Telecom Italia and Cisco Target DoS/DDoS Attacks

Telecom Italia Sparkle (TI Sparkle) is rolling out a network-based solution designed to provide more effective protection against Denial of Service (DoS) and Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks for international wholesale customers of the TI Sparkle IP backbone (SEABONE). S@FE is the result of close cooperation between TI Sparkle and Cisco Systems. Trials are currently underway.

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

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Deutsche Telekom Reaches 8.5 Million DSL, and 86.6 Million Mobile Subscribers

Deutsche Telekom released key growth figures for 2005, citing gains the broadband and mobile sectors. Some highlights:

• The Mobile segment remained the key growth driver for Deutsche Telekom in the fourth quarter of 2005 and the group now has over 86.6 million users. Organic customer growth over the full year amounted to just under 12 percent or around 9.0 million. Around another 200,000 customers can be added from the newly consolidated Monet/Montenegro.



• T-Mobile USA added 1.4 million net new customers in the fourth quarter of 2005 and served 21.7 million customers at the end of the year.



• T-Mobile Deutschland achieved an increase of more than 2.1 million customers to 29.5 million in 2005, of which over 48 percent postpay customers.



• During Q4 2005, the number of broadband lines in Germany and abroad rose by around 10 percent, or 762,000, to 8.5 million. In Germany, around 7.9 million DSL lines provided by T-Com were in operation at the end of 2005. Some 660,000 new DSL lines were put into operation in the fourth quarter.



• The Broadband/Fixed Network segment registered around 182,000 own new DSL lines in the retail business on a net basis and around 479,000 resale lines that are sold by competitors.



• The number of DSL lines provided by DT companies in Central and Eastern Europe more than doubled year-on-year to 541,000. Broadband lines exceeded the 100,000 mark at both T-Hrvatski Telekom and Slovak Telecom by the end of 2005 as a result. The growth accelerated in the fourth quarter with 48,000 new broadband customers in Hungary, 30,000 new customers in Croatia and 24,000 new customers in the Slovak Republic.



• The number of narrowband lines in Germany and abroad fell by 3.7 percent to 41.2 million, in Germany by around 4 percent to 35.2 million year-on-year. The decrease in the number of ISDN lines was greater than that of analog lines.



• T-Online increased the number of customers with a billing relationship to 14.0 million by the end of the year. The company delivered 15.5 million music downloads in 2005. The Video on Demand service offered by T-Online Vision currently delivers about 80,000 movie downloads per month.

http://www.telekom.de

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3Com Names New CEO

3Com named R. Scott Murray President and Chief Executive Officer, replacing Bruce Claflin who retires. Murray also assumes Claflin's position on the 3Com Board of Directors. Murray will shortly become Chairman of the company's joint venture in China, Huawei-3Com.



Prior to accepting the role of CEO for 3Com, Murray was the CEO of Modus Media International, a global provider of supply chain management and hosted services. While at Modus, he expanded the company's operations in Europe and Asia, particularly in China. In addition to his work with Modus Media, Murray also was president and chief operating officer for Stream International, an outsourced Customer Relationship Management (CRM) services company. He previously served as CFO for the Learning Company, a publicly traded software company.

http://www.3com.com

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ITU Standardizes on PacketCable 1.5 Suite

The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) approved a suite of CableLabs' PacketCable specifications as standards for the international version of services including VoIP.



PacketCable-based standards are known internationally as IPCablecom, and this recently approved suite covers such topics as architecture, network call signaling, call management server (CMS) to CMS signaling, quality of service (QoS), support for multimedia and other functions necessary to provide time-critical interactive services over a cable television network using IP.



The ITU approval stems from work carried out in October by ITU Study Group (SG) 9, which is entitled Integrated Broadband Cable Networks and Television and Sound Transmission group. SG 9 is chaired by CableLabs President and CEO Dr. Richard R. Green. ITU approval came in late November after consultation with its member states and sector members.



Many of the approved recommendations originated in CableLabs. In addition to the suite of 16 PacketCable 1.5 specifications that now are international standards, the ITU also standardized on CableLabs contributions from the DOCSIS and CableHome projects. J.128 references a Set-top Gateway specification for transmission systems for interactive cable television services. J.197 pertains to high-level requirements for a Digital Rights Management Bridge to a Home Network and a revision to J.192, a residential gateway to support the delivery of cable data services, which aligns it with CableHome 1.1.

http://www.cablelabs.org/news/pr/2006/06_pr_itu_pc15_012606.html

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GlobeCast Renews Contract with Intelsat for IA-5 Capacity

GlobeCast WorldTV renewed a long-term, multi-transponder contract for Intelsat-Americas 5 (IA-5) satellite capacity to support the substantial growth of its international television distribution platform over North America. IA-5, located at 97 degrees W, hosts one of the largest neighborhoods of international video programming in the U.S. and has been home to GlobeCast WorldTV since 1998.



GlobeCast WorldTV is an aggregator and distributor of premium international television and radio channels in North America for delivery via direct-to-home (DTH), cable, IPTV, hotels, multiple dwelling units (MDU's) and commercial establishments. More than 161 WorldTV television and radio channels originate from Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Africa and the Americas, and represent 41 countries in over 33 languages, offering a unique line-up of native homeland programming as well as original in-language programming tailored for U.S. audiences.

http://www.intelsat.com

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Amaru Prepares to Launch Global IPTV Service over the Internet

M2B World, a company based in Singapore with a subsidiary named "Amaru" based in Hollywood, California, is launching a Global IPTV service that will offer 40-channels of content streamed over the Internet to an Amaru-provided set-top box. Amaru is partnering Zentek Technology Singapore (Zentek) for the design of the set-top boxes and for technical service support to customers on a worldwide basis. Amaru said its content will range from Hollywood movies, documentaries, music, fashion and lifestyle to travel and leisure, corporate training and professional development. In addition, an "IPTV cache" will feature karaoke on-demand, Asian programming (in particular Korean serials) and the latest Hollywood blockbusters.



Amaru operates video server farms in Singapore and in San Jose, California.



Amaru and its M2B World subsidiaries target to ship 250,000 set-top boxes worldwide within the year.



The service launch is planned for February 2006. Pricing has not yet been announced.

http://www.m2bworld.com/

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Sri Lanka Telecom Deploys Juniper for MPLS

Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT) has further expanded its network with Juniper Networks M-series multiservice routing platforms and E-series Broadband Services Routers.



The M-series platforms enable SLT to offer advanced MPLS-based Virtual Private Network (VPN) services to business consumers in Sri Lanka. SLT has also upgraded its broadband infrastructure with Juniper's E-series to enable advanced multiservice broadband offerings.



SLT previously deployed Juniper Networks M-series to replace its legacy Internet gateway routers. The carrier now plans to introduce MPLS Layer 2 and Layer 3 VPNs, and VPLS, as well as integrated voice, video and data (triple play) broadband services. Financial terms were not disclosed.
http://www.juniper.net

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AOL Signs New Broadband Deals with BellSouth, Time Warner and Verizon

AOL announced new broadband partnership deals with major network operators, including BellSouth, Time Warner Cable, Verizon and other DSL carriers.

The deals enable AOL to offer its premium Internet service over a high-speed connection for as low as $25.90. In BellSouth's territory, AOL High Speed will be offered at $29.90.

AOL said its plans to launch aggressive marketing for the new AOL High Speed offering, hoping to encourage its dial-up subscribers to upgrade to broadband. AOL is working with BBDO New York for national television, radio and print advertising.

"With the new AOL broadband network, we're leveraging the strength of our service and our customer relationships to make the most of the shifting broadband marketplace," said Jonathan F. Miller, Chairman & CEO of America Online, Inc. "We are taking advantage of the improving economics of broadband access to create an offering that combines the AOL service with the speed of broadband at a competitive price. In so doing, we're building a better experience for our members, bringing new subscribers to our network partners, and enhancing the lifetime member value of our customer relationships."http://www.aol.com

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Cisco Cites CRS-1 Core Router Deployments in China

China Education and Research Network (CERNET), the world's largest education network, has deployed the Cisco CRS-1 Carrier Routing System to provide increased bandwidth and improved performance to more than 20 million Internet users in China. The Cisco CRS-1 in its core network nodes in five cities: Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Wuhan and Nanjing. The CERNET network links more than 1,000 major universities and research institutions in China.



Shanghai Telecom has replaced numerous routers powering its "super" point of presence "POP," or high-speed core IP network, with the Cisco CRS-1. Shanghai Telecom is the first telecom operator in China to adopt the Cisco CRS-1 Multichassis System, which can be scaled up to 72 line-card shelves, totaling 1,152 slots, providing room for system expansion to satisfy the company's needs for the next 10 to 15 years. Shanghai Telecom offers IP-based services and network connections to ChinaNet, China Telecom's national Internet network.



As China's largest Internet service network, ChinaNet currently offers services countrywide with more than 18 million broadband subscribers and a total capacity of 4,000 Gbps, accounting for more than half of China's bandwidth for Internet services. Cisco CRS-1 transited the previous multi-router structure of ChinaNet's core network nodes in eight cities: Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Tianjin, Xi'an, Chengdu, Wuhan and Nanjing. After integration, ChinaNet significantly enhanced the network capacity and improved management efficiency, enabling China Telecom to strengthen broadband business as well as laying foundation for the development of next-generation Internet applications.

http://www.cisco.com

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Lockheed Martin Awarded $2 Billion USAF Networking Contract

Lockheed Martin was awarded a $2 billion contract to lead the development of an advanced, high-bandwidth, global communications network for the U.S. Air Force.



The 10-year contract for the TSAT Missions Operations System (TMOS) program will link the Transformational Satellite Communications Systems (TSAT) program to the Global Information Grid (GIG) and is expected to commence operations in 2014. TSAT will provide mobile forces a high-bandwidth connection to the GIG from virtually anywhere in the world, while protecting its users from enemy detection, eavesdropping and jamming. Its high-capacity links are expected to significantly increase the military's capability to support its deployed forces with real-time intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.



Lockheed Martin said work on the TMOS program will be conducted in San Jose and Los Angeles, California to start and will eventually involve more than 300 people including subcontractors working around the country. The Lockheed Martin-led team includes leading defense and commercial IT experts, including Northrop Grumman, Telcordia Technologies, SAIC and Verizon.

http://www.lockheedmartin.com

• In late 2003, the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) selected Science Applications International Corporation's (SAIC's) to build its Global Information Grid - Bandwidth Expansion (GIG-BE) system. GIG-BE is designed to enhance the Defense Department's network infrastructure to operate at 10 Gbps in support of voice, data, video, and transport services among more than 100 key locations worldwide. Analysts estimated the cost of the project in the hundreds of millions of dollars. SAIC has awarded a number of subcontracts under the project: Ciena for optical transport systems; Sprint/Sycamore for optical digital cross connect equipment; Juniper Networks for IP routers; and Qwest Government Services/Cisco Systems for multi-service provisioning platforms. Ciena confirmed that it will supply its CoreStream optical transport and switching platform for deployment in DISA's GIG-BE optical IP terrestrial network. Juniper Networks also confirmed that it was been awarded a multi-year contract for its M- and T- series routing platforms. Deployment commenced in early 2004.



• The Global Information Grid - Bandwidth Expansion (GIG-BE) program reached full operational capability as of December 2005

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