"Combined Endeavor" Brings Together Largest Interoperability Event

"Combined Endeavor 2005", the largest and most complex Communications and Information System (CIS) military exercise in the world, is currently underway in Lager Aulenbach, Germany , with the participation of more than 1,200 military and civilian personnel from 43 countries and four continents.




The 13-day military exercise, which is organized by the U.S. European Command and the German and Romanian Ministries of Defense, brings together NATO and Partnership for Peace nations to plan and execute interoperability testing of command, control, communications and computer equipment systems from participant nations in support of future combined humanitarian, peacekeeping and disaster relief operations.


Participants in Combined Endeavor 2005 will be conducting over 1,400 different interoperability tests, with the main elements being satellite communications, video teleconferencing, VoIP, and single channel radio networking.


During the exercise, Spirent Federal Systems is supporting the Joint Interoperability Test Command (JITC) with a team of System Engineers and the latest test instrumentation. The JITC, based out of Fort Huachuca, Ariz., is a field command of the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) and supports all the military services in their efforts to manage information both on and off the battlefield with the continual goal of achieving command, control, communication, computers and intelligence (C4I) interoperability. As part of the JITC team, Spirent Federal is using Spirent's Abacus 5000 to conduct VoIP and video testing and using Spirent's SmartBits Performance Analysis Test System with its Avalanche Web and Security Test System to simulate multiple users of the data network into command centers.http://217.91.54.244:8080/http://www.spirentfederal.com

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Marvell Reports Revenue of $365 Million, up 35% YoY

Marvell Technology Group reported quarterly revenue of $364.8 million, an increase of 35% the same period last year and a 7% sequential increase from the preceding quarter. Net income (GAAP) was $63.5 million, or $0.20 per share (diluted), compared with net income of $14.5 million, or $0.05 per share, a year earlier.

The period represented the 30th consecutive quarter of sequential revenue growth for Marvell.
http://www.marvell.com/

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Lucent Appoints Satoshi Fujita President of Japan Operations

Lucent Technologies announced the appointment of Satoshi Fujita as president of its operations in Japan. Fujita-san is a former Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (NTT) executive, having started with NTT in 1969. He has held leadership positions in sales, marketing, finance and operations throughout his career. He was most recently corporate auditor for NTT DoCoMo Inc. Prior to that he was the executive vice president and general manager of the global services business division of NTT Communications Corporation.
http://www.lucent.com

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Minnesota Town Deploys Municipal FTTX with ADC

Windom, Minnesota is deploying a $8.6 million city-owned broadband network supported by ADC's OmniReach FTTX infrastructure solutions.


Windomnet delivers digital cable, telephone and 100 Mbps Internet access to the city's homes, businesses and schools.

http://www.adc.com
http://www.windomnet.com/

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BT Media and Broadcast Deploys Juniper IP/MPLS

BT Media and Broadcast has selected Juniper Networks' routing platforms to create what is described as Europe's first point-to-multipoint IP/MPLS-based broadcast distribution network. The network has been deployed by BT Media and Broadcast on behalf of Meridian, a regional member of ITV, the UK's leading independent national television broadcaster. The network uses Juniper's M320 and M10i routing platforms to transport broadcast-quality video, data files, voice and IT traffic between ITV's studios. Financial terms were not disclosed.
http://www.juniper.net

• In March 2005, BT unveiled plans to establish a global digital media distribution capability with major hubs in continental Europe, the US and Asia. To support this vision, BT Broadcast Services, which has been supporting the broadcast industry for over 40 years, is merging with BT Rich Media, which develops channels to market for digital content. The division will be known as BT Media and Broadcast (BTM&B).

This global offering and new structure will build on BTM&B's investment in its UK-based "BT Mediahive" digital content management capabilities, enabling it to capture, store, manage and distribute any type of media file, including video, audio and still images.

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Ericsson and ZTE to Collaborate on TD-SCDMA

Ericsson and Zhongxing Telecom Equipment Corporation (ZTE) announced an alliance to collaborate in the TD-SCDMA area. In accordance with the agreement, Ericsson is to integrate ZTE's TD-SCDMA Node B into its radio access network, including hardware and software, on an OEM basis. The two parties will also team up to participate in the TD-SCDMA trials in China.


Ericsson also announced plans to establish a new R&D center in Nanjing, China, to focus on the development of TD-SCDMA product offerings. The facility is expected to have 50 research staff at first. http://www.ericsson.com

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FCC Issues VoIP E911 Order

By a vote of 4-to-0, the FCC adopted rules that require all VoIP providers that permit their customers to receive and place calls over the public-switched telephone network to provide their customers with 911 access. At its open meeeting, the FCC heard from witnesses who described tragedies that followed from their inability to reach emergency services over a residential VoIP line. One woman from Florida told how she was unable to connect with 911 using Vonage when her 3-month old daughter stopped breathing. The mother ran to a neighbor's house to place the emergency call, but unfortunately the child died.


Key provisions of the VoIP E911 order include:

• Interconnected VoIP providers must deliver all 911 calls to the customer's local emergency operator. This must be a standard, rather than optional, feature of the service.



• Interconnected VoIP providers must provide emergency operators with the call back number and location information of their customers (i.e., E911) where the emergency operator is capable of receiving it. Although the customer must provide the location information, the VoIP provider must provide the customer a means of updating this information, whether he or she is at home or away from home.



• By the effective date, interconnected VoIP providers must inform their customers, both new and existing, of the E911 capabilities and limitations of their service.



• The incumbent LECs are required to continue to provide access to their E911 networks to any requesting telecommunications carrier. They must continue to provide access to trunks, selective routers, and E911 databases to competing carriers. The Commission will closely monitor this obligation.

VoIP providers were given 120 days to comply, but the order does not dictate the technical means by which providers must come into compliance. VoIP providers may interconnect directly with the incumbent LECs' 911 network or purchase access to this network from competitive carriers and other third-party providers.


"Anyone who dials 911 has a reasonable expectation that he or she will be connected to an emergency operator; this expectation exists whether that person is dialing 911 from a traditional wireline phone, a wireless phone, or a VoIP phone. Today, we take this action to ensure this expectation is met as soon as possible," stated FCC Commissioner Kevin Martin.


FCC Commissioner Michael Copps wrote "The sad fact is that we have spent so much time splitting hairs about what is a telecommunications service and what is an information service that we have endangered public safety. At some point the semantic debates must end and reality must assert itself--when customers sign up for a telephone they expect it to deliver like a telephone. When an intruder is in the house and the homeowner goes to the phone to call the police, that's a call that just has to go through."http://www.fcc.gov

• in April 2005, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) issued a decision requiring VoIP service providers to provide the same level of 9-1-1 emergency service that is provided by the incumbent telephone companies within 90 days. Specifically, the Commission requires VoIP service providers providing either nomadic VoIP service or foreign exchange VoIP service to implement, within 90 days of the date of this decision, an interim solution which provides a level of service comparable to Basic 9-1-1 service. In addition to the above service requirements, the Commission also requires all VoIP service providers to provide customers with notification, both before service commencement and during service provision, regarding any limitations associated with their emergency 9-1-1 service. The VoIP service providers must also secure the customer's express acknowledgement that they are aware of these limitations, prior to providing this type of service.



• In March 2005, the state of Texas filed a lawsuit against Vonage, the country's largest Internet-based telephone service provider, for failing to make clear to consumers that the company's current service does not include access to traditional emergency 9-1-1 service. The story was widely reported in newspapers across the country. The state of Texas said the dangers posed by Vonage's failure "to clearly disclose the lack of traditional 9-1-1 access" have resulted in tragedy.

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FCC Skips USF Issue

At its open meeting on Thursday, the FCC skipped over its planned review of the Universal Service Fund (USF) and support mechanisms going forward. No word on when the issue will be reconsidered.
http://www.fcc.gov

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WSJ: Cellphone Calls to 911 Go Unlocated

An unacceptably high number of mobile calls to emergency response operators are failing to provide accurate or useful location information, according a report in The Wall Street Journal. Despite FCC requirements more than a decade old, emergency operators in major U.S. cities are finding that many calls lack useful latitude and longitude data. Reasons given for the problems include urban density, geography, topography or poor implentation of GPS.
http://www.wsj.com

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Pulver Blasts FCC E911 Order for Discouraging Innovation

Jeff Pulver, CEO of pulver.com and founder of Free World Dialup (FWD), the VON Coalition, LibreTel and other VoIP industry endeavors, blasted the FCC's E911 order for its failure to prohibit port blocking as a means of addressing emergency responses.


"The FCC had a golden opportunity to take one positive steps to promote IP- based communications. The FCC could have prohibited "port blocking" and compelled direct access to the ILEC-controlled emergency response infrastructure. Instead, the FCC chose to regulate the previously unregulated, and declined to regulate those that it has obvious authority to regulate -- the traditional telecom carriers. As it stands, unaffiliated VoIP providers are left to the mercy or goodwill of their retail rivals -- the telecom carriers that control access to the emergency response network. The FCC has given lip-service to its desire to prohibit port blocking and has been looking for a vehicle to do so. A proceeding fell into its lap, and the FCC abdicated its responsibility on this issue," wrote Jeff Pulver.


Pulver argues that IP technology could allow for functions far beyond the capabilities of traditional communications networks, but that the FCC needs to encourage innovators to experiment and push the limits of IP technology. "If regulators tell the industry to provide nationwide E911 for nomadic VoIP services, without simultaneously compelling fair access by unaffiliated VoIP providers to selective routers and prohibiting port blocking, how can they expect us to accomplish their mission? Make excessive demands on the never-before-regulated and most-vulnerable new start-ups, but don't dare impose any access obligation on the traditionally regulated entities, the only ones with the essential infrastructure? I don't get it."http://pulverblog.pulver.com/

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Broadcom Sues Qualcomm for Patent Infringement

Broadcom has commenced federal litigation against Qualcomm alleging that the San Diego-based company infringes 10 Broadcom patents related to wired and wireless communications and multimedia processing technologies.


In two complaints filed yesterday in the United States District Court for the Central District of California, Broadcom is seeking unspecified monetary damages from Qualcomm as well as a permanent injunction barring the manufacture and sale of Qualcomm's core suite of baseband and RF integrated circuits, including its multimedia, enhanced and convergence platform chips and its QChat VoIP technology for cellular phones, which Broadcom alleges infringe its patents.


Additionally, today Broadcom filed a complaint with the United States International Trade Commission (ITC) alleging that Qualcomm has engaged in unfair trade practices by importing integrated circuits and other products that infringe five Broadcom patents. Broadcom requested that the ITC institute an investigation into Qualcomm's infringing imports and ultimately issue an Exclusion Order to bar importation of those Qualcomm devices into the United States. Broadcom also seeks a Cease and Desist Order to bar further sales of infringing Qualcomm products that have already been imported.


Broadcom's intellectual property portfolio today includes 955 issued U.S. patents and over 3,200 additional U.S. patent applications.
http://www.broadcom.com

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RCN Hires Former Nextel Executives

RCN announced the appointment of Timothy J. Dunne as Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer. Dunne also manages the corporate marketing, programming, and information technology functions for the company. Prior to joining RCN in March 2005, Dunne was Vice President, Digital Media & Business Development for Nextel Communications.


RCN also named Michael T. Sicoli as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Prior to joining RCN, Sicoli spent over seven years at Nextel Communications, where he held a number of positions of increasing authority within the company's finance organization, including his most recent position of Vice President & Assistant Treasurer, which he has held since 2002.


Additional appointments announced by RCN include Joseph Sorresso serves as Senior Vice President, Network Operations. Sorresso joined RCN in January of 2005. Prior to joining RCN, he served in various positions at MCI, most recently as an executive staff member.


Stephen A. Bogiages was named Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary. Prior to joining RCN in April 2005, Bogiages was Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary to Neon Communications.


Richard Ramlall was named Senior Vice President Strategic and External Affairs. Prior to joining RCN in March 2005, Ramlall served as Senior Managing Director and Executive Vice President of Spencer Trask Media and Communications Group, (a division of New York based venture capital firm Spencer Trask & Company).
http://www.rcn.com/

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Vonage to Purchase Nomadic VoIP E9-1-1 from SBC, BellSouth

Vonage agreed to purchase access to elements of the wireless and wireline Enhanced 9-1-1 network from SBC Communications and BellSouth. Vonage announced a similar arrangement with Verizon earlier this month.


The deals enable Vonage to deliver both caller's location and call back number to emergency services personnel for 9-1-1 calls placed throughout the RBOC territories before the end of the year.


"SBC and BellSouth have really come a long way over just a few short weeks - we now have a good faith agreement to get this done in the marketplace so all of our customers can get E9-1-1, regardless of what number they're calling from and where. As good corporate citizens and stewards of the E9-1-1 public trust, SBC and BellSouth have agreed to implement an E9-1-1 solution that will serve all customers including those who are mobile and those users on non- local phone numbers," said Jeffrey A. Citron, Vonage's CEO. "Fortunately, we have all settled, in principle, to unbundle wireless E9-1-1 elements so VoIP providers like us can implement NENA's new I2 standard, instead of being restricted to a CLEC for call delivery."http://www.vonage.com/

• On May 5, Vonage announced an agreement with Verizon to access elements of Verizon's wireless and wireline Enhanced 9-1-1 network, enabling Vonage to offer its VoIP customers E9-1-1 service. As a result of the deal, Vonage will able to deliver both caller's location and call back number to emergency services personnel for 911 calls placed throughout Verizon's territory. Specifically, Verizon's wholesale group has committed to offer Vonage the following elements on a commercial basis for the deployment of NENA-compatible Enhanced 9-1-1 within Verizon's 28-state territory: Direct trunking to the more than 100 Verizon-owned selective routers; Provision of wireless components enabling non-local numbers to call 911 - ESRNs (pANIs) and ESQKs (pALIs) ; ALI-steering agreement for Intrado, Vonage's technology partner.
  

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Sandvine Secures $15 million for Broadband Traffic Management

Sandvine, a start-up based in Waterloo, Ontario, secured US$15 million in venture capital financing for its application and subscriber-aware broadband management solutions. Sandvine's platforms help service providers better understand subscriber behavior, recognize and address network threats, classify applications, guarantee service levels and create profitable tiers for multiple broadband services - without a forklift upgrade to current infrastructure. The company claims deployments in over 100 ISP networks in Europe, the Middle East, Latin America, Asia, and North America, including six of the top 12 broadband service providers.


The new funding was led by Newbury Ventures and included existing investors, BDC Private Equity Partners, Celtic House Venture Partners, Tech Capital Partners, and VenGrowth Capital Partners.
http://www.sandvine.com

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SunRocket to Support VoIP 911

SunRocket announced that it expects to meet ahead of time the new FCC requirements for VoIP E-911 and that the majority of its customers are already provided E-911.


The company said that by carefully assigning phone numbers matched with the legacy service areas for those phone numbers, it can enable E-911 for customers today without requiring expensive modifications. Currently, the traditional E-911 infrastructure cannot easily accommodate "out-of-region" phone numbers and "nomadic" scenarios, where consumers might transport their VoIP equipment between different locations. When the E-911 infrastructure is enhanced to support these situations, SunRocket will also support those applications.


SunRocket said it was encouraged by its wholesale network partners, Global Crossing and Broadwing Communications, which enable E-911 for its customers. As SunRocket expands its service footprint via additional wholesale partners in the coming weeks, E-911 will remain an essential ingredient.
http://www.sunrocket.com

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