology development, validate vendor solutions and help formulate network architecture strategies. The technical assessment involves lab testing of base station equipment, smart antenna technology and multimedia handsets and field trials in certain locations beginning in 2005 through 2006 as a basis for additional business-case evaluation."WiMAX is one of the technologies...

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Adelphia Boosts Cable Modem Rate to 16 Mbps Downstream

Adelphia Communications will begin offering a premium cable modem Internet service with speeds up to 16Mbps downstream and up to 2Mbps upstream. The service initially will be available to Adelphia subscribers living within serviceable areas of Leesburg, Virginia. http://www.adelphia....

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TANDBERG TV Offers 24x7 Support for VOD and Compression Equipment

TANDBERG Television began offering 24x7 technical support for both VOD and compression systems through its Network Operation Center (NOC) in Atlanta. The NOC currently supports more than 1,500 VOD systems. http://www.tandbergtv.c...

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AT&T Shareholders Approve SBC Merger

AT&T shareholders voted to approve a proposed merger agreement with SBC Communications. The company said approximately 97.9% of the shares that were voted approved the merger. This represents more than 70.7% of the outstanding shares."The positive vote is an important step forward on the road to creating a leading U.S.-based global communications company for the 21st Century," said AT&T Chairman and CEO David W. Dorman. "Together, SBC and AT&T will create one of the world's premier communications companies in terms of global reach,...

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Apple Signs Up One Million Podcast Subscribers

Apple's iTunes customers have subscribed to more than one million Podcasts from the new iTunes Podcast Directory in its first two days of availability. http://www.itunes....

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France Telecom Outlines NExT -- New Experience in Telecom services

France Telecom outlined its vision for transforming itself into a full-service, integrated wireline/wireless broadband operator with a new business model. France Telecom's NExT (New Experience in Telecom services -- Nouvelle Expérience des Télécommunications) is a three-year initiative that will leverage both its legacy brands (France Telecom, TP, etc.) and Orange, provide customers with a personalized portal for all their communications, introduce...

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Telmex Chile Selects Cisco for 10 GigE Network

Telmex Chile has selected Cisco Systems for a 10 Gigabit Ethernet network covering the Santiago metropolitan area. The IP/MPLS network will incorporate the Cisco ONS 15454 multiservice optical platform, the Cisco 7600 Series routers, and the Catalyst 3750 and 3550 Ethernet switches. The network has a total aggregate capacity of more than 300 Gbps. Financial terms were not disclosed.Cisco Systems Chile and Telmex began working together in 2001, when Chilesat, which three years later would become part of the Mexican corporation, built the first DWDM...

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SMC Networks Selects Intel's 10 GigE Transceivers

SMC Networks announced six new 10 GigE uplinks for its TigerSwitch and TigerStack managed switches. The uplinks, all of which use Intel 10 Gbps transceivers, are available in both XENPAK and XFP form factors, beginning in July.SMC will offer three 10G transceivers for XENPAK uplinks: the SMC10GXEN-SR, for transmission distances up to 300m; the SMC10GXEN-LR, for transmission distances to 10km; and the SMC10GXEN-ER, for transmission distances to 40km. Prices range from $2,299.99 to $8,999.99.http://www.smc....

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Nextel to Launch 2.5 GHz Trial with IPWireless

Nextel Communications will deploy a wireless broadband trial based on UMTS TD-CDMA technology from IPWireless. The field trial will begin during Q3 in Washington, D.C. and nearby suburbs. Nextel will test a range of subscriber services, including broadband access for laptops, desktops or PDAs, backhaul for enterprise campus and a wide array of Wireless Interactive Multimedia Services such as video streaming, online gaming, document collaboration and video conferencing. The trial is scheduled to run for a minimum of six months. http://www.ipwireless.com...

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Passave's EPON Chip Qualified in Korea

Equipment from Tellion based on Passave's OLT (optical line terminal) and residential-gateway ONU (optical networking unit) chipsets has successfully passed benchmark testing by KT and are qualified for deployment in Korea. The OLT and ONU devices are designed around the gigabit EPON chipset from Passave. http://www.passave.com http://www.tellion....

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Alloptic Provides GEPON for Sweden's National Broadband Testbed

Acreo AB, a Swedish Research Institute developing broadband technologies and a partner in several European Union projects relating to broadband technology, has tested Alloptic's Gigabit Ethernet Passive Optical Networks (GEPONs) technology in its National Broadband Testbed. The testing was part of a program led by Ericsson LME, who acted as systems integrator for the Alloptic equipment and provided the passive network infrastructure. http://www.alloptic.c...

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NTT Com to Launch Transpacific Ethernet Service

NTT Communications (NTT Com) is preparing to launch Global Super Link, a virtual end-to-end Ethernet service, between Japan and the U.S. Enterprise users can choose two transmission speed options of 45 Mbps or 100 Mbps. Users can transmit up to one terabyte of data per month for a fixed cost, after which they are charged per-gigabyte for any additional data transmission. Unlimited usage at a fixed monthly cost is available with the 45 Mbps option. The service rides over NTT Com's MPLS-based Tier 1 backbone.NTT Com's transpacific Ethernet service...

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Lucent Upgrades Metro Optical Net for US Army in Germany

The U.S. Army awarded a contract to Lucent Technologies to install a next-generation optical communications network at a U.S. Army installation in Mainz-Kastel, Germany. The project will increase network bandwidth at Mainz-Kastel.This year Lucent has already announced $36.3 million in contracts for other infrastructure upgrades in North America and Europe and in 2003 announced contracts with the Army valued at $50 million for installations in North America and Asia. http://www.lucent.c...

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Toshiba Adopts Sun's Java for 3G Phones

Toshiba has adopted Sun Microsystems' Java implementation for cell phones to deliver its latest handsets for Vodafone, the world's largest mobile operator. Sun and Toshiba have jointly deployed the Connected Limited Device Configuration (CLDC) Hotspot Implementation, Sun's Java Virtual Machine technology that turbo-charges applications for 3G handsets, and Sun Java Wireless Client software for Vodafone. http://www.sun....

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Microsoft's Board of the Future Predicts IT Trends

A group of 12 university students representing 10 countries brought together by Microsoft to consider the views of young people entering the workforce, released a list of predictions for information technology (IT) in the next decade. These are the top five predictions determined by the student board:1. Connectivity will be truly ubiquitous. People will be able to work virtually anyplace, at any time. Firms will support this flexibility, while employees will increasingly supply their own connected systems, blurring the line between work life and...

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Cablevision Integrates Home Security Systems in VoIP Service

Cablevision, which provides cable TV service to 3 million households in the New York metro area, is now providing the ability to link a customer's Optimum Voice digital VoIP service to central station security and fire monitoring facilities. This enables customers to maintain home security systems without a PSTN line.Cablevision said it is now serving more than 400,000 VoIP customers. The recently began offering its VoIP customers a battery back-up option that would allow hours of continued operation in the event of a power outage. The Optimum...

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Motorola to Acquire Sendo for Handset R&D

Motorola agreed to acquire key assets from British mobile handset maker Sendo Ltd. for an undisclosed sum. Send sold approximately 5 million handsets in 2004 and had more than $420 million in revenue; however, the privately held company went into administration due to financial pressures. Motorola is purchasing Sendo's UK- and Singapore-based research and development team and design and test equipment required by that team, as well as the company's intellectual property portfolio.Sendo has approximately 200 engineers -- with nearly 170 of those...

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Nortel Names New Chairman

Nortel Networks announced the appointment of Harry J. Pearce as its non-executive chairman of the board, replacing Lynton R. (Red) Wilson, who has served as chairman since November 2001. Pearce has previously served as Chairman of the Board of Hughes Electronics Corporation (now The DIRECTV Group, Inc.). He was a director and Vice-Chairman of General Motors Corporation from January 1996 to June 2001. Mr. Pearce is also a director of Marriott International, Inc. and MDU Resources Group, Inc. http://www.nortel....

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Belgacom Launches IPTV Services with Siemens

Belgacom announced the commercial launch of digital TV services over its ADSL network. Belgacom's business model is to rent the set-top box and remote control for EUR 6 per month, provide free access to dozens of channels, and charge extra for VOD and sports programming. Siemens provided the end-to-end solution, based on the Surpass Home Entertainment concept.Belgacom said its key differentiators would be better digital image and sound quality, exclusive...

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India's Reliance Infocomm Deploys Veraz Media Gateways

Reliance Infocomm, the largest private telecom service provider in India, has deployed Veraz's I-Gate 4000 PRO media gateways, supporting 60,000 ports for international long-distance (ILD) VoIP traffic. Reliance Infocomm is running live traffic over ten media gateways in New York, Los Angeles, London, and Hong Kong, terminating in India. The carrier carries both retail and wholesale voice traffic. Veraz Networks said that optimizing the bandwidth on the international voice trunks was key to the Reliance Infocomm deployment. Veraz's I-Gate 4000...

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BT Announces Ethernet WAN Services

BT announced plans to launch three new Ethernet services this summer: BT GigeStream is a low cost, point to point Ethernet private circuit service available nationally at speeds of between 250 Mbps and 1 Gbps. BT EVLAN, a VPLS-based, metro any-to-any Ethernet LAN service.BT Enterprise Ethernet, a new low bandwidth version of its MegaStream product that will offer many of the characteristics of a traditional private circuit, but with the benefit of a low-cost Ethernet interface. "BT is transitioning the foundation of our entire business and we're...

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Foundry and Level 5 Partner on High Performance I/O

Foundry Networks is partnering with Level 5 Networks to deliver high-performance computing (HPC) solutions as part of Foundry's HPC Ethernet Alliance Program. Specifically, the companies will work together in interoperability testing and benchmarking of Foundry's Ethernet switches with Level 5 Networks' EtherFabric adapters.http://www.level5networks.com http://www.foundrynetworks.comEarlier this month, Level 5 Networks unveiled its EtherFabric, a high-performance I/O architecture aimed at improving server CPU efficiency while remaining completely...

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BT Selects Microsoft IPTV

BT has selected Microsoft's IPTV Edition software platform to deliver TV over broadband in the UK. The announcement represents a major win for Microsoft's IPTV platform.BT plans to trial TV over broadband services powered by Microsoft TV IPTV Edition in early 2006, with delivery of a commercial service expected to begin in the summer of 2006. http://www.microsoft.com/tvIn recent months, Microsoft has announced a number of major carrier wins for its TV platform, including BellSouth, SBC Communications, Verizon, Bell Canada, Cablevision Mexico,...

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Redline Expands Spectrum Coverage of its WiMAX Platform

Redline Communications, will expand its family of WiMAX-based products to include coverage of the 3.3 to 3.4 and the 3.6 to 3.8 GHz spectrum. The new radios will initially available on Redline's AN-100 platform. Redline's RedMAX products, which incorporate, the Intel PRO/Wireless 5116 WiMAX modem silicon on the SU (Subscriber Unit) with Redline's 2nd generation 802.16 MAC, and 3rd generation OFDM PHY, will be submitted for WiMAX Forum Certification. Redline said its RedMAX product line will be commercially available before year-end. http://w...

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Devicescape Offers Platform for Enterprise-Class Access Points

Devicescape Software released a new version of its Wireless Infrastructure Platform that enables device manufacturers to create full-featured, enterprise-class wireless access points. In addition, vendors of specialized Wi-Fi equipment, such as hotspot and public-safety infrastructure, can now use Devicescape WIP to leverage high-end WLAN features into their products.Enterprise-class features of Devicescape's Wireless Infrastructure Platform (WIP)...

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Infranet Initiative Becomes IPsphere Forum

The Infranet Initiative Council, which was launched by Juniper Networks in 2003, has become The IPsphere Forum. The group will promote "the standardization of Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) approaches to network service federation, publication and consumption by identifying requirements and current gaps, specifying mechanisms to address these, and contributing to the work conducted by associated standard bodies."At an executive meeting held earlier in June at Supercomm 2005, the board of directors and officers of the IPsphere Forum were elected....

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China TieTong Expands Cisco IP/MPLS Rollout

China TieTong (formerly China Railcom) has begun migration to a Cisco IP Next-Generation Network (IP NGN) for the latest expansion of its CRNET backbone. The new network, based on Cisco IP/MPLS technology, is expected to increase the company's coverage to 250 cities from the current 129. CRNET is using the Cisco 12416 Router and the Cisco 7304 Router, among other products. Financial terms were not disclosed. http://www.cisco....

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German Banks Deploy Siemens HiPath for SIP VoIP

FIDUCIA IT AG, an IT service provider for the Volksbanken and Raiffeisenbanken banking cooperatives in Germany, has selected the Siemens HiPath 8000 Real-Time IP system as the central softswitch in its network. FIDUCIA IT will host real-time communication services such as telephony, CTI applications and unified messaging over IP for the German banking industry. Financial terms were not disclosed.Siemens said its SIP-based HiPath 8000 can scale to hundreds of thousands of users and is also vendor independent, able to provide compatibility with...

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Alcatel Supplies Metro Optical for Beijing Netcom

Beijing Netcom, a subsidiary of China Netcom, has completed the deployment of an optical network using gear from Alcatel. The project is described as the largest intelligent optical metro network in China. Alcatel supplied its 1678 Metro Core Connect (MCC) and Optical Multi-Service Node (OMSN) products for the project. The network will be used for carrier-class metro Ethernet services, high-speed Internet access, optical VPN, IPTV, Bandwidth on Demand (BoD) and leased-line services -- as well as Storage Area Network (SAN) applications. Financial...

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Pakistan Suffers Undersea Fault on Sea-Me-We 3 Cable

Pakistan Telecommunication Ltd. suffered a glitch on the Sea-Me-We 3 undersea cable on Monday, severely disrupting Internet communications to the country. The cable is the primary source of connectivity for the country, with satellite links providing back-up capacity. It was not clear when the service would be restored.http://www.smw3.com http://www.pta.gov.pk/Sea-Me-We 3 includes 39 landing points in 33 countries and 4 continents from Western Europe (including Germany, England and France) to the Far East (including China, Japan and Singapore)...

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Apple Takes Podcasting Mainstream

Apple has expanded iTunes to help users discover, subscribe, manage and listen to Podcast through its online music store. iTunes users can now subscribe to over 3,000 free Podcasts and have new episodes automatically delivered over the Internet to their computer and iPod.As of March 31, Apple had sold 15 million iPods. http://www.apple.com http://www.itunes.c...

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Verizon Wireless Expands EV-DO Network

Verizon Wireless has expanded its EV-DO (Evolution-Data Optimized) network to 50 major metro areas across the U.S. and said it remains on track to cover half the U.S. population by the end of this year. It BroadbandAccess service supports typical user download speeds of 400-700 kbps, while its V CAST wireless broadband multimedia service provides video clips from content partners. http://www.verizonwireless.c...

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Cisco Acquires NetSift for Deep Packet Processing

Cisco Systems agreed to acquire NetSift, a start-up based in San Diego, for approximately $30 million in cash and options. NetSift develops content processing technology focused on high speed networking and security. NetSift was founded in June 2004 to commercialize research conducted at the University of California, San Diego. The company has 15 employees.Cisco said the NetSift acquisition will help it to accelerate the integration of additional packet processing capabilities into future core Cisco platforms, such as modular switching. NetSift...

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Level 3 Supports NENA's E-911 Program

Level 3 Communications has become a program partner in the Next Generation E-911 Program of the National Emergency Number Association (NENA), a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the study, advancement and implementation of as America's universal emergency number. As a program partner, Level 3 is assigned to the Technical Roundtable, a group focused on identifying technical solutions that will help facilitate Enhanced 911 services.Level 3 also released the results of a recent online consumer awareness survey conducted in conjunction with...

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Metalink Announces Pre-802.11n Chip Offering 240 Gbps Wi-Fi

Metalink unveiled a new baseband chip targeting the emerging IEEE 802.11n standard for next-generation Wi-Fi. The company said its -MIMO-based (Multiple-Input Multiple-Output) wireless chipset supports data throughput of more than 240 Mbps and could provide full-home, over-the-air coverage for video-distribution applications. Sampling is expected in Q3. http://www.metalinkdsl....

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Microsoft Launches Communications Sector Alliance Program

Microsoft launched a Communications Sector Alliance Program (CSAP) aimed at helping service providers promote and develop new customer solutions. The program, which is offered through the Microsoft Partner Solutions Center (MPSC), provides communications companies with a strong commitment to Microsoft technologies with access to development and testing facilities at Microsoft. Bell Canada and Swisscom Mobile have already signed up to take advantage of the program.http://www.microsoft....

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IBM To Expand Support on Solaris 10

IBM and Sun Microsystems announced a 10-year extension to their Java technology agreement. The two companies also announced plans to deliver IBM middleware support for the Solaris 10 Operating System (OS) on SPARC, x86 and x64 systems. IBM will broaden support of its DB2, Rational, Tivoli and WebSphere software to include the Solaris 10. http://www.sun....

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Extreme Networks Accelerates Vesting of Stock Options

Extreme Networks accelerated the vesting of certain unvested options awarded to its employees, officers and directors under its stock option plans in response to the upcoming change in the accounting treatment of stock awards. The acceleration applies only to those options with an exercise price of $7.00 per share or higher. The closing sale price of Extreme's common stock on June 27, 2005 was $4.17 per share. http://www.extremenetworks.c...

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NewStep Targets Fixed-Mobile Convergence with IMS

NewStep Networks, a spin-out from Bell Canada that was established in January 2003, unveiled its suite of IMS-compliant software-based applications to enable carriers to derive revenue from the convergence of fixed and mobile networks. NewStep's technology operates at the signaling layer, facilitating standards-based integration with legacy TDM/SS7 networks, IP/SIP networks and enterprise communication software and IP PBX implementations. The solution...

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Google Releases Video Viewer Browser Plug-n

Google released a video viewer plug-in for FireFox and IE browsers that lets video files play right in the Google search pages. A few weeks ago, Google released another tool that lets users upload video content into its Video Search, where it is indexed. The new tool lets users play this content and search within the video.http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2005/06/google-video-now-with-video_27.h...

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BellSouth Names Feidler as President

BellSouth has given Mark Feidler the additional role of president and elected him to its Board of Directors. Feidler will also continue in his current role of chief operating officer, reporting to Duane Ackerman, chairman and chief executive officer. http://www.bellsouth....

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Redknee Raises $10 Million for Telecom Software

Redknee, a start-up based in Toronto, raised US$10 million in debt financing for its telecommunication software solutions. Redknee's software capabilities include service provisioning, real-time converged billing, messaging, service control, customer relationship management solutions which provide value-added functionality to wire-line, mobile, circuit-switched, and VoIP service providers. The financing was led by MMV Financial and HSBC Capital (Canada) also participated. http://www.redknee....

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SBC Cites Progress in AT&T Merger Clearance Process

SBC Communications has received clearances regarding its pending merger with AT&T in 26 of 36 states with approval or notification requirements and in the District of Columbia. The company believes the merger process will be completed in late 2005 or in early 2006. Merger review also is well under way at the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Communications Commission. In addition, clearances have so far been obtained from nine of 14 countries. http://www.sbc.com http://www.att....

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Micromuse Teams with Cramer on Automated IP Discovery

Micromuse and Cramer announced an off-the-shelf integration for synchronizing data between Micromuse's Netcool/Precision IP discovery software and Cramer's inventory management platform. The solution includes adapters from both Micromuse and Cramer to enable service providers to transition more quickly to next generation network operations by providing a rapid, standards-based means to manage new and complex network data. The jointly-developed integration synchronizes information about Layer 2 and Layer 3 MPLS, IP and ATM networks, including device...

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Supreme Court Sides with Content Owners

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that peer-to-peer file sharing networks could be held liable if they enable, encourage and profit from users that swap copyrighted material. The ruling hailed as a major victory by the entertainment industry."Today's unanimous ruling is an historic victory for intellectual property in the digital age, and is good news for consumers, artists, innovation and lawful Internet businesses. The Supreme Court sent a strong and clear message that businesses based on theft should not and will not be allowed to flourish. This...

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Supreme Court Backs FCC Order on Classifying Information Services

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in favor of the FCC in its Brand X Decision, which classified cable modem service as an interstate "information service" and thereby exempted the cable operator from mandatory common carrier regulations. The ruling means that cable operators will not be bound to open their networks to other ISPs. Cable operators hailed the ruling as an important victory, while ISPs and consumer groups warned that network operators would cut off competition and eventually raise prices.The ruling also provides the FCC with a green...

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NYT: SBC's TV Project Isn't Happening at 'Lightspeed'

SBC Communications has pushed back its target date for Project Lightspeed by six months, according to the The New York Times, due to problems installing high speed lines. The article discusses technical, legal and programming stumbling blocks that are disrupting SBC's ambitious plans. Limited rollouts are still expected this year, but SBC now seems more likely to make its IPTV service available to 18 million homes, or half its customers, by the end of 2008, according to the story. http://www.nytimes....

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Cavium Offers Security Processor for WiMAX Base Stations and CPE

Cavium Networks, a start-up based in Mountain View, California, introduced optimized versions of its security processors for WiMax base stations and customer premise equipment (CPE). The 802.16 standard requires a security sub-layer encrypting connections between Subscriber Station (CPE) and Base Station using the AES-CCM protocol. It also requires the usage of a client/server key management protocol based on X.509 digital certificates and RSA public-key encryption algorithm [PKCS #1]. Cavium said processing these algorithms on the CPU of a...

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Meriton Secures $54 Million for its Optical Solutions

Meriton Networks, a start-up based in Ottawa, secured US$54 million in Series C funding for its optical metro optical solutions. The company cited growing traction with carrier customers worldwide -- including its role in supporting strategic partner, Fujitsu Telecommunications Europe, in addressing BT's 21Cn network build. Meriton said it would continue to work with strategic partners in reaching top-tier service providers, as well build-out its...

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NetDevices Unveils "OnePass" Unified Services Gateway

NetDevices, a start-up founded by former Cisco executives, unveiled its "Unified Services Gateway" aimed at consolidating and simplifying the multiple network appliances currently being deployed by enterprises at the edge of their networks. NetDevices is using a "OnePass" architecture for packet classification and inspection from which multiple advanced services -- such as firewalls, intrusion detection, VoIP gateway and VPN gateway -- would be...

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Ikanos Debuts Second Generation VDSL2 Chips

Ikanos Communications has begun sampling its second generation VDSL2 (G.993.2) chipsets, the SmartLeap 9402 and the SmartLeap 9450, designed for high-density line cards for VDSL and VDSL2-based Broadband Access Concentrators, Remote Units, mini-RAMs, and ATM or IP DSLAMs. The company's first generation VDSL2 chipsets, which were introduced in December 2004, were the industry's first announced VDSL2-compliant solutions for central office, remote...

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Senators Lautenberg and McCain Seek to Prevent States from Blocking Municipal Nets

Senators Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ) and John McCain (R-AZ) introduced the "Community Broadband Act of 2005," seeking to prevent states from blocking local communities from providing broadband access to their citizens. According to the senators, fourteen states have already enacted barriers to entry, from outright restrictions to prohibitions that make entry difficult or prohibitively costly. The proposed legislation would prevent states from enacting such measures.http://lautenberg.senate.gov/~lautenberg/press/2003/01/2005623B38.h...

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Samsung Introduces 5 Mega-pixel CMOS Chip for Mobile Phones

Samsung Electronics Cohas completed development of a CMOS image sensor with 5 megapixel (2,608 x 1,952 pixels) QSXGA resolution. The device performs at the same level as its charge-coupled device (CCD) counterpart, yet it operates on less power and is more price competitive. Samsung said that by using 0.13-micron process technology it increased the fill factor (the image sensor's measurement of light sensitivity) by over 50%. Samsung has also completed development of a 3.2M-pixel CIS for camera phones. Samsung plans to begin mass-production of...

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Loral Skynet Launches Skyreach IP Services for Asia

Loral Skynet entered into an agreement with BtNAccess to extend Loral's SkyReach IP-enabled communications services to Asia. The service is powered by an iDirect IP hub at the BtNAccess teleport in Hong Kong. Skynet will combine satellite capacity on its Telstar 10 and Telstar 18 Asian satellites with teleport and terrestrial communications services, including MPLS, provided by BtNAccess.The SkyReach service in Asia will be available July 1st, using VSAT technology to deliver a full range of IP applications, including Internet access, VoIP, streamed...

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Broadband Services Forum Elects Board

The Broadband Services Forum, an industry group that fosters collaboration across the broadband value chain including content, service and technology providers, announced its first Board of Directors:Derek Kuhn of Alcatel, ChairmanCraig Forbes of net.com, Vice-ChairAndy Birchall of On Demand, Vice-Chair, EuropeJerry Passione of Juniper Networks, SecretaryKeith Wehmeyer of Thomson, TreasurerMatthew Marnik of Nortel, VP, MarketingJoe Mosher of Aliant...

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PMC-Sierra Confirms Q2 Outlook, Trims R&D

PMC-Sierra confirmed that is revenues in the second quarter of 2005 are expected to be at or near the high-end of the revenue range provided on April 20, 2005, following its first quarter earnings release. At that time, the revenue outlook provided was $70 million to $72 million in revenues for the second quarter of 2005, or 6% to 9% sequential growth. Additionally, by the end of the second quarter, the company's book-to-bill ratio is expected to exceed 1.1 as current quarter bookings are already greater than the Company's second quarter revenue...

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Broadcom Settles Securities Class Action Litigation

Broadcom agreed to settle the securities class action litigation currently pending against the company and certain of its current and former officers and directors for an aggregate cash payment of $150 million. Broadcom expects that approximately $40 million of that amount will be paid by its insurance carriers, with the balance of approximately $110 million to be paid by the company.The class action was brought on behalf of persons and entities who bought or acquired shares of Broadcom's common stock, or options on such shares, between July 31,...

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NTT DoCoMo Achieves 1 Gbps in 4G Field Test

NTT DoCoMo achieved 1 Gbps real-time packet transmission in a wireless downlink at a moving speed of about 20 km/h in a field experiment on fourth-generation (4G) radio access technology. The experiment took place last month in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture.NTT DoCoMo said the 1 Gbps transmission was realized through Variable Spreading Factor-Spread Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (VSF-Spread OFDM) radio access and 4-by-4 Multiple-Input-Multiple-Output (MIMO) multiplexing. The MIMO used a technique called "adaptive selection of surviving...

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Intelsat Americas-8 Satellite Successfully Launched

Intelsat Americas-8 (IA-8), a high-power satellite built for by Space Systems/Loral (SS/L), was successfully launched on a Sea Launch Zenit-3SL rocket from the Odyssey Launch Platform, positioned on the equator in the Pacific Ocean. The IA-8 satellite carries 28 C-band and 36 Ku-band transponders, as well as 24 Ka-band spot beams and will have total end-of-life power of 16 Kw -- making it one of the most powerful communications satellites to date. The satellite will provide coverage of North and South America, Alaska, Hawaii and the Caribbean from...

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Vitesse Adds to its Ethernet Marketing Team

Vitesse Semiconductor named Richard Martin to the newly created position of director of strategic marketing and Claus Stetter as the worldwide product line director for its Ethernet Switch IC products. Prior to joining Vitesse, Martin worked at Broadcom as the director of product marketing for the successful StrataSwitch, RoboSwitch and StrataXGS product lines. Stetter formerly worked as a senior product line manager for Broadcom, where he was responsible for the Robo-HS Gigabit Ethernet switch product line and for a family of Faster Ethernet Switch...

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Sprint and Nextel Unveil New Logo

Sprint and Nextel Communications unveiled a new brand and logo to be used upon completion of the companies' merger, expected in the third quarter of 2005, pending shareholder and regulatory approvals. The new go-to-market brand name of the combined Sprint Nextel will be Sprint, with the Nextel name continuing as a key product brand. http://www.sprint.com http://www.nextel....

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Sun Highlights Telecom Features of Solaris 10

Sun Microsystems certified its Netra server line of telecom hardware for the Solaris 10 OS. Additionally, more than 50 telecom software and hardware partners have announced support for Solaris 10.Sun recently made the source code to Solaris available at opensolaris.org under the Common Development and Distribution License (CDDL). This OSI approved open source license allows network equipment providers (NEP's) to safely develop innovative new solutions for distribution under their own terms. Solaris 10 is indemnified by Sun, providing its customers...

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TeliaSonera Selects Ericsson's Softswitch

TeliaSonera International Carrier selected Ericsson's Telephony Softswitch for the upgrade of its circuit-switched network to packet technology. The contract covers international switch applications for Europe and the United States, enabling TeliaSonera International Carrier to offer its customers voice, data and multimedia services with the same functionality, security and quality as it does today, but with the added benefits of overall increased scalability and new productcreation opportunities. Financial terms were not disclosed.Ericsson said...

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AT&T Adds a 6th Videoconferencing Hub for DoD

AT&T Government Solutions is adding a sixth video hub location in southwest Asia for the global video teleconferencing service it provides to the Defense Department. AT&T Government Solutions maintains and operates video hubs around the world that are used by the DoD to conduct more than 2,000 video conferences per month for both command and control and administrative purposes. AT&T also operates a 24-hour-a-day network management center to support the video network, which can link up to 25 sites for a video teleconference. More than...

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AT&T Expands its Global Network Services

AT&T is further expanding its portfolio of global networking services for business customers and extending them into additional locations in Europe, Asia and Latin America. The expansion includes the rollout of new access nodes in China through network interconnections with China Netcom and China Telecom, as well as new nodes in Croatia, Cyprus, Ecuador, India, Malaysia, Qatar, Panama and United Arab Emirates. Interconnections are also being established in Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland and the UK. These complement AT&T's previously...

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BT Avoids Break-up in Agreement with UK Regulator

BT reached an agreement with Ofcom, the telecom regulatory authority in the UK, that avoids the break-up of the company and provides a long-term framework for the UK's fixed line telecommunications market. Under the agreement, BT agreed to substantive changes in its structure and behaviour, significant cuts in the price it charges for unbundled local loops, to continue its universal service obligations, and to ensure that its 21CN Next Generation Network does not inhibit reasonable developments by alternative network operators. Full details of...

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Alcatel Launches Venture Capital Program in China

Alcatel is launching a Venture Capital Partnership Program in China aimed at accelerating the development of home-grown IT and telecom technologies. The program will be managed directly by Alcatel Shanghai Bell, Alcatel's Chinese flagship company. It will focus on innovative technologies, products, applications and services that address the demand of Chinese enterprises end users for a better, personalized telecom experience. The program supports start-ups using all technologies in the wireline and wireless arenas. In addition, Alcatel will provide...

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SBC Adds Intrusion Prevention to Managed Security Services

SBC Communications is adding an intrusion prevention service to its portfolio of SBC PremierSERV Managed Security Services. The new SBC PremierSERV Managed Intrusion Prevention Service (IPS) provides business customers with a professionally managed tool that can detect, contain and/or neutralize both known network threats as well as previously unidentified threats, also known as "zero day" threats. These malicious intrusions - in the form of viruses and worms on network clients such as servers, laptops, desktops or other endpoints - can sometimes...

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picoChip Secures $20.5 Million for Wireless Silicon

picoChip, a start-up based in Bath, UK, secured $20.5 million in third round funding for its DSP tuned for high-performance wireless applications, including WiMax and HSPDA. picoChip said its technology is being used by Intel in its Glenfield board, which is sold for use in WiMAX basestations, and Airspan. Airspan has recently won WiMAX contracts from Marconi and Fujitsu. In addition, picoChip has a number of strategic customers and partners for both WiMAX and 3G, including Tier One manufacturers.In the latest funding round, new lead investor Scottish...

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Freescale Expands AdvancedTCA Ecosystem

Freescale Semiconductor unveiled its Open AdvancedTCA Development Platform -- a series of modular, board-level components that initially includes an AdvancedTCA carrier blade and two Advanced Mezzanine Cards (AMCs). The carrier blade reference design features a PowerQUICC controller and support for both Ethernet and Serial RapidIO interconnect capabilities in the backplane. The AMC reference designs include Freescale's MPC8548E PowerQUICC III processor with RapidIO technology and a DSP farm module with eight MSC8122 multicore-DSPs based on StarCore...

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Edward Jones Selects 3Com's Convergence Solution

Edward Jones, a major financial-services firm with more than 9,000 branch offices in the U.S., Canada and the UK, will deploy 3Com's Convergence Applications Suite for IP Telephony, IP Conferencing, IP Messaging, IP Mobility, and IP Contact Center services. The first phase of the agreement includes the conversion of their corporate headquarters legacy voice system to an IP telephony solution based on 3Com products. The deal also includes 3Com routers, switches, and Enterprise Management Suite to complete the secure converged network. 3Com partner...

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Lucent Trials HSDPA with China Netcom

Lucent Technologies completed a field trial of High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) technology in China, conducting a series of data calls - including demonstrations of live TV and video-on-demand services - on a 3G W-CDMA trial network deployed by China Netcom in Shanghai.Lucent provided its Flexent OneBTS base stations -- which support HSDPA -- Flexent Radio Network Controller, as well as its W-CDMA packet core solution including Lucent's Flexent Serving GPRS Support Node (SGSN), and Gateway GPRS Support Node (GGSN). The HSDPA solution is...

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XO Partners with Avaya

XO Communications will bundle Avaya solutions with its network services, providing a single point of contact for customers from the time of installation to ongoing customer service and billing. Multi-site customers will be able to benefit from the efficiency and convenience of having a single provider and bill for their entire communications services and systems across all locations.Under the agreement, XO Communications will offer two suites of Avaya software and systems to small and medium-sized businesses:Avaya IP Office, an "all-in-one" office...

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Charter Deploys Moxi in California

Charter Communications has begun deploying Digeo's Moxi PowerKEY media centers to customers using its network in Turlock, California.The Moxi media center integrates high-definition television with a dual-tuner digital video recorder, enabling the user to watch one channel while recording another. Subscribers can search for and select On Demand video content and access instant weather, sports and news via an interactive information ticker. Moxi PowerKEY also enables cable operators to offer subscribers other revenue-generating services including...

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Lucent and Riverstone Selected by Kazakhtelecom

Lucent Technologies and Riverstone Networks were selected for a DSL and Ethernet services network upgrade by Kazakhtelecom, the national carrier in Kazakhstan. Equipment deployments include Lucent Stinger DSL access concentrators and Riverstone RS 8000 and 3000 series platforms. Financial terms were not disclosed. http://www.lucent.c...

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National LambdaRail Selects MCNC

National LambdaRail (NLR), a consortium of leading U.S. research universities and private sector technology companies deploying a nationwide optical networking infrastructure, selected MCNC to operate NLR Experiment Support Services. NLR's Experiment Support Services will provide a number of services, including coordinating the deployment of experimental equipment, providing engineering support and other assistance to researchers, serving as a facilitator for the researchers and research collaboration, and establishing a set of tools that enables...

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