MERA's Softswitch Supports Voice Peering Fabric's ENUM Registry Lookup

MERA Systems' next generation MVTS II (MERA VoIP Transit Softswitch II) will support various options for a carrier to send requests to ENUM registries, analyze the responses and use information received to take optimal routing decisions for each particular call. In particular, MERA Systems is working with Stealth Communications' Voice Peering Fabric to deliver an effective routing solution with integrated ENUM lookup capabilities.Voice Peering Fabric (VPF) functions as an exchange or meet-point and is designed as a private voice Internet, allowing...

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Alcatel to Build 320 Gbps Cable Linking France and Morocco

Maroc Telecom, the leading telecommunication operator in Morocco, selected Alcatel to build a submarine cable network linking Morocco and France. The project, named Atlas Offshore and valued at EUR 26 million, will span more than 1,600 km between Marseille in France and Asilah in Morocco. Once completed in early 2007, it will enable Maroc Telecom to handle the increasing number of DSL subscribers by leveraging enhanced connectivity and broadband access capabilities.Furthermore, it will create a new traffic route offering an...

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Mexico's Multimedios Redes Selects Siemens VoCable

Multimedios Redes, a leading cable TV operator in Mexico, has commissioned Siemens Communications to supply its voice-over-cable (VoCable) solution. Multimedios Redes intends to deploy the solution in the Monterrey metropolitan area, where it will provide its customers with the new applications -- video calling, online gaming and video monitoring. Financial terms were not disclosed.The Siemens "Voice-over-Cable" solution runs on the Surpass HiQ 8000 and Surpass HiQ 4200 platforms.http://www.siemens.comhttp://www.multimedios....

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Redback Receives Subpoena on Option Grants

Redback Networks received a subpoena from the United States Attorney for the Northern District of California requesting documents related to the Company's historical stock option practices. Redback intends to cooperate fully with the U.S. Attorney's Office in connection with this subpoena. The company also confirmed that it received an informal request from the Securities and Exchange Commission for information on historical stock option grant practices. http://www.redback....

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Italy's Fastweb Selects Alcatel Optical Gear

Alcatel was awarded a multi million EUR contract by Italy's Fastweb to supply its convergent Optical Multi-Service Node (OMSN) systems and 1678 Metro Core Connect (MCC). The new equipment will be managed by the existing Alcatel 1350 management suite, a portfolio of applications to manage packet, TDM and wavelength connectivity services. Fastweb was selected by Consip as provider for fixed voice services and IP connectivity for the Italian public administration. Alcatel's solution will enable Fastweb to dramatically enhance its network capacity...

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Space Systems/Loral Selected to Build New Satellite for EchoStar

EchoStar Communications selected Space Systems/Loral to build a 1300-series satellite. This new order from EchoStar is one of four satellite contracts awarded to Space Systems/Loral to date in 2006.EchoStar currently serves more than 12.2 million satellite TV customers through its DISH Network.http://www.ssloral....

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Alcatel and SaskTel Form R&D Alliance

SaskTel, the incumbent operator in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) will Alcatel to conduct joint research and development. Once finalized, the agreement will lead to the creation of approximately twenty new R&D positions to be based in Saskatchewan and jointly funded by Alcatel and SaskTel.R&D activity resulting from the MOU will focus on the development of advanced software applications to address global market needs. Products and services resulting from the collaboration will be distributed...

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EarthLink Launches Anaheim Municipal Wireless Network

EarthLink officially launched its first municipal Wi-Fi broadband network in the City of Anaheim. EarthLink has deployed Tropos Networks' MetroMesh Wi-Fi routers on light poles throughout the city. The full city-wide deployment is expected by the end of the year.The network operates under an 'open access' business model, so that multiple, competing providers can offer their services to consumers and businesses along with EarthLink's products and services. Several paid tiers of service are available. For Anaheim-based small businesses, EarthLink's...

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NTT Com Expands its Ethernet "Global Super Link" Service

NTT Communications is expanding its Global Super Link Ethernet service to England, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Hong Kong in addition to the U.S. and Japan. The expanded reach will be available in July.NTT Com is also introducing a more flexible fee structure. Currently, users can choose between two transmission speeds of 45Mbps, for a flat rate, or 100Mbps with a fee depending on data traffic. Under the new flexible fee, users can choose transmission speeds in increments of 10Mbps from 10Mbps to 100Mbps for a flat rate, although 100Mbps...

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Canada's Rogers Communications Selects Amdocs CRM

Rogers Communications will implement Amdocs CRM across its cable, wireless and telecom lines of business. This implementation is part of Rogers' integrated customer management (ICM) strategy rollout which is designed to provide a consistent customer experience to its more than 10 million subscribers. Financial terms were not disclosed.Customers receive a variety of communications services from Rogers, including cable TV, high-speed Internet, wireline and wireless. Rogers strives to ensure a consistent customer experience across all those services....

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Vonage Offers Softphone on a USB Drive

Vonage introduced its V-Phone, a portable and multifunctional 256 MB USB device with a pre-loaded softphone.The V-phone comes with a standard 2.5 mm stereo earpiece microphone, which is compatible with many cell phone headsets.Vonage said its phone offers added convenience because phone call history and contacts travel with the V-Phone if customers insert it into different PCs. Vonage worked with Ubistar and SJ Labs to collaboratively develop its...

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Overture Receives Patent on Ethernet Status Indicator

Overture Networks was awarded its seventh patent, No 7,069,512 on "Command Line Interface with Indication of Network Element Status", which enables operators of Overture Networks' ISG family of products to quickly ascertain the operational status of nodes in their networks. Other patents held by Overture Networks are in the pseudo- wire and protected switching ring fields.Overture said its patented Command Line Interface (CLI) status indicator provides a simple, unobtrusive visual indication of an issue requiring attention. Operators can determine...

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UTStarcom to Supply 300,000 QBOX Terminals to China Telecom

UTStarcom has signed a contract with China Telecom Group to supply 300,000 QBOX terminals. China Telecom will sell the QBOX for use with its Homebox fixed-line/PAS convergence service, which is available in 24 cities in China.The Homebox service is designed to allow iPAS users to seamlessly roam between the public PAS network and their private iPAS connections at home, which are provided by the QBOX terminal. The QBOX thus enables fixed-mobile convergence (FMC) by allowing subscribers to use their iPAS devices as digital cordless phones. In addition,...

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MTV Networks' TV Programming Added to iTunes

MTV Networks' new television programming from Spike TV, Nick at Nite, TV Land, Logo, MTV and The N is now available on the iTunes Music Store. The iTunes Music Store features a selection of over 9,000 music videos, Pixar and Disney short films, a variety of hit TV shows, and more than three million songs from the major music companies and over 1,000 independent labels.http://www.apple.comhttp://www.viacom....

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Axiom and TierOne OSS Technologies Announce Partnership

Axiom Systems, which supplies Service Fulfillment software for communications service providers, announced a strategic partnership with TierOne OSS Technologies, a leading North American Operations Support System (OSS) consultancy and systems integrator. The integration of Axiom's AXIOSS with TierOne's enSEMBLE results in an integrated Service Fulfillment solution that addresses the provisioning and activation requirements across Layer 1 (Optical, Photonic), Layer 2 (Carrier Ethernet, DSL, Broadband) and Layer 3 (VoIP, IPTV) networks. AXIOSS is...

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Strato Medien Deploys Cisco CRS-1 for Web Hosting

that European Web hosting provider Strato Medien AG has deployed the Cisco Carrier Routing System (CRS-1) to handle its increasing traffic load. From its data centers in Berlin and Karlsruhe, Strato Medien currently hosts more than 2 million domains and 1 million customer contracts. The company recently announced the introduction of its Web hosting services in France, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Italy and Spain.http://www.cisco....

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Force10 Networks Names CFO

Force10 Networks named Karen Blasing as chief financial officer. Blasing joins Force10 from Salesforce.com, where she had responsibility for worldwide accounting, finance, tax and treasury functions as well as real estate, facilities and procurement. Prior to Salesforce.com, she served as chief financial officer at Nuance Communications, where she was instrumental in negotiating the 2005 merger with ScanSoft, Inc. Ms. Blasing also served as chief financial officer for Counterpane Internet Security and has held senior finance positions with Informix,...

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Acme Packet Deployed in The Voice Peering Fabric

Acme Packet's Net-Net session border controllers (SBCs) have been certified for Stealth Communications' Voice Peering Fabric (VPF). The Net-Net SBC is RFC3263 compliant and supports the ENUM and SRV DNS look-up architecture to discover the next hop for call routing. Stealth Communications has certified that the Net-Net SBCs can be used with the VPF ENUM and SRV Registry. The VPF ENUM Registry resolves E.164 numbers to URIs and the VPF SRV Registry resolves domain names to specific IP addresses for call routing. VoIP calls terminated using the VPF...

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Ikanos Supplies VDSL2 chipset for Calix

Ikanos Communications is supplying its VDSL2 chipset for use in the Calix E-series IP Service Edge Node (SEN), an IP-based, Fiber-to-the-Node (FTTN) platform.Ikanos said the multi-mode operation of its chipsets offer interoperability with deployed VDSL2, VDSL1, ADSL2+ and ADSL CPE on a per port basis, with auto-detect capability. Line cards based on such multi-mode chipsets can enable carriers to smoothly transition nodes, remote terminals and central offices to VDSL2 technology, while minimizing upgrade costs. http://www.ikanos....

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Turk Telekom Expands DSL Rollout with Alcatel

Turk Telekom, Turkey's incumbent fixed operator, selected Alcatel to supply 472,500 Digital Subscriber Lines (DSL). The deployment, which started in April, will be completed in the second half of 2006.Alcatel has been a longstanding partner of Turk Telekom, having already deployed two million DSL ports in 82 cities in the country.http://www.alcatel....

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Verizon to Offer 100 Mbps Broadband Home Router by Actiontec

Verizon will supply a new broadband home router manufactured by Actiontec Electronics to new customers of its FiOS broadband and video services.Verizon said the new router -- designed and built to Verizon's specifications -- forms the basis of its digital home architecture. The router is capable of providing connectivity to the FiOS network at speeds of up to 100 Mbps, leverages existing in-home wiring (Multimedia over Coax Alliance - MoCA), and...

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Fujitsu Adds Airspan WiMAX to Broadband Wireless Portfolio

Fujitsu Network Communications added AirSpan Networks' WiMAX solution to its portfolio for North American service providers. Under the terms of a new agreement with Airspan Networks, Fujitsu has obtained the rights to resell their entire portfolio of WiMAX AS.MAX broadband access products in North America. Fujitsu will offer large- and small-scale base station solutions as well as indoor, outdoor and Wi-Fi enabled Customer Premises Equipment (CPE).The Fujitsu-offered AS.MAX solution also incorporate advanced network features that make it possible...

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ECI Telecom Plans GPON for Q4

ECI Telecom announced a series of Gigabit Passive Optical Network (GPON) offerings for its broadband access platforms, which are deployed in numerous networks worldwide.The single-shelf solution eliminates the need to add or replace equipment. The interchangeable GPON-based cards can be implemented in ECI's broadband offerings including its IP-based Hi-FOCuS 5 MSAG and Outside Plant ONU products such as the G-PoweRAM and MiniShelf, as well as a wide range of ONTs which are designed for customer premises and serve residential and business users.ECI...

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New Foundry Switches Target Acceleration and Security of IP, Web and Triple Play

Foundry Networks introduced a new family of ultra-high-performance ServerIron application switches to meet the growing demand for secure and optimized delivery of Web and Triple Play services. The new family of ServerIron switches features Foundry's new generation application processor and ASIC technology to deliver scalable performance up to 350,000 connections per second and 12 Gbps of application level throughput. The switches are available in three modular chassis models, starting with a compact Two-Rack Unit (2RU) high 3-slot chassis to a...

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Verizon Business Offers Managed WLAN Service

Verizon Business will begin offering a new managed WLAN service to enable large corporate and government customers to extend the reach of their networks within office buildings, factories and other locations. The Verizon Business Managed Wireless LAN (WLAN) Service addresses all aspects of a WLAN deployment and provides a platform for the introduction of future applications, such as voice-over-WLAN. The Verizon Business Managed Wireless LAN Service uses hardware developed by Aruba Networks. Built-in security features, such as centralized network...

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CacheLogic Appoints New CEO

CacheLogic, a supplier of P2P traffic management, announced the appointment of Pat Chapman-Pincher as CEO. Pat was previously the President of UUNET International, with executive management responsibilities for all operations in Europe, Asia and Latin America. She was also a Senior Vice President at WorldCom and Director of Commercial Operations at MFS International.http://www.cachelogic....

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Verizon / DIRECTV Bundle Reaches 415,000 Customers

Verizon has signed up more than 415,000 customers to bundle DIRECTV all-digital entertainment with their Verizon calling and DSL services. During Q1, there were 66,000 Verizon customers signing up for the bundle.Verizon and DIRECTV signed a marketing agreement two years ago.Verizon said the DIRECTV choice is aimed at markets where its new all-fiber network is not yet available.http://www.verizon.nethttp://www.directv....

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Senate Commerce Committee Drops Net Neutrality from Communications Bill

The Senate Commerce Committee voted not to include Net Neutrality provisions in the proposed "Communications, Consumer's Choice, and Broadband Deployment Act of 2006" (SB 2686), which is now making its way to the Senate floor. The vote was evenly split (11-11), which meant the provision could not be included in the bill.The proposed bill, which was sponsored by Sens. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) and Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii), seeks to reform the cable franchise process by establishing a national franchise, enabling telcos to enter the television market...

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ClearMesh Combines Wireless Optical + Mesh for Metro Nets

ClearMesh Networks, a start-up based in Pasadena, California, unveiled a wireless optical mesh networking solution capable of delivering business-class services at 5-100 Mbps without requiring licensed spectrum.The ClearMesh Metro Grid technology aims to extend the reach of metro Ethernet networks, where lateral expansion of fiber would require significant up-front investment and months for deployment. The company is also positioning its technology...

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Fujitsu Introduces Its Mobile WiMAX System-on-Chip

Fujitsu Microelectronics America announced its Mobile WiMAX System-on-Chip (SoC) based on its 90nm process technology.The Fujitsu mobile WiMAX SoC, which is especially well-suited for PC cards and mobile devices, is fully compliant with the IEEE 802.16e-2005 Mobile WiMAX standard. The company's first generation mobile WiMAX SoC includes the following features:Highly integrated, scalable1024 Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) OFDMA PHY and full MAC processorsAdaptive modulation schemes including 64QAM, 16QAM, QPSK, and BPSKInterface for MIMO RF modules90nm...

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Broadcom Ships 100 Millionth 54g Wi-Fi Chipset

Broadcom has shipped its 100 millionth 54g chipset. "802.11g is currently the most prevalent Wi-Fi technology because it offers the best price/performance ratio for consumers," said Michael Hurlston, Vice President and General Manager of Broadcom's Wireless LAN Business Unithttp://www.broadcom....

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TeliaSonera Selects Siemens for DWDM Backbone

TeliaSonera selected the Siemens Communications Group to build a new DWDM backbone to serve as the foundation for the delivery of all TeliaSonera services. The first Siemens deployment in the TeliaSonera transport network was successfully completed in spring 2006. Financial terms were not disclosed.Siemens' Surpass Transparent Optical Networks solution consists of the DWDM platforms Surpass hiT 7300, Surpass hiT 7500 and the management system TNMS. Siemens said its solution yields lower costs due to its full-channel optical add/drop multiplexer...

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Nortel Announces Job and Pension Cuts

Nortel announced significant changes to its North American pension programs as well as a net reduction of approximately 1,100 positions globally. Nortel also announced a series of new initiatives to create a world-class Operations organization. The announcement is the latest in a series of actions Nortel is taking to achieve a targeted operating-margin expansion in excess of US$1.5 billion in 2008.Changes to the pension program are expected to result in an estimated annual reduction of US$100 million in pension expense starting in 2008 and savings...

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Verizon Wireless Selects Lucent for CDMA2000 1xEV-DO Rev A

Verizon Wireless has selected Lucent to deploy CDMA2000 1xEV-DO Revision A (Rev. A) technology into its nationwide network. Lucent's Rev. A solution, which consists of incremental hardware and software upgrades to Verizon Wireless' existing Lucent-supplied base stations, will enable Verizon wireless to introduce a range of new services such as enhanced push-to-talk, messaging, and VoIP. Financial terms were not disclosed.EV-DO Rev. A enables users to receive data (forward link) at speeds up to 3.1 Megabits per second (Mbps) and send data (reverse...

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Marvell to Acquire Intel's Handheld Processor Business for $600 Million

Marvell Technology Group agreed to acquire Intel's communications and application processor business for $600 million in cash plus the assumption by certain liabilities. Intel has the option to take up to $100 million of the $600 million purchase price in Marvell common stock. Intel's communications and application processor business develops and sells processors for handheld devices including smart phones and personal digital assistants. The business' processors, based on Intel XScale technology, include the Intel PXA9xx communications processor,...

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SafeNet Announces Client-Server IPSec and IKEv2 Security Toolkits for OEMs

SafeNet announced a major upgrade of its QuickSec IPSec VPN product for manufacturers of enterprise security gateways and client devices. The toolkit enables developers to add IKEv2 to enterprise security gateways, enterprise-class PBX systems, desktop VPN clients, and mobile VPN platforms.This major release of QuickSec 4.0 Client and Server Toolkits is the first simultaneous release by SafeNet of compatible client-side and server-side development tools implementing the most current IPSec security features like IKEv2, stateful firewall, IPv6/IPv4...

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Juniper Supplies Edge Routers to Sweden's Telge Energi

Juniper Networks announced that Telge Energi, a utility-based, government-owned communications provider in Sweden, has deployed its E320 Broadband Services Router and the SDX-300 Service Deployment System to create its new broadband access network for the delivery of Triple Play services. The network is secured by the Juniper Networks ISG-1000 with integrated intrusion detection and prevention (IDP) system, and was deployed by Juniper's local partner, Imtech Telecom.Telge Energi maintains a broadband access network that provides its customers...

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Redback Supplies Edge Routers in Chile, Kazakhstan

Telefonica del Sur (Telsur), the incumbent carrier in Chile's southern region, has chosen Redback's SmartEdge Multi-Service Edge Router to expand its next generation network and power its business and residential services. Already a Redback customer for five years, Telsur plans to leverage the combination of edge routing, Ethernet aggregation and subscriber management to simplify their network, to expand capacity, and to decrease the time to market for new services. Kazakhtelecom, the incumbent fixed-line operator in Kazakhstan, has deployed Redback's...

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BellSouth to Lab Test Alcatel's WiMAX

BellSouth plans to conduct a lab test of Alcatel's Evolium WiMAX solution. The agreement comes four months after Alcatel conducted a live demonstration of the newly ratified WiMAX IEEE 802.16e-2005 standard.http://www.alcatel....

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Cranite Systems Raises $11.5 Million for Network Security

Cranite Systems, a start-up based in Los Gatos, California, raised $11.5 million in venture funding for its network security products.Cranite Systems has developed a product that delivers secure enterprise connectivity from hotspots, homes and other public spaces. The technology encrypts all transmitted information -- including network addresses, applications, ports, and the data itself. The new funding round led was by Warburg Pincus. Also participating in the round are existing institutional investors of Cranite: JK&B Capital, Diamondhead...

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VeriSign Receives Stock Option Subpoena

VeriSign received a grand jury subpoena from the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California requesting documents relating to VeriSign's stock option grants and practices. VeriSign also received an informal inquiry from the Securities and Exchange Commission requesting documents related to VeriSign's stock option grants and practices. http://www.verisign....

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AMCC Receives Subpoena on Stock Option Grants

Applied Micro Circuits Corporation (AMCC) today received a subpoena from the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California requesting documents relating to the company's historical stock option practices. The company also announced that it has been contacted by the Office of the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of California, which has opened its own investigation into AMCC's historical stock option practices.http://www.amcc....

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Foundry Networks Receives Subpoena on Stock Option Grants

Foundry Networks received a grand jury subpoena issued by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California requesting documents related to the company's granting of stock options from 1995 through the present. The company has also received an information inquiry letter from the Securities and Exchange Commission requesting documents related to the same subject matter. Foundry said it intends to cooperate fully with both requests.http://www.foundrynetworks....

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Amdocs Seeks to Build Digital Content Marketplace

Amdocs, a leading provider of telco billing and customer management solutions, launched OpenMarket Exchange, a web-based business system that enables media companies to build lucrative, high-growth "direct-to-consumer" (D2C) mobile content businesses. OpenMarket Exchange is a system for digital content transactions designed to improve the profitability of digital content initiatives of both media companies and mobile service providers, as well as minimize the costs and complexity associated with such initiatives.The new exchange will enable "off-network"...

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LG-Nortel to Develop IP Phones for Microsoft's Unified Communications

LG-Nortel, a joint venture of LG Electronics and Nortel, will develop and market with Microsoft an IP desktop phone that will work with Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 to provide presence-awareness, IP call management features and enhanced instant messaging capabilities. The initial target market for the LG-Nortel business enabled IP desktop phone is small to medium sized companies and government departments in selective markets across North America, Europe and Asia, including Korea, from 2007. Both Microsoft and LG-Nortel will market...

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Lucent Lands Prime Contract for U.S. Army's Modernization Project

Lucent Technologies was one of ten prime contractors selected by the U.S. Army for its new Infrastructure Modernization (IMOD) contract, which has a total ceiling of $4 billion dollars.Under the scope of the indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract, Lucent will work to engineer, furnish, install, secure and test a next-generation multi-vendor communications infrastructure at selected Army installations around the world. The contract has a base five-year award term and one additional five-year award term potential option period....

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Corrigent Releases TDM-to-Ethernet Interworking for its Packet Transport Solution

Corrigent Systems released a TDM-to-Ethernet suite of interfaces for its CM-100 packet transport platform. Using the CM-100, service providers can now offer Ethernet services over existing TDM access networks and aggregate these services efficiently on 10 Gbps packet rings. The following new interfaces are now available on the CM-100: 24-port DS3/E3 clear-channel user interface module with Ethernet-over-PDH termination, as well as PPP to Ethernet Layer-2 interworking PPP/MLPPP to Ethernet Layer-2 interworking on 6-port DS3/E3 channelized user interface...

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Freescale Supplies ASICs for Hughes' Next-Gen Satellite Modems

Freescale Semiconductor is supplying an advanced satellite broadband ASIC to Hughes Network Systems for its HN family of high-performance satellite broadband terminals. The HN terminals, used in the provision of HughesNet services, deliver high-speed data, voice and video services over satellite to enterprises, government agencies, small businesses and consumers around the world. Based on Freescale's standard-cell ASIC methodology and 90-nanometer CMOS technology, the satellite broadband ASIC solution combines wireless and analog technology from...

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Cisco-sponsored Survey Finds Slow Government Take-up of IPV6

A survey commissioned by Cisco Systems of U.S. federal decision makers indicates that, despite federal government mandates for rapid implementation of IPv6, less than 4 percent have completed IPv6 implementation and less than 8 percent have completed agency transition plans. Budget constraints are cited as the biggest impediment, and most agency decision makers are choosing to conduct planning in-house, without outside vendor or consultant support. Although 14 percent of the respondents indicate that agency implementation is already under way,...

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Azimuth Develops Power Consumption Tester for Mobile Wi-Fi Devices

Azimuth Systems announced a test solution that enables semiconductor manufacturers, cellular phone vendors, service providers, consumer electronics vendors and PC manufacturers to measure the power consumption of mobile devices. Azimuth's Wi-Fi Power Consumption Benchmark Suite allows design engineers to measure the power consumption during various Wi-Fi usage modes and to run profiles that can determine the impact of Wi-Fi connectivity on a device's battery life. Wi-Fi is being embedded into many battery-operated products, imposing additional...

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Verimatrix Supplies IPTV Content Protection in Russia

Norilsk-Telecom has selected for the Verimatrix IPTV content protection system for its interactive television service for the Siberian region of Russia. Norilsk-Telecom, the telecommunications leader for this region, will offer local and popular international channels, films and interactive services. Russian systems integrator and software development company, CTI, is charged with the integration of the Norcom deployment. Verimatrix's VCAS is a software-based solution designed to address the increasing security requirements imposed on video-over-IP...

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Westell Names Engineering Director for IPTV

Westell Technologies named Joseph G. DeCarolis as Engineering Director for its UltraLine II video gateway product line. DeCarolis formerly served as the Director of Systems and Architecture/Optical Business Unit at Centillium Communications.http://www.westell....

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Boeing Ponders Future of its In-Flight "Connexion" Business Amid Tepid Acceptance

Boeing is evaluating its options for the future of its Connexion by Boeing high-speed broadband communications business. The company said it has pursued the business vigorously, developing technology that has worked well and evolved into a useful product. However, the market for the service has not developed satisfactorily. Therefore, the company will be working in conjunction with customers to thoroughly evaluate the Connexion marketplace and business model to determine next steps.Meetings are being scheduled with customers across all Connexion...

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Microsoft Expands Unified Communications with Siemens, Motorola, HP

Microsoft made a series of key partnership announcements in conjunction with its Unified Communications initiative:Siemens -- Siemens Communications and Microsoft will expand their global collaborative efforts focused on the convergence of telephony, audio, video and web conferencing, instant messaging, and e-mail into a single unified communications platform. The new agreement expands on ongoing efforts by the two companies to integrate technologies around Microsoft Exchange Server and Microsoft Office Live Communications Server. Anchoring the...

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Microsoft Unveils Unified Communications Product Road Map

Microsoft unveiled its Unified Communications product road map and announced new technologies that will be part of the forthcoming Microsoft Office system 2007.Microsoft plans to bring together the corporate e-mail offerings of Microsoft Exchange Server, which includes new unified messaging capabilities, Microsoft Office Outlook, and Microsoft Speech Server, with updated versions of its real-time collaboration technologies and a set of new communications...

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SK Telecom Deploys 10 Gbps Caspian Backbone for Flow-State QoS

South Korea's SK Telecom is deploying a 10 Gbps MPLS mesh backbone designed exclusively with Caspian's Media Controllers, core routers that perform both basic routing and Caspian's unique Flow-State QoS traffic management. Caspian also announced the availability of its Flow-State QoS technology on 10 Gbps Ethernet interfaces and (10) x 1-port GE interfaces. Caspian already offers OC192c/STM64 line cards and (4) x OC48c/STM16c cards.Caspian said...

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Sensory Networks Builds Security Appliance Ecosystem

Sensory Networks, a start-up based in Palo Alto, California with R&D in Sydney, Australia, unveiled an ecosystem of security applications designed to run on its "NodalCore" acceleration platform.The NodalCore Security Processing Unit (SPU) is a 64-bit dedicated processor designed for high-speed scanning, analysis and classification across a wide range of security applications including anti-virus, anti-spyware, anti-spam, intrusion detection/prevention...

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Akimbo Raises $15.5 million, Adds Cisco and AT&T as Investors

Akimbo Systems raised $15.5 million in Series C funding for its Internet video-on-demand appliance and service. New investors Cisco Systems AT&T and venture capital firm, Blueprint Ventures, join existing Akimbo investors Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Sprout Group and Zone Ventures.The Akimbo Service currently offers more than 10,000 videos and movies provided by a global network of approximately 200 mainstream and specialty content partners. Akimbo's video collection spans 100 categories, including genres like...

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Hong Kong's PCCW Receives Bids from Macquarie, TPG Newbridge

PCCW Limited , the incumbent operator in Hong Kong, confirmed that it had received a non binding expression of interest on 16 June 2006 from an independent third party, in relation to a possible acquisition of substantially all the telecommunications and media related assets of the Company. The independent third party referred to in that announcement is Macquarie Bank Limited.PCCW also confirmed a second non binding expression of interest on 20 June 2006, from TPG Newbridge, also in relation to a possible acquisition of substantially all of its...

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Narad Integrates RAD Pseudo-Wire Technology into HFC Solutions

Narad Networks, a supplier of last-mile Ethernet access systems for HFC networks, has integrated RAD Data Communications' pseudo-wire circuit emulation technology into the NARAD Broadband Interface Unit (BIU) to provide cable MSOs with a single-box solution delivering T1/E1 plus Ethernet over HFC.Narad has physically integrated RAD's pseudo-wire, ASIC-based CES technology into their BIUs to deliver a family of broadband Ethernet CPE devices that include single T1/E1, quad T1/E1 and high precision clock recovery options (better than 16ppb). Furthermore,...

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BT Infonet Builds Global IP MPLS Network for ViewSonic

BT Infonet is providing ViewSonic with a global MPLS IP VPN to support the company's integrated voice, video and data service needs. ViewSonic is migrating to MPLS from its current Frame Relay network. The company has 10 offices located in the U.S., Asia-Pacific and Europe. A videoconferencing system also was deployed to facilitate meetings from ViewSonic hubs in Taiwan, the U.K. and Walnut, California With the network provisioned for VoIP, ViewSonic is considering rolling out this functionality to select sites in the near future.http://www.bt...

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Novatel Wireless Introduces 3.6 Mbps HSDPA ExpressCards

Novatel Wireless has begun initial pre-commercial shipments of its Merlin XU870 ExpressCard that is designed for both North American and European HSDPA networks. The Merlin XU870 ExpressCard is a tri-band HSDPA/UMTS and quad-band EDGE/GPRS product that allows for worldwide roaming between HSDPA networks in North America and Europe. The Merlin XU870 ExpressCard will initially be configured for 3.6 Mbps data speeds and when mobile operators start providing 7.2 Mbps service, a software utility will be used to upgrade the card and boost its speed to...

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Ericsson Licenses France Telecom's Turbo Codes for 3G

France Telecom has granted Ericsson a worldwide license to its Turbo Codes patents for use in Ericsson's 3G products encompassing WCDMA to HSDPA. Turbo Codes are a form of forward error correction (FEC).Invented by Claude Berrou and Alain Glavieux of Ecole Nationale Surperieure des Telecommunications (ENST) in Brittany, France, Turbo Codes have been adopted by the leading 3G standards, 3GPP (UMTS/W-CDMA) and 3GPP2 (CDMA2000), in order to provide previously unavailable error correction performance at commercially viable costs.http://www.france...

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BT to Offer "Ojo" Personal Video Phones

BT will purchase of WorldGate's "Ojo" Shadow personal video phones for resale to customers around the world. The agreement provides for BT to begin selling Ojo immediately in conjunction with the launch of BT's Club Complete platform.http://www.wgate....

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Telekom Austria Expands Order for Amino IPTV STBs

Telekom Austria, the country's leading telecommunications operator, has ordered additional supplies of Amino's AmiNET110 to meet customer demand for its aonDigital TV service. The IPTV package was rolled out to subscribers in March 2006."We are pleased with the level of subscriber interest in our aonDigital TV service which has exceeded our expectations after only a few months of full deployment," commented Stefan Tweraser, VP Marketing, Telekom Austria.http://www.aminocom.comhttp://www.telekom...

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DSL Surges Past 150 Million Worldwide Subscribers

Worldwide DSL subscriptions surged past the 150 million mark in the twelve months to 31 March 2006, according to the latest data produced for the international DSL Forum by industry analyst Point Topic.The number or new DSL users was 43 million, representing a growth of 39% in the year. There were 11.5 million new subscribers signing up to DSL in the first quarter of 2006."This amazing sustained growth of DSL around the world reflects how broadband...

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Blue Coat to Acquire NetCache Business From Network Appliance

Blue Coat Systems, a supplier of secure content and application delivery, agreed to acquire Network Appliance's NetCache business.Blue Coat said the acquisition would further its vision of using proxy technology as the foundational element of the emerging application delivery infrastructure to enable secure and accelerated delivery of applications and content to users. Separately, Blue Coat announced an investment by Francisco Partners and Sequoia Capital. Francisco Partners and Sequoia Capital purchased shares of Blue Coat Series A Preferred...

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QUALCOMM Shrugs Off Nokia's CDMA Decision

QUALCOMM does not expect Nokia's announced plan to ramp down its CDMA2000 R&D and manufacturing to impede the growth of CDMA2000 or to impact QUALCOMM adversely. QUALCOMM argues that Nokia has had very little success in competition against many of QUALCOMM's other licensees and chipset customers over the past several years, preferring to focus instead on GSM where Nokia controls a dominant share of the handset market in many countries. QUALCOMM also said that it does not believe that CDMA licensing terms resulted in the failure of Nokia to...

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OpVista Raises $28 Million for ROADMs

OpVista, a start-up based in Milpitas, California, secured $28 million in funding for intelligent optical networking equipment featuring cost-effective reconfigurability, capacity and 10G upgrades capabilities.The company said the new funding, anticipated to be the company's final round, will be used to expand its product development activities, accelerate international expansion, and broaden marketing and sales support for OpVista2000, which is deployed with Time Warner Cable, Cox Communications and other networks throughout North America.The...

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Telco Systems to Acquire Metrobility Optical Systems

Telco Systems agreed to acquire Metrobility Optical Systems, an early developer of optical Ethernet demarcation solutions for the deployment of carrier Ethernet services. The acquisition will integrate Metrobility's intelligent Ethernet service demarcation devices with Telco Systems' metro Ethernet access solutions to offer service providers a wider range of carrier Ethernet demarcation options, as well as augment Telco Systems' cable provider customer base. Financial terms were not disclosed.Metrobility is a privately held company based in Merrimack,...

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Executives Named for Nokia Siemens Networks

Nokia and Siemens named the top executives for their recently announced 50-50 joint venture that combines the Networks Business Group of Nokia and the carrier-related operations of Siemens. The team consists of: Mika Vehviläinen, who will serve as Chief Operating Officer. Vehviläinen is currently Senior Vice President & General Manager, Core Networks, Nokia. As Chief Operating Officer, Vehviläinen will have overall responsibility for the following business units: Radio Access, Operation Support Systems, Service Core and Applications, IP...

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Nokia Scaps CDMA Plans

Nokia and SANYO have scrapped plans for their jointly owned CDMA mobile device company. The companies decided that it is more beneficial to pursue other options individually for their CDMA handset business.Nokia said that it intends to selectively participate in key CDMA markets, with special focus on North America. Nokia plans to ramp down its own CDMA R&D and manufacturing by April 2007. Nokia is evaluating opportunities to leverage its existing CDMA product development infrastructure and assets in profitable parts of the business.The company...

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Enterasys Appoints CTO

Enterasys Networks promoted Leon Woo to executive vice president and chief technology officer (CTO). Woo had been executive vice president of engineering since 2003. He joined Enterasys in 2003 when it acquired Tenor Networks, a developer of IP/MPLS-based solutions. Before starting Tenor, Woo was a member of the operating committee and the vice president of research and development at 3Com's Switching Division. He also was a co-founder of Synernetics, a pioneer in the Ethernet switching marketplace. Enterasys also announced the appointment of Chris...

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BellSouth Chooses Tektronix for Real-Time VoIP Service Monitoring

BellSouth will deploy Tektronix's GeoProbe VoIP monitoring solution throughout its IP network to provide end-to-end performance monitoring. Financial terms were not disclosed.Tektronix' GeoProbe monitoring solution collects all signaling information related to VoIP traffic and provides the ability to trace a call across multiple protocols and networks. The proactive nature of the solution facilitates early detection of network problems and enables BellSouth to quickly isolate and correct problems for greater levels of service quality.http://ww...

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Verimatrix Raises $8 Million for Watermarking Digital Content Protection

Verimatrix, a start-up based in San Diego, raised $8 million for its digital content protection system. Verimatrix develops Pay TV content protection and access control systems, which include a user-specific forensic watermarking technology called "VideoMark". The Verimatrix Content Authority System (VCAS) is a software-based content security solution that enables digital video content on devices and systems within media delivery networks to be encrypted and authenticated in order to identify security breaches and unauthorized network users. ...

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Alvarion Test Mobile WiMAX Interoperability

Alvarion has completed initial interoperability tests between its 4Motion BreezeMAX base stations and various end user devices from third party manufacturers that are expected to be generally available in the near future. Focused around the IEEE 802.16e-2005 specification for mobile WiMAX, the tests were performed by Alvarion at multiple locations using its BreezeMAX base stations and other vendors' end user devices, many of which use the mobile WiMAX chipset from Beceem Communications.http://www.alvarion....

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Pulver Announces "Video on the Net" Event for September

Jeff Pulver announced a new event: Video on the Net, which will be taking place September 12-14 in Boston at the Boston Convention Center.Industry perspectives planned for the event include:Ted Leonsis, Vice Chairman, AOL LLC, President, AOL AudienceBram Cohen, CEO and Co-founder, BitTorrentJeremy Allaire, Chairman and CEO, BrightcoveJeff Jarvis, Consultant and Blogger, Buzz MachineWarren Schlictling, Vice President, New Business Strategies, ComcastJeff...

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Asia Netcom Activates Lucent LambdaUnite Switch on Pan-Asian Cable System

Asia Netcom completed the deployment of Lucent's LambdaUnite Multi-Service Switch (MSS) in its pan-Asian submarine cable network, EAC. The upgrade project, carried out over a period of six months, will enhances Asia Netcom's ability to deliver next-generation bandwidth services with a variety of advanced transport and connectivity solutions in the Asia Pacific region. With the LambdaUnite MSS platform and its support for ASON (Automatically Switched Optical Networks)/GMPLS (Generalized Multi-Protocol Label Switching) technology, Asia Netcom will...

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Nortel Appoints Ex-Broadcom Exec as CTO

Nortel has appointed John J. Roese as its new Chief Technology Officer (CTO). He will report directly to the President and CEO and will be based in Nortel's R&D headquarters in Ottawa.Roese joins Nortel from Broadcom, where he was vice president and CTO for networking technologies with a focus on unified communications. Previously, as executive vice president and CTO at Enterasys Networks, he was the principal architect of Enterasys' User Personalized...

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Verizon Markets DSL at Wal-Mart

Verizon will begin marketing its DSL service at 549 Wal-Mart stores across 24 states. Specially trained Wal-Mart Connection Center associates will help shoppers use an automated ordering system that checks eligibility for Verizon DSL service and then lets them quickly place their order. A three-step, do-it-yourself installation kit will be shipped directly to the customer once the order is completed. Nearly 50 of the Wal-Mart stores will have Spanish-language sales materials.http://www.verizon....

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Next High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) Spec Doubles Bandwidth

The seven HDMI Founder companies (Hitachi, Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. (Panasonic), Royal Philips Electronics, Silicon Image, Sony, Thomson, and Toshiba) released a major enhancement of the High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) specification for consumer electronics.Specifically, the HDMI 1.3 specification more than doubles HDMI's bandwidth and adds support for Deep Color technology, a broader color space, new digital audio formats, automatic audio/video synching capability ("lip sync"), and an optional smaller connector for use with...

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