Tuesday, April 26, 2005

D-Link CPE Supports Longhorn's Link Layer Topology Discovery

D-link is demonstrating two client devices, including a Wi-Fi security camera and a network storage adapter, supporting the upcoming Microsoft "Longhorn" Link Layer Topology Discovery (LLTD) protocol. To ease the installation and configuration of home networks, "Longhorn" will use LLTD to detect devices on the network, determine how they are interconnected and represent the network in a graphic form. D-Link said this ability to visualize home networks will help users identify connectivity issues needing corrective action. The company is continuing to develop support for LLTD in a wide rage of existing and upcoming consumer networking devices, including wireless routers, wireless media adapters, wireless security cameras, etc.
http://www.dlink.com

Swisscom Selects Alcatel VDSL for IPTV

Swisscom selected Alcatel's Intelligent Services Access Manager (ISAM) product family to deliver enhanced Triple Play services to its customers in Switzerland. Swisscom plans to deliver IPTV services by the second half of 2005.


With this contract, Alcatel remains the sole supplier of Swisscom's broadband access network. Under the terms of the contract, Alcatel will supply Swisscom with a VDSL-enabled broadband access network consisting of the Intelligent Services Access Manager (ISAM) product family. Financial terms were not disclosed.
http://www.alcatel.com
  • As of year-end 2004, Swisscom reported 802,000 DSL subscribers, of which 490,000 are Bluewin retail customers and 312,000 customers of other ISPs.


  • Microsoft has previously announced Swisscom/Bluewin as a customer of its IPTV platform.

Telstra Completes NGN Trial with Lucent

Telstra has recently completed a Next Generation Voice engineering trial with residential customers in Victoria, Australia using equipment from Lucent. The test included the Lucent Network Controller, Lucent Network Gateway and third party products from BroadSoft, Acme Packet and Sun Microsystems. Lucent Worldwide Services (LWS) provided integration.


Lucent said the trial paves the way for Telstra to migrate the Next Generation Voice platform to feature rich applications.

http://www.lucent.com

Tropos Integrates Atheros Chips into Metro Wi-Fi Mesh

Tropos Networks, a supplier of metro scale Wi-Fi mesh equipment, has selected the Atheros 802.11g chipset to support its next generation line of MetroMesh routers. Tropos Networks has incorporated Atheros' technology for the first time into its 5210 Outdoor MetroMesh Router, 3210 Indoor MetroMesh Router and 4210 Mobile MetroMesh Router. http://www.atheros.com/http://www.tropos.com

Verizon Adds 1.6 Million Wireless, 385,000 DSL in Q1

Verizon Communications added 385,000 net new broadband connections (DSL and FiOS data customers) in Q1, giving it a total of 3.9 million customers. Verizon Wireless added 1.64 million net new customers, the largest first-quarter customer increase in the history of the company. Wireless has added more than 6.5 million net new customers over the past year and now has a total of 45.5 million customers nationwide. Some highlights from Q1:


Consolidated revenues of $18.2 billion increased 6.6 percent, or $1.1 billion, compared with the first quarter 2004.


Verizon Wireless contributed $7.4 billion, or 40.8%, of first-quarter 2005 consolidated revenues. This compares with wireless revenues of $6.2 billion, or 36.1 percent of consolidated revenues, in the first quarter 2004.


Earnings were $1.8 billion, or 63 cents per diluted share.


Revenues from wireline broadband services contributed to total wireline data revenues of $2.1 billion in the first quarter 2005, an 11.6 percent increase compared with $1.9 billion in the first quarter 2004.


Revenues from wireline long-distance services, including regional toll services, were $1.1 billion in the first quarter 2005, an 8.3 percent increase compared with $1.0 billion in the first quarter 2004. The number of Verizon long-distance lines in service rose to more than 18 million, an 11.6 percent increase compared with the first quarter 2004.


Verizon residential wireline ARPU rose to $49.95 in the first quarter 2005, a 4.6 percent increase compared with the first quarter 2004, as more customers continue to choose high-value communications services. Approximately 58 percent of Verizon residential customers have purchased local services in combination with either Verizon long-distance or a Verizon broadband connection, or both. This compares with 51 percent in the first quarter 2004.


By the end of the first quarter, the company was constructing fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) broadband networks in half the states where it offers landline communications service. FTTP-based FiOS broadband services are being offered in more than 250 communities, with marketing efforts having just begun in many communities. The company plans to introduce FTTP-based FiOS TV services in the second half of the year.


Revenues of $3.8 billion in the consumer market were down $41 million compared with last year's first quarter, while business revenues of $2.8 billion and wholesale revenues of $2.1 billion were essentially flat. The segment's $114 million year-over-year revenue decline is significantly impacted by lower revenues from non-core initiatives that have been discontinued or divested since last year.


Wholesale voice connections -- which includes resale, Unbundled Network Element-Platform (UNE-P) and end-to-end wholesale voice services provided under commercial agreements -- totaled 6.4 million at the end of the first quarter 2005, up 2.3 percent from the end of the first quarter 2004 and down from 6.6 million at year-end 2004. UNE-P lines decreased by 186,000 from year-end 2004 to the end of the first quarter 2005. The company had 52.2 million switched wireline access lines in service as of the end of the first quarter, down 5.1 percent from a year ago.
http://www.verizon.com

BT to Stream FIFA World Cup Qualifiers over the Net

BT Rich Media reached an agreement with PORTFIVE, Europe's leading sports marketing group, to make the international qualifying matches from the FIFA World Cup 2006 that won't be televised - available over the Internet. Live games will cost €9.95 for a 250k or 500k stream and users can also download the game and retain it on their PC for a reduced cost of €6.95.


Philipp Wessel, Head of New Media at SPORTFIVE said: "This is a big development for sports over the internet... For the first time a significant programme of games are being made available on a live or delayed basis over the internet"http://www.btplc.com

BT Offers 6 Classes of DiffServ

BT announced the launch of a new Six Class of Service Differentiated Services Code Point (6 CoS DSCP) service that guarantees the performance of applications by prioritizing packets into six distinct classes of service. DSCP is tailored specifically for modern networks and enhances QoS solutions by enabling customers to choose the performance level needed on a per packet basis by marking the DSCP field within the packet IP header to a specific value. This is an enhancement of BT's previous 3CoS offering. BT's new 6CoS DSCP model runs throughout the core and the edge of its network. The company said its 6CoS DSCP model offers greater flexibility and scalability for converged applications.
http://www.btplc.com

Taiwan's Chunghwa Tests Mintera's 40 Gbps

Chunghwa Telecom (CHT), the incumbent carrier in Taiwan, is testing Mintera's 40 Gbps transport technology. Mintera said its MI-40000 systems would position the company to provide 10 Gbps and/or 40 Gbps wavelength services as an "overlay" solution to their existing 2.5 or 10 Gbps optical line infrastructure. The transport system can also perform as a stand-alone 40 Gbps network.


Chunghwa's Request for Proposal, issued last June, specified equipment to transmit 40 Gbps DWDM channels over 500 km of G.655 fiber.
http://www.mintera.com

SBC Adds Wi-Fi and Cingular EDGE access to VPN Service

SBC Communications added wireless remote access options to its VPN portfolio. The new "VPN RoadWarrior" service ties SBC FreedomLink Wi-Fi and Cingular Wireless EDGE nationwide, high-speed wireless data services into SBC PremierSERV VPN services.
http://www.sbc.com

FastWeb Offers Pay-per-Use Bandwidth

Italy's Fastweb is using Cisco's routing and switching technology to deliver flexible pay-per-use (PPU) high-bandwidth Internet services to its fiber and DSL customers. A recent network upgrade was implemented to optimize bandwidth for both flat-rate and pay-per-use network traffic and to add data packet tracking functionality for residential customers in all Fastweb's PoPs. This helps Fastweb to more accurately monitor network usage, differentiate between on-net (or peer-to-peer) and regular Internet-bound traffic, and strengthen its network security by improving user identification and traffic control, and distributing security resources throughout the network to reduce the impact of denial of service attacks.


In the new network, Cisco Catalyst 6509 switches in each main PoP aggregate traffic and connect the core to the access network. Cisco content switching modules provide load balancing, while the Cisco Firewall Services Module translates the network IP addresses. The access infrastructure uses Cisco 7609 routers which provide Service Selection Gateway (SSG) functionality and are controlled by Cisco Service Exchange framework to provide session control and service personalization. Cisco Catalyst fixed configuration switches provide final connectivity to the client.


Fastweb worked with Cisco Systems and Italtel to complete the network upgrade within three months.


Fastweb is the only service provider in Italy offering different time-base rates for different internet services, as well as free access to email and portal services, including the ability to view bills online, to update anti-virus software, and to post digital photos for development. These value-added services differentiate Fastweb from other ISPs who bill the connection with a time-based or volume model.
http://www.cisco.com

PMC-Sierra Shows "Pizza-Box" MSPP

PMC-Sierra released an evaluation platform for a compact micro Multi-Service Provisioning Platform (micro MSPP) based on its ADM 622 device. PMC-Sierra's ADM 622 Evaluation Platform:

  • Collapses a multi shelf system to a single card in a "pizza box" form factor

  • Supports both legacy PDH and Ethernet services at OC-12/STM-4 capacity

  • Supports enhanced Ethernet multiplexing with 802.3ah Ethernet OAM

  • Features a user-friendly interface, Web-based configuration tool and a comprehensive user manual to simplify software development to accelerate time-to-market


The ADM 622 device integrates SONET/SDH framers and pointer processors, PDH mappers, expansion interfaces, and a cross-connect. It also supports an EoS interface with integrated Ethernet multiplexing functions eliminating the need for external switching elements.
http://www.pmc-sierra.com

Nokia Launches Latest Mobiles

Nokia unveiled its "Nseries" of next generation multimedia devices featuring 3G, Carl Zeiss Optics, megapixel cameras, multi-gigabyte memory, VHS resolution video and WLAN capabilities.



"This next step in digital convergence brings together mobile devices, Internet content, still and video cameras, music, email and much more. Nokia Nseries devices share similar design traits as mobile phones, but they are actually powerful pocketable computers with a comprehensive set of multimedia features," said Anssi Vanjoki, Executive Vice President, Multimedia, Nokia

Nokia introduced its N91 multimedia smartphone featuring a 4GB hard disk drive for storing up to 3,000 songs. The stainless steel body has dedicated music keys on its face, which slide down to reveal the phone keypad. The Nokia N91 supports a wide range of digital music formats including MP3, M4A, AAC and WMA. Nokia includes software for synchronizing with a PC-based personal music collection. Worldwide availability is expected later this year.
http://www.nokia.com

China Backs TD-SCDMA as 3G Standard

The Chinese government is throwing its support to TD-SCDMA (Time Division Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access) as a national 3G standard, according to Xinhua news agency. The report came from the 2005 TD-SCDMA International Summit being held this week in Beijing.


China's Ministry of Information Industry (MII) is currently conducting a test of 3G technologies that is expected to end in June. China is expected to award 3G licenses later this year.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-04/27/content_2882624.htm

Tekelec Supplies SS7 in Indiana

Indiana Fiber Network, a consortium of 18 independent telephone companies and one independently owned CLEC, will deploy Tekelec's EAGLE 5 Signaling Applications System (SAS) platform to deliver signaling system 7 (SS7) functionality to its operator customers statewide. Tekelec said its EAGLE 5 SAS platform provides a path to support advanced services such as local number portability (LNP), toll-free, calling card, calling name delivery and mobility management. In addition, gateway screening will ensure security by limiting the inbound and outbound network access to authorized usershttp://www.tekelec.com
http://www.indianafiber.net