T-Com Launches VDSL2 Network in 10 German Cities

Beginning August 2, Deutsche Telekom's T-Com division will begin offering consumer broadband access at up to 50 Mbps over its new VDSL network in ten cities. The service delivers voice communication, Internet usage and IPTV via a single line.



In cooperation with TV provider Premiere, DT is featuring the German top league Bundesliga via VDSL for an additional EUR 9.95 a month. Fans signing up now get an additional bonus: The first half of the season is for free. Aficionados can watch individual games or a so-called conference switch, which juggles between all the matches being played. Additionally, the top match of the week will be broadcast in HD.

http://www.telekom.de

• T-Online is using Microsoft's IPTV platform.

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SingTel Offer "PingPower" Low-Latency Service for Local Gamers

SingTel introduced a "PingPower" broadband service specifically tailored for local gamers with low-latency access to servers. The service promises latency as low as 10 milliseconds (ms).



As a start, players of four popular online games - "Battle Field 2", "Counter Strike 1.6", "Counter Strike Source" and "Day of Defeat"- will experience significantly lower latency when they sign up for SingNet's PingPower.

http://www.singtel.com

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FCC Qualifies 168 Bidders for AWS Spectrum Auction

A total of 168 applicants have been qualified to bid in the upcoming FCC auction for Advanced Wireless Services licenses in the 1710-1755 MHz and 2110-2155 MHz bands (AWS-1). The auction is slated to begin on Wednesday, August 9, 2006.



The list of qualified bidders is posted on the FCC website.

http://www.fcc.gov

• In August 2005, the FCC modified the band plan, and licensing and service rules – originally adopted in October 2003 – for the 90 MHz of Advanced Wireless Service (AWS) spectrum at 1710-1755 MHz and 2110-2155 MHz.
  
  
  
  The original band plan for this spectrum adopted by the FCC in October 2003 included a mixture of license sizes and geographic areas in order to accommodate the needs of wireless providers of various sizes serving a range of different geographic areas. The new order maintains such a mixture but increases the amount of spectrum licensed on a small geographic area basis (Cellular Market Areas, or CMAs) from 10 MHz to 20 MHz in order to provide greater opportunities for smaller rural or regional providers to obtain access to this spectrum at auction. The Order also provides for an additional 10 MHz of spectrum licensed by Economic Areas (EAs).

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SanDisk To Acquire Msystems for Handset Flash Memory

SanDisk agreed to acquire msystems Ltd. in a stock swap in which each msystems ordinary share will be converted into 0.76368 of a share of SanDisk common stock, representing a 26% premium over the average closing price of msystems' shares for the last thirty trading days. The deal is valued at about $1.3 billion.



This combination joins together two flash memory pioneers with complementary products, customers and channels.



Israel-based msystems is a leader in flash memory systems addressing mobile, portable and embedded markets.



SanDisk, which is based in Milpitas, California,
is the world's largest supplier of flash memory data storage card products.



"SanDisk and msystems, over the past 18 years, have been leading innovators in the flash storage market. This strategic acquisition will give us the critical mass and complementary products, customers, channels, technology and manufacturing base to take our shared vision to the next level. The NAND flash data storage business is in its early stages and we believe the market opportunity is largely untapped," said Eli Harari, Chairman and CEO of SanDisk.

http://www.sandisk.com

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Internet2 Offers Members Dedicated Wavelengths

The Internet2 consortium began offering its members dedicated optical wavelengths in addition to dark fiber assets.



The new service, called WaveCo, will provide members with access to lightpaths beyond the Internet2 Network footprint using Level 3 Communications' network. Through Internet2's agreement with the carrier, the "off-net" service will have the advantage of aggregated rates which are especially beneficial for regional networks that wish to extend their reach to only a few sites with varying demands for circuit capacity or duration.



These services are being offered in advance of the completion of the recently announced new Internet2 Network infrastructure, which will be built on experience gained through Internet2's successful Hybrid Optical Packet Infrastructure (HOPI) testbed. The HOPI project examined hybrid packet and circuit switched optical infrastructures to understand next generation network architectures. When complete, the new Internet2 Network will provide advanced capabilities to support the work of computer scientists and researchers, including testing new network paradigms, protocols, and architectures that push the envelope of networking technology.

http://www.internet2.edu/waveco

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QUALCOMM Signs Fabrication and Test Deal with SMIC

QUALCOMM announced a strategic agreement with Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC), one of the leading semiconductor foundries. SMIC will provide integrated circuit (IC) manufacturing services to QUALCOMM using a specialized BiCMOS process technology at its Tianjin, China facility. This agreement will combine SMIC's wafer fabrication capabilities and subcontractor infrastructure with QUALCOMM's 3G technology.

http://www.qualcomm.com

• In June 2003, QUALCOMM announced plans to invest up to US$100 million in early- to mid-stage Chinese companies engaged in the development and commercialization of CDMA-based products, applications and services.



• In March 2006, QUALCOMM announced the joint founding of TechFaith Software China Limited to focus on the development of application software for mobile devices.

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