Tekelec Considers Strategic Options for its Switching Unit

Tekelec reported revenue from continuing operations for the third quarter of 2006 was a record $155.2 million, up 43% compared to $108.4 million for the third quarter of 2005. For the third quarter of 2006, the company had orders for the Telecom business of $108.0 million, up 8% compared to $100.4 million for the second quarter of 2006 and down 20% compared to $135.6 million for the third quarter of 2005. Telecom backlog as of September 30, 2006 was $455.0 million compared to $502.2 million as of June 30, 2006 and $520.2 million as of December 31, 2005.



On a GAAP basis, Tekelec reported a loss from continuing operations for the third quarter of 2006 of $87.5 million, or $1.30 loss per diluted share, compared to a loss from continuing operations of $7.6 million, or $0.11 loss per diluted share, for the third quarter of 2005. GAAP operating results for the third quarter of 2006 include a non-cash impairment charge of $100.6 million related to the write-down of certain goodwill and acquired technology assets of the Switching Solutions Business Unit.

Approximately $25.6 million of these charges relate to the impairment of acquired technology and $75.0 million of these charges reflect the write-down of goodwill relating to the acquisitions of Santera Systems Inc. and Vocal Data Inc.

In connection with this comprehensive evaluation and assessment of its Switching Solutions Business Unit, Tekelec has retained J. P. Morgan Securities Inc. as an advisor to help identify and evaluate strategic alternatives to leverage its switching technology portfolio.



As a result of the continued losses in the Switching Solutions Business Unit, Tekelec has further reduced the size of its operations in Plano, Texas. An addition 104 employees have been laid off and other positions are being eliminated.

http://www.tekelec.com

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AudioCodes and Broadsoft Partner

AudioCodes and Broadsoft are collaborating to provide pre-integrated access solutions for hosted VoIP applications. AudioCodes will join BroadSoft and a consortium of other customer premises equipment (CPE) and access equipment vendors to build solutions that integrate equipment with hosted applications to simplify the integration challenges service providers face when deploying new services.



The companies supporting the BroadWorks VoIP application platform and AudioCodes media gateway platforms, collaborating with each other to validate components with each new product release. AudioCodes provides the ability to connect the BroadSoft application to existing enterprise PBX and/or analog phones and faxes, offering a high level of voice quality gateways.

http://www.audiocodes.comhttp://www.broadsoft.com

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GridNetworks Unveils P2P "GridCast" Digital Content Delivery

GridNetworks, a start-up based in Seattle, unveiled its "GridCast" Platform for instant-on, full-screen, DVD-quality video to broadband-connected viewers.



GridNetworks said its solution overcomes the challenges faced by both content delivery networks (CDNs) and Peer-to-Peer (P2P) software solutions. While CDNs can provide secure distribution of content, their hardware-based delivery systems are expensive and fail to offer the delivery speed or scalability required to provide a reasonable alternative to conventional broadcast distribution. P2P solutions offer an inexpensive way to move complete video files, but fail to provide on-demand streaming, speedy file delivery, or a content security model video asset owners desire.



GridCasting is hybrid solution that combines CDN technologies with GridCast software. The approach is a new video delivery paradigm in which each participating computer becomes part of a vast, managed content distribution grid, optimized to deliver segmented, encrypted video data directly to the viewer's screen. This "Software CDN" approach effectively creates a vast, global network of mini-servers to redistribute encrypted video segments, providing overall network capacity and capabilities far greater than traditional CDNs. In addition to dramatically increasing the effective distribution network size, the GridCast Platform maintains centralized command-and-control of valuable video assets and has the industry's toughest content security proposition.

http://www.gridnetworks.com

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Microsoft Releases Windows Embedded CE 6.0

Microsoft released Windows Embedded CE 6.0, targeting devices such as IP set-top-boxes, Global Positioning Systems (GPS), wireless projectors, and a variety of industrial automation, consumer electronics and medical devices. Windows Embedded CE 6.0 is a tool kit device-makers use for building customized operating system images for a variety of non- desktop devices.



Windows Embedded CE 6.0 boasts a re-engineered kernel with capabilities such as a capacity for 32,000 simultaneous processes and 2 GB of virtual memory address space per process while maintaining the software's real-time capabilities.



The new release also adds cell core data and voice components, enabling devices to establish data connections and voice calls over cellular networks. Microsoft expects this will lead to machine-to-machine communication scenarios between devices such as parking meters, vending machines and GPS units.

http://www.microsoft.com/

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Tyco to Build Undersea Cable System in Gulf of Mexico

Tyco Telecommunications signed a contract with Houston-based BP America Inc. to supply an undersea fiber optic system serving offshore platforms in the Gulf of Mexico. The system will comprise the undersea backbone of a regional communications network, providing diverse connectivity from BP's Gulf of Mexico offshore production facilities back to the regional operating center in Houston, Texas. Financial terms were not disclosed.



The system will initially link seven deep-water production platforms with landings in Freeport, Texas and Pascagoula, Mississippi. The network incorporates an upgrade capability designed to support 64 platforms. http://www.tycotelecom.com

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Swisscom Launches Bluewin IPTV Service

Swisscom officially launched its Bluewin IPTV service, offering 100-plus television channels, 70-plus radio channels, live sports coverage and an initial VOD library of 500-plus films.





The monthly fee for the basic offering, Bluewin TV Plus, is CHF 29 (US$23).



Bluewin is delivered over either an ADSL or VDSL connection. Customers in areas which do not yet provide VDSL access can have only one TV channel transmitted at a time, and pay CHF 26 instead of CHF 29 for the basic package.



The set-top box functions as a PVR and provides over 100 hours of recording capacity. Bluewin TV is installed by a specialist at the customer's home for a charge of CHF 95. Households with two television sets require a second Bluewin TV set-top box. This costs CHF 10 a month.



Bluewin TV currently covers around 75% (or 2.3 million) of Swiss households. Some 65% (or 2 million) of households have access to VDSL technology. VDSL cells are currently being deployed with a copper distance to the subscriber of 1,500m. Smaller cells with a radius of 750 meters will be gradually added, increasing bandwidth to 30 Mbps. There are 14 regional metro networks across Switzerland that have been upgraded to 10GbE.



Swisscom is operating digital headend stations in Olten and Volketswil. The server farms are located in Herdern, Zurich.



Key network components include:

• Microsoft's IPTV software



• HP servers -- well over 200 servers are used for the operational system



• Tandberg encoders -- Bluewin is using VC-1 encoding.



• Linksys CPE, including set-top boxes

>

http://www.swisscom.comhttp://www.bluewin.ch

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AT&T Expands Homezone -- Combining Satellite and Broadband Content

AT&T has expanded the availability of its "Homezone" service across its entire broadband footprint. AT&T Homezone integrates AT&T Yahoo! High Speed Internet, AT&T | DISH Network satellite television and AT&T Home Networking services via a single device.



AT&T Homezone is available to new AT&T | DISH Network residential customers who either already have or plan to order AT&T Yahoo! High Speed Internet and the 2Wire home networking gateway. Customers can select from several broadband speeds and satellite TV packages, then purchase Homezone service for an additional $9.99 a month.



AT&T said Homezone complements its "U-verse" IPTV service, which is available in San Antonio and will be launched in additional markets by year-end. While AT&T U-verse services will be the company's primary video offer in available markets.



The AT&T Homezone receiver can support up to two televisions at the same time with access to recorded programs, movies, photo and music collections from either TV. The second TV receives its signal through a home's existing coaxial cable wiring.



2Wire is the CPE provider for the AT&T Homezone receiver.

http://www.att.com

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Modulus Unveils MPEG-4 AVC Encoding Solution

Modulus Video unveiled a real-time, MPEG-4 AVC encoding solution for both SD and HD designed to meet the growing demand for video on demand (VOD) movies and local content delivered over IPTV networks.



The Modulus VODxchange system can convert content from virtually any video format and encode it into MPEG-4 AVC at bit rates specifically optimized for IP networks. It includes advanced features like bandwidth optimizing Constrained Fidelity-Constant Bit Rate (CF-CBR) mode, digital program insertion triggers and integrated low resolution stream output. The solution set includes the MPEG-4AVC encoder, video file transcoding, VTR control, quality control and monitoring and an integrated RAID storage subsystem. VODxchange is expected to ship during Q4 2006.



Modulus Video has been working with ViewNow, a leading IPTV/VOD content aggregator that licenses, encodes and distributes major Hollywood Studio content, to enable MPEG-4 AVC based VOD for IPTV networks.

http://www.modulusvideo.com

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Efonica Reaches 750,000 VoIP Subscribers

Fusion Telecommunications has registered more than 750,000 subscribers from more than 100 countries since launching its free Efonica VoIP services this past June. In addition, Fusion now has more than 10,000 paid Efonica subscribers.



Efonica offers subscribers its worldwide "Internet area code", which when dialed allows subscribers to speak with each other for free. Subscribers can simply register their existing landline or mobile telephone number as their Internet telephone number and immediately begin to make calls to and from any combination of PCs, Internet phones, WiFi phones, and regular telephones (with a SIP adapter), connected to either a wireless, broadband or dial-up Internet connection.

http://www.efonica.com

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Amdocs Reports Quarterly Revenue of $665 Million, up 16%

Amdocs reported quarterly revenue of $665.4 million, an increase of 16.1% from last year. Net income on a non-GAAP basis was $109.5 million, or $0.50 per diluted share (excluding acquisition-related costs. The company cited ten new wins, including Bell Canada.



"The strong market that we saw in 2006 was a result of the transformation that service providers are undergoing," said Dov Baharav, chief executive officer of Amdocs Management Limited. "We see strong demand as our customers cope with competition, consolidation and convergence; our customers continue to introduce IP-based services to capture new revenue streams. Amdocs expanded its offering this year with the acquisitions of Qpass in the content area and Cramer in OSS.

http://www.amdocs.com

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Bell Canada Sees Slower Growth for DSL, Wireless

Bell Canada reported revenues of $4,339 million in the third quarter, up 0.4% from the same quarter last year, driven by higher average revenues per user (ARPU) in residential growth services (wireless, video and high-speed Internet), as well as an expanding subscriber base in those services, improved revenue performance from the Bell Aliant Regional Communications Income Fund (Bell Aliant) and growth in revenues from wireless and Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) solutions in the Business segment.



Reported operating income was $827 million, which is $78 million lower than the same quarter last year, mainly as a result of charges associated to previously announced workforce reductions and the related closure of real estate facilities and employee relocations as well as the formation of Bell Aliant.



Some operational highlights:

• Bell Canada added 90,000 net new high-speed Internet customers in Q3, compared to 106,000 net activations in Q3 2005, bringing the total base to 2,403,000 or 12.6% higher than last year. Bell Canada said the year-over-year decline in new subscriber additions was expected as net activations in Q3 2005 were fuelled by the growth of its Basic Lite products and by extensive footprint expansion.
  
  
• Bell Canada added 114,000 new net wireless subscribers this quarter, compared to 123,000 in Q3 2005, bringing its subscriber base at the end of Q3 2006 to 5,704,000. Higher revenue-generating postpaid subscribers accounted for 82%, or 94,000, of total net activations in the quarter, up from 41% last year, as a result of significantly improved customer retention efforts.



• The overall wireless churn rate remained unchanged year-over-
  year at 1.5%, despite higher prepaid churn in the quarter which had a
  negative impact on total net activations.



• Bell activated 30,000 new net video subscribers in the quarter, compared to 82,000 in Q3 2005, bringing our total subscriber base to 1,788,000 as of September 30, 2006 for a 6.6% increase over last year. The relatively fewer number of new subscriber activations in Q3 2006 compared with the previous year reflected reduced market growth, accelerated analog to digital migrations by cable operators, decreased sales in retail channels and the acquisition of Cable VDN Inc. (Cable VDN) in Q3 2005, which added an incremental 12,500 new net customers to the subscriber base. Churn in the third quarter remained unchanged, year-over-year, at 1.0%.

http://www.bell.ca

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Vitesse's Latest Crosspoint Switch Tops 1.5 Terabit Per Second Switching Capacity

Vitesse Semiconductor unveiled a crosspoint switching chip boasting a breakthrough 1.5 Terabit per second (Tbps) of switching capacity and advanced Signal Integrity technology.



With low-latency switching capability, the 11 Gbps-per-port, 144 × 144 VSC3040 asynchronous crosspoint switch delivers market-enabling capacity for storage, video and network equipment used in Core, Metro and Enterprise environments. The device is designed for the aggregation, switching and transport of data links from a wide array of sources. This higher data rate capability and protocol transparent operation is designed to match a broad range of related protocols and applications, including HDTV, SONET/SDH, Ethernet, Storage, and others.



"The VSC3040 is a game-changing building block for enabling bandwidth capacity in Core, Metro and Edge networking systems," said Juan Garza, Product Marketing Manager, Network Products Division at Vitesse. "An exponential bandwidth leap is required to keep up with the next generation of Internet, Optical, Video and Data services, which is what the VSC3040 delivers."http://www.vitesse.com

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Juniper Networks Powers 40G Link for China's CERNIC

The China Education and Research Network Information Center (CERNIC) has deployed Juniper Networks' T-series core routing platform in its next generation China Education and Research Network (CERNET2). The deployment marks the first long-haul 40 Gbps link between Beijing and Tianjin.




CERNET2 is part of the larger nationwide China Next Generation Internet (CNGI) infrastructure and connects over 20 cities and 200 universities across mainland China.



In addition to the 40 Gbps link, CERNET2 pioneers the use of many other networked applications in China, including remote education, digital library facilities, grid computing, IPv6 multicasting and IP video at scale. The network is also China's test bed for the development of new Internet technologies, such as the Authentic IPv6 specification which has been submitted by CERNIC and is currently under review by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF).

http://www.juniper.nethttp://www.edu.cn/

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Telefonica Selects Solaris to Consolidate Oracle database

Telefónica de España selected Sun's Solaris Operating System (OS), Sun Fire servers and services from Sun Microsystems to upgrade and consolidate its multiple Oracle databases. Sun is serving as the prime contractor on the project. Telefónica is implementing Oracle Real Application Clusters to enable single databases to be deployed across a cluster of servers, providing fault tolerance from failures and planned outages.

http://www.sun.com

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Nokia Service Suite Bridges Cellular and WLAN

Nokia announced a software solution which automates both the connectivity over the available access methods like cellular and WLAN, and also provides the preferred location and presence specific services to the user.


Nokia Service Suite, which will make its official debut at next week's VON Europe Autumn 2006 Conference in Berlin, is a software application for all Nokia WLAN enabled dual mode devices, including both Nokia Nseries and Nokia Eseries devices. The software automates the connectivity choice between the cellular and Wi-Fi connections. It also provides the preferred location and presence specific services to the user. The software is designed to maximize WLAN usage and supports multiple WLANs configuration. The solution indicates to the end-user when cheap VoIP calls are possible. Services like subscriber identity management, presence, and intelligent call routing information are also available to service providers.



A client application integrates with the mobile device platform software, providing a control point for the device. The client then enables two-way communication, remote application launch, messaging, and file transfer over WLAN.



Service Manager software is used to manage end-users, devices, access points, and services. Accessible information about registered users and devices includes device type, used firmware versions, IMEI, IMSI, MAC address of the device, related security keys, and user-specific service configuration. Service availability can also be configured on access point level. Interfaces available for service/backend integration include RADIUS for external authentication server connectivity; LDAP; SNMP for network management system connectivity;
WAP Push Proxy Gateway to send WAP Push messages over WLAN using standard Push Access Protocol (PAP); SOAP Integrator API for service control integration; SIP application proxy for intelligent call routing; and SMS interfacing plug-in for cellular SMS connectivity.
<>

Nokia said its Service Suite heralds a whole new generation of consumer services for voice, data and rich media.



Telio, a leading European broadband telephony provider, is the first to adopt and deploy the technology for consumers.

http://www.nokia.com/A4153031

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Bharti Airtel Selects Nokia for US$400 Million Contract

Bharti Airtel Limited has awarded Nokia contract to expand its managed GSM/GPRS/EDGE networks in eight Airtel circles and deploy a pan-Indian WAP solution across its networks.



Under the three-year contract, which was valued at US$400 million, Nokia will provide managed services and expand Airtel networks to cover all towns and cities in the eight telecom circles of Mumbai, Maharashtra & Goa, Gujarat, Bihar (including Jharkhand), Orissa, Kolkata, West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh (including Chattisgarh). The network monitoring operations will be carried out from Nokia's state-of-the-art Global Network Services Center in Chennai.



Nokia will also deploy its WAP solution across Airtel's national network to enhance the operator's mobile packet core network capabilities.

Nokia will deploy the latest radio and core network equipment including Nokia MSC Server System (MSS) mobile softswitch, Nokia Flexi WCDMA and Ultrasite base stations, and provide services based on Bharti's capacity requirements, delivering a cost-efficient rollout of on-demand capacity.

http://www.nokia.com

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Fonpods Introduces Fast Access Service to Mobilize Podcasts

Fonpods released a new version of their service designed to make mobile access to a consumer's favorite Podcasts much easier. Fonpods' Fast Access solution works as follows:

• Podcasters upload feed to Fonpods


• Fonpods generates a unique ID for the podcast feed


• Podcasters can post the Fast Access number (712-432-3031) along with feed ID number on their website, emails, newsletters, etc.

A Web-based interface allows users to customize and create their own listening "channels," as well as produce their own content, share content, or collaborate with friends and colleagues. Additional functionality allows users to organize, tag, or rate podcasts - from any web-access device - with all major browsers being supported.

http://www.fonpods.com

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LogMeIn Launches Hamachi Zero Configuration VPN

LogMeIn announced the release of a zero configuration, instant virtual private network (VPN) service that gives network administrators and support professionals the ability to quickly provide remote users the connectivity and services traditionally available only on a corporate network or through traditional VPNs.



LogMeIn Hamachi -- already in use on more than five million machines during the beta program -- requires no firewall or router reconfiguration, and delivers a VPN connection over a direct, secure peer-to-peer link.



The company said its Hamachi provides users (remote employees, branch offices, consultants, even customers) access to traditional network resources such as intranets and shared folders as well as support and diagnostic tools.



LogMeIn Hamachi will be available in both a free and premium version. The premium service -- which begins at $39 per seat per year, with volume discounts available -- includes the ability to run Hamachi as a service, advanced network management controls, performance enhancements and additional network capacity (16 vs. 256).

http://www.logmeinhamachi.com/download

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Agere Posts First Full Year of GAAP Profitability

Agere Systems reported GAAP net income of $20 million, or $0.12 per share, for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2006, compared to a GAAP net loss of $8 million, or $0.04 per share, for fiscal 2005. The results represent the first fiscal year that Agere has been profitable on a GAAP basis.



Richard Clemmer, President and CEO of Agere, said, "Our results for fiscal 2006 mark Agere's first full-year profit as a public company. This milestone in financial performance demonstrates that we are executing on our turnaround strategy.



In the December quarter, the company expects to report revenues in the range of $365 million to $390 million. The company expects GAAP net income to be in the range of $0.08 to $0.13 per share.

http://www.agere.com

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Inventec Makes Strategic Investment in NetXen

Inventec Corp. (IEC), the world's largest server ODM, has made a strategic investment in NetXen, a start-up developing 10-Gigabit Ethernet (10GbE) Intelligent NIC technology. Terms of the investment were not disclosed.



Additionally, Inventec Enterprise Systems Corporation (IESC), a wholly owned subsidiary of IEC, has entered into a manufacturing and supply chain partnership with NetXen to deliver advanced 10GbE solutions for the volume server market.

http://www.netxen.comhttp://www.inventecesc.com

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Vonage Passes 2 Million Subscriptions

Vonage added 204,591 net subscribers in Q3, giving it a total of 2,057,844 lines in service, an increase of 11% sequentially and 94% above the year-ago level.



Third quarter 2006 revenue grew to $161 million, a 12% increase from $143 million in the second quarter 2006 and up 118% from $74 million in the year- ago quarter. The sequential growth was driven primarily by the growth in subscriber lines while year-over-year revenue growth resulted from subscriber line growth and increases in average monthly revenue per line.



Non-GAAP adjusted loss from operations was $53 million in the quarter, down 12% from the prior quarter and down 18% from the year-ago quarter. Net loss for the quarter was $62 million, or $0.40 per share, an improvement of 16% from a net loss of $74 million, or $1.16 per share, in the prior quarter and from $66 million last year.

http://www.vonage.com

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Mitel Supplies Unified Communications for Microsoft Technology Centers

Mitel will supply its suite of unified communications solutions will be used at Microsoft Technology Centers (MTC) worldwide. The entire suite - comprised of the Mitel 3300 IP Communications Platform (ICP), Mitel Live Business Gateway, Mitel Navigator and the Mitel 5340 and 5224 IP Phones - will provide demonstrations of rich telephony, presence and integration features based on Microsoft's unified communications (UC) solutions.



The deployment is part of an agreement between the two companies to demonstrate the combined UC solution with advanced telephony integration.

http://www.mitel.com

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Limelight Appoints CEO

Limelight Networks, a leading content delivery network, named Jeffrey W. Lunsford as CEO and chairman of the board of directors. He replaces founder Bill Rinehart, who will remain with the company as co- founder and continue to work with Limelight's customers and partners.



Lunsford joins Limelight from digital marketing and analytics firm WebSideStory, where as CEO and Chairman he led the company through a successful IPO, a strategic product expansion phase -- including two acquisitions and 11 consecutive quarters of positive cash flow.



Limelight's customer list include more than 700 of the world's top media companies, including Akimbo, Belo Interactive, Brightcove, "BuyMusic" @ Buy.com, DreamWorks, LLC, Facebook, FOXNews.com, IFILM, ITV Play, Marimba, MSNBC.com, MySpace, NC Interactive, Radio Free Virgin, Valve Software, and Xbox Live.

http://www.llnw.com

• In July 2006, Limelight Networks announced a $130 million equity financing round for its content delivery network for digital media. The funding was led by Goldman Sachs Capital Partners.

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Narus Secures $30 Million for IP Traffic

Narus, a start-up based in Mountain View, California, secured $30 million in new financing for its solutions for real-time, IP traffic analysis and management. This financing includes $20 million in equity and a $10 million revolving line of credit. The funding will be used primarily to develop the next generation of NarusInsight products, and to accelerate the company's global channel initiative to support the worldwide adoption for its products.



NarusInsight is an IP traffic processing system that is capable of providing companies with the means to capture, normalize and correlate IP traffic at the speed required for carrier-class networks. In 2006, Narus filed seven patents, introduced the world's first carrier-class security algorithms based on information entropy, and developed the industry's first algorithms to classify encrypted IP traffic such as Skype.



The new funding round was led by American Capital Strategies Ltd., and included participation from existing investors including Mayfield Fund, Pacven Walden Ventures, JP Morgan Partners and NeoCarta Ventures.

http://www.narus.com

Skype Detection: Traffic Classification In the Dark

Skype is having a dramatic impact on carriers' revenue streams. But perhaps more importantly, the very nature of Skype traffic is raising security concerns, especially for large enterprise networks. Skype uses a unique peer-to-peer technology, making it challenging for network operators to identify, classify and manage associated traffic. This column provides an overview of VoIP with a focus on Skype, details Skype's impact on telecom service providers and explains how Skype traffic can be classified and managed.

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Alvarion Supports Primary Voice Services over WiMAX

Alvarion is now supporting the deliver of primary voice services over WiMAX using the latest edition of its BreezeMAX platform. Alvarion now supports V5.2 interfaces, enabling interconnection of TDM-based infrastructures. When coupled with its existing VoIP capabilities, BreezeMAX can now interface directly with both legacy and next generation voice networks.



Alvarion said the primary voice services of the BreezeMAX platform have been tested with carriers in Africa and South America, and approved as interoperable with various vendors' Class 5 switches. As a result of these trials, two operators in Africa are leveraging their TDM switches by deploying this BreezeMAX voice and data solution.

http://www.alvarion.com

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Alcatel and Samsung to Develop S-Band Mobile Handsets

Alcatel and Samsung Electronics agreed to develop mobile handsets
compatible with the evolution of the DVB-H standard in the S-Band. The companies will collaborate on interoperability testing in order
to deliver a seamless end-to-end solution to operators and a high quality Mobile TV service to end-users. Both companies will support the standardization process of this solution in the DVB Forum undertaken in the DVB-SSP (Satellite Services for Portable devices) Ad-Hoc Group, and join forces to market their combined solution. In a first step, this agreement covers Europe, where the S-band spectrum is available today.

http://www.samsung.comhttp://www.alcatel.com

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Siemens Expands WLAN Portfolio with Open Mobility Solutions

Siemens Enterprise Communications expanded its wireless LAN portfolio with the launch of its HiPath Wireless Manager and a new HiPath Ready Partner Program for Open Mobility Solutions. The new Open Mobility Solutions and open APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) enable the ability to add third-party solutions.



Siemens said its open approach to mobility supports an enterprise-wide strategy that centralizes mobility management with "best of breed" WLAN security products.



The HiPath Wireless Manager is a new, centralized WLAN management platform that enables the enterprise-wide management of thousands of Access Points and tens of thousands of users from a single console. Enterprises can monitor and optimize performance using enterprise-wide heat maps, statistics, alerts and reports.



A new key element of the HiPath Wireless Manager software is its Open Services Framework which facilitates the third party development of integrated converged voice, data and video applications for enterprise-wide mobility.



The new Siemens HiPath Ready Partner Program for Open Mobility Solutions is an extension of the HiPath Ready Certification Program and gives third party vendors, such as developers, systems integrators, VARs and VADs, access to open APIs to develop their own extensions to the HiPath Wireless Manager framework. The new HiPath Ready Partner Program will allow vendors to develop customized mobility solutions for their own unique business processes. Additionally, customers can be assured that these solutions have passed rigorous certification requirements so they are HiPath Ready.



Siemens has also introduced HiPath Wireless Convergence Software V4 for its WLAN Controllers and Access Points. Convergence Software V4 builds on Siemens' Open Flexible Intelligent (OFI) switching architecture that intelligently optimizes traffic routing and QoS based on application requirements driven through its new Open Services Framework. This new release also adds a number of the latest standards based enhanced voice features such as enhanced voice quality capabilities (TSPEC), improved power management and extended battery life for wireless devices (UAPSD) and intelligent roaming capabilities for greater call quality (QBSS).

http://www.siemens.com/enterprise

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Avaya and Juniper Networks Extend Strategic Alliance

Juniper Networks and Avaya are extending their strategic alliance focused on enterprise networking. Juniper now plans to integrate Avaya's IP voice gateway and intelligent communications applications with the new Juniper J4350 and J6350 J-series enterprise branch routers. This is the first completely integrated solution from Avaya and Juniper that involved joint product engineering and software development by both companies.



The new Juniper J4350 and J6350 J-series routers provide up to two Gigabit Ethernet performance for enterprise remote, branch and regional offices and are IP telephony-ready.
http://www.juniper.nethttp://www.avaya.com

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Impsat Fiber Networks Deploys Acme Packet

Impsat Fiber Networks has deployed Acme Packet's Net-Net session border controllers (SBCs) to deliver its VoIP services for the mid and large corporate market and VoIP interconnects for wholesale services to carriers. Impsat, a leading competitive operator in Latin America, has already deployed Acme Packet's Net-Net SBCs as part of its voice network in Argentina, Brazil, Peru and the US with plans to expand further in 2007. Financial terms were not disclosed.

http://www.acmepacket.com

• Last week, Global Crossing announced plans to acquire Impsat.

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Metaswitch Supplies Core Switching at GMI 2006

MetaSwitch supplied core switching functionality during the recent Global MSF Interoperability 2006 (GMI 2006) event, which focused on the technical interoperability issues surrounding IP Multimedia Sub-system (IMS) deployments. MetaSwitch's core switching solutions were tested within the joint BT and Vodafone test facility in the UK and used to support advanced IP services that spanned the four continent network test bed. This year's GMI event marks the third MSF test program that has leveraged MetaSwitch's technology at its core.



The worldwide GMI 2006 interoperability event was led by five of the world's leading service providers, BT, KT, NTT, Verizon and Vodafone, and took place over a two-week period across four test locations, including the BT Advanced Research and Technology Centre (United Kingdom), the KT Technology Lab (Korea), NTT's Musashino Research and Development Center (Japan), and Verizon Labs (MA, USA).

http://www.metaswitch.com

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SES Global and Eutelsat to Launch Satellite S-Band over Europe

SES GLOBAL and Eutelsat Communications announced a 50/50 joint venture company, which will operate and commercialize S-band satellite services over Europe for mobile video services. The S-band (2.0 and 2.2 GHz), which represents a new frequency band for both SES and Eutelsat, provides a set of frequencies optimized for supporting a wireless distribution network for mobile devices, including phones, PDAs, laptops and vehicle receivers.



Eutelsat Communications confirmed its order with Alcatel Alenia Space for an S-Band payload on its upcoming W2A satellite, which is slated for launch in 2009. Based on the Alcatel Alenia Space Spacebus 4000C4 platform, W2A's missions also comprise up to 46 transponders in Ku-band and a C-band payload of 10 transponders.



The S-band payload at 2.2 GHz on W2A will allow the delivery, for the first time, of mobile multimedia broadcast services (Mobile TV, digital radio...) directly onto user terminals over France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain or the UK.



Eutelsat plans to build a hybrid infrastructure over Europe, combining satellite and terrestrial networks, providing both universal coverage and indoor penetration for Mobile TV services. W2A's S-band payload will also enable other communications services for example, for security communications or crisis management.



Alcatel confirmed its support to Eutelsat and SES, who joined forces to deliver S-Band services, through its technology development programme, necessary for these innovative services. This solution uses an evolution of the DVB-H standard in the S-Band.

http://www.alcatel.comhttp://www.eutelsat.com

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Nortel Delivers IMS-ready FMC for France's neuf

Nortel supplied the VoIP and IMS-ready technology underpinning Neuf Cegetel's "TWIN" GSM/WiFi hybrid service. Neuf Cegetel estimates users of TWIN are achieving savings of up to 30% on their mobile phone fees. Under WiFi coverage the TWIN phone automatically connects to the Neuf box or WiFi community access point and calls are made at the same price as calls from a landline phone.



The fixed-mobile convergence (FMC) solution for Neuf Cegetel includes Nortel's IMS-ready Multimedia Communication Server 5200 (MCS 5200) which seamlessly integrates voice with video, collaboration, and presence services. This solution leverages SIP to enable service providers to deliver seamless handover between cellular and WiFi technologies and create new revenue-generating opportunities for service providers.



Nortel's IMS solution is access-aware and supports 3GPP (IMS), 3GPP2 (MMD), Packet Cable 2.0 and TISPAN standards.

http://www.nortel.comhttp://www.neuf.fr

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Xilinx and AXIS Offer Integrated Radio Card Platform for W-CDMA, WiMAX

Xilinx released a common digital radio system (CDRS) development platform that increases power amplifier (PA) efficiency and reduces capital and operating costs for W-CDMA and WiMAX base stations. The CDRSX development platform consists of the Xilinx W-CDMA and WiMAX digital front-end (DFE) reference designs and a flexible development board from AXIS Network Technology.



"The market is looking for flexible, cost-effective solutions that can be used to develop initial systems and then go from concept-to-production as quickly and easily as possible," said Simon Mellor CEO of AXIS Network Technologyhttp://www.xilinx.com/esp/wireless/index.htmhttp://www.axisnt.com

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Koor Considers Sale of Telrad Networks

Koor Industries announced the receipt of a number of inquiries from various entities interested in acquiring its holdings (61%) in its subsidiary, Telrad Networks. No decisions have been announced.



Telrad provides a family of products for Next Generation Networks (NGN), WiFi mesh, and FMC. The company also provides system integration, maintenance and ongoing upgrades of systems. Telrad, which was founded in 1951, is based in Israel.

http://www.koor.comhttp://www.telrad.com

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Catapult Supplies 3G IMS Test System to KT

Catapult Communications has been selected by Korea Telecom (KT) to provide simulation and load testing capabilities for the addition of IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) services to their existing IP network.

http://www.catapult.com

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Verizon Adds 1.9 Million Wireless, 448,000 Broadband Users

Verizon reported Q3 revenues of $23.3 billion, up 25.8% from third quarter 2005, and diluted earnings per share (EPS) of 66 cents, or 68 cents per share before special items (non-GAAP measure).



Verizon Wireless is now the largest U.S. wireless carrier in terms of revenue. The company is also the largest wireless data provider based on data revenue, and it has the most retail customers -- that is, businesses and consumers directly served by Verizon Wireless.



Some operational highlights:

• Verizon Wireless revenues were up 18.2 percent from third quarter 2005; data revenues nearly double year-over-year; EBITDA margin (non-GAAP) of 45.0 percent.



• Verizon Wireless retail service ARPU was $51.21



• Verizon Wireless added 1.9 million net customers, giving it a total of 56.7 million total customers, up 15.1 percent from third quarter 2005. Of these, 54.6 million were retail (non- wholesale) customers.



• Verizon Wireless had 1.24 percent total churn; 1.15 percent retail churn; 0.95 percent retail postpaid churn during the quarter.


Wireline


• There were 448,000 net new broadband connections in Q3, including 147,000 FiOS Internet customers, for a total of 6.6 million total broadband connections, up 45.1 percent from third quarter 2005. The company now has a total of 522,000 FiOS Internet customers.



• Verizon's FTTP (fiber to the premises) network passed a total of 5.3 million premises by the end of the third quarter and is on target to pass 6 million premises by year-end. Costs to pass a premises with fiber have declined to $845 in September 2006, already lower than the company's year-end target of $850. Costs to connect a premises to fiber declined to $900 in September, toward a year-end target of $880.



• Penetration of FiOS Internet service now stands at 14 percent across all markets.



• Verizon added a net of 63,000 new FiOS TV customers in the third quarter 2006, compared with 35,000 in the second quarter 2006. Churn among FiOS customers remains lower than 1.5 percent per month, and costs associated with customer churn continue to be lower than anticipated.



• Penetration of FiOS TV service now stands at 10 percent across all markets, with the service available for sale to 1.2 million premises as of the end of the third quarter.



• FiOS represented $0.09 of total earnings dilution during Q3, up $0.02 from the second quarter, due to strong customer growth and higher video cost. Verizon now expects full-year FiOS earnings dilution to be about $0.31 to $0.32 per share, which is about $0.02 higher than the company's previous guidance.



• Verizon now has 496,000 customers who receive a Verizon DIRECTV bundle, adding 64,000 net new customer additions in the quarter.



• Data revenues were $4.1 billion, up 89.3 percent from third quarter 2005, including results from Verizon Business domestic and global operations.



• Primary residential access lines decreased by 419,000 in the third quarter 2006, compared with the second quarter 2006, while Verizon added 539,000 residential broadband and video customers, including customers with DIRECTV bundles, over the same period.



• Verizon now serves 46.0 million total domestic wireline access lines -- which also include secondary residential lines, public telephones, business lines and wholesale voice connections. This represents a 7.5 percent decrease compared with the end of the third quarter 2005.

http://www.verizon.com

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Microsoft Releases Windows Media Player 11

Microsoft released Windows Media Player 11 for Windows XP, featuring seamless integration with URGE, MTV Networks Co.'s digital music service. Other key enhancements include new formats for ripping and music playback, including Windows Media Audio Professional and WAV Lossless, and improved search capabilities.

http://www.microsoft.com

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Optibase and SeaChange Collaborate on IPTV

Optibase and SeaChange will extend their product interoperability in support of IPTV services. Optibase will integrate its carrier-class media gateways with SeaChange's TV Platform. The Optibase Media Gateway encodes, transcodes, transmits and recasts live video in real-time.

http://www.schange.comhttp://www.optibase.com

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Avaya Launches Nationwide Mobile Truck Tour

Avaya is conducting a nationwide mobile bus tour to encourage businesses to develop contingency plans for communicating during and after a major disaster. The bus features technologies that help local businesses maintain critical communications during disasters, and when their communications systems fail, these technologies get lines of communications up and running within an hour.



http://avayaebc.reg4events.com/roadshow/index.html?cid=cn_em_n_0606_drinv

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NET Readies Multi-service, High-speed Switch for Naval Research Labs

Network Equipment Technologies has received initial advance orders for its NX5010 high-speed switching platform, to be shipped upon general availability of the product, which is expected shortly.

The new NX5010, which was jointly developed by NET and Bay Microsystems, is a compact, scalable, 10 Gbps multi-service aggregation and switching platform. The NX5010 enables geographically dispersed data centers to connect and enables multiple components currently required to perform SAN to WAN communications to be replaced and collapsed into a single system. Target customers include the government and financial sectors.

During testing, U.S. Naval Research Laboratory used the platform to transfer 60 terabytes of InfiniBand data over a distance of 4500 km in only 32 hours -- believed to be a record for the largest amount of InfiniBand data ever transferred per unit time over a wide area network.



The NX5010 utilizes Bay Microsystems' Biscayne and Montego programmable packet processors to enable line-rate multiservice protocol conversion and transport with hard QoS (Quality of Service) management capabilities.

http://www.net.com http://www.baymicrosystems.com

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Taiwan's Chunghwa Telecom Reaches 3.97 Million BB, 8.4 Million Mobile Users

Taiwan's Chunghwa Telecom 47,000 new ADSL subscribers and 53,700 new FTTB subscribers in the third quarter, bringing its total number of broadband subscribers to 3.97 million as of the end of September 2006.



Additional highlights for 3Q06:

• Total revenue increased 2.2% QoQ to NT$47.38 billion, of which 34% was from fixed-line services, 40% from mobile services and 24% from Internet and data services. The increase in revenues was mainly driven by continued growth in the Internet and data businesses.



• Internet & data and mobile revenues increased 3% and 2.3% QoQ, respectively



• Net income increased 6.6% QoQ to NT$11.14 billion



• At the end of September 2006, the company had 8.42 million mobile subscribers, with postpaid subscribers growing 4.2% YoY in the first nine months.



• Chunghwa remains the leading mobile operator in Taiwan in terms of both 2G revenue and 2G subscriber market share with 35.6% and 41.1% respectively as of the end of September 2006.



• Chunghwa added 188,000 3G subscribers in 3Q06, which brought the total to 597,000.

http://www.cht.com.tw

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Conexant's STB Business Records 5th Consecutive Quarter of Double-Digit Growth

Conexant Systems reported revenues of $245.9 million for its fourth fiscal quarter, within the guidance range communicated at the beginning of the quarter, down 2.3 percent from third quarter fiscal 2006 revenues of $251.6 million, and up 14.4 percent from $214.9 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2005. Core gross margins in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2006 increased to 45.8 percent of revenues. Core operating income in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2006 was $20.7 million, compared to third quarter fiscal 2006 core operating income of $25.5 million.



Fiscal 2006 was another year of significant progress for Conexant," said Dwight W. Decker, Conexant chairman and chief executive officer. "Year-over-year revenues increased 34 percent, we achieved our highest-priority goal of delivering 10 percent core operating margins in the third fiscal quarter, two quarters ahead of schedule, and we remained solidly profitable on a core basis exiting the year. We also improved core gross margins as a percent of revenues by more than five points during the year."



Among the highlights, Conexant's Broadband Media Processing business, and its set-top box business, achieved record revenues and have now delivered five quarters of sequential double-digit revenue growth.

http://www.conexant.com

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Schwarzenegger Forms California Broadband Task Force

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger held a press event to announce a new task force for promoting broadband networking in California. The event highlighted the possibility of telemedicine.



Schwarzenegger signed an executive order designating one state agency -- Business, Transportation & Housing (BT&H) -- as lead coordinator for implementing the state's broadband policy. The agency will create a database linking private broadband companies with state transportation agencies, permitting companies to better coordinate fiber optic installation. It will also establish a pricing policy for private companies paying for "rights-of- way" access to state roads. Previously, charges to lay fiber varied widely--the order sets pricing based on actual costs incurred by the State.



The event was held less than two weeks before the election.http://gov.ca.gov/index.php?/press-release/4575/

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Turin Acquires Assets of White Rock Networks

Turin Networks acquired the product portfolio and the majority of the material assets of White Rock Networks, a provider of next-generation optical transport products for metro networks, for an undisclosed sum. The deal expands Turin Networks' product portfolio and carrier customer base to over 300 customers worldwide.



White Rock Networks' product portfolio consists of the VLX 2020 Optical Transport System, the VLX 2006 Multiservice Access Platform, the VLX 300 and 400 Service Edge Concentrators and the VLXpert EMS.

http://www.turinnetworks.com

• In December 2002, White Rock Networks, a start-up based in Richardson, Texas closed $42 million in fourth-round venture funding for its next-generation optical transport systems for the local metro transport market. White Rock was focused on the Multi-service Provision Platform (MSPP) market as well next-generation SONET. White Rock tool a unique approach to the MSPP problem by breaking it into pieces - modular, stackable product elements. White Rock also featured a software-based control plane that transforms their modular "building-blocks" into a single network element. By that point, White Rock had raised $144 million since its inception in 1999. The new funding was led by Oak Investment Partners, and included all of White Rock's existing major investors: Oak Investment Partners, Mayfield Fund, Meritech Capital, Fremont Communications, Fremont Ventures, Investor AB (through its wholly owned subsidiary, Investor Growth Capital), Hook Partners, Gulf International Bank, and Pacesetter Capital Group. In additional, 3i, a leading international venture capital investment firm, joined the round.



• White Rock Networks was founded in November 1999 and was headed by Lonnie Martin (previously President of ADC's Business Broadband Group).

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Espial IPTV Makes Executive Appointments

Espial, a supplier of IPTV middleware and applications, named Brian Mahony as its new VP of Marketing and Bob Daly as CFO.



Mahony most recently served at Netcentrex (acquired by Commverse). Prior to Netcentrex, Mahony's roles included VP Marketing and Business Development at Tundo Corporation, Director of Business Development and Strategy at Unisphere (acquired by Siemens and Juniper Networks for $740M), and Business Development Manager at Nortel.



Mr. Daly is a Chartered Accountant and previously served as Vice President of Finance for JDS Uniphase. Other roles included CFO for Oprel Technologies and Controller for Cognos Incorporated.

http://www.espial.com

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NTT DoCoMo Reports Flat Revenue, Intense Competition

For the six months ended 30-Sept-2006, NTT DoCoMo reported operating revenue of Y2,383 billion, up 0.4% compared to the same period last year, while operating income was Y516 billion, down 7.4% compared to last year, and income before taxes was Y309 billion, down 17.8% compared to a year earlier.



NTT DoCoMo said it plans to increase CAPEX in the second half of its fiscal year in order to reinforce the quality of its FOMA network. Spending will rise to Y910 billion, up Y11 billion from initial plans. The company also plans to introduce more than 20 new handset models to respond to the increasingly fierce competitive environment.

http://www.nttdocomo.co.jp

• In August, NTT DoCoMo launched HSDPA service in metropolitan Tokyo, offering downlink speeds of up to 3.6 Mbps, approximately ten times faster than current FOMA service.

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NTT DATA to Sell U.S. Datacenter Business in NJ

NTT DATA will sell its U.S. datacenter service provider business to Quality Technology Services Holding LLC ("QualityTech"), a privately held provider of data center facilities and managed services. Financial terms were not disclosed. NTT DATA said will focus its resources on IT services.

http://www.nttdata.co.jp/en/media/2006/102500.html

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Axtel to Acquire Avantel, Combining Networks in Mexico

Axtel agreed to acquire Avantel Infraestructura in a plan to create a fully complementary national telecommunications company in Mexico providing local, long-distance, broadband and data, in a transaction valued at $500 million. The deal combines AXTEL's hybrid wireline and fixed-wireless local access network, and 683 kilometers of metropolitan fiber optic rings, with Avantel's 7,700 route kilometers of long-haul fiber optic network and 300 kilometers of metropolitan fiber optic ring.



The merger would consolidate AXTEL's position as the second-largest fixed-line integrated telecommunications company in Mexico.

http://www.avantel.com.mxhttp://axtel.com.mx

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NETGEAR Posts Revenue of $151.6 million, 36% year-over-year growth

NETGEAR's Q3 net revenue increased to $151.6 million, 36% year-over-year growth and non-GAAP net income increased to $11.9 million, as compared to $9.1 million in the comparable prior year quarter, 31% year-over-year growth.



NETGEAR launched a total of 10 new products in the third quarter, with the most important being NETGEAR's SSL VPN Concentrator 25 and Skype Wi-Fi Phone.



Net revenue from service providers reached 23% of total revenue in the third quarter http://www.netgear.com

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AT&T U-verse VOD to Include Warner Bros. Movies

AT&T reached a distribution deal with Warner Bros. Home Entertainment to include the studio's current and catalog titles as part of the AT&T U-verse TV video-on-demand (VOD) programming lineup. Financial terms were not disclosed.



"Warner Bros. has always been focused on providing our content to consumers when and where they want to view it," said Deanne Lewis, director, On-Demand Sales of Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group. "We are pleased to join with AT&T to offer our award-winning movies as part of the U-verse on-demand library. AT&T U-verse TV not only allows us to continue to extend our reach but also provides consumers with more viewing options."http://www.att.com

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AT&T Offers Remote Home Monitoring Video Service

AT&T introduced a new home monitoring service that enables customers to use both personal computers and Cingular wireless devices to access high-quality, streaming digital video and other real-time data and information from their homes. The service combines live and recorded video (non-audio) capabilities with a range of environmental sensor options. Users can customize alerts and actions.



For example, a user can program the service to send a text message alert to a cell phone when motion is detected in an area of the home, while at the same time automatically turning on lighting and recording video of the same area.



AT&T is offering a $199 starter package that includes:

• A pan-and-tilt IP camera


• Two power modules that enable device connectivity via home power outlets


• A wireless door/window sensor


• A wireless gateway for connecting equipment to a home network

Thereafter, the service is provided for $9.95 a month.

http://www.att.com

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Comcast Credits Triple Play for Growing Momentum

Citing increased demand for its Triple Play service bundle, Comcast reported that revenue increased 12% to $6.6 billion in the third quarter of 2006 (results are presented as if the acquisition of Susquehanna Communications and the Adelphia/Time Warner transactions were effective on January 1, 2005.)



Some operational highlights for Q3:

• Revenue generating units (RGUs) increased 1.486 million in the third quarter of 2006 or 82% from prior year net additions.



• Added 558,000 new digital subscribers during the quarter. Digital penetration now exceeds 50%.



• Video revenue increased 9% to $4.2 billion in the third quarter of 2006, reflecting growth in digital customers and increased demand for new digital features including ON DEMAND, digital video recorders (DVR) and HDTV programming, as well as higher basic cable rates and subscribers.



• Basic video subscribers increased by 10,000 subscribers to 24.1 million during the third quarter of 2006 compared to a decline of 44,000 subscribers in the third quarter of 2005.



• Comcast ended the quarter with 12.1 million or 50% of video subscribers taking digital services, a 1.6 million or 16% increase from one year ago.



• Growth in video revenue and digital cable subscribers also reflects increasing consumer demand for new digital features including ON DEMAND, driving a pay-per-view revenue increase of 31% in the third quarter of 2006 from the same time in 2005.



• Added 536,000 high-speed Internet subscribers during the quarter - the most quarterly additions in two years. Comcast now has 11.0 million high-speed Internet subscribers or 24% penetration of available homes.



• Added 483,000 Comcast Digital Voice (CDV) customers during the quarter, for a total base of 2.1 million phone customers. There was a loss of 102,000 circuit-switched customers. CDV service now marketed to 31 million homes or 65% of Comcast's footprint.



• Capital expenditures of $1.25 billion in the third quarter of 2006 were 25% higher compared to the third quarter of 2005 driven by an 82% increase in RGU net additions over the same time period.

http://www.comcast.com

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Time Warner Supplies 1 Gbps "Quilt" Connections for U.S. Universities

Time Warner Telecom has deployed Gigabit Ethernet Internet connections to the Indiana GigaPoP, located at IUPUI (Indianapolis University-Purdue University Indianapolis), and the University of Minnesota. The two universities are among the first to contract for Internet connectivity from Time Warner Telecom, after the company was named a preferred provider of high performance network services for The Quilt CIS project. The Quilt provides network service to more than 200 Internet2 universities and thousands of other educational institutions across the U.S.



The Indiana GigaPoP will deploy and manage 1 Gbps of Internet connectivity to Indiana University Bloomington, IUPUI and Purdue University's West Lafayette campus, as well as the vast majority of higher education institutions throughout the state of Indiana as part of the I-Light project that launched in 2001.

http://www.twtelecom.comhttp://www.thequilt.net

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Extreme Reports Revenue of $83.4 Million

Extreme Networks reported quarterly revenue of $83.8 million, compared to $97.9 million in the same period last year and compared to $82.4 million in the preceding quarter. Because the company is conducting a review of its historical practices for stock option grants and accounting for option grants, it did not provide GAAP metrics.



Revenues in the U.S. were $34.2 million in the quarter, representing 40.9 percent of total consolidated revenue, compared to $45.1 million or 46.1 percent of revenue in the same quarter a year ago, and compared to $35.0 million or 42.4 percent of revenue in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2006. International revenues were $49.6 million or 59.1 percent of total revenues, compared to $52.8 million or 53.9 percent of total revenues in the first quarter of last fiscal year, and compared to $47.4 million or 57.6 percent of revenue in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2006
http://www.extremenetworks.com

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Verizon Business Connects SuperJANET5 Research Network

Verizon Business has supplied a state-of-the-art, fibre-optic network for SuperJANET5, the U.K.'s new national research and education network. SuperJANET5 will link 19 regional educational networks across England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, supporting a potential user base of up to 18 million users.



Verizon Business supplied an autonomous network backbone, with a dedicated, geographically diverse fiber infrastructure. The network can scale to terabit-per-second capabilities.

http://www.verizon.comhttp://www.ja.net/

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Vitesse Releases PMD devices for BPON, EPON and GPON

Vitesse Semiconductor announced the general availability of its "PON PRO" family of physical media dependent (PMD) devices for BPON, EPON and GPON applications. To date, PON PRO products have won over twenty designs worldwide with module manufacturers designing Optical Line Termination (OLT) and Optical Network Unit (ONU) applications for the FTTH market, mostly in Asia.

http://www.vitesse.com/PON

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Riverbed Adds 300 Customers in Q3

Riverbed Technology reported Q3 revenue of $24.6 million, which represents a sequential increase of 36% from the immediately preceding quarter and a year-over-year increase of 247% from the third quarter of last year. The net loss on a GAAP basis for the third quarter of 2006 was $3.1 million, or $0.16 per share, compared to a net loss of $6.1 million in the second quarter of 2006 and a net loss of $3.9 million in the third quarter of 2005. Riverbed's third quarter of 2006 GAAP results included $2.1 million of non-cash stock-based compensation expenses related to employee stock options.



Riverbed added approximately 300 new customers in Q3, bringing its cumulative customer total to over 1,300 since it began shipping Steelhead wide-area data services (WDS) appliances in mid-2004.

http://www.riverbed.com

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Global Crossing to Acquire Impsat for Latin American Presence

Global Crossing agreed to acquire Impsat, a provider of private telecommunications network and Internet services in Latin America, for $336 million, consisting of $95 million in cash and assumption of $241 million of debt.

Impsat currently provides services to more than 4,500 national and multinational clients, and has operations in Argentina, Colombia, Brazil, Venezuela, Ecuador, Chile, Peru and the United States.



The companies have had a commercial relationship since 2000, when Global Crossing selected Impsat as one of its providers of Point of Presence (PoP) facilities for Global Crossing's Latin American network, known as South American Crossing.



Global Crossing said Impsat's extensive IP-based intercity network, 15 metropolitan networks and 15 advanced hosting centers will provide a greater breadth of services and coverage to its Latin American operations. Global Crossing expects the acquisition to contribute annual revenue of more than $270 million, and to yield annual Adjusted Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization (EBITDA) of more than $70 million after operational synergies are fully realized.

http://www.globalcrossing.comhttp://www.impsat.com

• In August 2006, Global Crossing announced a cash offer to acquire all of the issued and to-be-issued shares of Fibernet Group Plc , a UK-based provider of specialist telecommunications networks, for approximately $96.1 million (50.6 million British pounds sterling). Fibernet serves a marquee roster of UK corporate enterprise and carrier customers, including the Bank of England, Citigroup, IBM and Carphone Warehouse. provides its services from a national fiber network in the UK and also from its metropolitan networks in London, Bristol, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Frankfurt, Glasgow, Leeds, Manchester and Reading. The company has more than 100 points of presence in the UK and an additional 12 in Frankfurt, Germany.

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Verizon Wireless Delivers 5 Billion TXT Messages in September

Verizon Wireless delivered more than five billion TXT messages in September 2006 -- a new monthly record for both the company and the U.S. wireless industry. This represents an increase of 150 percent - or an increase of three billion messages a month - for the same time period in 2005.



Also last month, Verizon Wireless customers shared more than 100 million PIX and FLIX multimedia messages.
http://www.verizonwireless.com

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QUALCOMM Reaches 200 Million Milestone for GPS

More than 200 million mobile handsets worldwide have shipped featuring QUALCOMM's gpsOne Assisted-GPS technology. The gpsOne solution provides the position-location technology behind the vast majority of the location services at more than 50 major network operators worldwide.



The gpsOne A-GPS solution is integrated into most of QUALCOMM's Mobile Station Modem chipsets. http://www.qualcomm.com

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Multiservice Forum's GMI 2006 Event Tests IMS-Compliant NGNs

The Multiservice Forum wrapped up its Global MSF Interoperability event -- GMI 2006 -- a two-week, multinational, distributed, interactive test bed designed to verify key interoperability aspects of NGN/IMS implementations.



GMI 2006 amounts to a massive "real network" trial of the MSF IMS (IP Multimedia System)-compatible Release 3 architecture. BT/ Vodafone, Verizon, Korea Telecom/ETRI and NTT Japan together with the University of New Hampshire Interoperability Labs (UNH-IOL) are hosting the event and over 500 test engineers and support staff are engaged around the clock in the massive test bed at facilities in 4 countries.



GMI 2006 has 26 participating vendors who have submitted 197 network devices to a total of 98 test cases spread over 8 distinct scenarios, ranging from a nomadic subscriber in a single domain to a full scale test including value added services and roaming over multiple domains, including both MSF R3 and "pure IMS" networks.



The event is sponsored by Nortel and covers such topics as roaming across multiple network types (including cellular and WiFi), QoS issues (including session border control and bandwidth management), and interoperability with 3GPP release 4 in real-world deployment scenarios that explicitly include first-generation VoIP SoftSwitches, PSTN interworking and evolution to a true IMS network.



Specifically, the event is validating MSF Release 3 Implementation Agreements covering:

• Roaming services across multiple network types;


• QoS (Session Border Gateway and Bandwidth Manager);


• IP Carrier Interconnect/Interworking; security interoperability;


• 3rd party applications and service brokering;


• Open Media Gateway Control interface relevant to 3GPP BICN architecture; and


• IPv4/6 Interworking

"Finding out what works well, and equally importantly what doesn't work so well, allows the industry to focus its efforts and accelerate the development of IMS compliant NGNs. You can't beat the value of learning from a live globally networked testing environment such as this" said Roger Ward, President of the MSF and Office of the CTO, British Telecom.

http://www.msforum.org

onclick="openMyFlashWindow('http://www.convergedigest.com/glossary/files/GMI/CD_GMI2006.html', 320, 280)"
href="http://www.convergedigest.com/Bandwidth/newnetworksarticle.asp?ID=19764">
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Cisco to Acquire Orative for Mobile Unified Communications

Cisco Systems agreed to acquire privately-held Orative Corp., a developer of mobile communications solutions, for $31 million in cash. Orative provides an application which will allow Cisco to extend its Unified Communications portfolio to mobile devices such as cell phones and smartphones. Orative was founded in 2002 and has 33 employees based in San Jose, California.

Cisco said Orative's mobile software will extend the communications and collaboration capabilities of the Cisco Unified Communications system to business mobile phone users. With Orative Enterprise Software, mobile phone users can coordinate conversations, collaborate with colleagues, view information on Unity voicemail messages, screen unwanted telephone calls and interruptions, and securely access personal and corporate phone books.

In March 2006, Cisco announced its Unified Communications system based on Cisco's service-oriented network architecture (SONA), which enables businesses of all sizes to integrate their communications systems with their IT infrastructure, thereby creating a single communications platform. http://www.cisco.comhttp://www.orative.com/index.php

• Orative is headed by Paul Fulton, who founded the company during his Executive in Residence tenure at Mayfield. Prior to joining Mayfield, Mr. Fulton was Vice President and General Manager of 3Com's Wireless Division. Previously, Mr. Fulton was co-founder of Netcore Technology and served in key management roles at Compaq and Texas Instruments.

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Metro Ethernet Forum Launches Service Provider Certification 14 Program

The Metro Ethernet Forum launched its MEF 14 Service Provider Certification Program as a means to help enterprises feel confident that their providers' Carrier Ethernet services can support mission critical and converged applications such as ERP, VoIP, videoconferencing and business continuity.



MEF 14 (Abstract Test Suite for Traffic Management) ensures conformance to the MEF Quality of Service attributes, which provides a foundation for the implementation of Service Provider operational and performance SLA's (Service Level Agreements) supporting simultaneous real-time and data-intensive business applications.



MEF 14 completes MEF 9 (Abstract Test Suite for Ethernet Services at the UNI) by adding requirements and test procedures for Service Performance and Bandwidth Profile Service Attributes defined in MEF 10. These include three EVC Related Performance Service Attributes - Frame Delay Performance, Frame Delay Variation Performance, and Frame Loss Ratio Performance -- as well as Bandwidth Profile Service Attributes defined per Ingress UNI, per EVC, and per Class of Service.



"MEF 14 certification testing is based on our Iometrix Test Plan for Traffic Management which has a total of 170 Test Cases covering EPL, EVPL and E-LAN services" according to Bob Mandeville -- President of Iometrix testing labs. "Service Providers' Carrier Ethernet must pass no less than 414 individual test cases before being granted MEF 9 and 14 certification."http://www.metroetherntforum.org

• MEF 14 complements MEF 9 and covers two sets of MEF Service Attributes, namely "Service Performance" and "Bandwidth Profiles". The first set comprises three Service Performance attributes relating to the Ethernet Virtual Circuits (EVC): Frame delay, Frame delay variation and frame loss ratio. The second set, relating to the User Network Interface (UNI) and following the familiar example of Frame Relay, include four Bandwidth Profile attributes: CIR (Committed Information Rate), CBS (Committed Burst Size), EIR (Excess Information Rate), EBS (Excess Burst Size). Together MEF 9 and MEF 14 cover the complete set of Carrier Ethernet Service Attributes defined in the core definitional technical document MEF 10.

In April 2006, The Metro Ethernet Forum awarded certifications to seven service providers complying with its global Carrier Ethernet Service definitions. The companies receiving certification in this first round were: AT&T, Bell South, Cable Vision Lightpath (the first cable operator to apply), Met-Net, ntl:Telewest Business (the first European service provider to apply), Qwest and Verizon.



Iometrix was the company responsible for the conformance testing.



The testing involves three key stages. In the initial negotiation stage the service provider needs to prove to Iometrix that they do have a commercial Carrier Ethernet service offering that is certifiable according to any or all of Ethernet Private Line (EPL), Ethernet Virtual Private Line (EVPL) or ELAN (multipoint networking) definitions from the MEF 9 specification. This leads to the second phase, lab testing, where the service provider is required to construct a facsimile of the production network supporting their Carrier Ethernet service and then Iometrix run some 244 test cases on that system to pave the way for the third, field testing phase.

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Equinix Posts Revenue of $73.7 million, up 26%

Equinix, a provider of network-neutral data centers and Internet exchange services, reported Q3 revenues of $73.7 million, a 27% increase over the same quarter last year and an 8% increase over the previous quarter. Recurring revenues, consisting primarily of colocation, interconnection and managed services, were $69.9 million, a 29% increase over the same quarter last year and a 7% increase over the previous quarter. Non-recurring revenues were $3.8 million in the quarter, consisting primarily of professional services and installation fees.



Net loss for the third quarter was $5.2 million, including stock-based compensation expense of $6.9 million and the restructuring charge of $1.5 million.



The company added 92 customers in the quarter, including Acer Computers, Barnes and Noble College Booksellers, Coram, Fannie Mae and Shopzilla. Based on a total cabinet capacity of approximately 30,900, the number of cabinets billing at the end of the quarter was approximately 16,200, or 52%, up from approximately 15,400 the previous quarter. On a weighted average basis, the number of cabinets billing was approximately 16,200 representing a utilization rate of 52%.



Equinix also announced that Peter Van Camp will transition from his role as chairman and CEO of Equinix to Executive Chairman once a new CEO has been appointed over the course of the next year. Until this time, Mr. Van Camp will remain fully engaged as CEO and chairman.

http://www.equinix.com

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Sourcefire Files for IPO -- Network Intrusion Prevention

Sourcefire, a developer of network intrusion prevention solutions, filed papers with the Securities and Exchange Commission for an initial public offering of common stock.



Sourcefire was founded in 2001 by Martin Roesch, the creator of SNORT open source technology for intrusion detection and prevention. According the company's website, there have been over 3,000,000 downloads of Snort around the world to date.



The company is based in Columbia, Maryland.

http://www.sourcefire.com

• In May, 2006 Sourcefire secured $20 million in Series D funding led by Meritech Capital Partners, a leading provider of late-stage venture capital to premier information technology companies. All previous Sourcefire venture investors: Sierra Ventures, New Enterprise Associates, Sequoia Capital, Core Capital Partners, and Inflection Point Ventures also participated in the round. The company has raised over $54 million to date.

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PCCW Selects ICTV for Interactive Services

PCCW, the incumbent operator in Hong Kong, has selected ICTV's ActiveVideo Distribution Network platform to enable interactive channels via television to subscribers of its "now" TV service. ICTV, a start-up based in Los Gatos, California, provides the ability to deliver Web programming as MPEG video to any digital set-top box. Live and VOD programming can be blended seamlessly with content that is created and modified using standard Web tools and distributed via standard Web infrastructure.



PCCW's first ActiveVideo channel is an interactive "Movie Trailer Channel" that PCCW has launched in partnership with United Artists, one of the leading cinema groups in Hong Kong. The Movie Trailer Channel allows subscribers to preview movies, choose cinema locations, check program times, request seat locations, and buy tickets using just their standard remote controls. The channel is the first in a series of ActiveVideo channels and applications that will deliver more interactive services to now TV's 654,000 subscribers.



The ActiveVideo Distribution Network is a usage-based content distribution service that enables operators, programmers and advertisers to bring video programming and advertising models from the Internet to the television, including high-CPM ads that are targeted, auditable, interactive and actionable. AVDN delivers Web-driven programming and live and VOD streams - all with superior TV quality - over the existing two-way network infrastructure to any digital set-top box.

http://www.ictv.com

• As of September, PCCW's total broadband access lines in service reached approximately 998,000 by the end of June 2006, up 5 percent from 953,000 at the end of December 2005. The total number of telephone lines in service was approximately 2,579,000. The number of "now" IPTV users was 608,000. The proportion of customers paying for channels rose to 73 percent from 61 percent, and their ARPU increased to HK$118 from HK$110.

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Lockheed Martin Selects AT&T

Lockheed Martin awarded a $37 million, two-year contract extension to AT&T for a full range of integrated voice, data and IP services. AT&T's services will include end-to-end network-management support and a single point of contact to streamline all service orders and installations.



Lockheed Martin employs 140,000 people in more than 900 domestic locations and 56 countries.

http://www.att.com

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Quorum Raises $15 Million for CMOS radio frequency (RF) transceivers

Quorum Systems, a start-up based in San Diego, raised $15 million in a Series C funding, for its ultra-low-power, high-performance CMOS radio frequency (RF) transceivers.

The company recently moved into production volume of its first "Sereno" QS1000 quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE transceiver. The product family will include the QS1000, QS2000 and QS3000. The QS2000 integrates quad-band GSM/GPRS and EDGE capability with 802.11b/g, enabling simultaneous operation of Wi-Fi and cellular. The Sereno QS3000 combines GSM/GPRS/EDGE and 3G HSDPA into a single-chip, offering global support for dual mode HEDGE handsets.

Crescendo Ventures, a new investor to Quorum Systems, led the Series C funding, which also included existing investors Greylock Partners, Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield and Byers, and Enterprise Partners Venture Capital.

http://www.quorumsystems.com/

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ARRIS Posts Q3 Revenue of $228.6 million, up 14% YoY

ARRIS reported preliminary Q3 revenue of $228.6 million, up 14% as compared to $201.0 million in the third quarter 2005 and up 4% as compared to $220.0 million in the second quarter 2006. Net income in the third quarter 2006 was $26.6 million, or $0.24 per diluted share, as compared to net income of $18.8 million, or $0.18 per diluted share, in the third quarter 2005 and as compared to net income of $24.8 million or $0.23 per diluted share in the second quarter 2006.

ARRIS said demand for CMTS products continues to be driven by the Multi System Operators' (MSOs) competitive response to the telcos' aggressive marketing programs for FTTX and advanced digital subscriber line technologies as well as the need for MSOs to offer ever higher data rates to their subscribers.



During Q3, ARRIS announced that the nation's second largest MSO, Time Warner, had signed a two-year Purchase Agreement for ARRIS C4 and C3 CMTS products. Also announced were the successful field trials of wideband data services at speeds in excess of 100 Mbps to customers of KCTV JEJU Broadcasting in South Korea using the ARRIS FlexPath wideband data solution in the ARRIS Cadant C4 CMTS and the ARRIS Touchstone WBM650B wideband modems. Ihttp://www.arrisi.com

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LSI Logic to Acquire StoreAge Networking Technologies

LSI Logic Corporation agreed to acquire StoreAge Networking Technologies, a developer of SAN storage management and multi-tiered, data protection software, for $50 million in cash.



StoreAge is based in Nesher, Israel with US offices in Irvine, California.



LSI Logic said the acquisition would enable it to offer its OEM and channel customers a richer set of products and features for enterprise storage.

http://www.lsilogic.com

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Conexant to Acquire Zarlink's Packet Switching Line

Conexant Systems agreed to acquire Zarlink Semiconductor's packet switching product line for US$5 million in cash and additional amounts based on revenue performance of the product line over the next two years.



Based in Irvine, California, Zarlink's packet switching product line has developed a range of Fast Ethernet aggregation switches for network access equipment. Zarlink's engineering team has produced six generations of packet switches and management software.



Conexant said the acquisition would complement its DSL central office silicon solutions, enabling non-blocking VDSL line card performance.

http://www.conexant.comhttp://www.zarlink.com

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BT acquires Counterpane Internet Security

BT has acquired Counterpane Internet Security Inc., a provider of managed networked security services, as part of its strategy to expand and develop its global professional services capabilities. Financial terms were not disclosed.



Counterpane, which is based in Mountain View, California, monitors some 550 networks worldwide, real-time view of, and response to, IT security threats.



Andy Green, CEO BT Global Services, said: "Counterpane is a welcome addition to BT's global professional services community. As more and more of our customers seek to exploit the opportunities of globalisation, we are finding that increasingly business critical applications are dependent upon the resilience and security of their infrastructure. "http://www.btplc.comhttp://www.counterpane.com

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EMBARQ Rolls out "Smart Connect" Business FMC Service

Embarq, the fifth largest local communications company in the U.S., introduced a "Smart Connect" service that allows calls to move seamlessly between a business' wireless and wireline networks -- without interrupting the call. EMBARQ began its tiered rollout of this new technology by launching in Las Vegas, Orlando and Charlottesville, Va.



The general capability can be enhanced further with the EMBARQ "Smart Connect Plus", which enables calls to automatically move between the EMBARQ wireless network and the on-premise Wi-Fi network, whichever is strongest, without manual transfer of the call. This helps to reduce wireless costs, and improve coverage and call quality. EMBARQ also said its smart network connection will help minimize dropped calls, allow for better management of wireless charges and provide efficient integration of mobile workers.



EMBARQ Smart Connect will work with any wireless device and network service provider.



EMBARQ Smart Connect Plus employs the Starcom Pocket PC 6700 phone allowing automatic moves between Wi-Fi and wireless networks. This handset combines Evolution Data Optimized (EVDO) and Wi-Fi data functionality.

http://www.embarq.com

• EMBARQ is using NewStep Networks' fixed-mobile convergence platform.

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Cantata Integrates Media Server with Sonus' IMS Architecture

Cantata's SnowShore IP Media Server has been integrated with Sonus' IMS-ready architecture to perform the Media Resource Function (MRF) and facilitate the seamless delivery of subscriber-focused services and applications that enrich the communication experience. The integration brings together Sonus' ASX Feature Server and IMX Multimedia Application Platform with Cantata's software-based SnowShore IP Media Server, enabling the delivery of Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) and VoiceXML (vXML)-based applications through scripting capabilities and multimedia processing.

http://www.cantata.comhttp://www.sonusnet.com

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Alcatel Posts Quarterly Revenue of EUR 3.335 billion, 1.4% Growth, 34% Margin

Alcatel reported Q3 revenue of EUR 3.335 billion, up 1.4% compared with EUR 3.289 billion (up 2.7% at constant EUR/USD exchange rate) in the same period last year. The gross margin was 33.6%. Operating profit amounted to EUR 258 million, a 7.7% operating margin.



Third Quarter Business Update:

Segment Breakdown	Third Qtr	Third Qtr	Second Qtr
In EUR million	2006	2005	2006
Revenues
Fixed Communications	1,363	1,282	1,363
Mobile Communications	994	1,092	1,007
Private Communications	1,001	928	1,034
Other & Eliminations	(23)	(13)	(20)
Total	3,335	3,289	3,384
Income from Operations
Fixed Communications	151	121	133
Mobile Communications	64	116	80
Private Communications	50	64	51
Other & Eliminations	(7)	(23)	(1)
Total	258	278	263

Serge Tchuruk, Alcatel's Chairman and CEO, stated: "The third quarter once again confirmed Alcatel's leading position in the transformation of networks toward a high bandwidth, full IP architecture providing enhanced triple play services to end users and reducing operating costs for the carriers.



"In the wireline sector, this translated into increasing traction for our IP, access, optical and applications solutions in the carrier and enterprise markets where Alcatel's revenues (excluding the seasonal submarine activity) grew by over 10%. The strong inroads of Alcatel in the IP routing market were again highlighted by a near doubling of revenues over the same period last year. Likewise, terrestrial optics as well as enterprise applications revenues grew by over 20% and 30% respectively, with Alcatel's product portfolio clearly outpacing competition.



"This strong performance was partially offset by a decline in our wireless revenues, whose annualized growth had averaged 25% in eight successive quarters, and where the evolution toward IP technologies and new video services is still at an early stage."http://www.alcatel.com

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