Coaxsys Announces 50th Customer for its in-Home IPTV Solution

NTS Communications, one of the largest privately-held FTTH providers in the U.S., has begun deploying Coaxsys' TVnet as a critical component of its IPTV launch. NTS is using Coaxsys' IPTV 7000 network and its new TVnet/AC, an Ethernet-over-Coax adapter specifically designed for compatibility with Amino's AmiNET set-top boxes. The IPTV 7000 network uses a home's existing coaxial cable to distribute multiple IP video streams throughout a subscriber's home without having to rewire with Cat-5 cable.


NTS has operations in Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, New Mexico, Nevada, Colorado, and Arizona. It currently serves more than 60,000 customers. Its IPTV rollout started in 2004.
http://www.coaxsys.com

• The Coaxsys technology delivers up to 104 Mbps transfer rate and supports distances up to 250 feet, enabling it to deliver multiple HDTV signals simultaneously throughout a home. The TVnet technology is also compatible with TV splitters and supports Ethernet unicast, multicast, and broadcast. The solution consists of a Coaxsys IPTV 7000 TVnet adapter that connects to any network-enabled operating system or device with an RJ-45 Ethernet network interface. It can be used for connecting IPTV set top boxes, gaming console systems, PVRs, multimedia servers, and VoIP phones.

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Siemens Acquires Garderos Software for OSS

Siemens Communications agreed to acquire Garderos Software Innovations GmbH, a start-up based in Munich, for an undisclosed sum.


Garderos supplies software for operational support systems (OSS). Siemens said this OSS will be a strategic element of the Siemens Wireless Integration Platform (WIP), which integrates WLAN, WiMAX and Flash-OFDM networks with mobile and fixed networks. A number of functions from the large operator networks, such as billing, roaming or authentication, can then also be used for wireless broadband customers.


Garderos will continue to be run under its existing name as a fully owned Siemens subsidiary.

http://www.siemens.com/communicationshttp://www.garderos.com

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State of South Carolina Migrates to MPLS VPN

The State of South Carolina will replace its state-wide data network with an MPLS-based VPN. Spirit Telecom will serve as the primary provider and BellSouth as the subcontractor to deliver the new network. Other services that are part of the contract include a customized Web site for the state. The site serves as an online portal, allowing users of the MPLS network to access an automated system for billing, ordering, provisioning, service level management and trouble reporting.
http://www.bellsouth.com

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China Mobile Awards $150 Million Project to Nortel

China Mobile, the world's largest GSM operator, has selected Nortel to expand its digital wireless network in six regions under a series of contracts awarded since January of this year and collectively estimated at US$150 million.


China Mobile's GSM network expansion in the six regions will increase subscriber capacity by 3.48 million to a total of approximately 18 million. It is expected to improve network coverage and services to remote areas while providing a smooth migration to future 3G services.

http://www.nortel.com

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Russia's VimpelCom Selects Nortel for Optical Backbone

VimpelCom, one of Russia's largest mobile communications operators, has selected Nortel to supply an optical backbone for its wireless services. The network will carry traditional mobile voice traffic as well as enable the roll-out of future Ethernet based services.


The new network will use Nortel's Optical Multiservice Edge 6500, which allows VimpelCom to support high capacity line rates and leverage the functionality of DWDM and Ethernet technologies.


Implementation of the network will be carried out by Nortel's Russian channel partner CJSC "InstalSite" under a two-year frame supply agreement.
http://www.nortel.com

• In August 2005, Alcatel announced that VimpelCom had selected its mobile Next Generation Network (NGN) solution for deployment iin the Urals.

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Bell Labs and mPhase Reach Magnetometer Milestone

Lucent's Bell Labs and mPhase Technologies have reached a milestone in their joint magnetometer project by creating a prototype un-cooled metal detector. The companies said this prototype is a significant step towards the development of a device that will be theoretically 1,000 times more magnetically sensitive than comparable solutions available on the market today.


Magnetometers detect changes or disturbances in magnetic fields and derive information such as presence, size, location and orientation of objects, such as metal, that have magnetic properties.


mPhase has licensed this magnetometer technology from Bell Labs and is working to commercialize the new class of magnetometers for use as un-cooled ultra-sensitive sensors for a host of possible defense and civilian applications including automated battlefield sensors and integrated compass and direction functionality in handheld devices.

http://www.mphasetech.com/http://www.lucent.com

• In September 2004, mPhase Technologies and Lucent's Bell Labs announced a major milestone for future commercialization of a nanotechnology-based battery. The tests confirm that it is possible to fabricate nanotech-based batteries, which can store and generate electric current. The prototype battery is based on a Bell Labs discovery that liquid droplets of electrolyte will stay in a dormant state atop microscopic structures called "nanograss" until stimulated to flow, thereby triggering a reaction producing electricity. The experiment proved that this super-hydrophobic effect of liquids can permit precise control and activation of the batteries on demand. The companies said future batteries based on this technology have the potential to deliver far longer shelf life and better storage capacity than existing battery technology.

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Novatel Ships its First HSDPA-Enabled PC Data Card

Novatel Wireless announced the first shipments of its Merlin U740 High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA)-enabled PC Data Cards to European carriers.


Novatel's Merlin U740 is backward compatible with existing UMTS networks in Europe and Enhanced Data Rate for Global Evolution (EDGE) networks worldwide. It supports speeds of up to 1.8 Mbps, making HSDPA a viable alternative to landline cable and DSL connections, with the added freedom of mobility. The Merlin U740 will also operate on UMTS 2100 MHz bands in Asia, Africa, Europe and the Middle East, in addition to EDGE and GSM/GPRS 900/1800/1900 MHz bands across the globe.


Novatel Wireless said it has received purchase orders for commercial volume shipments for the Merlin U740, which it expects to begin before the end of 2005.
http://www.novatelwireless.com

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Adelphia Files Third Amended Plan of Reorganization

Adelphia Communications filed a third amended plan of reorganization with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.


The company said its third filing represents continued progress toward a definitive outcome of the Adelphia bankruptcy case. It is expected that significant negotiations will continue regarding the terms of the proposed plan of reorganization and disclosure statement as the constituents work through a number of inter-creditor issues.
http://www.adelphia.net

• In April 2005, Adelphia announced that it had reached definitive agreements for Time Warner and Comcast to acquire substantially all the U.S. assets of Adelphia for $12.7 billion in cash and 16 percent of the common stock of Time Warner's cable subsidiary, Time Warner Cable Inc.

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DIRECTV and XM Satellite Radio Announce Partnership

DIRECTV and XM Satellite Radio reached an agreement covering the distribution of digital satellite entertainment programming.


Beginning Nov. 15, 2005, 72 channels of XM's music, children's, and talk programming will be available to the more than 14.6 million DIRECTV customers nationwide at no additional cost. The deal doubles the amount of audio programming delivered by DIRECTV.


"DIRECTV is making a major commitment in the world of music, and this alliance with XM Satellite Radio will leave a lasting imprint on not only our more than 14.6 million customers nationwide, but on the pay television industry as a whole," said Dan Fawcett, executive vice president, Programming Acquisitions, DIRECTV.
http://www.xmradio.com/http://www.directv.com/

• In July 2005, XM Satellite Radio agreed to acquire privately-held WCS Wireless for nearly $200 million in stock. WCS Wireless are wireless spectrum licenses in geographic areas covering 163 million people throughout the United States, including 15 of the top 20 metropolitan markets. On average, WCS Wireless licenses include 10 megahertz in the frequency bands adjacent to XM's satellite radio service. XM Satellite said the acquisition would enable it to expand its existing business with a variety of multimedia subscription services, including innovative video and data offerings.

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Scientific-Atlanta Buys Out its China Joint Venture

Scientific- Atlanta completed the acquisition of all outstanding interests in the Scientific- Atlanta Shanghai Limited joint venture from the other shareholders. Going forward, Scientific-Atlanta (Shanghai) Company Ltd. will function as a wholly owned subsidiary of Scientific-Atlanta China, Inc. The company will continue to use the extensive marketplace knowledge acquired during the 12 years of the joint venture's operation as it focuses on research and development of digital technology for the burgeoning China market and extending that technology for applications all across Asia.

http://www.scientificatlanta.com/

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Bell Labs Demonstrates 100 Gbps Ethernet-Over-Optical

Bell Labs reported transmissions of 100 Gbps Ethernet over optical. These results are a significant milestone in the industry's march towards migrating to 100 Gbps data networking.


The Bell Labs research team was able to deliver a 107 Gbps optical data stream, representing 100 Gbps of data transmission plus a standard 7% overhead for error correction, using the following two technological approaches:

• Duobinary Signaling: This technique uses three electrical signal levels, - positive, negative and zero - to represent a binary signal for communications transmission. Duobinary signals require less bandwidth than traditional NRZ (non-return to zero) signals. The application of this bandwidth-compressing format enabled the creation of an optical 107-Gbps serial data stream using a commercially available optical modulator (rated for 40 Gbps).



• Single-Chip Optical Equalizer: Integrated optical equalizers invented by Bell Labs researchers two years ago, can compensate for transmission impairments and also for the limited modulator bandwidth in a commercially available NRZ system. NRZ is the least complex optical data format to generate. In order to demonstrate an optical 107-Gb/s NRZ signal, Bell Labs designed a single chip optical equalizer that compensated for almost all inter-symbol interference arising from modulator bandwidth limitations in an optical 107 Gb/s NRZ electronic time division multiplexing (ETDM) transmitter. As with the duobinary approach, Bell Labs researchers used a commercially available 40-Gbps optical modulator in combination with the optical equalizer to generate a 107-Gbps optical NRZ data stream.

Lucent Technologies presented papers on both of these approaches at to the European Conference and Exhibition on Optical Communication (ECOC) in Scotland.
http://www.lucent.com

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