HNS to Use Intelsat's Newly Launched IA-8 Satellite

Hughes Network Systems (HNS) will use Intelsat's newly launched IA-8 satellite to support its DIRECWAY broadband satellite service across North America. Specifically, HNS will use multiple Ku-band transponders on IA-8 to support its enterprise, SOHO and consumer offerings, and will begin serving new customers using IA-8 capacity now that the satellite is operational. Financial terms were not disclosed.http://www.intelsat.comIn June 2005, Intelsat Americas-8 (IA-8), a high-power satellite built for by Space Systems/Loral (SS/L), was successfully...

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New Longer Distance Version of FireWire (800 Mbps at 100m) Gains Traction

Leading motherboard and computer makers are adopting the high-bandwidth, long-distance version of the 1394b (FireWire), according to the 1394 Trade Association, and shipment volumes of 1394b devices will reach at least 5 million within 18 months.The 'b' version of the FireWire standard operates at up to 800 Mbps and enables product connectivity at distances up to 100 meters without repeaters. Products using the 1394b audio-video connection can operate with legacy systems that use the original FireWire version, 1394a, including notebook computers,...

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Nokia Appoints Kallasvuo as Next CEO

Nokia appointed Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo as President and Chief Operating Officer effective October 1, 2005, and President and CEO from June 1, 2006. Mr. Kallasvuo joined Nokia in 1980 and currently heads the Mobile Phones business group. Prior to this he worked as the company's Chief Financial Officer.Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jorma Ollila continues after June 1, 2006 as Non-Executive Chairman. Nokia's current President, Pekka Ala-Pietila,...

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iPass Gains Access to KT's 14,000 Wi-Fi Hotspots

KT and iPass reached a roaming agreement to allow iPass enterprise customers to use KT's NESPOT Wi-Fi network, which includes more than 14,000 hotspots. iPass, which has 500,000 plus active monthly users, provides access to over 23,000 active Wi-Fi hotspots available in 52 countries. These hotspots come from approximately 60 providers around the world, all of which have been tested and certified by iPass as Enterprise Ready.KT uses the 802.1x standard for authentication across its entire footprint. http://www.ipass....

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XO Signs 1,000th VoIP Services Bundle Customer

XO Communications has signed more than 1,000 customers for its XOptions Flex business VoIP service in the 3 month since it launched the service nationwide. XOptions Flex is an integrated VoIP services solution that combines unlimited local and long distance calling, dedicated Internet access and web hosting services for a flat monthly price.http://www.xo....

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Axis Introduces World's Smallest MPEG-4 Network Camera

Axis Communications introduced an MPEG-4 networked video camera that is about the size of a deck of cards (approximately 2 x 1 x 3 inches). The camera is designed for indoor surveillance and remote monitoring applications for small businesses, home offices and residences.Unlike Web cameras, the AXIS 207 operates independently of a PC and contains a built-in Web server. The camera provides full-motion video (up to 30 frames a second) using MPEG-4...

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TelTel Opens Network for SIP-based Applications/Services

TelTel, a provider of SIP-based global Internet telephony with presence-enabled features, announced the availability of a new Public SIP Telephone Network (PsipTN). While maintaining an interface with the PSTN, the PsipTN powered by TelTel is designed to enable a new generation of SIP-based applications and services, and create new revenue opportunities for service providers and application developers. Unlike a traditional PSTN that only handles voice traffic, the new SIP-based virtual network is capable of carrying voice, multimedia, and audio/video...

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Intel Verfies Connexion by Boeing Service

The Connexion by Boeing in-flight Internet service has successfully completed compatibility testing with common Intel Centrino mobile technology-based laptop configurations, making Connexion by Boeing the first in-flight Internet service to be verified through Intel's Wireless Verification Program.Connexion by Boeing and Intel also said they plan to work with customer airlines to increase awareness, trial and adoption of in-flight Internet access through co-branding, promotions and educational efforts targeted at both business and leisure travelers....

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Sprint Expands Trans-Atlantic and European Capacity

Sprint announced plans to expand network capacity to and throughout Europe to address global access, performance and security requirements. Specifically, Sprint is expanding trans-Atlantic capacity by 50% to augment growth and increasing its intra-European core capacity by 100% to supplement existing points of presence. This expansion is scheduled to be completed during August.Last fall, Sprint extended its standard MPLS VPN offering to over 100 countries in Europe, Asia and Latin America, providing a secure and highly scalable solution to support...

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TiVo Reaches Distribution Deal with National Cable Television Cooperative

TiVo announced a distribution agreement with the National Cable Television Cooperative (NCTC), an organization of independent cable television companies serving over 14 million subscribers. The deal will make the TiVo service available as a stand-alone option for subscribers throughout NCTC's more than 1,000 independent cable operators.TiVo and NCTC have also made TiVo's interactive advertising platform available across NCTC's member multi-channel service operator's customer base. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. http://www.ti...

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Germany's Netcologne Selects Alcatel for VoIP

NetCologne, one of the leading regional operators in Germany, selected Alcatel for a VoIP solution that will enable it to deliver enhanced voice services over its DSL and cable networks. NetCologne, which is a facilities-based regional carrier with its own fiber network spanning more than 2,000 km, will deploy Alcatel's NGN solution, including the Alcatel 5020 Softswitch and Alcatel 7510 and 7515 Media Gateways.The Alcatel 5020 Softswitch has received EUR-PacketCable qualification, allowing NetCologne to deliver first or second voice line services...

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WebEx to Acquire Intranets.com

WebEx Communications agreed to acquire privately held Intranets.com, a leading provider of asynchronous collaboration applications for small and medium-size businesses, for approximately $45 million in cash.Intranets.com, which is based in Burlington, Massachusetts, claims more than 300,000 paying subscribers and 10,000 corporate sites. The site provides an on-demand suite of asynchronous collaboration tools for team collaboration, project management and partner coordination. The integrated suite includes secure document sharing, group scheduling,...

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BT Wholesale Cuts Price for Symmetric Broadband

BT Wholesale announced a 30% price reduction for its symmetrical digital subscriber line (SDSL) service. The price reduction will apply to both connection and rental charges for BT Datastream Symmetric and BT IPstream Symmetric products. The standard connection charge for BT IPstream and Datastream Symmetric will fall from £450 to £315, while the annual rental charges for the usage and capacity based options for IPstream products will fall from £1,380 to £966. The new pricing is effective from 01-November-2005.Cameron Rejali, Managing Director,...

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Nujira Secures $7.75 Million for Wireless Power Amps

Nujira, a start-up based in Cambridge, UK, has closed a $7.75 million Series A funding round for its advanced power amplifier technology for the wireless industry. Nujira's high power High Accuracy Tracking (HAT) Modulators for WCDMA, CDMA2000 or WiMAX base stations enable infrastructure and handset OEMs to avoid the reduction in amplifier efficiency normally associated with use of these systems.The round was co-led by 3i and Amadeus Capital Partners, who was the lead seed investor. The round included further investment by the existing investors...

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Cox to Launch VoIP in 5 More Markets this Year

Cox Communications will launch its VoIP-based Digital Telephone service in five more markets this year: Las Vegas; Macon, Georgia; Central Florida; Gulf Coast, Florida; and Topeka, Kansas.Cox's addition of these locations increases its total number of telephone markets to 22, or 70% of its total footprint by year-end. Cox Digital Telephone is a lifeline service with more than 1.4 million residential customers and 140,000 business locations.Cox's other telephone markets are Orange County and San Diego, California; Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona; Omaha,...

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Yahoo! News to Provide Daily Video From CNN.com and ABC News

Yahoo! announced video content agreements with both CNN.com and ABC News, in which both news organizations will provide daily video news feeds to Yahoo! News beginning September 2005. CNN.com will offer extensive video clips daily and ABC News will offer a package of on demand video content. All of the video will be available for free to Yahoo! users, and will be advertising-supported.http://www.yahoo....

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Belkin Wi-Fi with MIMO Wireless Delivers 1000 Feet of Range

Belkin introduced its new Wireless G Plus MIMO line promising up to 1000 ft. wireless range. The unit is powered by Airgo Networks' True MIMO technology and also offers improved resistance to interference from neighboring Wi-Fi systems and other 2.4GHz devices.The MSRP is $99.99. A matching USB Adapter is priced at MSRP $89.99 and will be available December 2005. http://www.belkin....

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Continuum Photonics and Polatis to Merge

Continuum Photonics and Polatis Ltd., makers of optical switch subsystems and module products, announced an agreement to merge. Continuum Photonics, which was founded in 1998 and is located near Boston, offers a family of optical switch products based on its patented DirectLight switching technology. Due to a unique switching architecture, DirectLight provides integrated switching, optical attenuation (gain equalization), and power monitoring. Continuum has aimed its existing products at the Optical Automation Systems (OAS) market, with customers...

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Xten Moves to Per-Seat Licensing for SIP Softphones

Xten Networks, a developer of SIP softphones, reported revenue of $1,029,754 for the quarter ended 30-April-2005, compared to $928,608 for the quarter ended 31-January-2005, an increase of 11 percent quarter-over-quarter."February 1st represented a significant change in our business model with the company moving away from selling unlimited licenses. Consistent with management expectations, we believed that one-time revenue would be impacted as the company moved to a per-seat license model with a deliberate focus on annuity revenue," stated Mark...

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HomePlug Powerline Alliance Proposes Command & Control Standard

The HomePlug Powerline Alliance is seeking industry input for a a new advanced command and control specification, known as HPCC (HomePlug Command & Control). This low-speed, very low-cost specification is intended to complement the alliance's higher-speed powerline communications technologies: HomePlug 1.0, HomePlug AV, and HomePlug BPL. The alliance's Technical Evaluation Group (TEG) will conduct an RFP process. Companies that elect to propose technology will need to submit and present a proposal that details the technology capabilities,...

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BT Reaches 5.6 Million Broadband Users

BT reported revenue of £4,783 million, up 5% in the quarter. Group operating profit before specific items1 was £648 million, up 10%, and earnings per share before specific items was 4.5 pence, up 25%."This has been a great first quarter and builds on the momentum we have seen gathering for more than a year," said Ben Verwaayen, BT's Chief Executive. "The transformation of the business is delivering real value to our customers and shareholders."BT posted strong growth in new wave revenue at £1,385 million, up 48% over last year. New wave revenue...

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NEC Utilizes Data Connection's Megaco/H.248 Solution

NEC has licensed Data Connection's DC-Megaco/H.248 software for use in its AM Series Multi-Service Access Platform, a high-density broadband DSL, telephony and fibre platform that supports Ethernet, IP and ATM technologies with integrated service management. NEC's platform is deployed by service providers such as PCCW, Singtel and Turk Telecom throughout Asia, Japan, Australia, Eastern Europe and the CIS states.Data Connection's Megaco/H.248 (DC-Megaco) solution includes an integrated toolkit that simplifies the integration process. It includes...

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Broadwing Sees Data/Internet and Broadband Revenue Grows 5% Sequentially

Broadwing Corporation reported Q2 revenue of $222.2 million, an increase of $80.1 million or 56% from $142.1 million in the second quarter 2004. Revenue in the second quarter 2005 was generated almost entirely from sales of communications services, which contributed $221.2 million to total company revenue in the quarter, an increase of 56% from the second quarter 2004. The year-over-year increase in communications services revenue was primarily the result of revenue contributions from Focal Communications Corporation, acquired in September 2004,...

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Nortel Wins US$50 Million Contract in Trinidad

LaqTel, a new operator in Trinidad and Tobago, has signed a contract with Nortel, valued at approximately US$50 million, to build a 3G wireless network for nationwide delivery of mobile broadband services. Nortel will deploy its complete CDMA2000 1xEV-DO 3G wireless solution for LaqTel, including CDMA2000 1X radio base stations, base station controllers, and core network technology. The deployment is expected to be complete by the end of 2005.http://www.nortel....

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France Telecom Reaches 66.7 Mobile, 6.4 Million BB and 116K TV/DSL Users

France Telecom topped earning estimates for the first half of 2005 driven strong growth in wireless and broadband services. The company also reported promising numbers for its TV-over-DSL consumer service, which has now topped 116,000 subscribers.First half 2005 Group revenues were EUR 23.7 billion, up 2.3% on a pro forma basis (4.5% on an actual basis). France Telecom noted faster growth in Q2 2005 of 3.6%, up from 1.0% in Q1 2005 (pro forma figures). Some highlights:Personal Communication Services:8.6% revenue growth in Q2 2005 on a pro forma...

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Vodafone Italy Deploys Marconi Optical Systems

Marconi announced the deployment of two optical line systems from the Italian mainland to the island of Sardinia for Vodafone Italy. Vodafone Italy has deployed two links using Marconi's Multihaul 3000 photonic technology. The links have been specifically customised for submarine installations and will connect Sardinia's transport network to the rest of Italy. The first of the two links, which has been operational since May 2005, connects Civitavecchia, Lazio, to Olbia, Sardinia, over a distance of more than 280 km.The second link connects Cagliari,...

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MaxStream Offers ZigBee-Ready Stand-Alone Radios

MaxStream has released stand-alone ZigBee-ready radios that allow for quick connections to both RS-232 and USB enabled devices. The stand-alone XBee-PRO radio is compatible with networks operating on XBee and XBee-PRO technology.The 2.4 GHz XBee-PRO stand-alone radio features the 100 mW (EIRP) XBee-PRO RF module, which is capable of transmitting up to 0.9 miles (1.4 km) in line-of-sight conditions. Communicating at up to 250 Kbps, the XBee-PRO is ZigBee-ready and will be upgradeable to the latest ZigBee compliant networking protocol as it becomes...

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ECI Telecom Reports Revenue of $153 Million, up 26% YoY

ECI Telecom reported Q2 revenues of $153 million, a 26% increase from $121 million in the second quarter of 2004 and compared with $145 million in the first quarter of 2005. Net income was $15.6 million, or $0.13 per share on a fully diluted basis.Some highlights:Revenues for the Broadband Access Division, at $63 million for the quarter, were up 24% from a year ago and unchanged from last quarter. Revenues for the Optical Networks Division increased 34% from a year ago and reached $82 million for the quarter, compared to $77 million in the first...

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Telefónica Reaches 4.0 million Retail ADSL Lines

As of 30-June-2005, the Telefónica Group was serving 4.0 million retail ADSL lines in Spain, Latin America and the Czech Republic, an increase of +57.6% over last year. Telefónica's retail ADSL accesses in Spain rose to 2.3 million (+41.8% vs. June 2004), representing an estimated market share of 54.1% of the total broadband market. In Latin America, retail ADSL accesses stood at 1.7 million and grew by 70.9% over the same period last year, highlighting Telesp, with almost one million ADSL access lines (exceeded during July).Telefónica Moviles...

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Softbank BBTV Secures IPTV with NDS Content Protection

Softbank's newly launched BBTV service in Japan has deployed NDS' content protection system integrated with UTStarcom's IPTV headend system, set-top box and electronic program guide.BBTV is using NDS's "Synamedia" software suite at the head-end and NDS smart cards in subscriber set-top boxes (STB). BBTV will deliver more than 40 channels through STBs, offer a sophisticated electronic program guide, and provide access to more than 5,200 VOD titles.NDS said this new contract further enhances its IPTV solution following deployments by Sistema in Russia,...

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Portugals' Optimus Deploys Motorola's Push-To-Talk over Cellular (PoC)

Motorola announced the deployment of a Push-To-Talk over Cellular (PoC) network for Optimus in Portugal. Optimus' subscribers will initially have a choice of PoC handsets; the Motorola V400p and Symbian Series 60 devices with the Motorola PoC Client. Each Motorola handset delivers a distinct 'walkie-talkie' experience, including one-touch access to presence-enabled phone contacts, giving subscribers flexibility and speed in how they communicate.The PoC deployment further develops Motorola's relationship with Optimus, following Motorola's successful...

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WebEx Sees 23% Increase in Q2 Revenues over Last Year

WebEx Communications reported Q2 revenues of $75.3 million, a 23% increase from $61.1 million in the second quarter of 2004. Net income was $13.9 million, a 35% increase from $10.3 million in the second quarter of 2004. Diluted earnings per share, ("EPS") were $0.29, an increase of 32% from $0.22 in the second quarter of 2004."We had another good quarter, demonstrating the expanding market for collaborative application services," said Subrah Iyar, chief executive officer of WebEx. "As companies realize the huge cost advantages of on-demand solutions,...

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Alcatel Revenues Rise 8.5% YoY to EUR 3.145 Billion

Alcatel reported Q2 revenues of EUR 3.145 billion, an increase of 8.5% at a current EUR/US$ exchange rate (an increase of 10.7% at a constant EUR/US$ exchange rate). Net income (group share) amounted to EUR 196 million, or a diluted EPS of EUR 0.14 (US$ 0.17 per ADS). Some highlights from the quarter:The gross margin was registered at 35.6%Operating profit amounted to EUR 263 million, representing an 8.4% operating margin. Fixed communications revenues in Q2 decreased by 6.2% to EUR 1.224 billion from EUR 1.305 billion in the same period last year....

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Sprint to Support Comcast's Digital Voice

Sprint announced an arrangement with Comcast to provide connectivity between traditional phone providers and Comcast Digital Voice in select markets. This deal represents Sprint's continued expansion into the cable market. http://www.sprint....

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BellSouth Adds Security Apps to DSL Service

BellSouth announced a number security applications designed to help keep residential and small business customers safe while online and their PCs free of spyware, viruses and tracking cookies. BellSouth FastAccess DSL customers can add the following security applications: BellSouth Anti-Virus; BellSouth Anti-Spyware; and BellSouth Firewall.BellSouth customers who wish to secure one computer can order individual software products for $2.99 per month, or the entire suite of three products for $6.99 per month. For customers with two to four computers,...

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Verizon Seeks Video Franchise in Fairfax County

Verizon has submitted a cable franchise application to the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, which is required before Verizon can begin to offer cable services in this county of Virginia. At its Aug. 1 meeting, the board will consider authorizing publication of the proposed franchise agreement and a Sept. 26 public hearing to consider adopting the franchise."We have negotiated a strong, fair agreement that paves the way for more competition in one of the nation's most technology-rich markets," said Robert W. Woltz Jr., Verizon Virginia president....

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TELUS Selects Alcatel's Ethernet-IP Service and Network Architecture

TELUS, the largest service provider in western Canada, will use key Alcatel technologies to support its build of a next generation Ethernet-IP service and network architecture.TELUS plans to deploy Alcatel's Intelligent Services Access Manager (ISAM) solution to expand its broadband access coverage and to increase the subscriber bandwidth. The Alcatel 7302 ISAM and 7330 ISAM Fiber to the Node (FTTN) will enable 20 Mbps to the end customer, with speeds in excess of 40 Mbps where ADSL2+ bonding is employed, and over 50 Mbps using VDSL2. These access...

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NETGEAR Reports Revenue of $107.6 million, a 21.7% YoY

NETGEAR reported Q2 revenue was $107.6 million, a 21.7% increase as compared to $88.4 million for Q2 2004. Revenue for the first quarter of 2005 was $109.0 million. Net revenue in the second quarter of 2005 derived from North America was $55.2 million; the Europe, Middle East and Africa, or EMEA, region was $ 40.4 million; and, the Asia Pacific region was $12.0 million. Net income (GAAP) was $8.3 million or $0.26 per basic share and $0.25 per diluted share. Patrick Lo, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NETGEAR, commented, "We had a strong...

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Taiwan's Chunghwa Telecom Launches 3G with Nokia

Chunghwa Telecom launched its 3G service in Taiwan using a WCDMA 3G network deployed by Nokia. Among the 3G services that Chunghwa will offer are 3G video call, 3G movie/TV channel and "Music station" entertainment services. Nokia served as the sole 3G network supplier to Chunghwa. Nokia provided Chunghwa with both 3G core and radio-access network equipment, including RNC, UltraSite, and MetroSite base stations as well as operator and care services. Chunghwa is Nokia's one of the world's first customers to implement 3GPP Rel'4 architecture.Nokia...

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New Whitepaper: Swimming Upstream -- The Case for Higher Speeds

by Ikanos CommunicationsBusiness and residential subscribers are constantly demanding more bandwidth. With the Internet, where a wealth of content resides on the World Wide Web, most of this demand has historically been in the downstream direction. And that will certainly continue. But what has changed is that users are now accumulating and generating copious amounts of content of their own. Users, carriers and equipment vendors alike have a long history of underestimating the need for speed. The root cause is innocent enough: keeping costs under...

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GigaBeam Raises $8.6 Million for its "Wireless Fiber"

GigaBeam Corporation closed $8.6 million in financing through an offering of the company's 10% Series A redeemable preferred stock and common stock purchase warrants and a placement of its common stock and common stock purchase warrants. Several senior officers and board members, including Louis Slaughter, Chairman and CEO, and Douglas Lockie, President and CTO, participated in the financing.GigaBeam supplies a line of "WiFiber" equipment that operates in the 71-76 GHz and 81-86 GHz radio spectrum bands. This portion of the radio frequency spectrum...

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Level 3 Expands Backbone Support of Comcast Digital Voice Rollout

Level 3 Communications announced that it is now providing Comcast with underlying backbone support for the rollout of its new Digital Voice service/ Level 3 said its backbone support will allow Comcast's IP-based calls to travel along a privately managed network. This will extend the capability of Comcast's existing private, advanced broadband network, allowing the IP-based voice service to enjoy quality that may not be available from non-facilities-based VoIP service providers. http://www.Level3....

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Comcast Extends Digital Voice Contract with AT&T

AT&T announced a new contract with Comcast that extends an existing agreement under which AT&T supports Comcast's new Digital Voice service. The new agreement establishes AT&T Global Wholesale Services as a key supplier of the nationwide transport and termination services for Comcast Digital Voice. Financial terms were not disclosed. http://www.att....

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Industry Reaction to Ensign Bill

Verizon: "We applaud Senator Ensign for introducing legislation to bring our communications laws into the 21st century. The Ensign bill puts consumers first by enabling people to choose from the expanding array of choices made possible by changes in technology and the marketplace. This bill recognizes that the world has changed and consumer driven markets work better than those managed by the government." Peter B. Davidson, Verizon senior vice president for federal government relations.BellSouth: "The Ensign proposal would bring telecommunications...

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iBasis Carries 1.79 Billion VoIP Minutes in Q2

iBasis reported 1.79 billion minutes of use on its international VoIP network in Q2 , a 61% increase over the 1.11 billion minutes carried in the second quarter 2004, and a 2% increase over the 1.76 billion minutes in the first quarter 2005. Average revenue per minute increased to 5.3 cents per minute in the second quarter 2005, up from 5.0 cents per minutes in the first quarter 2005. Average revenue per minute is based on our reported net revenue divided by the minutes of traffic for the applicable period. Overseas-originated calls accounted for...

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Verizon Sponsors VoIP Research at Columbia University

Verizon Laboratories is partnering with the Department of Computer Science at Columbia University to conduct two research projects on VoIP. One project will be dedicated to exploring security technologies, while the other pertains to research in the area of Presence. Verizon said the results of both of these projects will have a large impact on future services offered by softswitches.The research is being conducted under the direction of VoIP expert, Professor Henning Schulzrinne. A $120,000 Verizon grant has been presented to Schulzrinne by...

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Centillium Supports IMS in Entropia Chipset

Centillium Communications announced 3G-NGN, an advanced software suite for the company's pioneering Entropia III system-on-a-chip (SoC) processor. Entropia's advanced VoIP processor software adapts the IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) architecture to support multimedia convergence services aimed at wireline and wireless next generation networks (NGN). Entropia can now support IMS Media Gateway Functions (MGF) for CDMA/3GPP2 or GSM/3GPP applications, along with all wireline requirements. In addition, Entropia supports IMS Media Resource Function Processors...

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Luminous Secures Contract with China NetCom Shandong

China NetCom (CNC) Shandong has chosen the Luminous Networks' "PacketWave" Resilient Packet Ring (RPR, IEEE 802.17) and Pseudo-Wire based platforms for deployment in the cities of Quingdao and Yanzhou. To meet the growing service needs of China's business and residential customers, service providers such as CNC Shandong must rapidly deploy packet-based networks. Rapid growth in residential broadband through Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) access, continues in double digit pace. This demand is driven by services such as IPTV, Internet Access and VoIP....

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Conexant Sees Quarterly Revenue Rise 16% Sequentially

Conexant Systems said quarterly revenues grew 16% sequentially to $197.5 million, compared to previous expectations of $190 million. Conexant also achieved its targeted gross margin and operating-expense improvements during the quarter. As a result, the company reduced its third fiscal quarter net loss by more than 50% sequentially. Gross margins in the third fiscal quarter increased to 38 percent of revenues from 35.3 percent in the prior quarter. The core net loss for the quarter of 2005 was $17.6 million, or $0.04 per diluted share, better than...

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NetCentrex to Acquire NeoTIP for Session Border Controllers

NetCentrex agreed to acquire NeoTIP, a privately-held developer of session border controllers, for an undisclosed sum.NeoTIP, which is based in Lannion, France, offers a range of Session Border Controllers (SBCs) used in carrier networks. The company said claims more than 30,000 ports have been deployed to perform security and protocol translation for telephony and videoconference services in the network of a major European incumbent operator. International customer references include Telecom Brazil and Telecom Chile. NetCentrex said the acquisition...

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Telco Systems Acquires Integral Access

Telco Systems has acquired Integral Access, a developer of the carrier-class multi-service access platforms, for an undisclosed sum.Integral Access offers a "PurePacket" platform, an IP-optimized system for next generation networks. It can be deployed as an access gateway for softswitch based architectures for VoIP and data services or with Class 5 central office switches. The system can be connected to the service provider's network using Ethernet based interfaces using L2 or L3 marking as well as TDM based interfaces such as DS1/E1 and DS3. The...

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Regulators Require France Telecom to Provide Access to Competitors

The European Commission will require France Telecom to provide its competitors with wholesale, nationwide high-speed access to its network for a transitional period of one year. This regulatory measure, proposed by the French national regulatory authority for electronic communications, ARCEP, was authorised by the European Commission. The measure will apply until competing network operators have built a sufficiently wide backbone network and a large enough customer base to enable them to invest further in regional broadband services.The Commission...

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Senator Proposes a Broad Rewrite of the Telecom Act

Senator John Ensign (R-NV) proposed a bill that would eliminate the requirement that video service providers obtain a cable franchise agreement in order to provide video service. The legislation seeks to promote inter-modal competition between telcos and cable operators by making it easier for telcos to launch video services.The proposed Broadband Consumer Choice Act of 2005 would also set federal consumer protection standards, and would assure consumer access to Internet-based phone service."We must not allow government regulations to be an anchor...

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FT Acquires 80% of Spain's Amena for EUR 6.4 Billion

France Telecom's Orange subsidiary agreed to acquire an 80% equity stake in Auna Operadora de Telecommunicaciones S.A., the third largest mobile operator in Spain (trade name Amena), for EUR 6.4 billion. France Telecom, which currently ranks as the second largest DSL operator in Spain (the Wanadoo brand), said the acquisition would position it as a first tier competitor in Spain. Amena currently has 9.7 million mobile customers, representing a 24% market share. France Telecom serves 526,000 ADSL lines in Spain, representing 16% market share....

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Cisco to Acquire Sheer for Network Virtualization Tools

Cisco Systems agreed to acquire privately held Sheer Networks, a developer of intelligent network and service management products for service providers and large enterprises, approximately $97 million in cash and assumed options for Sheer Networks. In addition, the acquisition price may be increased by as much as $25 million depending on the degree to which certain development and product milestones are met after close.Sheer's network virtualization technology can adapt to network changes easily, scale to large networks, and help extend new technologies...

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Meru Offers WLAN VoIP Call Balancing and Admission Control

Meru Networks introduced a new plug-in software module for its Wireless LAN System that enables the deployment of large, pervasive wireless VoIP networks. The Meru WLAN System can now protect existing calls on the network and guarantee optimal service quality without any dependence on proprietary extensions to the client or proprietary signaling from the IP-PBX. It also can provide dynamic error correction for voice calls.The new Voice Service Module delivers three key features, that when used with the Meru WLAN System's Virtual Cell capability,...

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Tellabs Grows Revenues to $463 million

Tellabs reported quarterly revenue of $463 million and earnings of $41 million or 9 cents per share on a GAAP basis. "Strong customer demand across multiple product lines fueled Tellabs' best revenue quarter since 2001," said Krish A. Prabhu, Tellabs president and chief executive officer. "Our solid progress with the AFC and Vinci integrations is reflected in our improved margins and lower operating expenses."Some highlights:Transport -- Revenue from transport systems totaled $159 million, down 4% from $165 million in the second quarter of 2004...

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Agere Reports Revenues of $433 million

Agere Systems reported quarterly revenue of $433 million, at the high end of the guidance range provided by the company in April, up from $417 million in the preceding quarter. The company reported GAAP gross profit of $185 million or 43% of revenue, GAAP operating income of $3 million or 1% of revenue and GAAP net income of $120 million or $0.66 per share. Agere also announced plans to complete the closure of its Orlando wafer fabrication facility by Sept. 30, 2005. At present, 545 employees work in the facility."Our results this quarter are a...

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FLO Forum Established to Promote Forward Link Only Technology

The FLO Forum, a new non-profit industry association, has been established by key players in the wireless industry in order to promote the development of products and services related to the delivery of advanced multimedia services to wireless devices around the world using "FLO" (Forward Link Only) technology. The FLO technology was designed specifically for a terrestrial mobile multimedia environment, making its performance characteristics ideally suited for use in cellular handset operation. Founding members include Amoi, BBEF, Harris, Huawei,...

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Caspian Hires UTStarcom Exec

Caspian named Dave Robison as senior vice president of worldwide sales and support. Prior to Caspian, Robison served as vice president of international sales and marketing for UTStarcomm, and before that, as vice president of sales for Zhone Technologies and Ascend Communications. http://www.caspian....

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Meru Wins Landmark Enterprise Wireless VoIP Deal in Japan

Osaka Gas, one of Japan's largest national utilities, has selected Meru Networks' WLAN System for a pervasive wireless VoIP network that will serve the organization's 50 offices, including its headquarters.Using Meru's WLAN System and NTT DoCoMo's dual-mode Cellular/Wi-Fi service and handsets, Osaka Gas will provide converged, wireless data and voice services to employees across the organization. With the combined Meru and NTT DoCoMo solution, Osaka Gas employees can have one-number access, with voice calls running over the corporate wireless LAN...

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Motorola and Cisco Partner on Wi-Fi / Cellular Integration

Motorola and Cisco Systems announced a partnership to deliver a seamless enterprise mobility solution that will include WLAN IP telephony and cellular phone technologies. The companies said that by blending key features and benefits of mobile cellular, 802.11 wireless and enterprise fixed networks, the their solution will provide "a single mobile communications device that bridges the physical and virtual-office environments to enable anytime, anywhere communications for mobile business professionals."Plans include dual-mode cellular and Wi-Fi...

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Motorola and Yahoo! to Offer Consumer Devices

Motorola and Yahoo! intend to collaborate to provide consumers with easy access to Yahoo!'s core products and services on millions of Motorola Linux-based mobile devices, broadband-enabled products for the connected home, and through Motorola's forthcoming iRadio solution, starting in 2006. The companies said they would make these services available to key operators worldwide to increase consumer adoption of mobile data services. The products will also be offered directly to consumers. The first such devices are expected in 2006."Many of our...

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Sirenza Releases Power Amplifier for WiMAX

Sirenza Microdevices introduced a new family of high performance power amplifiers for WiMAX 802.16 applications. Sirenza's new SZA-3044 single chip amplifier is an InGaP HBT covering the 2.7 - 3.8 GHz frequency band. It is targeted at customer premises equipment (CPE), access point and base station applications.http://www.sirenza....

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Nominum Moves its DNS Servers onto IBM's BladeCenter

Nominum will begin offering its carrier grade DNS and DHCP servers on IBM's eServer BladeCenter systems. Nominum is offering three solutions for service providers on the IBM BladeCenter platform:Nominum Foundation Authoritative Name Server, for hosting organizations that require always-on DNS for high volume/low latency networks. This server provides performance for applications such as ENUM for VoIP or IP Multimedia Subsystems (IMS) networks.Nominum Foundation Caching Name Server, for broadband Internet providers. This solution also offers integrated...

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Cox Announces Management Changes

James O. Robbins, president and CEO of Cox Communications, will retire at the end of this year after leading the company for two decades. He will be succeeded by Patrick J. Esser, 48, who will become president of Cox Communications. Robbins, who will continue serving as a member of the Cox Communications board of directors, will become a member of the Cox Enterprises board of directors in early 2006. Esser joined Cox in 1979 as director of programming for the company's system in Hampton Roads, VA, and in 1981 was part of the original management...

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Verizon to Increase CAPEX Based on Wireless and Fios Growth

Verizon reported quarterly earnings of $2.1 billion, or 75 cents per diluted share, highlighted by a record-breaking quarter at Verizon Wireless, which added a record 1.9 million net customers during Q2. Wireline data revenues were also up 10.9 percent, driven by a net addition of 278,000 wireline broadband connections. Verizon is increasing its CAPEX plans by 15% for 2005 due to the strong growth at Verizon Wireless and increased spending for the deployment of Fios video services.Overall, Verizon's consolidated Q2 revenues were a record $18.6...

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FCC Announces 30-day Extension on VoIP E911 Enforcement

The FCC's Enforcement Bureau announced a 30-day extension of its new rules governing enhanced 911 (E911) capability by VoIP providers. The Bureau has determined that it will not initiate enforcement action, until August 30, 2005, against any provider of interconnected VoIP service regarding the requirement that it obtain affirmative acknowledgement by every existing subscriber on the condition that the provider file a detailed report with the Commission by August 10, 2005.During this brief extension, interconnected VoIP providers will have the...

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Ericsson and BB Mobile Show IMS Handover between 3G and WLAN

Ericsson and BB Mobile, a division of Japan's Softbank Group, announced the first seamless handover of circuit-switched voice and IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) based video services between 3G mobile and wireless local area networks (WLAN). The live demonstration was carried out over Softbank BB's commercial WLAN network and BB Mobile's WCDMA 3G mobile network operating on the 1.7GHz radio frequency band. BB Mobile/Softbank supplied WiFi expertise through its commercial WLAN network. Ericsson provided the 1.7GHz WCDMA radio network, circuit-switched...

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Motorola and Vonage Offer VoIP Gateway

Vonage introduced a new Motorola VoIP gateway (VT2442) with home networking features. The device powers up to two lines of telephone service and supports features such as call waiting, call forwarding and caller ID. It also includes a fully-featured home network router, offering four Ethernet ports and a firewall. Commercial availability is slated for the Fall.Motorola's VT2442 incorporates Texas Instruments' TNETV1060 VoIP gateway chipset. http://www.vonage.com...

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Conexant Debuts System-on-a-Chip for ONTs

Conexant Systems marked its entry into the fiber access market with its integrated Xenon system-on-a-chip (SoC) solution targeted at optical network terminals (ONTs) on the client-side of broadband passive optical networks (BPONs). The Xenon processor integrates a standard-compliant ITU G.983 BPON MAC/framer and network processor into a single device for bridging and router applications. The single-chip solution is based on a high-performance dual-ARM9 core network processor. Xenon supports downstream data rates of 622 Mbps and upstream rates of...

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Motorola Previews RAZR PDA

Motorola introduced a QWERTY mobile device based on Windows Mobile 5.0. The forthcoming Motorola Q will be lightweight and resemble the company's RAZR line in terms of thinness. It will features electro-luminescent keys, QWERTY keyboard, thumbwheel for single-handed control, and internal antenna. Additional features include as a large, vibrant, color screen, Web surfing capabilities, a 1.3 mega pixel camera with photo lighting, video and MP3...

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Photonic Bridges Selects DCL Routing Code

Photonic Bridges, an integrator of next generation network solutions, has licensed Data Connection Limited's (DCL's) for use in their MetroWave product family. DC-OSPF is part of Data Connection's IP routing software suite which includes DC-BGP, DC-ISIS, and DC-RIP, all of which can be integrated with DC-MPLS to form a complete integrated solution for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). http://www.dataconnection.com http://www.photonicbridges.c...

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New Federal/State VOIP Enhanced 911 Enforcement Task Force is Formed

The FCC and the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) is forming a joint Task Force on VoIP Enhanced 911 (E911) enforcement. The Task Force was created to facilitate the timely and effective enforcement of the FCC's new VoIP E911 rules. Working together, the federal and state Task Force members will look at developing educational materials to ensure that consumers understand their rights and the requirements of the FCC's VoIP E911 Order and rules and how best to expedite compliance and facilitate enforcement, where...

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Narus Provides VoIP Traffic Assessment Tool

Narus introduced a VoIP traffic assessment tool based on its unified IP Management and Security platform to help global carriers understand and address the impact of VoIP traffic on their business. The Narus IP Platform provides a total network view of all IP data in a carrier's network, including VoIP traffic. The system offers extensible capabilities to secure, analyze, monitor and mediate any traffic in an IP network, including H.323, SIP, and proprietary VoIP protocols including Skype.Narus said it has deployed VoIP detection at several carriers...

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Vodafone Now Reaches 165 Million Customers

Vodafone reported key performance indicators for the quarter ended 30 June 2005. The main highlights are:Organic growth of 8.6% in proportionate mobile revenues year on yearOver 4.1 million customer organic net additions, 35% higher than for the same period last yearTotal proportionate customer base now over 165 million, representing organic growth of 12.3% year on year, and including an additional 6 million customers added in Romania and the Czech Republic through the closing of the TIW transactionAdditional 1.1 million registered 3G devices,...

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