Cisco Unveils Adaptive Threat Defense Appliances

Cisco Systems announced a family of multi-function security appliances aimed at stopping attacks before they spread through the network.The new Cisco ASA 5500 Series, which builds on the company's PIX Security Appliance, IPS 4200 Series, and VPN 3000 Concentrator product families, delivers advanced adaptive threat defense services including Anti-X defenses, Application security, and Network containment and control. It provides customers with network-based Anti-X defenses for worm and virus mitigation, spyware/adware protection, network traffic...

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MCI Introduces its Next-Gen Ethernet Services

MCI introduced its portfolio of next-generation Ethernet services. The announcement coincides with the completion of both field and customer trials of MCI Converged Packet Access (CPA) technology in the Chicago area.MCI's Converged Packet Access (CPA) leverages Ethernet and MPLS. The architecture consolidates all services - Frame Relay, Private IP, IP VPN, Ethernet, Private Line, and voice - onto a single, customer Ethernet interface (10bT, 100bT and Gig E). Once an initial physical connection is established, MCI customers can logically provision...

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Sun Cites Momentum for its Grid Utility Computing

Since announcing its Grid utility computing initiative in February, Sun Microsystems has activated regional Sun Grid Centers in Virginia, New Jersey, and London, with customers from the financial and education sectors. Additional facilities are planned.Sun said several high profile banks and ntertainment companies have completed extensive testing for Sun Grid. Sun has also launched a "sneak peek program," an early access program for pre-qualified Sun customers to test their applications for compatibility and performance on the Sun Grid.Sun's...

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Internap Finds Half of all Internet VoIP Calls Below Acceptable Quality

Internap Network Services, which provides performance-based routing services over the Internet, has added VoIP route optimization and reporting functionality to its Flow Control Platform. The new functionality optimizes routing of VoIP traffic to enable enhanced call quality. The system allows user-defined quality metrics, such as mean opinion score (MOS) and jitter, to route VoIP traffic across an organization's IP network. Internap said in network performance testing, which simulated over 1.5 million VoIP calls to destinations around the globe,...

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Fujitsu Europe to Resell Airspan's WiMax

Fujitsu Telecommunications Europe will resell Airspan's AS.MAX family of WiMAX broadband wireless access products, including its HiperMAX, MacroMAX and MicroMAX base-station products, as well as EasyST and ProST customer premise equipment. The two companies will also evaluate options for incorporating Airspan's WiMAX technology into Fujitsu's GeoStream Access Gateway portfolio of products. Airspan's AS.MAX product family has been designed for indoor, self-installable deployment. The EasyST will offer fully indoor plug-and-play WiMAX services and...

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Siemens Launches HiPath Wireless LAN Solution

Siemens Communications announced its new HiPath Wireless portfolio, a centrally deployable 802.11 WLAN system that works in any enterprise environment and on any existing data network or VoIP infrastructure. Siemens said it HiPath Wireless portfolio represents a major milestone fo interoperability across multi-vendor systems. The solution, supported by a new line of comprehensive HiPath Services offerings, incorporates technology from Chantry Networks, which Siemens acquired in January. Siemens' Layer 3 overlay architecture provides for centralized...

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Taiwanese IPTV Set-top Vendors License ANT's Interface

Askey Computer Corporation and Alpha Networks, both of Taiwan, have licensed ANT's Fresco browser and PurePlay digital media manager technology for integration into IPTV set-top boxes (STBs) targeted to operators in the United States, Europe, China, Japan and Taiwan. STB manufacturer, Askey, will integrate ANT's Fresco browser into an IPTV STB reference design to provide a customised user interface and access to operator-provided content. Askey will also incorporate ANT's PurePlay digital media manager to deliver a STB design with media manager...

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Spirent's Avalanche 7.0 Targets Triple Play

Spirent Communications released a new version of its Avalanche platform designed to validate the readiness of the IP infrastructure equipment for triple play services. Avalanche 7.0 features real-world user and triple play traffic emulation along with automation flexibility to test multiple dimensions of the network. This includes testing the capacity and functionality of both the network and network devices. Each test port can simultaneously assess application performance, QoS mechanism performance, Session initiation Protocol (SIP) performance,...

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Pulse~LINK Promotes Multi-Protocol Vision for UWB

The UWB Forum has formed a Common Signaling Mode (CSM) Working Group to promote interoperability and coexistence of dissimilar Ultra Wideband physical layers. Pulse~LINK' CTO John Santhoff, who first proposed the concept before the IEEE 802.15.3 Task Group in Singapore of 2003, will chair this new group within the Forum."The many flavors of UWB that are emerging in the marketplace require the UWB industry to establish rules for Spectrum Etiquette that insure fair and equal access to UWB spectrum for all users," states Santhoff. "The Forum recognizes...

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Qwest Adds 85,000 DSL lines in Q1

Qwest Communications reported Q1 2005 revenue of $3.45 billion, representing the fourth consecutive quarter of stable revenues for the company. Net income per share was $0.03, which includes a gain on asset sales of $0.14 in the first quarter of 2005, compared with a loss of $0.17 a year ago. "Our ability to stabilize revenues, as well as our continued diligence on cost containment and optimization, has resulted in meaningful margin expansion. EBITDA margins increased to more than 28 percent compared with 25 percent a year ago," said Oren G. Shaffer,...

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Broadcom Offers Dual Port GigE Transceiver for VoIP

Broadcom announced a new dual port Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) transceiver designed specifically for IP phone applications. Since IP phones require dual ports to support both voice and data simultaneously, Broadcom's new transceiver is a great companion chip to its existing IP phone product family, enabling a two-chip Gigabit IP phone solution. Broadcom said that as networks migrate to Gigabit Ethernet, the current generation of Fast Ethernet IP phones act as a bottleneck to PC data traffic as the IP phone resides between the network and the PC, supporting...

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Aruba Debuts Secure Personal Access Point

Aruba Networks introduced "Personal Access Point" (AP) software capability that enables corporate users to safely take their mobile corporate voice and data networks wherever they go using any broadband connection. The software works with all Aruba APs and mobility controllers and is QoS-enabled and voice protocol-aware, permitting prioritization of delay-sensitive voice traffic. Users simply attach the Aruba Personal AP to a broadband IP connection, DSL router or cable modem in their home, remote office or hotel. Aruba's Personal AP automatically...

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D-Link Offers Wireless Switch with Trapeze Smarts

D-Link introduced its first wireless switch for small to medium business customers featuring mobility software from Trapeze Networks. The D-Link AirPremier Wireless Switch is an eight-port Layer 2 10/100 switch that executes and maintains the intelligence of Trapeze Networks' Mobility System Software (MSS), which manages, configures and controls all aspects of thin access points (APs), such as the Trapeze 300 series Mobility Point. With support for up to twelve simultaneously active, directly or indirectly connected APs or MPs, any switch port...

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Cramer and Nortel Team for Network Management Development

Cramer and Nortel are developing off-the-shelf software adapters based on standards from the TeleManagement Forum (TMF) that will connect Cramer's inventory management and process automation platform with Nortel's Optical Network Manager. The new standard, called "MTOSI" - multi-technology operations support interface, provides a mechanism for telecom operations support systems to exchange data. http://www.cramer.com http://www.nortel....

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VSNL Secures U.S. Gov't Approvals to Acquire Tyco Global Network

The FCC gave its approval to transfer the Tyco Global Network (TGN) landing station licenses from Tyco to Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited (VSNL), India's largest provider of international telecommunications and internet services. The FCC's approval culminates a nearly six-month process that included a formal review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) as well as the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Department of Defense (DOD), the Department of Justice (DOJ), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and other...

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AT&T Settles Excite@Home Lawsuit for $400 Million

AT&T settled a lawsuit brought by the Excite@Home Bondholders' Liquidating Trust regarding claims arising out of AT&T's former position as At Home's controlling shareholder. The settlement, which is subject to approval by the United States Bankruptcy Court in San Francisco, will result in the Trust receiving $400 million. The settlement consists of a $340 million payment from AT&T and the release of $60 million in reserves established for the benefit of AT&T in the Excite@Home bankruptcy.Comcast will pay AT&T Corp. $170 million...

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Level 3 Enhances Audio for MSN Messenger

Level 3 Communications will enhance the audio conversation feature of Microsoft's MSN Messenger, an instant messaging (IM) service with more than 155 million active users each month. The improved voice communication capability was announced by MSN in April. The companies said Level 3's new technology significantly improves connectivity helping to navigate firewalls and enabling a more seamless experience. Level 3 is using Netrake's nCite session controllers to overcome the security technology challenges associated with passing VoIP calls through...

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Interop Keynote: "Innovation is Back" -- John Chambers

"Innovation is back, not just in terms of technology, but in terms of creating better productivity," said John Chambers, CEO of Cisco Systems, speaking at Interop in Las Vegas. For the past seven years, Chambers has been evangelizing the concept that IP network investment is directly tied to productivity. Chambers said that one of the reasons he remains optimistic about the networking industry's future, is because companies now understand that greater productivity is indeed enabled by IT and that investments in their network, combined with new...

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