SaskTel, the incumbent operator in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) will Alcatel to conduct joint research and development. Once finalized, the agreement will lead to the creation of approximately twenty new R&D positions to be based in Saskatchewan and jointly funded by Alcatel and SaskTel.
R&D activity resulting from the MOU will focus on the development of advanced software applications to address global market needs. Products and services resulting from the collaboration will be distributed worldwide utilizing the extensive market reach of Alcatel's global sales presence in conjunction with SaskTel Internatihttp://www.alcatel.com
EarthLink officially launched its first municipal Wi-Fi broadband network in the City of Anaheim. EarthLink has deployed Tropos Networks' MetroMesh Wi-Fi routers on light poles throughout the city. The full city-wide deployment is expected by the end of the year.
The network operates under an 'open access' business model, so that multiple, competing providers can offer their services to consumers and businesses along with EarthLink's products and services. Several paid tiers of service are available. For Anaheim-based small businesses, EarthLink's wireless network promises speeds comparable to existing T-1 solutions.
In conjunction with its commitment to open access, EarthLink today announced its first national wholesale partners that will offer service to their customers on EarthLink's municipal Wi-Fi network. These partners are PeoplePC (EarthLink's wholly-owned subsidiary) and DirecTV. In addition, EarthLink has reached a non-binding agreement with AOL and is discussing ways to offer its AOL.com content and Web assets on EarthLink's municipal network.
NTT Communications is expanding its Global Super Link Ethernet service to England, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Hong Kong in addition to the U.S. and Japan. The expanded reach will be available in July.
NTT Com is also introducing a more flexible fee structure. Currently, users can choose between two transmission speeds of 45Mbps, for a flat rate, or 100Mbps with a fee depending on data traffic. Under the new flexible fee, users can choose transmission speeds in increments of 10Mbps from 10Mbps to 100Mbps for a flat rate, although 100Mbps subscribers can also opt for a variable rate.
The Global Super Link Ethernet service runs over NTT Com's Global IP/MPLS backbone. Enterprise users can create a global LAN environment using their existing equipment, which saves the cost of having to purchase special devices. http://www.ntt.com
Rogers Communications will implement Amdocs CRM across its cable, wireless and telecom lines of business. This implementation is part of Rogers' integrated customer management (ICM) strategy rollout which is designed to provide a consistent customer experience to its more than 10 million subscribers. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Customers receive a variety of communications services from Rogers, including cable TV, high-speed Internet, wireline and wireless. Rogers strives to ensure a consistent customer experience across all those services. Providing a single view of the customer is part of an ICM strategy, which helps achieve that. ICM provides a framework to organize a company's infrastructure and resources around customer needs and the customer experience.
Rogers is also using Amdocs billing software to support its various lines of business.
Vonage introduced its V-Phone, a portable and multifunctional 256 MB USB device with a pre-loaded softphone.
The V-phone comes with a standard 2.5 mm stereo earpiece microphone, which is compatible with many cell phone headsets.
Vonage said its phone offers added convenience because phone call history and contacts travel with the V-Phone if customers insert it into different PCs.
Vonage worked with Ubistar and SJ Labs to collaboratively develop its new product. The device is not compatible with Macs nor with Linux.
Overture Networks was awarded its seventh patent, No 7,069,512 on "Command Line Interface with Indication of Network Element Status", which enables operators of Overture Networks' ISG family of products to quickly ascertain the operational status of nodes in their networks. Other patents held by Overture Networks are in the pseudo- wire and protected switching ring fields.
Overture said its patented Command Line Interface (CLI) status indicator provides a simple, unobtrusive visual indication of an issue requiring attention. Operators can determine at a glance the severity of the issue based on Overture Networks' unique fault classification identifications, making problem isolation and resolution faster and simpler.
UTStarcom has signed a contract with China Telecom Group to supply 300,000 QBOX terminals. China Telecom will sell the QBOX for use with its Homebox fixed-line/PAS convergence service, which is available in 24 cities in China.
The Homebox service is designed to allow iPAS users to seamlessly roam between the public PAS network and their private iPAS connections at home, which are provided by the QBOX terminal. The QBOX thus enables fixed-mobile convergence (FMC) by allowing subscribers to use their iPAS devices as digital cordless phones. In addition, existing fixed-line users can use the UTStarcom terminal to enjoy the value-added services that PAS provides. The QBOX can also be configured to integrate ADSL CPE and WiFi access point functions, enabling China Telecom to offer wireless data access in the home computing environment.
China Telecom is the largest PAS and fixed-line operator in China, with approximately 60 million PAS subscribers. The operator first launched the Homebox service in six cities in the second half of 2005. To date, about 300,000 users have signed up, and the service will ultimately extend to 24 cities. http://www.utstar.com
MTV Networks' new television programming from Spike TV, Nick at Nite, TV Land, Logo, MTV and The N is now available on the iTunes Music Store.
The iTunes Music Store features a selection of over 9,000 music videos, Pixar and Disney short films, a variety of hit TV shows, and more than three million songs from the major music companies and over 1,000 independent labels.
Axiom Systems, which supplies Service Fulfillment software for communications service providers, announced a strategic partnership with TierOne OSS Technologies, a leading North American Operations Support System (OSS) consultancy and systems integrator.
The integration of Axiom's AXIOSS with TierOne's enSEMBLE results in an integrated Service Fulfillment solution that addresses the provisioning and activation requirements across Layer 1 (Optical, Photonic), Layer 2 (Carrier Ethernet, DSL, Broadband) and Layer 3 (VoIP, IPTV) networks.
AXIOSS is a unique component-based platform that enables Service Provider's to design, create and deliver next generation services such as IPTV and VoIP over agnostic broadband and IP networks.
TierOne enSEMBLE is an integrated solution suite for comprehensive transport network management supporting last-gen, this-gen and next-generation services. The TierOne enSEMBLE solution includes a suite of software component applications designed and developed to address specific network operations requirements. One component, TierOne enVISION, provides Fortune 500 companies with a robust customer service management application that enables them to view and manage their own 'virtual' network and services. http://www.axiomsystems.com
that European Web hosting provider Strato Medien AG has deployed the Cisco Carrier Routing System (CRS-1) to handle its increasing traffic load. From its data centers in Berlin and Karlsruhe, Strato Medien currently hosts more than 2 million domains and 1 million customer contracts. The company recently announced the introduction of its Web hosting services in France, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Italy and Spain.
Force10 Networks named Karen Blasing as chief financial officer. Blasing joins Force10 from Salesforce.com, where she had responsibility for worldwide accounting, finance, tax and treasury functions as well as real estate, facilities and procurement. Prior to Salesforce.com, she served as chief financial officer at Nuance Communications, where she was instrumental in negotiating the 2005 merger with ScanSoft, Inc. Ms. Blasing also served as chief financial officer for Counterpane Internet Security and has held senior finance positions with Informix, Oracle and Syntex Corporation.
Acme Packet's Net-Net session border controllers (SBCs) have been certified for Stealth Communications' Voice Peering Fabric (VPF). The Net-Net SBC is RFC3263 compliant and supports the ENUM and SRV DNS look-up architecture to discover the next hop for call routing. Stealth Communications has certified that the Net-Net SBCs can be used with the VPF ENUM and SRV Registry.
The VPF ENUM Registry resolves E.164 numbers to URIs and the VPF SRV Registry resolves domain names to specific IP addresses for call routing. VoIP calls terminated using the VPF ENUM Registry or the VPF SRV Registry remain on IP networks end-to-end, bypassing the PSTN and can be completed at no cost to VPF members. Acme Packet's Net-Net SBCs can be configured to query for ENUM and SRV records as part of their routing policy to discover the next hop to complete a VoIP call.
"Today VPF operates the largest and most active ENUM registry in the world. It holds over 15 million phone numbers and completes on average one-half million calls daily. Now with the recent launch of the VPF SRV Registry, VPF members can populate a database to indicate specific servers that will handle calls for a particular domain name, enabling calls to initiate using email like identifiers," said Shrihari Pandit, president and CEO of Stealth Communications. "Session border control is critical at service providers' peering borders, not only for intelligent routing using ENUM and SRV capabilities, but also to deliver security, interworking, mediation, admission control and many other features including revenue protection."
"VoIP peering requires a secure, trusted IP border and the ability to mediate the different IP address spaces, codecs and signaling, transport and encryption protocols used within each network," said Seamus Hourihan, Acme Packet's vice president of marketing and product management. "Acme Packet's Net-Net SBCs, whether used in bilateral or multilateral interconnect arrangements, play a key role in determining the best routing for a VoIP call and satisfy critical service reach, security, service assurance and regulatory requirements."http://www.acmepacket.comhttp://www.thevpf.com
