Comcast Adds 437,000 Internet and 211,000 VoIP Customers in Q1

Comcast added nearly 1 million revenue generating units (RGUs) in Q1 -- its highest growth rate yet -- driving revenue in its Cable business to $5.6 billion. Some highlights for the quarter:Video revenue increased 6% to $3.6 billion in Q1, reflecting a 1.3 million or 14% increase in the number of digital customers from the first quarter of 2005. Comcast Cable ended the quarter with 10.1 million digital cable subscribers, a 47% penetration rate of the Company's 21.5 million basic cable subscribers.Growth in video revenue and digital cable subscribers...

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Orb Networks Offers Internet Radio and Podcasts from PCs to Mobile Phones

Orb Networks, a developer of software for providing access to digital content, announced support for playing and recording Internet radio and for enjoying podcasts from any mobile device with a streaming Windows Media Player, RealPlayer, 3GP player, or Macromedia Flash Player on any carrier network and Wi-Fi.The free Orb software enables the user to play and record Internet radio and enjoy podcasts from the native Web browser and streaming media player of their mobile phones and PDAs. The Orb software on a user's always-connected Windows XP PC...

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ECI Reports 11% Rise in Q1 Revenue

ECI Telecom reported Q1 revenue of $162 million, an 11% increase from the $145 million recorded in the first quarter of 2005 and compared with $169 million for the fourth quarter of 2005. Net income (GAAP) reached $3.1 million, or $0.03 per share on a fully diluted basis.Some highlights:Revenues for the Optical Networks Division totaled $89 million for the first quarter of 2006, up 17% from the year ago period and up $2 million from the preceding quarter. Revenues for the Broadband Access Division totaled $62 million for the first quarter of 2006,...

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mDisney Launches Cross-Carrier, Real-Time Multiplayer Mobile Game

mDisney, a mobile publishing unit of the Walt Disney Internet Group (WDIG), introduced Pirates of the Caribbean Multiplayer, a cross-carrier, real-time multiplayer game for mobile phones. The game, one of the first action adventure mobile multiplayer games, is slated to launch this summer, in conjunction with the theatrical release of Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest worldwide on July 7, 2006.The game will permit up to 16 players to engage in individual game sessions. Players will be able to chat with other players, make friends...

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Network Processing Forum Merges with Optical Internetworking Forum

The Network Processing Forum (NPF) will merge its activities with those of The Optical Internetworking Forum (OIF). The mission of the OIF is to accelerate the deployment of interoperable, cost-effective and robust optical networks and their associated technologies. The Network Processing Forum's mission to accelerate the adoption of network processing technologies through the development and implementation of network processing standards and benchmarks. By establishing standard interfaces and benchmarks, the NPF helps semiconductor manufacturers,...

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Nakina Systems Names Former Nortel Exec as Chairman

Nakina Systems, a start-up developing multi-vendor security and element management solutions for network operators, announced that Marco Pagani, former President of Nortel Networks' Metro Optical and Optical Ethernet divisions, has been appointed Chairman of Nakina's Board of Directors.Marco Pagani has recently served as Chairman of the Board of Directors at a number of telecom high-tech companies, including Nimcat Networks, where he helped steer the company towards its eventual acquisition by Avaya in 2005. His most recent position at Nortel was...

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Sprint Offers end-to-end MPLS VPN Service Level Agreement (SLA)

Sprint introduced a standard end-to-end MPLS VPN Service Level Agreements (SLAs) on its wholly owned global network. The new performance guarantees, which are provided at no additional charge to customers, extend SLA coverage and reporting beyond the backbone network and now include the local loop, covering service from customer router to customer router. The service level guarantees include an enhanced network availability SLA of up to 100%, standard end-to-end packet loss and jitter SLAs, and a standard end-to-end delay methodology applicable...

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aduno Introduces its Web 2.0 Conferencing Service

aduno, a start-up based in Paris, introduced its "Rich Meeting" next generation audioweb conferencing services. The company said its Web 2.0 - programming approach will make online, reservationless conferencing available to a much wider audience.Key attributes of aduno include:Provides personal portals for the organizer and participants, to make the audio and web connections simultaneous, immediate and totally secure; no code or number to dial, the access is instantaneous,Offers native integration of audio and web, allowing for piloting, i.e....

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Covad Reports Positive Trends

Covad Communications reported Q1 net revenue of $117.8 million, an increase of 3.6 percent from the $113.7 million reported for the fourth quarter of 2005, and an increase of 9.4 percent from the $107.7 million reported for the first quarter of 2005. Net revenues for the first quarter of 2006 included $1.7 million from a software license agreement.Net loss for the first quarter of 2006 was $9.3 million, or $0.03 per share, an improvement of $8.6 million, or 48.0 percent, from the $17.9 million net loss, or $0.07 per share, reported for the fourth...

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Alcatel's Q1 Revenue Rises 18% YoY

Alcatel reported Q1 2006 revenue of EUR 3.067 billion, up 17.8% compared with EUR 2.607 billion (up 14.9% at constant EUR/$ exchange rate) in the same period last year. The gross margin was 34.9%. Operating profit amounted to EUR 198 million, a 6.5% operating margin. Net income (group share) for the quarter was registered at EUR 104 million or a diluted EPS of EUR 0.08 per share (US$ 0.10 per ADS), which included capital gains of EUR 0.02 per share....

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Alcatel Appoints Head of Merger Integration Team

Alcatel appointed Christian Reinaudo to serve as EVP Integration Project Team Leader to manage the integration and transition process associated with the merger with Lucent Technologies. Reinaudo, a member of the Alcatel executive committee, currently serves as EVP, President of Alcatel Asia Pacific.Alcatel announced two other executive appointments.Frédéric Rose is appointed EVP, President of Alcatel Asia Pacific. He will be based in Shanghai. Frederic Rose joins the Alcatel Executive Committee. He was formerly President of Alcatel's Integration...

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Lucent Completes Riverstone Acquisition

Lucent Technologies completed its acquisition of certain net assets of Riverstone Networks, a maker of carrier Ethernet routers for the telecommunications industry. The purchase price under the amended agreement is approximately $207 million, subject to purchase price adjustments. Lucent said the integration of the Riverstone products would augment its IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) solution. Substantially all of Riverstone's 400 employees are now employees of Lucent.http://www.lucent....

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Brightcove Previews its Internet TV Service

Brightcove, a start-up based in Boston, launched an open, commercial preview of its Internet TV service, which helps video content producers to build broadband TV channels and distribute their video through the Internet. The open commercial preview will offer individuals and organizations the ability to use Brightcove in advance of the full commercial release at no cost."Internet TV has tremendous momentum in the marketplace today, and we're seeing a wide range of content owners and creators quickly moving into broadband programming and distribution,"...

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Industry Group Proposes Public/Private Safety Network in 700 MHz band

A group of wireless industry and public safety communications veterans led by Morgan O'Brien, a co-founder of Nextel, called for the creation of a nationwide, seamless, next-generation network for improved public safety communications.The group envisions a self-sustaining business model for public safety communications that takes advantage of the historic opportunity arising from the long-planned clearance of some of the nation's most useful frequencies, which broadcasters will vacate by 2009. Specifically, a 30 MHz block of spectrum in the 700...

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