MIT and Nokia Open R&D Lab

MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) and Nokia Research Center will establish a new research facility near the MIT campus to advance the state of the art in mobile computing and communications technologies.


The collaborative work of the Nokia Research Center Cambridge will center on a view of the future where small handheld devices such as mobile phones will become parts of an "ecosystem" of information, services, peripherals, sensors and other devices.


Research will address new user interfaces that incorporate speech and other modalities, new mobile computing platforms - including low power hardware platforms and wireless communication, as well as new software architectures. Researchers will also address new ways of managing information: The use of Semantic Web technologies - an extension of the current Web developed in part at CSAIL and at the Nokia Research Center - will enable devices to more intuitively and automatically understand interconnected terms, information and services.


The facility will host approximately 20 researchers from Nokia and 20 from MIT.
http://www.mit.eduhttp://www.nokia.com

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CloudShield Raises $10 Million for Deep Packet Inspection Platform

CloudShield Technologies, a start-up based in Sunnyvale, California, raised $$10 Million in additional funding for its multigigabit, open network services platform for security, VoIP, and traffic management applications.


CloudShield's CS-2000 platform is designed to help service providers develop custom packet processing applications for emerging content-based services. The company also sees an opportunity with federal government agencies that need to harden their network security.


The additional funding came from current investors TPG Ventures, ComVentures, Foundation Capital, and Paladin Capital all participating.


In September 2004, CloudShield delivered its third generation packet processing platform, the CS-2000, offering up to 5 gigabits of throughput and high-speed WAN interfaces in a 2RU chassis. CloudShield now has over 30 network applications either available or in development by solutions providers, systems integrators, and end users. These applications include VoIP processing and security, Denial of Service Mitigation services, and a Multi-level Security Guard.
http://www.cloudshield.com

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Japan Telecom Market Share Report - Oct 2005

Telecom Market Share Report from  Japan's Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications  October 2005
Fixed Communications
NTT East	48.7%
NTT West	49.1%
Others	2.2%
IP Telephony
SOFTBANK	43.4%
NTT Communications,	24.5%
KDDI,	13.4%
Others	18.7%
Mobile communications -- Cellular and PHS
NTT DoCoMo	54.7%
au Group	21.7%
Vodafone	16.2%
Others	7.3%
DSL
NTT East.	20.7%
NTT West	17.4%
SOFTBANK BB	34.9%
Others	7.4%
FTTH -- single family and corporate
NTT East	37.0%
NTT West	37.6%
Power Utility Groups	22.3%
FTTH -- Apartment and Condominium Buildings
NTT East	22.1%
NTT West	12.9%
Power Utility Groups	20.3%.

Source:  http://www.soumu.go.jp/joho_tsusin/eng/Releases/Telecommunications/news051014_1.html

 

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Netrion

Major industry shift as IBM embraces 10 Gigabit Ethernet in standard based xSeries server line
Leverage IBM's mainframe-inherited technologies
Leadership in I/O performance with X3 architecture and PCI-X 2.0
IBM first in the industry with:
Line-rate 10 Gigabit/sec throughput (PCI-X 2.0)
Cross-platform support (Windows, Linux,VMware)
Highest bandwidth to customers while preserving Customers investments in Ethernet


PCI-X 2.0 has more than enough bandwidth to support even the most cutting-edge technologies including 10 Gigabit Ethernet
Full Hardware Backward Compatibility
The newest, highest-performance PCI-X 2.0 adapter cards can readily operate in 3.3V PCI slots from pastgeneration computers.
Speed Mismatch Compatibility
All speed generations of PCI are interoperable.
High Bandwidth Systems Demand PCI-X 2.0http://www.neterion.com

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Motorola Settles Telsim Issue for $500 Million

Motorola has reached an agreement to settle financial and legal claims against Turkish cellular phone operator Telsim Mobil Telekomunikasyon (Telsim), and the Turkish Savings and Deposit Insurance Fund (TMSF).


Motorola has settled its claims for a cash payment of $500 million which the company received today plus the right to receive 20% of the proceeds from the sale of Telsim assets over $2.5 billion. Motorola has further agreed to dismiss its litigation against Telsim as well as Motorola's pending demand for arbitration against the Government of Turkey at the International Center for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) in Washington, D.C. In addition, Motorola has agreed not to pursue collection efforts against certain corporate defendants under TMSF control, subject to certain conditions.


The agreement permits Motorola to continue its efforts, except in Turkey and certain other agreed upon countries, to enforce its previous judgment rendered on behalf of Motorola against the Uzan family for perpetrating a massive fraud against Motorola through their control of Telsim.
http://www.motorola.com

• In August 2005, to collect the international roaming and interconnect revenues of Telsim Mobil Telekomunikasyon (Telsim), the second largest mobile operator in Turkey, as a means of enforcing its approximately $2.5 billion arbitration claim against the company.



• On June 13, 2005, a panel of arbitrators from the Zurich Chamber of Commerce issued a final award (“the Final Award�?) in the arbitration pending between Telsim and Motorola Credit Corporation (“MCC�?) concerning the amounts due by Telsim to MCC under the financing arrangements between the parties. Telsim had borrowed nearly $2.0 billion from Motorola for the financing of a Motorola-constructed cellular telephone system and has failed to pay Motorola despite the system's operational success. Telsim had refused to pay Motorola.

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Vodafone Acquires 10% of India's Bharti

Vodafone will acquire, through its wholly-owned subsidiaries, an economic interest of 10% in Bharti Tele-Ventures Limited (BTVL) for a cash consideration equivalent to Rs.66.56 billion (GBP 0.82 billion or US$1.5 billion). The purchase price represents a 7.4% premium to the 5-day average share price of BTVL on 27 October 2005.


BTVL is the leading national mobile operator in India, with 14.1 million mobile customers as of 30-Sept-2005, equivalent to a 21.8% customer market share.


Vodafone said the deal provides it with a means to expand its footprint into India, which ranks as the 3rd largest mobile market in Asia with 65.1 million customers currently, after China and Japan where Vodafone is already present . India's mobile and fixed line penetration is currently at approximately 6.0% and 4.4%, respectively.
http://www.vodafone.com
http://www.bhartiteleventures.com

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Metro Ethernet Forum Issues Asia Pacific Service Provider Awards

Hong Kong's PCCW received the Metro Ethernet Forum's "Best in Business" award and Japan's KVH received the "Outstanding Innovation" award at a ceremony in Beijing at this week's "Ethernet World" event.
http://www.MetroEthernetForum.org

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Tdsoft and VocalTec to Merge

Tdsoft and VocalTec, both suppliers of VoIP gateways and other packet voice equipment, agreed to merge. Tdsoft's shareholders will be issued VocalTec shares in exchange for all of the share capital of Tdsoft. Following completion of the transaction, the shareholders of Tdsoft will own 75% of the outstanding share capital of VocalTec and the current shareholders of VocalTec will own the remaining 25%. VocalTec will remain a publicly-held company and Tdsoft will become a wholly-owned subsidiary thereof.

Following completion of the transaction, Cisco Systems International BV (a subsidiary of Cisco Systems Inc.) and HarbourVest Partners, LLC, currently major shareholders of Tdsoft, and Deutsche Telekom, currently a major shareholder of VocalTec, are expected to hold approximately 36%, 20% and 3.8%, respectively, of VocalTec's share capital.

The companies said that by combining their resources, their businesses will create a stronger player in the growing VoIP market.
http://www.tdsoft.com
http://www.vocaltec.com

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Comcast Launches Amnesty Program in Wash. DC Area

Comcast will implement a cable amnesty program from November 1-14, allowing anyone who is receiving unauthorized cable service in the certain Washington D.C. area communities to turn themselves in and become authorized, paying customers with no questions asked. In 2003, the last time Comcast executed this campaign, the company received more than 8,000 calls and thousands of leads.


As part of the amnesty program, residents currently receiving unauthorized cable services may choose to become paying customers over the phone or have the unauthorized service disconnected without facing legal action. In addition, residents receiving cable television through unauthorized cable boxes will have the opportunity to turn in their boxes to Comcast in exchange for new, legal boxes.


Comcast said its amnesty program will also educate communities about "active" and "passive" cable theft. Comcast defines "active" cable theft to be when people knowingly and willfully make illegal connections to the cable system or tamper with equipment so they receive cable service without paying for it. It defines "passive" theft to be when an individual moves into a new residence where cable is already installed and fails to notify Comcast that the billing should be transferred to the new occupant.


Following the amnesty program, Comcast officials plan to complete a house-by-house electronic audit of its cable systems to identify cable thieves. As these homes and businesses continue to be identified, the information will be turned over to the appropriate authorities for possible prosecution, with possible fines and jail time if convicted.
http://www.comcast.com

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MCI Enhances its International Private IP Service

MCI's MPLS-based Private IP service is now available directly from MCI in Kuwait, South Africa, and Turkey and through additional partner agreements in Brazil, China, India and Mexico. Additionally, the service now features Ethernet Access in Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, and the UK; and adds access via MCI's IP network across Europe, as well as new application awareness features and WAN analysis reporting.


Ethernet Access into the MCI MPLS network gives customers additional access flexibility and the adaptability to undertake easier upgrades and downgrades. The availability of MCI's Private IP Network Gateway across Europe enables customers to connect to MCI's Private IP network using public IP access via dedicated access or DSL. Private IP Network Gateway leverages MCI's points of presence in more than 2800 cities globally, providing an entry level solution for remote customer sites.


A new VRF Lite (VPN Routing & Forwarding) feature allows for multiple VPN routing and forwarding features on a single edge router enabling customers to cost effectively segment their network, making provisioning and network management easier compared to a multiple customer edge router solution. MCI is also introducing a managed voice interface card for customers who want to move to a converged network at their own pace. Alternatively, MCI Advantage is available for customers that are ready to expand to a fully converged environment for both internal and external calls supported by voice specific SLAs and additional IP features.

Finally, MCI has begun offering WAN Analysis Reporting powered by Concord, which helps identify network degrading conditions and proactively plan for network capacity.
http://www.mci.com

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Level 3 and Cogent Reach Peering Agreement

Level 3 Communications and Cogent Communications have agreed on terms to continue to exchange Internet traffic under a modified version of their original peering agreement. The companies said their modified peering arrangement allows for the continued exchange of traffic between their two networks, and includes commitments from each party with respect to the characteristics and volume of traffic to be exchanged. Under the terms of the agreement, the companies have agreed to the settlement-free exchange of traffic subject to specific payments if certain obligations are not met.


The modified arrangement contains provision to mitigate any impact to customers' Internet connectivity as it sets forth an agreed process to protect customers upon the expiration of the peering relationship, or upon violations of the agreement that are not remedied in accordance with the revised agreement.


The specific terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
http://www.cogentco.com
http://www.level3.com

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QUALCOMM Competitors File Anticompetitive Complaints to European Commission

Broadcom, Ericsson, NEC, Nokia, Panasonic Mobile Communications and Texas Instruments have each filed complaints to the European Commission requesting that it investigate anti-competitive conduct by Qualcomm in the licensing of essential patents for 3G mobile technology.


The companies state that QUALCOMM is violating EU competition law and failing to meet the commitments Qualcomm made to international standard bodies around the world that it would license its technology on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms. Absent these commitments, the WCDMA 3G standard would not have been adopted. The companies allege that QUALCOMM is infringing these rules by:

• trying to exclude competing manufacturers of chipsets for mobile phones from the market and preventing others from entering. To this end, Qualcomm has committed a number of abuses, ranging from the refusal to license essential patents to potential chipset competitors on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms to offering lower royalty rates to handset customers who buy chipsets exclusively from QUALCOMM.



• charging royalties for its WCDMA essential patents that are excessive and disproportionate; in particular by imposing the same royalty rate on WCDMA 3G handsets as it does for CDMA2000 3G handsets despite the fact that QUALCOMM has contributed far less technology to the WCDMA 3G standard than it has to the CDMA2000 standard.

The companies believe that Qualcomm's anti-competitive behavior has harmful effects for the mobile telecommunications sector in Europe, as well as elsewhere, because carriers and consumers are facing higher prices and fewer choices.


QUALCOMM Response


In response, Qualcomm issued a statement saying that the allegations are factually inaccurate and legally meritless. QUALCOMM said it has more than 130 licenses that it has granted to a broad range of companies, among them five of the six reported claimants.


QUALCOMM also disagreed with any suggestion that it has contributed less significant technology to the WCDMA 3G standard, saying "it is widely acknowledged that efforts to design around QUALCOMM's fundamental innovations in formulating the UMTS/WCDMA standard were unsuccessful."


QUALCOMM said it believes this action is nothing more than an attempt by these licensees to renegotiate their license agreements by seeking governmental intervention.


QUALCOMM also noted that contrary to the reported allegation that it is seeking to exclude chip competitors, QUALCOMM has licensed major chip manufacturers, including Texas Instruments, NEC, Infineon, Philips, Agere, Motorola, VIA and Fujitsu.
http://www.ti.com/http://www.qualcomm.com

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