Deutsche Telekom moves into Telekom Center München

Deutsche Telekom AG relocated into its Telekom Center München -- a new state-of-the-art facility near the Munich city center. A total of around 2,800 employees of the Group's divisions T-Com, T-Systems and T-Mobile as well as the central units, who had previously been spread over various locations around the city, will now work in the Telekom Center München.
http://www.telekom.de

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Alcatel Deploys 40 Gbps Links in Stuttgart and Karlsruhe, Germany

Alcatel deployed its 40 Gbps optical transmission link connecting the data centers of the University of Stuttgart and the University of Karlsruhe in Germany. The 105 km link connects two supercomputers, which deliver a computing power of over twenty TeraFlops. The deployment is part of the "Baden-Württemberg Extended LAN" scientific network (BelWü), which is funded by the Baden-Württemberg state and is integrated in the European research association GÉANT.


The Alcatel 40 Gbps WDM solution, which includes the Alcatel 1626 Light Manager (LM), interconnects multiple 10 Gigabit Ethernet interfaces of the two university supercomputers through a single wavelength. Four bidirectional 10 Gigabit Ethernet interfaces are aggregated onto the one 40 Gbps wavelength that is transported over an optical fiber without repeaters. The new line is designed to support multiple 40 Gbps wavelengths to cope with future traffic growth.
http://www.alcatel.com

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TotallyFreeConferenceCalls Selects Vapps SIP-Based Platform / Metaswitch

TotallyFreeConferenceCalls, a large conference call service provider, has chosen the Vapps Conference Bridge 1000 (CB1000) platform as the foundation for delivering next-generation conferencing services. Together with MetaSwitch's fault-tolerant Class 4/5 softswitch architecture for bridging legacy circuit switched and IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) networks, TotallyFreeConferenceCalls can now integrate service across multiple network types to reach new markets and expand its customer base.


A VoIP-native IMS application server (AS) network element, the Vapps CB1000 is a SIP-enabled, carrier-grade conferencing platform that delivers reservation-less conference calls on both legacy and IP-based telecom systems. CB1000 supports up to 18,000 total conference participants in multiple simultaneous conferences and offers both standard and advanced calling features including: participant lists, volume control, mute, multiple languages, call detail records and web-based on-demand feature control. http://www.vapps.com
http://www.metaswitch.com

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Sprint Nextel to Acquire Velocita Wireless for 900 MHz Spectrum

Sprint Nextel agreed to acquire Velocita Wireless through a stock purchase agreement for an undisclosed sum.


Velocita Wireless, headquartered in Woodbridge, N.J., serves about 400,000 business and governmental customers, with products that include wireless email, messaging, machine-to-machine, automated vehicle location, point-of-sale and field force automation applications.


Sprint Nextel plans to use a portion of Velocita's spectrum assets to supplement its coverage for customers on its iDEN national network. That spectrum use is not expected to impact Velocita's network coverage or availability. Sprint Nextel will continue to honor existing Velocita customer contracts after the close of the transaction, and will work with customers as appropriate to provide wireless network services that most closely meet their business needs.
http://www.sprint.com
http://www.velocitawireless.com

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Nokia to Build Global Networks Solutions Center in Chennai, India

Nokia will locate its new Global Networks Solutions Center in Chennai, India. The Solutions Center will perform network operation tasks for selected operator customers in the Asia Pacific region as well as Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and play a key role as part of Nokia's expanding and innovative managed services offering. It will start operations in the first half of 2006 and initially employ around 100 people, with this figure expected to rise in the next few years.
http://www.nokia.com

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SureWest Names Oldham as CEO

SureWest Communications, which serves the Sacramento, California region, named Steve C. Oldham to serve as the company's president and chief executive officer effective January 1, 2006. Oldham, 55, has served as a member of SureWest's Board of Directors since January 2004, and has been chair of the Board's Audit Committee since June 2004. He retired from Sierra Pacific Resources in 2002 as senior vice president, energy supply after a 26-year career during which he held various positions in its accounting, finance and regulatory departments, including senior vice president, corporate development and strategic planning.


SureWest also announced that Brian H. Strom, the company's current president and CEO will remain an employee of the company until March 31, 2006, at which time he will retire as an executive officer after 17 years of service, but continue in a consulting role.
http://www.surewest.com

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Senator DeMint Proposes Market-based Communications Reform Bill

Senator Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), a member of the Senate Commerce Committee, introduced the Digital Age Communications Act (DACA). The bill aims to create a communications regulation system that is market-oriented and competition-based. According to the Senator, under DACA:

• The communications industry would be regulated like other businesses, by protecting consumers and ensuring businesses do not engage in unfair competition.



• Services that are alike from a consumer's perspective would be treated alike. For example, phone service, whether offered by a cable, land-line, or wireless company, would have to comply with the same regulations.



• The Universal Service Program would be reformed to make all service providers contribute equally and make the distribution of the funds more efficient, transparent, and technologically neutral.



• Cable television franchises would be phased out over 4 years.



• Each state would continue to play an important role in enforcing federal rules and would retain the authority to protect consumers and manage public rights-of-way.

In a statement, BellSouth's Herschel L. Abbott, Vice President - Government Affairs, said "We applaud Senator DeMint on the introduction of this forward looking legislation that is designed to assure that market forces and competition replace the outdated regulatory forces that continue to hold our industry back. We are particularly pleased with the bill's focus on further clarifying the role that state commissions should play in regulating the industry."http://demint.senate.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=Home.Homehttp://www.bellsouth.com

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