Ericsson Plans High-speed Mobile Broadband for U.S. Border Security

Ericsson is leading a consortium of companies to provide high-speed mobile broadband technology and IP applications to address the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Secure Border Initiative (SBInet).



Ericsson said its solution integrates both new and legacy technologies, Commercial Off-the-Shelf Technology (COTS) and Government Off-the-Shelf Technology (GOTS) software systems, a comprehensive Concept of Operations and rapid response capabilities to address Customs and Border Protection operational needs.



Ericsson's Border and Area Security (EBAS) system is already operational in the European Union (EU) as part of the EU's Schengen secure border surveillance project.



The ABSG team led by Ericsson includes Computer Sciences Corporation; Fluor Corporation; SYColeman Corporation, a division of L3 Communications; MTC Technologies; CAMBER Corporation; AEP Networks ; Texas A&M University and The University of Texas at Austin.

http://www.ericsson.com

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Acme Packet Files for IPO

Acme Packet, a provider of session border controllers, filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission for an initial public offering (IPO) of its common shares. Goldman, Sachs & Co. will act as sole book-runner, Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC will act as joint lead manager and J.P. Morgan Securities Inc. will act as co-manager in the offering.

http://www.acmepacket.com

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Vonage and D-link Offer Co-Branded Telephone Adaptor

Vonage and D-Link announced the availability of the Voice Terminal Adaptor (VTA), a two-line Internet Phone Adaptor configured with the Vonage service.



The D-Link VTA, which leverages Texas Instruments' TNETV1015 VoIP gateway chipset, powers up to two lines of Internet telephone service and supports popular features such as call waiting, call forwarding and caller ID with name.



The device is now available for free to new subscribers at Vonage direct, www.vonage.com, after a $49.99 instant rebate, exclusive of a $9.99 shipping and handling fee. It will also be available at retail with a MSRP of $49.99 with a $40 rebate after 60 days in service.

http://www.dlink.comhttp://www.vonage.com

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Motorola to Acquire TTP Communications for Mobile Technologies

Motorola agreed to acquire TTP Communications plc. for approximately $192 million in cash (0.45 pounds per share).



TTPCom, based in Cambridge, England, is focused on the three core areas of mobile phone technology -- applications, protocols, and silicon. The TTPCom business was founded in 1988 and has approximately 575 employees.



TTPCom's GPRS, EDGE and 3G protocol stack software offers rapid customization of handsets through its AJAR applications framework, and develops both radio and baseband cellular software engines through its Macro products. More than 150 million devices using TTPCom technology have been shipped worldwide.



TTPCom also offers radio and baseband chipset designs.



"TTPCom is a leader in wireless software platforms, protocol stacks and semiconductor solutions and is a highly complementary addition to Motorola's technology portfolio," said Ron Garriques, President, Motorola's Mobile Devices business. "We already have a strong relationship with TTPCom and look forward to continuing momentum TTPCom has built with its customers and partners across the mobile industry. We welcome the employees of TTPCom to Motorola and look forward to a quick and seamless integration upon closing."http://www.motorola.comhttp://www.ttpcom.com

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Overture Raises $7.5 Million for Converged Packet Access

Overture Networks, a start-up based in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, raised $7.5 million in third round funding for its converged packet access platforms. Overture Networks provides high-speed networking platforms that allow carriers to economically reshape their networks and revenue streams by deploying uniform managed Ethernet and TDM services to every customer location.



Overture's platform is designed to deliver any mix of Ethernet and TDM service combinations. The ISG converged packet access platform supports a variety of interfaces ranging from NxT1/E1 to Gigabit Ethernet.



The new financing was led by new investor Telecommunications Development Fund (TDF) in Washington, D.C.. Current investors, including Morgenthaler Ventures, Intersouth Partners, Armada Ventures and Gray Ventures, and another new investor, Legend Ventures, also participated in the round. The new funds will be used as growth capital to expand product development and customer support functions.



The company claims over 60 customers. Recently announced customers include THUS, plc; Cypress Communications and Memphis Networx. http://www.overturenetworks.com

• ADC has an OEM agreement with Overture Networks to supply its new LoopStar 700 Ethernet access and transport system. The LoopStar 700 portfolio of Ethernet multi-service access solutions can be used to aggregate, deploy and manage Ethernet and TDM services. Available network interfaces include NxT1/E1, DS3, NxDS3, OC3c/STM1, OC12c/STM4, 100FX, and GigE, as well as drop side (tributary) interfaces of DS1, 10/100 BT, 100FX and GigE. The LoopStar 700 family also provides a solution for Pseudo Wire (PWE3) T1/E1/J1 circuit emulation transport, making it economical for business applications or cell site backhaul which require both Ethernet and TDM over a single network service or private network facility.

Equipping Metro Optical Networks to Deliver Ethernet Services

Ethernet services represent a significant growth opportunity for service providers and a potentially significant productivity gain for customers. Both parties are looking to Ethernet to meet the growing demand for higher bandwidth, lower operational expenses and better management and control. To understand Ethernet services and revenues, you need to know the current positioning and where the market is headed. Like any new service offering Ethernet services are subject to a "life cycle" of technology and implementation.

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Global Crossing Offers VoIP On-Net Plus Service

Global Crossing announced global availability of its VoIP On-Net Plus Service -- a fully integrated, network-based voice Virtual Private Network (VPN) that enables enterprises to migrate to a fully converged IP network.



Global Crossing VoIP On-Net Plus Service is network-based and fully independent of premises-based equipment. It allows enterprises to complete calls to their office locations over Global Crossing's worldwide VoIP network, reaching more than 600 cities in 60 countries.



A distinctive feature of VoIP On-Net Plus is cross protocol routing - the ability to connect to the VoIP network either through an IP protocol or a traditional Time Division Multiplexing (TDM) protocol. With cross protocol routing, Global Crossing's network accepts an IP or TDM call and makes any necessary translations to complete it through a customer's Virtual Private Network (VPN). Calls can be completed IP to IP, IP to TDM, TDM to IP, or TDM to TDM.



VoIP On-Net Plus provides customers full call detail records for on-net completions, and the service is fully integrated with Global Crossing VoIP Outbound, Global Crossing VoIP Local and Global Crossing VoIP Toll Free services. http://www.globalcrossing.com

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CinemaNow to Add Warner Bros. Content

CinemaNow signed a licensing agreement with Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group to offer select movies and television shows on a download-to-own basis through its Web site. Movies will be available for purchase via electronic-sell-through, and future releases will be available on the site concurrent with the traditional "home video window." This also marks the first availability of Warner Bros. television content on a download-to-own basis in the U.S.



All content will be copy protected by Microsoft's Windows Digital Rights Management (DRM) software.

http://www.cinemanow.com

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SeaChange Cites Rise in VOD Systems Revenue

SeaChange reported quarterly revenue of $33.2 million, a 5.5% increase from revenues of $31.5 million for the same quarter a year ago. The net loss for the first quarter was $4.4 million, or $0.15 per share, compared with a net loss of $0.6 million, or $0.02 per share, for the first period last year.



Total revenues in the first quarter of fiscal 2007 from the Company's Broadband segment, which includes Video on Demand (VOD) and Advertising Insertion hardware and software was $16.3 million, which was $2.0 million higher than comparable revenue in the preceding quarter.



Sequential revenue growth in the Broadband segment in the first quarter was driven by a 71 percent increase in VOD systems revenue to $10.8 million from $6.3 million in the preceding quarter.



"We've seen a definite uptick in our North American VOD business evidenced by an increase in our VOD order rate. In fact, shipments and unfilled orders this quarter have already exceeded total VOD system revenue recorded in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2006," said Bill Styslinger, president and CEO of SeaChange International.

http://www.schange.com

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Amino Announces Single-Chip HD AVC/H.264 STB for Hospitality IPTV

Amino introduced a single-chip HD AVC/H.264 IPTV STB specifically designed for the global hospitality industry. The new HD STB, which is modeled on the company's existing AmiNET110H design, features a TV interface, which enables a completely invisible installation where the whole system can be controlled via the television using one remote control. It will begin shipping in volume in Q3 2006.

http://www.aminocom.com

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Ciena Reports Q2 Revenue of $131.2 million, up 9% Sequentially

Ciena reported Q2 revenue of $131.2 million, representing a 8.9% sequential increase from fiscal first quarter revenue of $120.4 million, and an increase of 26.3% over the same period a year ago. Ciena's net loss (GAAP) for the fiscal second quarter 2006 was $1.9 million, or a net loss of $0.00 per share. This compares with a reported GAAP net loss of $74.8 million, or a net loss of $0.13 per share, for the same period a year ago.



"We continue to see indications that underlying demand drivers like high-speed broadband access, wireless, and video are fueling the need for capacity growth and a transition to next-generation networks," said Smith. "We believe our role as the network specialist and our practical vision for network migration, whether from TDM to Ethernet, 2G to 3G, or Internet broadband to Triple Play, positions Ciena to benefit from these market dynamics," said Gary Smith, Ciena CEO and president.

http://www.ciena.com

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JDSU Introduces Metro Ethernet Quality of Service Test Solution

JDSU introduced a test solution to ensure Metro Ethernet quality of service (QoS) across core and access networks. The solution integrates a set of interoperable field test instruments, network probes and management software to address the three primary concerns associated with installing and maintaining Metro Ethernet networks: the ability to rapidly install new connections, the need to dispatch technicians to fix rather than find problems, and the need for a reliable method to maintain networks while simultaneously reducing truck rolls.



Products in JDSU's Metro Ethernet test solution include portable testers like the MTS/T-BERD 8000 and FST-2802 Ethernet tester, as well as the NetComplete Metro Ethernet Service Assurance Solution (consisting of the rack-mountable QT-600 Ethernet IP testhead and centralized NetAnalyst Test OSS).



NetComplete for Metro Ethernet provides continuous QoS and service availability testing, monitoring and analysis; on-demand and scheduled testing; service turn-up verification; rapid fault isolation and troubleshooting; data filtering using extensive triggers and filter criteria; and multi-interface support (10/100/1000 Mbps via the QT-600).



The MTS/T-BERD 8000 and FST-2802 are portable Ethernet test sets that offer a range of capabilities, ranging from Layer 1 BERT up to Layer 3 installation and maintenance, including loopback capabilities that complement NetComplete for Metro Ethernet. Tests performed during the installation and commissioning include connectivity, throughput, frame loss, and round trip delay (latency). Verifying Ethernet services in this way ensures SLA requirements and, of equal importance, creates a baseline of performance against which the network can be subsequently measured.

http://www.jdsu.com

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UTStarcom Reaches One Million IP DSLAM Ports in Europe

UTStarcom announced a milestone for its access network solution -- the deployment of over one million IP DSLAM ports in Europe - one of the largest and fastest growing DSL markets in the world.



The company, which introduced the first IP DSLAM to the market place in the spring of 2001, has deployed its award-winning equipment in France, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic and Austria, as well as having installed, in Japan, the world's largest IP DSLAM network.

http://www.utstar.com

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Yipes Secures $17.5 Million in Funding to Accelerate Growth

Yipes Enterprise Services raised $17.5 million in fourth round funding, including a $9 million line of credit from SVB Silicon Valley Bank and additional Series D funding of $8.5 million from existing Yipes investors, Crosslink Capital, Norwest Venture Partners, JPMorgan Partners, LLC and Sprout Group, a venture capital affiliate of Credit Suisse. In total, Yipes has raised $106 million in equity since July 2002.



Yipes said the funding will be used to accelerate the rollout of its enterprise Ethernet services, expansion into new markets, as well as for the development of new products. The company said it has crossed the 700 customer milestone.



The Yipes network has more than 14,000 fiber route miles and reaches most major cities in the U.S. Yipes' global presence includes an expanding commitment to the U.K., Europe and the Pacific Rim, including current locations in London, Tokyo and Hong Kong.

http://www.yipes.com

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California Assembly Approves Video Franchise Bill

The California Assembly voted to approve Bill 2987, which would overhaul the state's cable franchising process and pave the way for new competitors, including AT&T and Verizon. The bill, authored by Speaker Fabian Núñez and Assembly member Lloyd Levine, had earlier been passed by the Assembly's Utilities and Commerce Committee and Appropriations Committee.



Verizon West Region President Tim McCallion said "Verizon has stepped up to the plate in California, spending hundreds of millions of dollars to deploy a unique fiber-optic technology that gives consumers the most advanced technology available all the way to their homes. More than 1,000 new employees are working today to build this new system, so not only are we creating exciting new options for consumers, but also important new jobs."http://www.verizon.com

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Verizon Launches FiOS TV Widgets

Verizon introduced an interactive weather and traffic widget to complement its fiber-optic FiOS TV service.



FiOS TV Widgets are available at no additional cost to customers with a set-top box. The widget provides one-touch, on-demand access to real-time local weather and traffic information. Subscribers use their remote control to display text-based weather and traffic on their TV screens without interrupting the program they are watching.



Future Widgets may include personalized news, sports scores and fantasy-league sports results or community information.



Verizon said the widgets are the first of several product enhancements that will let subscribers control and share entertainment and information throughout the home. Later this year, Verizon will add a multi-room digital video recorder and a feature that lets customers access PC-based photos and music on their televisions. Additional new services are planned for 2007.

http://www.verizon.com

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Alcatel Enhances Triple Play Service Delivery Architecture

Alcatel announced significant enhancements to its Triple Play Service Delivery Architecture (TPSDA) and cited growing service provider momentum for IPTV deployments globally.



New to Alcatel's TPSDA are Release 4.0 of the Alcatel Service Router Operating System (SR OS) and Release 2.0 of the Alcatel 5750 Subscriber Services Controller (SSC). SR OS release 4.0 is available immediately and highlights include:

• Non-stop PIM (Protocol Independent Multicast)-based multicast routing and stateful IGMP (Internet Group Management Protocol) switchover to ensure Non-stop broadcast TV service delivery



• Non-stop network operation with in-service software upgrades



• Support for "any mode of operation", increasing flexibility and accelerating network transformation for triple play services



• Programmable subscriber configuration policies, with automated subscriber management to accelerate High Speed Internet (HSI) migration from PPP (Point-to-Point Protocol) to DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol), unifying and optimizing triple play operations

The Alcatel 5750 Subscriber Services Controller (SSC), which was first introduced in June 2005, is designed to consolidate existing multi-vendor BRAS environment into the Alcatel Triple Play Service Delivery Architecture (TPSDA). The SSC provides centralized subscriber management, service creation and policy control with customizable subscriber self-service capabilities. It can scale to greater than 50 million subscribers and handle up to 9,000 transactions per second.



Release 2.0 of the Alcatel 5750 Subscriber Services Controller (SSC) will be available in Q3 2006. Highlights include:

• Support for Service Admission Control (SAC) as part of Alcatel's end-to-end TPSDA service assurance and control framework, future-proofing quality of experience for large scale, on-demand service delivery



• Integrated subscriber management for DHCP and RADIUS, enabling accelerated High Speed Internet (HSI) migration from PPP to DHCP, unifying and optimizing triple play operations



• Support for "any mode of operation", increasing flexibility and accelerating network transformation for triple play services

Alcatel also noted that its IP portfolio has been selected by more than 130 service providers in 55 countries, including massive, multi-year IP network and service transformation projects at AT&T, BT, TeliaSonera and China Telecom. 



Alcatel is announcing new wins with SaskTel, who selected Alcatel's triple play solution to enhance its Internet and entertainment services across Saskatchewan; U.S.-based integrated communications provider, NTELOS, who will deploy Alcatel's TPSDA for a triple play trial in Virginia; and U.S. independent service provider Brazoria Telephone who will deploy an end-to-end IP network solution to deliver new services to its customers in Texas.

http://www.alcatel.com

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Equant Transforms into Orange Business Services

France Telecom launched "Orange Business Services" as its unified portfolio of enterprise services, including Equant's international IP communication and IT services, France Telecom's enterprise communications services and Orange's existing leadership in mobile for businesses.



Orange Business Services will offer a set of integrated services including both fixed and mobile voice and data, network services, managed & IT services and outsourcing.



Some key facts on Orange Business Services.

• a total of 29,000 people in 166 countries and territories



• currently accounts for 12% of the global communications solutions market and 29% of the business mobile market across its European mobile footprint.



• claims 3,750 multinational companies as customers



• serves 400,000 businesses in France and 40,000 local public sector organisations in France



• 1 million mobile business customers and their 8 million end users



• serves 1,300 trading floors in 58 countries with trading desks & networks



• connections to IP VPNs have grown by 59% between Q1 05 and Q1 06 all over the world. The company now maintains 213,000 IP VPN connections.



• owns and manages the world's largest IP VPN, reaching 220 countries, including 14 Russian and 19 Chinese cities.



• France Telecom / Orange have mobile operations in 21 countries



• Orange has an agreement with US wireless operator, Cingular, to provide consolidated mobile services to multinationals



• Orange customers can roam across 423 cellular networks in 163 countries

http://www.francetelecom.com

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France Telecom Unites Mobile, Wanadoo, and IPTV under Orange Brand

France Telecom debuted its new Orange brand, uniting its Wanadoo Internet, IPTV and Orange mobile services. The new label is aimed at delivering a unique and simplified customer experience, based on a joint portal, unified customer service, shared customer loyalty program and renovated high street shops in France. It also marks a strategic step in the company's NeXT strategy to transform itself into a nimble provider of next-generation products and services.



The Orange brand will now include all the Group's activities worldwide, except for traditional telephony offers, which will retain the France Telecom brand in France and the incumbent operator's where relevant.



The France Telecom Group itself is now symbolized by the ampersand, while the Orange brand represents the offerings and services to consumers and businesses.



Key facets of the Orange re-branding include:

• a single portal, www.orange.fr, to access the brand's Internet and mobile universe, for news, entertainment and communication;
  
  
• A single invoice for the various services. The tag "Wanadoo becomes Orange" will be placed on the Internet invoice for several months, to prevent any confusion for customers;
  
  
• A unified customer service, 3900, for streamlined management of the customer's relations with the Group;
  
  
• A shared customer loyalty program beginning this fall, to reward the loyalty of all fixed-line, mobile and Internet customers.
  
  
• Fixed Mobile Convergence via "Unik", a 2-in-1 telephone that at home connects automatically to the Livebox via WiFi and all calls become unlimited, 24-by-7. Away from home, Unik operates like a traditional mobile phone. Unik requires an Orange Broadband subscription, a Livebox, and a special terminal (starting at EUR 99). It will be available in September, 2006.
  
  
• Orange Optimales, "all included" packages with a switched line, the 8 MégaMax broadband Internet service, digital TV and 24-by-7 call plans.
  
  
• High Definition Voice for Livebox customers: unlimited IP calls with unequaled sound quality.
  
  
• High Definition ADSL Television for "HD Ready" TV owners.
  
  
• Unlimited TV-on-mobile packages, with the TV, Totale TV and Sport options.
  
  
• In the UK, "Free Orange Broadband" for Orange mobile pay monthly customers. Orange consumers signing up to a new pay monthly mobile contract with a talk plan over £30 will benefit from free broadband. There is no connection fee and the broadband package - worth £17.99 a month - includes up-to-8-meg broadband, an Orange Livebox (wireless modem), and Orange Wireless & Talk - Orange's Internet phone service which offers free evening and weekend calls to UK landlines. The UK service also offers the promise of one email, one address book, one portal for mobile, fixed-line and broadband; cheaper calls to Orange mobiles through new "Anytime" broadband talk service; and a roadmap of future Orange interconnected services.

"This is a great day for France Telecom, but particularly for our customers, who will begin to discover a new digital world driven by openness and simplicity," announced Didier Lombard, Chairman and CEO of France Telecom. "The new Orange, brought by a new France Telecom, embodies the efforts we have made over the last year to move toward greater convergence and give our customers the opportunity to enhance and simplify their daily lives, both at home and at work."http://www.francetelecom.com

• As of 31-March-2006, France Telecom was serving 8.1 million ADSL customers in Europe, representing an increase of 10% since 31-Dec-2005. This includes 4.9 million ADSL customers in France, representing a consumer ADSL market share of 49.8% in France.
  
  
  
  The number of ADSL TV subscribers reached 229,000 at quarter's end, up from 102,000 a year earlier.
  
  
  
  France Telecom also reached 1.2 million VoIP customers in France, up by 377,000 for the quarter.
  
  
  
  The number of LiveBox gateways marketed in Europe surged to 2.4 million (2.1 million in France), up from 489,000 a year earlier.

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Agere to Supply Chipsets for SIRIUS Satellite Radio

Agere Systems will provide a new, advanced system-on-a-chip (SoC) chip set to manufacturers of SIRIUS radios. SIRIUS products that will use this new Agere SoC include satellite radio receivers used in automotive, home, portable and navigation applications. These receivers are scheduled for delivery to consumers next year.



SIRIUS currently has more than 4 million subscribers and expects to surpass 6.2 million subscribers by the end of 2006.


http://www.agere.com

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ADC and Andrew to Merge, Targeting Wireline + Wireless Solutions

ADC and Andrew Corporation agreed to merge, creating a wireline + wireless network infrastructure supplier with $3.3 billion in annual global sales. The deal is structured as a stock-for-stock merger with Andrew becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of ADC. The combined company will be based at ADC's world headquarters in Minnesota with ADC's John A. Blanchard continuing as non-executive chairman, and ADC's Robert E. Switz continuing as its president and CEO.



ADC supplies broad-based connectivity solutions for copper, coaxial, fiber, radio frequency, broadcast and enterprise networks. Andrew provides broad-based wireless solutions for antennas, cable products, base station subsystems, in-building and distributed coverage, geolocation systems and satellite communications.



The combined company will have approximately 20,000 employees worldwide of which approximately 37% are in the United States & Canada, 22% are in Europe, Middle East and Africa, 25% are in Asia-Pacific and 16% in Latin America.



"With accelerating globalization and consolidation among telecommunications service providers and communications equipment suppliers, now is the right time for ADC and Andrew to join forces and grow value as a world leader in network infrastructure solutions," said Ralph E. Faison, president and CEO of Andrew.

http://www.adc.comhttp://www.andrew.com

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TI Releases WLAN Development Kit for Consumer Electronics

Texas Instruments released its Consumer Electronics WLAN Developer Kit (CE WLAN DK) 2.0, providing manufacturers with the systems-level building blocks they need to add Wi-Fi connectivity to battery-operated devices such as digital still cameras, portable media players and emerging communications and entertainment applications.



TI's development platform approach offers systems-level tools, including host processor support. TI's CE WLAN DK 2.0 is built to interface directly with leading processor platforms using an SDIO interface such as OMAP processors and processors based on DaVinci technology. The CE WLAN DK 2.0 is available as part of the platform and comprises a hardware reference design, WLAN chipset and software driver package. The kit is tailored for portable applications and optimized for performance, coverage, battery life and size.
http://www.ti.com/cewlan

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Avaya Selected for Vanguard's IP Telephony Net with 18,000 End-points

Avaya has been selected by Vanguard, the second largest mutual fund firm in the U.S., for IP Telephony networking, applications and more than 18,000 IP endpoints around the world. The contract also includes project design, implementation and management, plus five years of maintenance services provided by Avaya Global Services.



Vanguard anticipates the IP telephony network will help it to reduce costs by more than $1-million annually.

http://www.avaya.com

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AMCC to Investigate Stock Option Practices

Applied Micro Circuits Corporation announced that its Audit Committee, which is comprised of independent directors, is reviewing the company's historical stock option grant practices and related accounting.



This company said its review is proactive and voluntary and was initiated in response to recently reported industry issues around option pricing practices.

http://www.amcc.com

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Atheros and Broadcom Demonstrate 802.11n Draft Compatibility

Atheros Communications and Broadcom announced interoperability between their draft 802.11n solutions. During the last month, the companies have jointly conducted interoperability testing between Atheros' XSPAN and Broadcom Intensi-fi chipsets. Tests have verified that the solutions work together at throughput speeds greater than 100 Mbps, using mandatory modes of the IEEE 802.11n specification (draft 1.0).

\http://www.atheros.comhttp://www.broadcom.com

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Narad Announces "EtherNode" Switched HFC Architecture

Narad Networks unveiled its new "EtherNode" switched hybrid fiber coax (HFC) architecture designed to extend Ethernet services to business customers from any multiple system operator (MSO) fiber network over any available medium, including fiber, coax, or wireless.



Narad said that in cases where business fiber or metro fiber passes near the end of a coax trunk, its new EtherNodes could switch optical Ethernet capacity onto coax trunks with minimal -- perhaps even zero plant downtime. The company argues that its "deep" Fiber To The Node (FTTN) architecture is a significant advance over historical Narad FTTN insofar as it no longer relies upon insertion of the Narad signal at the HFC node. With EtherNodes, the fiber in HFC can be found at any depth and in any location on the network.



Additionally, Narad EtherNodes can now be built in a variety of new, non-coax specific architectures. Where MSOs want to maximize business services capacity with minimal expense, Narad now supports deep fiber architectures, including Fiber-To-The-Curb (FTTC), and Fiber-To-The-Premise (FTTP).



"Over the years MSOs have deployed a significant number of CWDM-based fiber drops to serve individual enterprise customers. This consumes one gigabit of capacity and two lambdas for a customer that uses only a small fraction of this capacity. By inserting an FTTxSWITCH on this existing fiber, the same fiber can serve a large number of customers. MSOs that are running low on lambdas in nodes with lots of business customers can now use fiber EtherNodes to continue to expand their customer base with no new lambdas and significantly less construction required," said Chuck Kaplan, COO of Narad Networks.



Narad's new FTTxSWITCH, with support for deep EtherNodes in FTTN, FTTC and FTTP configurations will be available in limited quantities in October 2006.

http://www.naradnetworks.com

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Motorola to Demo AdvancedTCA with 10 Gbps Ethernet Switching

Motorola plans to demonstrate a 10Gbps Ethernet AdvancedTCA switching blade integrated into its "Centellis" 3600 Series communications server at next week's GLOBALCOMM 2006 in Chicago. The 10 Gbps test system, which will use switching technology developed by Broadcom, provides backwards compatibility to currently deployed 1GbE systems .



"Adding 10Gbps Ethernet switching -- designed with telecom in mind -- to our portfolio is key to extending the ability of ATCA to address a broad range of data plane applications. Network equipment providers will be able to deploy applications such as IPTV transport, Video on Demand and Community Gaming that require high bandwidth I/O or high bandwidth storage or a combination of the two on their standards-based common platforms built using Motorola's open communications servers," said Shlomo Pri-Tal, director, technology office, Embedded Communications Computing, Motorola.

http://www.motorola.com

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Axerra Expands in Russia

Axerra Networks announced the opening of a new office in Moscow, Russia. The office will support new and existing customers in Russia, the CIS, and the Baltic States, where Pseudo-Wire solutions are in demand. Recently, for example, Axerra successfully completed installations for UralSviazInform, the largest service provider in the Ural region of Russia, serving over 7 million subscribers. Axerra's Pseudo-Wire solutions allow UralSviazInform to deliver a complete portfolio of services over an IP/Ethernet access network to customers in the region.



Mr. Roman Ferster will serve as Axerra's General Manager in Russia, the CIS, and the Baltic States. Mr. Ferster has nearly 20 years of experience in sales and business development, with over 10 years in the Russian, CIS, and Eastern European telecommunications market. Prior to joining Axerra, Mr. Ferster was General Manager of RGRCOM, a leading telecommunications distributor in Moscow, Business Development Manager at RAD Data Communications in Russia, and Regional Director of Sales - Central and Eastern Europe at ECI Telecom.

http://www.axerra.com

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Sprint and RIM Offer Two EV-DO-Capable Devices

Sprint and Research In Motion (RIM) introduced a new BlackBerry 7130e capable of taking advantage of broadband-like speeds delivered on the Sprint Power Vision Network (average download speeds of 400-700 kbps and up to 2Mbps. The handset device offers features like Bluetooth Wireless technology, speakerphone, high-resolution color display and SureType keyboard technology. The BlackBerry 7130e can also be used as a tethered modem in conjunction with a laptop for high-speed Internet and data application access anywhere Sprint has coverage.



Customers purchasing the BlackBerry 7250 from Sprint can also now benefit from broadband-like data speeds of the Sprint Power Vision Network. The BlackBerry 7250 previously introduced by Sprint in 2005, now also features Sprint Mobile Broadband service. The EV-DO-capable device comes equipped with a full-featured phone, Bluetooth Wireless technology, backlit QWERTY keyboard and thumb-operated track wheel navigation and can also be used as a tethered modem for flexible connectivity options.
http://www.sprint.comhttp://www.rim.com

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Concurrent Announces its First VOD Deployment in China

Shekou CATV has deployed Concurrent's MediaHawk VOD platform. Shekou CATV launched VOD earlier this month to subscribers in the Chinese provinces of Shenzhen, Shekou, and Guangdong. Shekou is also using a content acquisition and pre-processing system locally developed by Concurrent's China office for the unique requirements of the Chinese market. Additionally, Concurrent will test the interoperability of their on-demand platform with local partner SZCOM's special add-on hardware module, the IPR 200, that allows low-cost, one-way digital set-top boxes (STB) to be upgraded to two-way digital STBs capable of supporting interactive services.



Shekou CATV currently provides cable television service to approximately 30,000 digital subscribers and broadband data to approximately 10,000 subscribers.

http://www.ccur.com

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Australia's Optus Deploys Juniper's M320 Edge Router

Optus, Australia's second largest telecommunications provider, is deploying Juniper Networks M-series routing platforms to converge its business and residential services on a single, multiservice IP network. The network is being supplied by Siemens Australia. Financial terms were not disclosed.

http://www.juniper.net

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Sprint Nextel to Install Power Generators as Hurricane Precaution

Sprint Nextel announced plans to spend $100 million for hurricane preparations in storm-prone coastal communities. This investment includes the installation of permanent generators for critical wireless cell sites and network facilities on the company's Global IP Network, which provides wireline data and long distance voice services. In addition, the investment funds the purchase of portable generators, SatCOWs (Satellite Cell on Wheels) and SatCOLTs (Satellite Cell on Light Trucks) which can be deployed as part of the company's disaster response and recovery.



By the end of 2006, the company plans to install permanent generators in approximately 800 cell sites serving both the Nationwide Sprint PCS and Nextel National Networks, primarily in Florida. The company also announced plans to install 1,500 additional permanent generators at sites in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, the Carolinas, and other locations in Florida by the end of 2008.
Sprint Nextel also noted that as a standard business practice, it has permanent generators deployed to all of its wireless and wireline switches. In addition, permanent generators are installed at all of the company's network POPs.



As an example of other hurricane preparations, Sprint Nextel is relocating a section its SONET fiber ring between Mobile, Ala. and Hammond, La. to a path further inland, away from flood-prone areas along the Gulf Coast. http://www.sprint.com/hurricaneinfo

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BT Awards ECI Telecom a 5-year Contract Valued at $75 Million

BT awarded a five-year frame agreement to ECI Telecom for the supply of broadband access equipment. The contract has an estimated value of over $75 million.

ECI will be supplying its Exline 2 systems that transport 2Mbps links symmetrically over copper, offering enhanced capabilities and smooth integration within existing networks. It supports advanced class features such as caller ID, call waiting, and distinctive rings.



ECI's solution enables BT to provide over 150,000 business customers with dedicated Digital Private Circuits. BT's service programs, known as "Customer Wideband Serving Section", include voice and data communications services such as MegaStream and ISDN30.

http://www.ecitele.comhttp://www.btplc.com

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Agere Introduces 1394B Chipset

Agere Systems introduced a 800 Mbps FireWire chipset conforming to the IEEE 1394B standard, delivering double the bandwidth of the current 1394A 400 Mbps technology. The device targets external storage drives.



1394A technology provides speeds of 400 Mbps extending distances of 4.5 meters. 1394B performs at 800 Mbps bandwidth spanning up to 4.5 meters. Agere has shipped to market more than 60 million 1394 chips.



Agere's 1394B chipset is available in sample quantities now.

http://www.agere.com

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PMC-Sierra Introduces Stand-Alone VDSL2 Analog Front End

PMC-Sierra introduced an Analog Front End (AFE) for VDSL2 and ADSL2+ Customer Premises Equipment (CPE). The highly integrated CMOS device is a stand-alone VDSL2 AFE, enabling Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) to quickly bring to market VDSL2 modem or residential gateway products featuring extended rate/reach, full backwards compatibility to ADSL2+, and the elimination of the need for a discrete line driver and external power supply and clock components, thereby reducing BOM costs and real estate.



PMC-Sierra said its new PM4380 integrates a high-performance 5V line driver and offers extremely low transmit path distortion and noise floor. The receive path, including the integrated ultra-low noise amplifier, provides an input-referred noise density of -150dBm/Hz, while high-precision 16-bit data converters offer best-in-class performance on both receive and transmit chains. The low transmit and receive noise floors, combined with high-resolution data converters and integrated programmable receive equalizer and filters, reduce the need for complex and costly external filters to achieve optimum rate/reach performance. In addition, the device integrates a 16-bit digitally controlled crystal oscillator (DCXO) that provides better than 0.02 ppm frequency resolution, and an optional 1.8V regulator that allows the PM4380 to be used in a system that only provides 3.3V and 5V. By offering this leading-edge performance, the PM4380 device enables OEMs to deliver products that provide faster broadband connections over longer loop lengths.



PMC-Sierra today also introduced the PM4381 ADSL2+ AFE. The device is pin compatible with the PM4380, enabling vendors to produce cost-optimized ADSL2+ variants. The PM4381 interfaces directly to PMC-Sierra's MSP7120 ADSL2+ Multi-Service Processor, which integrates Aware, Inc.'s StratiPHY2+ IP, and provides a complete chipset for advanced residential gateways and Integrated Access Devices (IADs). http://www.pmc-sierra.com

• Earlier this year, PMC-Sierra acquired Passave Inc., a developer of system-on-chip semiconductor solutions for the Fiber To The Home (FTTH) access market. The Passave product line includes system-on-chip solutions for Optical Line Terminals (OLTs) for the Central Office, Optical Network Terminals (ONTs), and Optical Network Units (ONUs) solutions for residential termination equipment. Passave has delivered two million ONU devices that have been deployed in NTT's Fiber To The Home broadband access network. Passave's product set includes GPON chipsets supporting 2.5 Gbps downstream and 1.25 Gbps upstream, and features Forward error correction and AES-128 encryption.
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Axerra Announces Pseudo-Wire Access Device for Mobile Backhaul

Axerra Networks announced the availability of its AXN10-8 Pseudo-Wire Access Device designed to meet mobile wireless operators' growing traffic requirements for backhaul of both voice and data services in packet-based radio access networks (RANs). It also enables cable MSOs and metro Ethernet service providers to deliver traditional T1/E1 voice and data services for business customers.



The AXN10-8, generally available in Q3 of this year, becomes an integral part of the Axerra Pseudo-Wire solution for mobile wireless backhaul. The AXN10-8 combines ATM with IMA, circuit emulation, Frame Relay/HDLC/PPP, and Ethernet Pseudo-Wires in a single access device to enable backhaul of any combination of 2G, 2.5G, and 3G traffic, including CDMA 2000 plus 1RTT plus 1xEV-DO and GSM plus GPRS plus UMTS. The AXN10-8 is optimally sized, furnishing up to eight T1/E1 interfaces for connections to equipment already installed at the BTS and NodeB cell site, each soft-configurable for the type of Pseudo-Wire service required. It also furnishes Ethernet Pseudo-Wire services and four Ethernet ports for connections to new generations of cell-site equipment, aggregating the full range of existing and projected services for backhaul over a unified, packet-optimized RAN.



The AXN10-8 includes new functionality for grooming and consolidation of CDMA, GSM, and UMTS traffic that reduces latency while also optimizing bandwidth utilization in the RAN. In addition, the AXN10-8 is equipped with new OAM features that provide enhanced network visibility and reliability for cell-site backhaul.



Axerra said the new AXN10-8 furthers its role in meeting the stringent clocking requirements of both 2G and 3G network implementations. Axerra provides a high-precision clock recovery (HPCR) mechanism that has already been tested and is being deployed by major operators around the globe.

http://www.axerra.com

Using Pseudo-Wires for Mobile Wireless Backhaul over Carrier Ethernet

The continued evolution of mobile wireless services is toward technologies that are intrinsically packet-oriented, such as HSDPA and HSUPA, and indicative that packet access networks, rather than TDM-based T1s and E1s, are the logical transport for backhaul in the RAN. A number of new technologies that are cost-effective and provide flexible, high-capacity backhaul transport are emerging as the frontrunners for next-generation packet access networks. These new technologies include Carrier Ethernet (also known as Metro Ethernet or Optical Ethernet), xDSL, cable HFC, EPON/GPON, and broadband packet radio (including WiMAX. Pseudo-Wire solutions not only enables mobile wireless operators to use new packet access networks, it also gives operators a choice among multiple packet network technologies in the RAN, including Carrier Ethernet, xDSL, cable HFC, and even broadband packet radio.)

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Cisco Offers Financing for Channel Partners Deploying Unified Communications

Cisco Systems announced zero percent progress payments for 120 days on Cisco Unified Communications projects.



Channel partners must hold the Cisco IP Communications (IPC) specialization, and the project must entail a minimum transaction of $50,000.



Qualified Cisco Capital customers may now ask that Cisco Capital make scheduled payments on their projects as preset milestones are reached.

http://www.cisco.com

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National LambdaRail Selects Calient for All-Optical Switching + GMPLS

National LambdaRail (NLR) awarded a multi-year supply agreement to Calient Networks for its all-optical switching systems and GMPLS technology.



The multi-year agreement anticipates deployment of two dozen of Calient's DiamondWave PXC systems at key junction nodes in the NLR national backbone and at Regional Optical Networks (RONs) interface points. A unique element of the agreement will allow for the partitioning of the PXC between RON and NLR activity, to significantly lower the cost of initial deployment and foster seamless network integration. This will also allow researchers to operate layer-1 switched virtual private networks with GMPLS networking capability.



Calient Networks said its optical switches will provide improved service availability with optical protection while dramatically reducing operation costs on the backbone network thanks to remote reconfiguration.

http://www.calient.nethttp://www.nlr.net

• Calient's optical switches have also been deployed in Japan, including being a part of the Japanese Gigabit Network 2 (JGN2) backbone network. The Calient platforms are also deployed regionally in a number of accounts including MCNC and LONI in the US.



• National LambdaRail (NLR) has reached fully-operational status, providing advanced optical, Ethernet and IP connectivity over more than 15,000 miles of fiber across the United States.
  
  The infrastructure provides researchers control over a nationwide network with up to 40 individual lightpaths running at 10 Gbps. The project is the result of over three years of work and nearly $100 million in funding by members.
  
  NLR's WaveNet, FrameNet, and PacketNet services are already in use by more than a dozen research projects, including the National Science Foundation-supported Extensible Terascale Facility and OptIPuter projects; the U.S. Department of Energy's UltraScience Net project; CENIC and the Pacific Northwest Gigapop's Pacific Wave project; the CAMERA project led by CalIT2, the Venter Institute and UCSD's CEOA; the University of Virginia-led CHEETAH project; as well as Internet2's Hybrid Optical Packet Infrastructure (HOPI) project.



• NLR has deployed nine Cisco CRS-1 Carrier Routing Systems across the country. The project is also using Cisco Systems' 15808 and 15454 optical transmission platforms.

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Teknovus and Furukawa Partner on GEPON ONU

Furukawa has developed a Gigabit Ethernet Optical Network (GEPON) ONU (Optical Networking Unit) with a GBIC (Gigabit Interface Converter) form-factor based on Teknovus' ONU chip.



Furukawa's ONU solution, the FITELwaveAG8, which fits entirely within the standard GBIC form-factor, enables switch and router vendors to expand into the FTTB (Fiber To The Business) and fiber-based MTU (Multi-Tenant- Unit) markets.



Furukawa is the first vendor to announce such a product based on Teknovus' TK3713 ONU chip. Teknovus' TK3713 enabled Furukawa to build an entire ONU within the power requirements and form-factor of the GBIC. http://www.furukawa.co.jp/englishhttp://www.teknovus.com

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NuTel Selects SkyPilot for Nationwide Buildout in Tier 2 Cities

NuTel Broadband Corporation, a broadband wireless managed services provider based in Cranbury, NJ, selected SkyPilot Networks to provide the equipment for Wi-Fi mesh networks that will be built out across more than 200 "Tier 2-5" domestic markets.



NuTel is aiming to reach under-serviced suburban and rural subscribers and small-to-medium sized businesses in regions where broadband wireless network services have been limited or generally unavailable. The company is embarking on an initial 14 state rollout that will go live within the next three months. The company is first targeting the Mississippi Valley from north of St. Louis to the Tennessee border, as well as northeast Arkansas, the Minnesota/Wisconsin borders and areas north of Oklahoma City. Additional regions include west central Ohio north of Dayton, the southern suburbs of Pittsburgh, areas of West Virginia and west Texas reaching eastern New Mexico. And new Wi-Fi networks are being established in the Sacramento, El Dorado, Chico and south San Jose areas of California.



NuTel is delivering broadband Wi-Fi services to suburban and rural areas through a variety of partnerships with local businesses including regional wireless Internet service providers and home services contractors. By combining NuTel's back office management services with SkyPilot's mesh networking gear, these regional WISPs can grow their consumer and small business subscriber base substantially without incurring the expense of back office and support overhead.

http://www.skypilot.comhttp://www.nutelbroadband.com

Redefining Broadband Wireless Economics through Synchronous Mesh Networking

Mesh networking provides a completely new way of looking at wireless networking economics. Mesh networks can address the two major areas of cost for traditional point-to-multipoint topologies. First, mesh networks can use wire Wireless backhaul to minimize the expense of leased facilities and eliminate trenching. Second, mesh base stations are a fraction of the cost of macro-cell base stations, which makes extending coverage out to suburban and rural areas incremental and profitable.

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Zhone Selects BroadLight's GPON

Zhone Technologies has incorporated its BroadLight's GPON end-to-end chipset solution into its product Line.



BroadLight first unveiled its complete E2E GPON solution in June 2005 and delivered samples in December 2005. E2E GPON includes the BL2000 GPON family of System-on-Chip (SoC) for cost focused ONU/ONT applications; BL3000 GPON OLT MAC; and PONmaker software for ONU and OLT. http://www.broadlight.com

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Broadband Services Forum Elects New Officers

The Broadband Services Forum (BSF) elected three new members to its Board of Directors and announced new appointments to BSF Officer roles.



Representatives from Alcatel, BT and Microsoft will join the existing Board (whose members represent Aliant Telecom, Juniper Networks, Nortel, Siemens and Telekom Austria) and will work together to set the course for the BSF into 2007.



The newly elected Board is composed of:

• Helmut Leopold of Telekom Austria, Chairman



• Phil Corman of Microsoft, Vice Chairman



• Joe Mosher of Aliant Telecom, Treasurer



• Jerry Passione of Juniper Networks, Secretary



• Matthew Marnik of Nortel, VP of Marketing



• Bob Farrell of BT, Board Member



• Thomas Ostendorf of Siemens, Board Member



• Ajay Pande of Alcatel, Board Member

In addition, Mary Francia of Philips was elected Marketing Committee Chair and Andrew Keevil of SupportSoft was appointed Chairman for the Business Working Group. http://www.broadbandservicesforum.org

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Fujitsu Debuts FLASHWAVE 6100 GPON Platform

Fujitsu Network Communications announced the availability of its new FLASHWAVE 6100 Gigabit Passive Optical Networking (GPON) platform. The Fujitsu offering leverages the company's global expertise in access networking, provides far higher density than current BPON systems and promises seamless integration with existing networks.



The Fujitsu GPON family consists of the FLASHWAVE 6100 Optical Line Terminal (OLT) and a series of FLASHWAVE 6100 Optical Network Terminals (ONTs). The FLASHWAVE 6100 platform supports dual- and quad-port GPON cards within a 9U (15.75") chassis to provide broadband services to up to 10,240 homes and businesses per standard rack. It provides full compliance with the ITU-T G.984 standard.



To complement the FLASHWAVE 6100 OLT system, the FLASHWAVE 6100 series ONTs address a variety of premises needs. All Fujitsu GPON ONT solutions include an integrated Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA) interface, which uses existing coaxial wiring within a home to provide a broadband distribution network.



In addition to the new GPON service units, the FLASHWAVE 6100 platform supports all service interface cards from the widely deployed FLASHWAVE 4100 Multi-Service Provisioning Platform (MSPP). This capability gives service providers the option of deploying traditional MSPP, Ethernet, and GPON services from a single multi-service access node. The integrated Time Division Multiplexing (TDM) gateway function enables the provisioning of both packet and TDM services, allowing providers to manage the transition to a carrier-class packet-based network efficiently, and, most importantly, on their own timeframe.



The FLASHWAVE 6100 GPON system provides 2.488 Gbps of downstream bandwidth and 1.244 Gbps of upstream bandwidth, allowing for residential speeds of up to 75 Mbps per home.



http://us.fujitsu.com/telecom

• In February 2006, Fujitsu Network Communications unveiled a Hybrid Gigabit Passive Optical Networking (GPON) architecture and industry vision that incorporates several enhancements, including higher downstream/upstream speeds, support for native transport of Ethernet and TDM services via Generic Encapsulation Method (GEM), and the option to eliminate legacy ATM. Fujitsu said its Hybrid GPON architecture allows cost-effective and efficient capacity upgrades without requiring changes to previously deployed GPON Optical Network Terminals (ONTs). Available as part of the initial GPON product release, the Fujitsu Hybrid GPON option is fully G.984 compliant, utilizing the same GPON protocol, downstream rates, and upstream rates. Since most of the cost of a PON architecture is in residential ONTs and associated installation and labor costs, substantial savings are produced by eliminating the requirement to upgrade the ONTs.

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VeriFone and D-Link Plan Wi-Fi Enhanced Electronic Payment

VeriFone and D-Link announced an alliance to promote Wi-Fi enhanced electronic transactions solutions. The two companies will collaborate to provide merchants with expertise and installation assistance in establishing Wi-Fi based transaction networks.



VeriFone is the leading provider in the electronic payment solutions industry.

http://www.dlink.comhttp://www.verifone.com

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Vodafone Outlines Strategic Objectives

Vodafone reported an annual loss of £21.9 billion (US$41 billion) -- believed to be the largest amongst European operators, and outlined five key strategic objectives to transform the company into a total communications provider more able to handle intensifying price competition and regulatory pressure. Most of the loss was attributed to write-downs for the company's operations in Germany and Italy.

Vodafone also noted a number of key operational milestones:

• a total customer base of 170.6 million, with organic growth of 15% for the year



• mobile voice usage increased by 25% to 178.3 billion minutes, with organic growth of 19%.



• non-messaging data revenue grew by 61% to £0.8 billion

Vodafone's five strategic objectives are:

• Reduce costs and stimulate revenues in Europe -- Vodafone has taken the decision to outsource its IT Application Development and Maintenance activities with likely savings of approximately 25-30% within 3 to 5 years against current annual costs of £560 million. Further initiatives include the centralization of Network Supply Chain Management activities, with expected savings of 8% within 2 years, against a £3.3 billion annual external spend today. Also, Vodafone's regional consolidation of its data centres is expected to provide savings of 25-30% within 3-5 years, against a £320 million annual cost today.
  
  
  
  Regarding revenue stimulation, Vodafone aims to drive additional usage of voice and data services within its existing, sizable European base of customers. A variety of services are currently being rolled out as part of this effort, with high value customers being migrated from prepaid to contract plans, the introduction of "family plans" designed to stimulate greater usage, greater promotion of its Vodafone Passport roaming plan



• Deliver strong growth in emerging markets -- Vodafone highlighted the benefits of establishing a dedicated business unit focused on capturing growth in these markets



• Innovate and deliver on customers' total communications needs -- Vodafone's New Businesses unit will focus initially on three streams of activity, which together will be known as "Mobile Plus". The first stream is focused on extending Vodafone's service offerings in the home and at the office to meet customers' growing voice and broadband data service needs, including the provision of DSL. Vodafone Germany has today announced that it will launch bundled homezone products with DSL access provided by Arcor, in the third quarter of the current financial year. The second stream is focused on the integration of the mobile, PC and the internet at the application level, offering seamless interoperability of services. The third area of focus seeks to introduce advertising based services and business models that customers will view as the most appealing and acceptable.



• Actively manage the portfolio to maximise returns -- the company will dispose of assets where it believes it cannot earn a superior return or investing in businesses where it believes it can create substantial additional value for shareholders.



• Align capital structure and shareholder returns policy to strategy -- announced an increased, 60% dividend payout of adjusted earnings per share for FY05/06. Vodafone will continue to target a 60% payout in the future, with increases in dividends linked to the increase in its underlying earnings per share.

http://www.vodafone.com

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Ixia's VP of Marketing Steps Down

Alan Amrod has resigned as Vice President of Marketing at Ixia, a job he has held since 2003. The company has initiated a search for his replacement.

http://www.ixiacom.com

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Avaya Supplies Converged Network for 2006 FIFA World Cup

Avaya, the Official Convergence Communication provider for the FIFA World Cup 2006, has supplied the largest converged communication network ever built for a sporting event.

The Avaya network for FIFA connects 12 host stadia, the media centers in all stadia and FIFA headquarters in Berlin. The network is expected to handle an estimated 45,000 network connections and 30,000 network devices, delivering more than 15 terabytes of data.

Eight other companies in the Avaya DeveloperConnection program also played a critical role in the FIFA World Cup 2006 network:

• Aimetis Corp. is providing intelligent video software for the network that will be linked to 80 security cameras at strategic locations across the World Cup venue. The software uses artificial intelligence, can review up to eight hours of video in just 30 minutes and automatically alert World Cup security personnel of unusual activity.



• Juniper Networks is supplying firewalls that provide access control and user authentication and that protect the network and its critical applications from intrusion or attack.



• Citrix Systems will deliver smartphone applications to each fixed and mobile IP phone on the FIFA network. An Express Directory expedites dialing by placing a consolidated directory of 100,000 personnel from multiple organizations at the fingertips of each user. In addition, Citrix enables FIFA to push score updates and other Web-based information to IP screenphones.



• Polycom extends the collaborative capabilities of the FIFA network with group video devices that use the converged network to connect FIFA offices in Berlin, Munich and Frankfurt. The devices which interoperate with Avaya desktop video systems distributed throughout the World Cup venue that also incorporate Polycom technology, will be used by FIFA for daily operations meetings during the tournament.



• MTS is supplying call reporting software that collects, analyzes and tracks voice and data usage from multiple communication sources -- from legacy and IP phone systems to IP gateway devices, cell phones and calling cards. Detailed call reports can be accessed by FIFA from anywhere in the world via the Internet. Avaya plans to use MTS software to summarize the daily traffic carried by the FIFA network for posting every day.



• Extreme Networks is providing the core backbone switches for the network that carry voice and data traffic and are optimized for Avaya IP telephony. Extreme has integrated its network management and Quality of Service tools with Avaya to simplify network administration. In addition, Avaya test agents built into each Extreme Networks switch enable an Avaya Converged Network Analyzer to test, measure and monitor network traffic.



• Firetide wireless HotPoint Mesh Networks are extending the reach of the converged Avaya network for FIFA and can provide voice and data connectivity in areas where it is impossible or impractical to run cables.



• MultiTech Systems is providing a MultiVOIP gateway that allows FIFA to route fax communications over its converged voice and network and eliminate interoffice long distance toll charges among World Cup venues.

http://www.avaya.com

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Airgo and Caton Offer Wireless Set-Top Box

Airgo Networks and Caton Overseas Ltd., a Chinese supplier of DVB and IPTV set-top boxes, have collaborated to offer a wireless set-top box for distributing video streams throughout the home.



Caton's V2O Wireless Home Media Network STB, which leverages STMicroelectronics' MPEG decoder platform, is a media hub that delivers multiple independent digital channels and personal video recording (PVR) content throughout the consumer's home in a wireless fashion. It also serves as centralized storage for consumer media files. The wireless component uses Airgo's True MIMO Media Gen3 technology optimized for multimedia distribution, enabling wireless connectivity from the base unit to as many as three client set-top boxes streaming MPEG2 streams.



Caton will be releasing its V2O Wireless Home Media Network in two phases, the first of which will begin shipping to customers for satellite digital TV operators in the next few months. In early 2007, Caton will release the V2O Wireless Home Media Network for cable and IPTV installations.

http://www.airgonetworks.com

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AT&T Builds IP VPN for R. R. Donnelley

AT&T was awarded a multimillion-dollar global networking contract by R. R. Donnelley & Sons Company to provided an MPLS-based IP VPN. The contract renews and expands an existing strategic relationship in which AT&T provides RR Donnelley with a full range of networking services, including local, long distance and conferencing services. AT&T also provides hosting services to RR Donnelley from one of its 30 Internet data centers (IDCs) around the world.



RR Donelley is a full- service provider of print and related services, including document-based business-process outsourcing. http://www.att.com

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Intel Invests in SkyCross for Smart Antennas

SkyCross, a start-up developing advanced wireless antennas, announced an investment from Intel Capital, the venture capital arm of Intel Corporation, as part of their latest round of financing led by TL Ventures. Intel Capital, through its relationship with Intel, is also working with SkyCross to collaborate on developing mobile video applications together with selected voice and data initiatives.



SkyCross said it has a number of recent design wins in the handset, PC data card, and mobile video terminal arenas worldwide. The company offers several patented antenna technologies and designs that allow its engineers to deliver high performance, multi-mode, multi-frequency antennas that can be hidden inside a mobile casing, have a very low radiation profile, and offer better gain characteristics over existing solutions.

http://www.skycross.com

• SkyCross is based in Vera, Florida.

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NETGEAR Adds VPNs to Wireless ADSL2/2+ Gateway

NETGEAR introduced its ProSafe Wireless ADSL Modem VPN Firewall Router (DGFV338) targeted toward small and mid-sized customers. The six-in-one security appliance offers support for 50 IPSEC VPN tunnels for secure remote access, more powerful 5dBi antennas, 802.11a/g wireless support for 2.4 GHz and 5.0 GHz (region specific), SNMP-based monitoring, and longer warranties for better peace of mind. The device offers an ADSL2/2+ modem and a backup Ethernet WAN port for providing failover support. It has a list price of $420.
http://www.netgear.com

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NEC to Build Undersea Cable Linking Maldives to Sri Lanka

NEC was awarded a US$22.7 million contract by Sri Lanka Telecom and the incumbent carrier in the Maldives to build an optical submarine cable system. The Maldives, consisting of over 1,200 islands, currently relies on satellites for all international connections.



The total length of the new submarine cable will be approximately 1,100km with a initial transmission capacity of 20 Gbps, upgradeable to 160 Gbps. NEC will provide a comprehensive set of equipment and services including commissioning and integration on a full turnkey basis.

http://www.nec.co.jp

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Zhone Offers High-capacity "EtherActive" FTTP

Zhone Technologies introduced an "EtherActive" Optical Line Terminal (OLT) that can support up to 10 subscribers per blade with 10/100/1000Mbps service over either copper or single/dual mode fiber.



Zhone also introduced an Indoor/Outdoor Residential Gateway featuring 2/4 Ethernet Ports, 2 FXS Ports to support VoIP services and HPNAv3 over copper or coax to support IPTV services. Zhone said its solution provides support for current market requirements including both DTMF Touch Tone and Pulse Dialing and Loop Start support for both FXS and FXO.

http://www.zhone.com

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Level 3 to Focus on Metro and Content Business Segments

Level 3 Communications announced plans to expand its recently announced Metro Services business unit as well as the formation of a new Content Services business unit.



The Level 3 Metro Services business unit will combine Level 3's existing metro operations and those of the recently acquired Progress Telecom, with the operations of the pending acquisitions of ICG Communications Inc. and TelCove, Inc. As previously disclosed, the unit is expected to generate approximately $700-$750 million in revenue in 2007.



The Level 3 Metro Services business unit will focus on delivering a full set of services to customers who make bandwidth decisions on a local or regional basis, such as state and municipal governments, universities, enterprise customers and regional wholesale accounts that operate in certain local or regional geographies.



Company veteran Kevin Dundon will lead the Level 3 Metro Services business unit, reporting directly to O'Hara.



Before the pending acquisitions of TelCove and ICG Communications and the recently completed acquisition of Progress Telecom, Level 3 already had extensive metro infrastructure in 36 markets, connecting to approximately 900 traffic aggregation points. The acquisition of Progress and, after close, of TelCove and ICG Communications will increase the number of traffic aggregation points to approximately 5,000 in the U.S. and approximately 5,200 globally.



The Level 3 Content Services business unit will be led by current Level 3 executive Brady Rafuse. Rafuse will continue to report directly to O'Hara.



The Level 3 Content Services business unit will target customers in the content segment who have bandwidth intensive applications, including video distribution, application hosting and gaming. Targeted customers will include search and portal companies, video sharing and social networks, sports leagues, television networks and channels, gamers and applications hosters.



Level 3's Vyvx subsidiary, which offers fiber-optic and satellite video delivery and advertising distribution, will become part of the Content Services unit.

http://www.level3.com

• Earlier this month, Level 3 Communications agreed to acquire TelCove, Inc., a privately held, facilities-based network operator, for $1.2375 billion in stock and cash. TelCove's network has over 22,000 local and long haul route miles serving 70 markets across the eastern United States, with approximately 4,000 buildings on net. The company has annual revenues of about $390 million. TelCove also holds over 300 LMDS and 39 GHz licenses covering 90% of the U.S. population.

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McDowell Confirmed as FCC Commissioner

The U.S. Senate confirmed Robert M. McDowell
to serve as a commissioner on the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for the remainder of the five-year term vacated by Kathleen Q. Abernathy. This term expires on June 30, 2009.

http://www.convergedigest.com

• McDowell currently serves as Senior Vice President and Assistant General Counsel for the Competitive Telecommunications Association (CompTel). Prior to this, he served as Executive Vice President and General Counsel for the America's Carriers Telecommunications Association. Earlier in his career, he was a Senior Attorney at Helein & Associates, P.C. Mr. McDowell received his bachelor's degree from Duke University and his JD from the College of William and Mary.

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EarthLink to Build Out New Orleans Network

EarthLink won approval to build a Wi-Fi network in New Orleans. EarthLink will provide a free service tier and a paid service tier. The free service will be offered for a limited time during the city's rebuilding efforts at speeds up to 300kbs, and users will be able to access the Internet without having to view advertising. The ISP will also offer a higher speed paid service that will be a symmetrical, 1 Mbps solution for customers that want more bandwidth and customer support.



EarthLink will deploy Tropos Networks' MetroMesh Wi-Fi routers on light poles throughout the city that will enable reliable wireless data connectivity between consumers and the Internet. http://www.earthlink.nethttp://www.tropos.com

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Freescale Introduces QUICC Processor for Networked Home

Freescale Semiconductor introduced the first "PowerQUICC" processor family with QUICC Engine technology designed for the consumer and small-office/home-office networking equipment market. The processor's PowerPC core provides packet processing, VoIP and encryption in residential and SOHO gateways, wireless access points, virtual private network (VPN) and firewall routers, and IP services equipment, such as VoIP systems and IPTV set-top boxes. USB 2.0 hubs for printers, network attached storage and media server applications, as well as wireless connectivity through WLAN 802.11x and WiMAX, can be enabled through the devices on-chip PCI interface. Freescale said its new processors also can be used in applications beyond the digital home, such as DSLAM line cards, industrial control, and test and measurement equipment.

http://www.freescale.com

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Vodafone Completes Telsim Acquisition, Motorola and Nokia Receive Payments

Vodafone completed its acquisition of Turkish cellular phone operator, Telsim Mobil Telekomunikasyon (Telsim).



Following completion of the transaction, Motorola received a cash payment of US$410 million pursuant to an agreement previously reached to settle Motorola's financial and legal claims against Telsim and certain other parties.



Nokia has received a settlement payment of US$341.25 million.



Both vendors expressed satisfaction at closing the long-running dispute with Telsim.

http://www.motorola.comhttp://www.nokia.com

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SK Telecom Launches First Handset-Based HSDPA Network with LG-Nortel

SK Telecom, South Korea's largest mobile operator, has launched the world's first handset-based next-generation HSDPA network in cities across southern Korea using wireless broadband technology from LG-Nortel.



SK Telecom's network is the first to provide HSDPA performance on handsets as well as data cards - ensuring high-speed, broadband wireless services are available to subscribers using either a handset or laptop computer. The services include high definition video-on-demand, MP3 streaming, multi-user mobile gaming, video calling, multimedia messaging and other high bandwidth services. SK Telecom's service is branded "3G+" and will initially cover 25 cities across the country, with roll out to an additional 59 cities planned by the end of the year.

http://www.LG-NORTEL.comhttp://www.sktelecom.com/

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Nortel Supplies Wireless Mesh for Mexican University

Nortel has supplied its wireless mesh networking solution for Mexico's Universidad Autonoma de Sinaloa, the first public university in Latin America to deploy the solution. The Wi-Fi network provides access across a 25-acre campus. Financial terms were not disclosed.

http://www.nortel.com

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Pangia named Nortel Asia President

Nortel named Michael Pangia to head its operations in Asia, including Greater China, Japan, India, Australia, New Zealand, Southeast Asia Region and Pakistan. Robert Mao, the previous president of Greater China for Nortel, has left the company to pursue other interests.



In his 20 years with Nortel, Pangia has held various senior management positions across different lines of business and has worked in US, Canada, Europe and the Caribbean and Latin America regions. His previous roles include vice president for Global Enterprise Operations and Services and vice president of Finance for Nortel's optical business. Prior to this new appointment, Pangia was the chief operating officer for Asia Pacifichttp://www.nortel.com

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Microsoft and Nortel-LG Develop WinCE-based IP Terminals

Microsoft and LG-Nortel signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for broad range collaboration in Voice over IP (VoIP), including WinCE-based IP terminals and the new WinCE 6 videophone.



WinCE 6, code-named "Yamazaki", is Microsoft's new integrated embedded development environment for the next generation of smart devices.



Terminals based on Microsoft's new WinCE 6 platform provide more powerful multimedia processing and will serve as a platform for application-oriented enterprise and residential solutions based on innovative embedded devices.

http://www.nortel.comhttp://www.microsoft.com

• LG-Nortel is a joint venture between LG Electronics and Nortel, officially launched in November 2005.

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Net Neutrality Legislation Advances in Congress

The U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary approved by a vote of 20-12 the Internet Freedom and Nondiscrimination Act (HR 5417), a bill containing strict Net Neutrality provisions.



Specifically, the legislation would make it unlawful for any broadband network operator "to fail to provide its broadband network services on reasonable and non-discriminatory terms and conditions such that any person can offer or provide content, applications or services to or over the network in a manner that is at least equal to the manner in which the provider or its affiliates offer content, applications and services, free of any surcharge on the basis of the content, application or service."



The proposed bill goes on to say: "If a broadband network operator prioritizes or offers enhanced quality of service to data of a particular type, it must prioritize or offer enhanced quality of service to all data of that type (regardless of the origin or ownership of such data) without imposing a surcharge or other consideration for such prioritization or enhanced quality of service."



The bill also includes provisions protecting the consumer's right to connect to legal content and services, and to attach devices that do not physically damage or materially degrade other user's utilization of the network.



Meanwhile the U.S. Senate's Commerce, Science & Transportation sub-committee held its own hearing on Net Neutrality and the proposed Communications Reform Bill (S. 2686). From the testimony:



Amazon's Paul Misener, vice president, Global Public Policy: "In essence, we fear circumstances in which broadband network operators with market power are permitted -- based on payments, political or religious viewpoints, or any other non-technical discriminatory factors -- to prefer some content and thereby restrict consumer access to other content."



Verizon's Tom Tauke, EVP: "A streamlined, national franchise process is a fast and fair route to bring much needed choice and competition to the video market...



"If enacted, net neutrality regulation will potentially prohibit us from offering customers the unique and secure platform required for these next generation services. It will potentially prohibit us from offering a competing video service to consumers. Put another way, radical net neutrality proposals will chill the investment climate for broadband networks, deter and delay broadband rollout, and lock-in today's Internet architecture and levels of performance."http://judiciary.house.gov/http://commerce.senate.gov/public/

• Last year, the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee voted down other Net Neutrality provisions in a competing bill.

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Optical Internetworking Forum Approves TDM-Protocol

The Optical Internetworking Forum (OIF) has approved the Time Division Multiplex Protocol (TDM-P) Implementation Agreement, which defines a means to aggregate multiple TDM Fabric to Framer (TFI-5) signals into higher rates (x2, x4), like those identified in the Common Electrical Interface (CEI) and CEI Protocol (CEI-P) specifications. Providing a TDM protocol solution for higher data rates enables systems to support higher data throughput within the same physical space. Higher levels of integration traditionally lead to more cost effective and efficient operation.



TDM-P is a SONET/SDH-like backplane interface protocol useful in SONET/SDH cross-connects.



The Forum also began the process of integrating the ongoing technical projects of the Network Processing Forum (NPF) in anticipation of the June 1 merger of the groups that was announced in April.



A new project from the NPF, Serial Look-Aside (SLA), was adopted and initiated as a project by the OIF. SLA interface will be an upgrade to the widely adopted Look-Aside Interface (LA-1) between network processing elements and co-processors such as Network Search Engines (NSE).



Another NPF project, the Scalable Streaming Packet Interface (SPI-S), was sent to OIF membership to begin review and approval. SPI-S is intended to be a serialized upgrade to the OIF's industry-leading Serial Packet Interface (SPI-4.2). The SPI-S draft uses the existing CEI and CEI-P specifications.

http://www.oiforum.com

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Lucent to Expand VIVO's 3G CDMA in Brazil

VIVO, Brazil's largest mobile operator, selected Lucent to expand and enhance its 3G CDMA2000 1X and 1xEV-DO digital network. The upgrades will provide mobile voice and high-speed data services at speeds of up to 2.4 Mbps in more areas in the states of Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. Financial terms were not disclosed.



As part of the project, Lucent will provide mobile networking equipment, including Mobile Switching Centers (MSCs) and Modular Cell 4.0 base stations, and VitalSuite Performance Management Software that monitors the performance of applications and network infrastructure equipment. Lucent Worldwide Services will provide deployment and maintenance services. http://www.lucent.comhttp://www.vivo.com.br

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Mexico's TelCel Launches MobiTV

Mexico's Telcel launched MobiTV services.



Telcel, is the first of the America Movil carriers in the Latin American market set to launch the MobiTV service as part of a regional agreement.



Along with the applications and technology to deliver live television content to America Movil subscribers, MobiTV brings top-rated television networks to the America Movil partnership. Some of these high-demand television networks include CNN en Espanol, Cartoon Network, Nick, ESPN Movil, A&E, The History Channel, Bloomberg Television, MAXX Deportes, Fashion TV and more. America Movil and MobiTV will offer the television content in Spanish, and in Portuguese for Brazil.


http://www.mobitv.comhttp://www.telcel.com

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U.S. Treasury Ends Long-Distance Telephone Excise Tax

After 108 years, the U.S. Treasury will end collection of the long distance telephone excise tax and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) will issue refunds of tax on long-distance service for the past three years.



The tax was originally imposed in 1898 as a "luxury" tax on wealthy Americans who owned telephones and was established to help fund the Spanish-American War.



In a statement, Treasury Secretary John Snow called on Congress "to terminate the remainder of this antique tax by repealing the excise tax on local service as well."http://www.treasury.gov

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Cavalier Launches MPEG-4 AVC IPTV Headend with Tut Systems

Cavalier Telephone has launched commercially-available IPTV service in Richmond, Virginia using MPEG-4 AVC compression powered by Tut Systems' Astria content processor. Cavalier receives the broadcast signal by satellite transmission, converts the programming to MPEG-4 and then distributes content to customers over ADSL2+.



Cavalier's Broadband TV service delivers a full channel line up of more than 150 digital channels including all local network affiliates and major national broadcasts. A Triple Play bundle of television, telephone and Internet service is priced at $95 per month. On-screen caller ID allows consumers to monitor incoming telephone calls. http://www.cavtel.com

• Cavalier Telephone is using Amino's MPEG 4 set-top box and SecureMedia's Encryptonite System CA/DRM software to secure the delivery of IPTV services.

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Ditech Reports Sees Revenue Rise in Latest Quarter

Ditech Networks reported fourth quarter revenue of $20.0 million for the period ending 30-Apr-06, a decrease of $2.9 million from revenues of the same quarter of the prior fiscal year and up $6.0 million from revenues of $14.0 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2006. Revenues for the year were $54.9 million, a decrease from revenues of $94.1 million in fiscal 2005.



Net income for the fourth quarter was $2.0 million, a decrease compared to net income of $7.6 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2005 but an increase from third quarter net loss of $0.1 million. Fiscal 2006 full year's net loss was $1.4 million, compared to net income of $71.1 million in fiscal 2005 which included a net tax benefit of $36.1 million due to the release of a tax valuation allowance.

http://www.ditechnetworks.com

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AnchorFree Secures $6 Million for Free Wi-Fi Services

AnchorFree, a start-up based in Sunnyvale, California, announced $6 million in Series A funding to support its rapid growth and proliferation of free wireless internet access (Wi-Fi).



AnchorFree provides consumers with access to 10,000 free Wi-Fi hot-spot locations. AnchorFree, through its recent acquisition of MetroFreeFi and its success in global unification of Free Hotspots, gives customers free access to an "open" community made up of hot spots, ISP providers, and its own proprietary network. The company's products enable revolutionary ad targeting over ISP and Wi-Fi networks, secure access capabilities, and the WiPod product that enables internet users to take AnchorFree's network list of 10,000 free Wi-Fi hot spots "to go" by downloading the directory to their iPod.



The funding came from notable investors including Bert Roberts, former chairman and CEO of MCI; RENN Capital Group, Inc., under the leadership of the fund's President Russell Cleveland; Richard Rainwater, president of Rainwater, Inc., on behalf of his wife Darla Moore and his son Todd Rainwater; and other strategic investors.

http://www.anchorfree.com

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Fujitsu and Cisco Deliver XR 12400 Routers for Japan

Fujitsu and Cisco Systems released co-branded "Fujitsu and Cisco XR12400" series (four models) routers specifically designed for the Japanese market.



The products are delivered through the companies' strategic alliance, which was announced in December 2004.



Like the "Fujitsu and Cisco CRS-1" Carrier Routing System, which was introduced in May 2005, the new series runs on the next-generation Cisco IOS XR operating system. Offering highly secure virtualization, continuous system operation and multi-service scalability, the Fujitsu and Cisco XR 12400 series provides intelligent routing solutions that scale from 2.5 to 10 Gbps capacity per slot.



In addition, the companies announced that the Fujitsu and Cisco CRS-1 will be made available with multi-shelf capability.

http://www.fujitsu.comhttp://www.cisco.com

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Windows Live Local 3.0 Adds Real-time Data Feeds

Microsoft announced the third release of Windows Live Local, the company's online local search and mapping service, adding real-time traffic flow and incident reporting, new social networking tools that enable users to save and share their favorite local experiences, and productivity enhancements from extending the Windows Live Local experience into Microsoft Office Outlook and Windows Live Messenger. The service is also expanding its beta release to the U.K. and a limited version to Canada.



Standard aerial imagery for the U.K. has been licensed from Getmapping plc. Microsoft is also working with the Blom Group to provide the unique bird's-eye-view photos that will cover roughly 235 square miles of London in the coming weeks and will expand over time.



Bird's-eye-view imagery in the U.S. is provided by Pictometry International Corp. for 30 percent of the U.S. areas that are mapped.



In Canada, bird's-eye-view imagery will not be available in the initial release but will be introduced as the beta is built out and improved over the next several months.

http://www.microsoft.com

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QUALCOMM Files New Patent Case Against Nokia

QUALCOMM commenced patent infringement litigation in the United Kingdom against Nokia. The company cited infringement of two patents by Nokia in the United Kingdom in relation to mobile devices which are capable of operating in accordance with the GPRS and/or EDGE standards but not having a capability to operate with CDMA technology.

http://www.qualcomm.com

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Bell Canada Selects Nominum/Sun for Next-Gen DNS

Bell Canada has selected a joint Sun-Nominum solution to build a next generation, scalable and resilient Domain Name System (DNS). The joint solution uses the Nominum Foundation Caching Name Server for DNS on Sun Fire x64 servers powered by AMD Opteron processors.



Nominum CNS includes advanced security features to help prevent cache-poisoning attacks and is ready to support cryptographically-signed zones as the adoption of DNS Security Extension (DNSSEC) progresses.



"Broadband Internet providers rely on Nominum DNS servers to meet the demands of a growing number of subscribers, add resiliency and to deliver real time applications," said Tom Tovar, vice president of worldwide sales and business development at Nominum.

http://www.nominum.comhttp://sun.com

IP Telephony Is On the Line -- Can the Telephone Directory join the Internet Age?

Phone numbers are an entrenched standard that are unlikely to disappear anytime soon. VoIP services need to be able to exist in a world with phone numbers and devices designed to work with only those numbers. To deliver on the promise of convergence, communications between IP-based devices must be able to travel solely over IP networks, without traversing multiple protocol conversions ( e.g., IP-to-PSTN gateways). For this to happen in the telephony world, however, we need to be able to direct calls using phone numbers to the appropriate VoIP servers or session border controllers, without using the PSTN. Essentially, we need to link phone numbers to IP addresses. Here is how ENUM is connecting VoIP islands.

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Mobile Satellite Ventures Accelerates Satellite-Cellular Plans

Mobile Satellite Ventures (MSV) and its joint venture partner, MSV Canada, announced an agreement with Boeing to accelerate the deployment of its two North American satellites, which will form the backbone of its satellite-cellular wireless communications network.



The agreement will move up, by approximately eight months, the construction, launch and operations of each of the two North American satellites, with the launch of the U.S. satellite scheduled for mid-2009 and the Canadian satellite in early 2010.



These two new satellites will replace and expand upon the current MSAT satellite system operated by MSV and MSV Canada. The development of the third satellite for South America, MSV-SA, has been deferred to the third delivery position for the MSV system.

http://www.msvlp.com

• In January 2006, Mobile Satellite Ventures (MSV), a provider of hybrid satellite-cellular communications backed by Columbia Capital, Spectrum Equity Investors and others, selected Boeing for a new generation of mobile satellites serving North and South America beginning in 2010.
  
  
  
  MSV awarded a contract valued at $500 million to $1 billion to Boeing for the construction of three satellites and associated ground systems. Although financial details were not disclosed, Boeing said this is the largest commercial satellite order it has booked since 1997.
  
  
  
  The network will based on MSV's patented Ancillary Terrestrial Component (ATC) technology, which will combine satellite and cellular technology to deliver reliable, advanced and widespread voice and data coverage. The service will use wireless devices that are "virtually identical to cell phone handsets in terms of aesthetics, cost, and functionality."
  
  
  
  Boeing will also develop ground-based systems that will provide advanced beam forming flexibility and interference cancellation unprecedented in commercial satellite systems.
  
  
  
  The satellites will be among the largest and most powerful ever built. Each spacecraft will supply 11,000 watts of power through 5-panel solar array wings using highly efficient triple-junction Gallium arsenide cells. The 22-meter L-band reflector for mobile terminal links will complement a 1.5 meter Ku-band antenna.



• Ancillary Terrestrial Component (ATC) technology which allows existing satellite phone spectrum to also be used over dedicated terrestrial networks, with call capacity managed and reallocated, in real time, between satellite and terrestrial networks via a common control center. Calls can be made over either network using the same phone handset. ATC technology could be used to supplement satellite phone service with a ground-based network to provide a "back-up" signal in and around buildings where satellite signals cannot reach.

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Scientific Atlanta Supplies HD Encoding for World Cup Broadcast Center

Scientific Atlanta's systems will provide high-definition (HD) encoding and delivery of video to German national broadcaster ARD/ZDF during the upcoming World Cup.



Scientific Atlanta announced in 2005 that its iLYNX video adaptation platform had been chosen to support live video feeds from 12 German football stadiums to an International Broadcast Center (IBC) in Munich for distribution to soccer fans around the world.



The new video transport project will use additional iLYNX systems to connect three ARD/ZDF regional broadcast centers with the IBC for delivery of coverage across Germany. More than 30 Scientific Atlanta HD encoders (Model D9050) will be used at the venues and in the IBC to deliver compressed HD video streams to maximize bandwidth use over the iLYNX platform and for satellite distribution worldwide.

http://www.scientificatlanta.comhttp://www.cisco.com

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Avaya Selected for U.S. Army Base Upgrade Contract

Avaya has been named one of 10 companies selected to participate in a $4 billion U.S. Army project that will overhaul voice and data communications infrastructures of U.S. Army bases worldwide.



The Infrastructure Modernization (IMOD) contract will support the Army's Installation Information Infrastructure Modernization Program (I3MP) with a single integrated communications system to seamlessly integrate voice, data, inside/outside cable plant and transmission products and services. Under the indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contract for the IMOD project, each contractor will be awarded a minimum guarantee delivery order, with ordering under all ten (10) contracts, collectively, subject to a total of $4 billion.

http://www.avaya.com

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XM Satellite Radio Sees Lower Subscriber Growth

XM Satellite Radio lowered its subscriber and financial guidance for 2006, projecting that it will end 2006 with 8.5 million subscribers, resulting in subscriber revenues of $835 million and EBITDA loss (excluding stock-based compensation, other income/expense, equity in net losses of affiliates, and loss from de-leveraging transactions) of $235 million.



The revised guidance of 8.5 million subscribers represents growth of more than 40 percent over the course of the year. The revised subscriber guidance leads to a reduction in subscriber revenues and a narrower EBITDA loss for the year.



XM now expects to add a total of more than 2.5 million net new subscribers this year.



XM ended 2005 with 5,932,957 subscribers, and the company added more than 568,000 net new subscribers during the first quarter of 2006 for a total of more than 6.5 million subscribers.



"Although XM has regained retail market share since the first of the year, the satellite radio category has seen an overall softness at retail during the second quarter to date, and we have been later than anticipated with broad availability of our new products," said Hugh Panero, President and CEO of XM Satellite Radio.

http://www.xmradio.com

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SIRIUS Satellite Radio Reaffirms 2006 Subscriber Guidance

SIRIUS Satellite Radio confirmed its guidance of more than 6.2 million subscribers by year-end 2006, representing an 87% increase over the company's subscriber base at the end of 2005. The company continues to expect to add more than 2.8 million net subscribers during the year.

http://www.sirius.com

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Zeugma Systems Raises $13.5 Million

Zeugma Systems (pronounced "zoogma"), a start-up based in Vancouver, British Columbia, raised US$13.5 million in venture financing for its work developing a telecommunications system for next generation, high speed broadband networks. Product plans have not been disclosed.



The financing was led by new investor San Francisco-based Granite Ventures and syndicated by Ventures West and Yaletown Venture Partners, both founding institutional investors, as well as by GrowthWorks Capital Ltd., manager of the Working Opportunity Fund and by company insiders.



Zeugma Systems is led by Andrew Harries, co-founder, President and CEO, co-founder of Sierra Wireless Inc. and formerly at Motorola, Siegfried Luft, founder, CTO and formerly a co-founder of Siara Systems, which merged with Redback Networks, Jeff Dillabough, Vice President of Engineering and formerly Director of Product Development at PMC-Sierra and HP and Tom Meehan, who was previously Director of Product Management at Redback Networks and at Wellfleet/Bay Networks/Nortel.

http://www.zeugmasystems.comAccording to the company's website, the name "Zeugman" refers to an ancient city founded in 300 B.C. by Seleukos, one of Alexander the Great's generals, on the banks of the Euphrates River in Mesopotamia. The city became synonymous with "bridge", because of its bridge across the river and also because of its vital link between east and west along the Silk Road.

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