Ford Extends Networking Contract with AT&T

Ford signed a contract extension for AT&T to provide a comprehensive portfolio of voice and data networking services. Terms of the contract were not disclosed.Under the contract, AT&T will provide a custom-designed bundle of services to Ford and its Hertz subsidiary, specifically high-speed data services to meet expanding application needs. http://www.att....

Read More

BellSouth Offers Data Backup over Cingular Wireless

BellSouth launched a Wireless Data Backup service for enterprises that leverages the Cingular Wireless network in case its wireline network goes down.Wireless Data Backup from BellSouth and Cingular complements any existing data network, including DSL, Frame Relay, Ethernet and Private Line. To integrate the solution into a business network, a redundant router equipped with a wireless PC modem card is connected at each location that requires wireless data backup. A dedicated line is then installed from Cingular's network to the customer's headquarters...

Read More

A new Internet2 Land Speed Record for IPv6

An international team has set a new Internet2 Land Speed Record (I2-LSR) for IPv6 by achieving a 5.58 Gbps transfer rate over more than 30,000 km, setting a new record of 167,400 Terabit-meters/second. The I2-LSR team more than doubled the performance of the previous record, surpassing it by 131%.The data path originated at the University of Tokyo and was switched in Chicago, traveled back to Tokyo, then to Seattle, and finally back to Tokyo.Foundry's NetIron 40G IPv4/IPv6 dual-stack routers were configured with 10-Gigabit Ethernet interfaces...

Read More

Internet2's HOPI Testbed Uses Dynamic Optical Circuits

The Internet2's Hybrid Optical and Packet Infrastructure (HOPI) testbed is using dynamically provisioned dedicated optical circuits to link three radio telescopes distributed around the world for an electronic Very-Long-Baseline Interferometry (e-VLBI) observatory. Leveraging the HOPI infrastructure together with the NSF-funded DRAGON testbed, the telescopes located in Westford Mass. US; Greenbelt, Md. US; and Onsala, Sweden will be dynamically linked via dedicated low-latency optical circuits to a central data correlator and simultaneously transmit...

Read More

France Telecom's GlobeCast Launches IPTV Super Headend

GlobeCast, a subsidiary of France Telecom, has launched an IPTV Super Headend capable of aggregating hundreds of television signals from around the globe in MPEG-2 and MPEG-4, and providing IP encapsulation and retransmission of content via satellite for distribution to "local" IPTV headends across North America. GlobeCast has opened a new Technical Operations Center (TOC) in Miami, where it will base its operations.All current and future IPTV services, including IPTVComplete - a joint offering with Eagle Broadband providing more than 200 channels...

Read More

World Summit on the Information Society Opens in Tunis

Speaking at the opening of the "World Summit on the Information Society" in Tunis, Yoshio Utsumi, Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), urged world leaders to put information and communication technologies (ICTs) at the heart of their national economic and social development policies. Utsumi spoke passionately about the unprecedented opportunities offered by new technologies, and warned of the threat of increasing...

BellSouth Boosts Top DSL Tier to 6 Mbps / 512 kbps

BellSouth doubled the speed of its top DSL service tier to 6 Mbps downstream and 512 kbps upstream. FastAccess DSL Xtreme 6.0, which will be offered to residential customers for $46.95 per month, will provide customers with a fourth FastAccess DSL service option. The other service tiers are:FastAccess DSL Xtreme, with up to 3Mbps downstream X 384Kbps upstream for $42.95 per month. FastAccess DSL Ultra, with up to 1.5Mbps downstream X 256Kbps upstream for $32.95 per month.FastAccess DSL Lite, with up to 256 Kbps downstream X 128 Kbps upstream for...

Read More

Microsoft and CableLabs Team on HD Cable Programming for Windows PCs

Microsoft and Cable Television Laboratories (CableLabs) reached an agreement under which PC manufacturers will be able to offer digital-cable-ready Windows Media Center-based PCs in the holiday 2006 time frame.These Media Center PCs will be equipped with a CableCARD module, allowing consumers to enjoy one-way cable programming, including premium high-definition cable content, on their personal computer and throughout the home on compliant network-connected devices, such as Xbox 360, while protecting cable operators' investments in high-value content...

Read More

TiVo Hires Ex-Comcast Exec to Head Content Strategy

TiVo appointment of Tara Maitra as vice president, general manager of content services. In this role, Ms. Maitra will be responsible for developing unique content offerings for broadband delivery and relationships with content companies.Previously, Maitra served as senior director of content development at Comcast, where she was responsible for day-to-day operations of Select on Demand, a collection of new niche non-linear networks delivered via video on-demand and broadband. Prior to Comcast, Maitra was executive vice president, general manager...

Read More

Nokia to Acquire Intellisync for Wireless Messaging Platforms

Nokia agreed to acquire Intellisync, a provider of platform-independent wireless messaging and applications for mobile devices, for approximately US$430 million (approximately EUR 368 million) in cash.Intellisync delivers some of the largest deployments of wireless email over the widest array of devices and application platforms across carrier networks. The company's wireless messaging software allows for synchronization of data and files with high levels of accuracy and security across complex software applications. Intellisync was founded in...

Read More