Spirent Introduces New IMS Testing Product

Spirent Communications announced availability of the Spirent Protocol Tester, a new platform testing the IMS architecture.Spirent Protocol supports all major VoIP and IMS protocols and media formats, including conformance, protocol, functional and interoperability testing, while simultaneously providing high-performance signaling and media load generation. It can test and emulate virtually any VoIP and IMS network element, function or service. Its...

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Ixia Scales its Subscriber Emulation for Carrier Class Networks

Ixia has added new capabilities for its Optixia hardware platform that almost triples its subscriber emulation scalability. Using the Aptixia IxLoad Triple Play test application, service providers and system vendors can emulate virtual "countries" of web users, more than 40 million, connecting at the rate of over 1.5 million users per second; virtual "cities" of voice callers, making more than 60,000 simultaneous calls; and virtual "towns" of video subscribers, receiving more than 30,000 standard definition video streams -- all from a single Optixia...

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Apple Adds Movie Downloads to iTunes, Shows STB

In a much anticipated announcement, Apple began offering over 75 movies from Walt Disney Pictures, Pixar, Touchstone Pictures and Miramax Films through its iTunes store. Movies will become available on the iTunes Store the same day they are released on DVD, with new releases priced at $12.99 when pre-ordered and during their first week of availability, and $14.99 thereafter, and library titles available for $9.99. Videos are downloaded in near-DVD...

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RealNetworks to Acquire WiderThan -- a Ringtone Provider -- for $350 Million

RealNetworks will acquire WiderThan, a leading provider of integrated mobile music and entertainment solutions, through a cash tender offer for $17.05 per share or approximately $350 million.WiderThan is a leading provider of ringback tones, music-on-demand and other mobile entertainment services to more than 50 wireless carriers in more than 25 countries including leading carriers such as SK Telecom in South Korea, Verizon Wireless in the U.S., and Bharti Airtel in India. For the six months ended June 30, 2006, WiderThan achieved $61.9 million...

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Iliad Group Plans Multibillion FTTH Rollout in Paris

The Iliad Group's Free division, unveiled plans for a widescale rollout of FTTH in Paris. The company said the new network will give it true independence from the incumbent operator, France Telecom. The project is expected to take 24 months to reach 2.1 million people.Free plans to invest EUR 1 billion in the project through 2012. The company initially will targets areas were its Freebox installation density is greatest. The Freebox HD's ADSL2+ terminal will be replaced by an optical box.The company plans to offer a EUR 29.99 per month service...

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DSL Forum Broadens its Focus to Include Broadband Control and Broadband Home Architecture

The DSL Forum is broadening its mission beyond DSL to address interoperability and management across DSL, fiber and alternative broadband technologies. In addition to the new access technologies, the expanded focus will also include the network control layer or a service provider network and the broadband home network."The DSL Forum serves as the catalyst for developing critical standards necessary for the delivery of DSL and integrated services...

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AT&T Launches MobiTV Service over Broadband

AT&T will begin offering the MobiTV service to broadband users in the United States, including AT&T Yahoo! High Speed Internet and AT&T WorldNet subscribers. AT&T currently has more than 7.8 million DSL lines in service.The browser-based service, which will be called AT&T Broadband TV, initially will have approximately 20 channels of live and made-for-broadband television content spanning national news, sports, entertainment and...

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NETGEAR Ships WiFi Phone for Skype in Volume

NETGEAR announced volume shipments of its new WiFi Phone for Skype. The phone is shipping to pre-order customers in the U.S. and Canada starting this week at an MSRP of $249.99. It will be available in Europe and Asia-Pacific by early October. NETGEAR said Skype already has an impressive pre-order list for the product.http://www.netgear....

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VON: Pulver Keynote Marks 10th Anniversary of VoIP

This year marks the 10th anniversary of VoIP. What started out as "a bottoms-up disruption" from innovators at small companies has grown into a multi-billion industry embraced by all the major players, observed Jeff Pulver, speaking at the opening of the VON event in Boston. The PSTN is not going away, said Pulver, it's just morphing into a multi-modal billing engine.This year also marks the transition of VON from strictly a VoIP event into multi-faceted...

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mPhase Enhances IPTV Software for MPEG-4 Set Top Boxes

mPhase Technologies announced a new generation of its TV+ System IPTV software that supports the latest video encoding standards as well as a host of other features. The new capabilities, to be generally available in 4Q06, include the ability to apply up to 4 encodings to a single channel and thereby support a mix of MPEG4 and MPEG2 video streams, depending on STB capability. mPhase said this multiple encoding capability is an efficient way for providers to support a mix of network types - Ethernet, DSL and fiber. A new addition to the TV+ System...

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Intelsat, Telespazio and Hughes Europe Launch Satellite Broadband Service

Intelsat, Telespazio and Hughes Network Systems Europe are launching a satellite broadband service to serve Italian corporations with locations in Eastern Europe. Intelsat is providing capacity on the IS-901 satellite located at 342 degrees E; Telespazio (Finmeccanica/Alcatel Company) is providing Internet backbone connectivity and managing operations from its teleport in Fucino, Italy; and Hughes is supplying the recently launched HN7000S product platform with DVB-S2 including a NOC (Network Operations Center) and broadband satellite routers,...

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SunRocket Deploys Sylantro Application Feature Server

SunRocket has deployed Sylantro's Synergy Applications Feature Server platform for its residential VoIP subscribers. The platform provides features such as call blocking, caller ID, call forwarding and distinctive ring tones. http://www.sylantro.comhttp://www.SunRocket....

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News Corp. and VeriSign Create Mobile Entertainment Company

News Corporation and VeriSign have formed a joint venture company to provide mobile entertainment. News Corp. will pay approximately $188 million for a controlling interest in VeriSign's wholly-owned Jamba subsidiary and will combine it with Fox Mobile Entertainment assets.The new company will integrate a technologically advanced platform with mobile content production and delivery capabilities and will serve 30 territories with a potential reach of more than a billion mobile subscribers. The new company intends to retain the Jamster brand in the...

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Sprint Launches its Own Mobile Sports and Entertainment Video Programming

Sprint launched its made-for-mobile sports and entertainment video programming network featuring the latest sports and entertainment news, features and original programming at no additional charge for its Sprint Vision and Power Vision customers. The programming will originate from the Sprint Power View desk located in New York in partnership with IMG Media. In addition to the main Sprint Power View desk, 15 mobile camera crews will file on-location...

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YouTube Selects Level 3 for End-to-End Backbone

Level 3 will provide YouTube with its High Speed Internet Access via multiple 10GigE ports. Level 3 will also provide 10 GigE LAN PHY wavelength service across a nationwide footprint connecting YouTube's data centers. Financial terms were not disclosed.http://www.level3....

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AT&T to Acquire USi for $300 Million -- an ASP

AT&T agreed to acquire privately held USinternetworking, Inc. ("USi"), a leading independent Applications Service Provider (ASP) -- for approximately $300 million in cash and assumed debt.USi specializes in managed enterprise software solutions and on-demand services. USi provides software management and outsourcing services for widely used popular business software from companies like Oracle, PeopleSoft, Siebel, Microsoft, IBM WebSphere and Ariba. The company also develops, hosts and manages customized eCommerce solutions.AT&T said the...

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NexTone Raises $25 Million

NexTone Communications raised a $25 million investment from Columbia Partners Private Capital, the private investment group of Columbia Partners L.L.C., a Washington, D.C.-based investment management group. The new funding brings the company's total private funding to date to $92.5 million. Earlier venture investors in NexTone include One Equity Partners (OEP), BCE Capital, Core Capital, Mid-Atlantic Venture Funds, and Safeguard Scientifics.Nextone...

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