Redline to Supply WiMAX in Paraguay

Personal, a subsidiary of Telecom Argentina, has chosen Redline Communications' RedMAX family of products to power its WiMAX service in Paraguay. Personal has completed the roll out of the RedMAX network in Asunción and is continuing its network expansion. The deployment team included Personal, Brightstar (a Redline Value Added Distributor), Cisco, Softnet Logicalis and Redline.

http://www.redlinecommunications.com/

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Japan's NII Research Net Deploys Juniper's T-series Routers

Japan's National Institute of Informatics (NII) has upgraded its nationwide SINET3 backbone with Juniper Networks T-series Core Routers. The expanded SINET3 next generation network (NGN) consolidates the NII's existing SINET and SuperSINET infrastructures into the country's largest and most advanced research and education network. SINET3 now connects over 700 universities and research institutions throughout Japan. Financial terms were not disclosed.



Juniper's T-series Core Routers to deliver NGN IP services, including layer 2 and 3 VPNs, IPv6, GMPLS, multicasting, and multihoming services. SINET3 also provides a 10 Gigabit Ethernet user interface and delivers 40 Gbps speeds in the backbone, a 4x advance on SuperSINET which provided 2.4 Gigabit Ethernet user interface and delivered 10 Gbps in the backbone.

http://www.juniper.net

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Nokia Siemens Networks Appoints CFO

Nokia Siemens Networks named Eric Simonsen as its new chief financial officer, replacing Peter Schoenhofer, who is resigning for personal reasons. Simonsen currently serves as the company's global head of restructuring and a member of the Nokia Siemens Networks executive board.



Simonsen has held senior management positions at companies such as WorldCom Corp., Cable & Wireless America Inc. and Genuity Inc. From 1991 to 2001 he served as chief of operations and chief financial officer for Allmerica Financial Corp., a Fortune 400 company. Since 2002, Simonsen has worked at AlixPartners, a firm focused on helping corporations manage integration and financial restructuring. Simonsen is an American citizen who has previously worked and lived in the Nordic region, and in his new role he will work in both Helsinki and Munich.

http://www.nokiasiemensnetworks.com

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Vodafone Netherlands Outsources Network Management to Ericsson

Vodafone Netherlands awarded a five-year contract to Ericsson covering all engineering, implementation and operational activities in its multivendor core and transport network. As a result, 97 Vodafone Netherlands employees will be transferred to Ericsson. Financial terms were not disclosed.

http://www.ericsson.com

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KPN Selects Alcatel-Lucent for IP Centrex

Dutch telecom operator KPN has selected Alcatel-Lucent as lead network integrator to design, deliver, install, integrate and maintain an end-to-end multi-vendor IP Centrex solution. The IP Centrex solution Alcatel-Lucent will deploy, is a multi vendor application and includes products from Broadsoft, Atreus and Comptel. Alcatel-Lucent will integrate these products on the IMS Core it is currently deploying at KPN. In addition, Alcatel-Lucent will provide design services, network integration, project management and installation and testing services. Financial terms were not disclosed.

http://www.alcatel-lucent.com

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Amp'd Mobile Files for Chapter 11 -- an MVNO

Amp'd Mobile, a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) targeting the youth market in the U.S., filed for protection under Chapter 11 bankruptcy to restructure the business. Amp'd Mobile plans to continue normal business operations throughout the reorganization process.



In a press statement, the company cited problems arising from rapid growth, saying that its back-end infrastructure was unable to keep up with customer demand.



Amp'd Mobile also said that it is working with one of its largest investors to obtain debtor-in-possession financing.

http://get.ampd.com/

• Amp'd Mobile uses the Verizon Wireless network.



• Past investors in Amp'd Mobile include Tudor Investments, Intel Capital, Rho Ventures, Quilvest Ventures, Polygon Investment Partners, Heights Capital Management, QUALCOMM, MTV, Universal Music Group, Highland Capital Partners, Columbia Capital and Redpoint Ventures.

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UTStarcom to Continue as Separate Company

Following an extensive review of its strategic alternatives, the board of directors of UTStarcom concluded that the company's best course of action is to move forward with the company as it exists today.



"Our stated goal when we commenced the strategic alternatives process in October 2006 was to explore potential options to maximize the company's value for UTStarcom's shareholders. In exploring those alternatives, we concluded that the optimal means of enhancing shareholder value is to focus our efforts on returning the company to profitability by building on the opportunities we have developed in key markets around the world," said Thomas Toy, chairman of UTStarcom's board of directors.



In addition, the company today announced the departure of Ying Wu, executive vice president and chief executive officer of UTStarcom China. UTStarcom's Chief Executive Officer Hong Lu will serve as head of the company's China operations on an interim basis and will continue in his current role as chief executive officer and president of UTStarcom, Inc.

http://www.utstar.com

• UTStarcom announced that it is exploring a variety of strategic alternatives to enhance stockholder value and had engaged Merrill Lynch as an advisor. In conjunction with this initiative, the Board has asked Ying Wu, CEO of UTStarcom China to oversee this effort, under the direction of the special committee. Given this priority, Wu will not assume the title of Global CEO on January 1, 2007, as was previously announced.

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FCC Rules that Competitive Carriers Get Access to Inside Wiring in MTUs

The FCC acted to eliminate barriers to competitive entry in multi-unit buildings where a new entrant seeks to compete against an incumbent provider for voice or video services.



Specifically, the FCC clarified that:

• Competitive video services providers must not be forced to cut through sheet rock to connect their cable wiring to cable home wiring inside a unit. The FCC found that wiring behind sheet rock is "physically inaccessible" for the purposes of inside wiring rules, like brick, cinder block and similar materials used to construct ceilings and hallways.



• Competing telephone companies must have access to the incumbent's inside wire sub loops in multi-unit premises at the terminal block in order to install service. The inside wire sub loop typically is used by competing telephone companies to connect to individual consumers in multi-unit buildings.

The ruling was in response to a petition from Cox Communications regarding the scope of access to incumbent telephone companies' inside wire in apartment buildings.

http://www.fcc.gov

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FCC Targets Next Gen Emergency Alert System (EAS)

The FCC adopted an order seeking to strengthen the nation's Emergency Alert System (EAS) while developing fully digital next generation technologies and delivery systems.



The order requires EAS participants to accept messages using Common Alerting Protocol (CAP), the groundwork for Next Generation EAS delivery systems, no later than 180 days after FEMA announces its adoption of standards in each case.



The use of CAP aims to ensure the efficient and rapid transmission of EAS alerts to the American public in a variety of formats (including text, audio and video) and via different means (broadcast, cable, satellite, and other networks) and to promote the development of Next Generation EAS.



Among the key points, the FCC's order expands the EAS system by requiring participation by wireline video providers.

http://www.fcc.gov

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FCC Extends Disability Access Requirements to VoIP

The FCC extended the disability access requirements that currently apply to traditional phone services to providers of interconnected VoIP services and to manufacturers of specially designed equipment used to provide those services.



The FCC's existing Section 255 rules, adopted in 1999, requires:

• that manufacturers of telecommunications equipment or Customer Premises Equipment (CPE) to ensure that their equipment is designed, developed and fabricated to be accessible to individuals with disabilities, if readily achievable;



• that telecommunications service providers ensure that their service is accessible to individuals with disabilities, if readily achievable;



• that manufacturers and service providers to evaluate the accessibility, usability, and compatibility of covered services and equipment; and



• that manufacturers and service providers to ensure that information and documentation provided in connection with equipment or services be accessible to people with disabilities, where readily achievable, and that employee training, where provided at all, account for accessibility requirements.

In addition, the FCC said that interconnected VoIP providers were subject to the requirements of Section 225, including contributing to the Telecommunications Relay Services (TRS) Fund and offering 711 abbreviated dialing for access to relay services.

http://www.fcc.gov

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Nortel and BT Partner on Trading Floor Communications

Nortel and BT have collaborated to bring to market a solution that enables investors' phone calls and communications to be monitored and accessed on or off the trading floor.



BT's ITS Anywhere for Nortel extends consistent mobile access to all trading information by allowing calls and information to be viewed on remote and off-floor devices at the same time as it's received by trading floor turrets and multimedia desktop devices.



"By liberating voice trading communications from its traditional fixed location, a virtual trading environment can be created which enables staff to work in a more flexible manner, using a wider range of devices," said Phil Mottram, managing director, BT Trading Systems.

http://www.nortel.com

http://www.btplc.com

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Home Gateway Initiative Outlines Next-Gen Requirements

The Home Gateway Initiative (HGI), which was founded by nine telecom operators (Belgacom, BT, Deutsche Telekom, France Telecom, KPN, TeliaSonera, NTT, Telefonica and Telecom Italia) in 2004, has begun work on its third specification document for next gen Home Gateways.



The key features addressed will include:

• designing the Home Gateway for IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS)-based Next Generation Network (NGN) environments;
  
  
• the growing need for supporting the SOHO (Small Office/Home Office) market; and
  
  
• the impact of connecting Consumer Electronics devices in the broadband home.

Release 3, entitled "Seamless integration into IMS-based NGN service environments", will be finalized and issued in Q4 2008.



The specifications outlined in the HGI Release 1 document, "The Building Blocks for the Home Gateway", (published in July 2006) are now playing a significant part in operators' RFI/RFQs.



Release 2, entitled "Evolution of support to end-to-end broadband networks and services", are expected to be finalized and made public in Q4 2007.

http://www.homegatewayinitiative.org

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PMC-Sierra's FTTH Milestone: Four Million ONUs Deployed

PMC-Sierra announced a significant milestone: its Fiber to the Home (FTTH) solution is now deployed in more than four million Gigabit EPON Optical Network Units (ONUs).



PMC-Sierra noted that Gigabit FTTH deployment is outpacing DSL broadband access in Japan (according to the Japanese Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications), and in Korea.



PMC-Sierra and DASAN Networks recently announced a Korea Telecom contract for expected deployment of 800,000 EPON ONUs this year in Seoul.



In China, benchmark testing is underway on equipment from three of China's largest equipment vendors based on PMC-Sierra's Gigabit/s EPON silicon, led by China Telecom.



In addition, PMC-Sierra recently introduced a solution that meets the ITU-T G.984 specification for GPON Optical Network Terminals (ONTs), targeted for the emerging GPON markets in North America and Europe.



PMC-Sierra supports both EPON (IEEE 802.3ah Ethernet in the First Mile) and GPON (ITU-T G.984) standards.

http://www.pmc-sierra.com/ftth-pon

• In 2006, PMC-Sierra agreed to acquire Passave, a developer of system-on-chip semiconductor solutions for the Fiber To The Home (FTTH) access market, for approximately $300 million in PMC-Sierra common stock.



• n March 2006, Passave announced delivery its one millionth FTTH ONU device to Mitsubishi Electric Corporation for use in Japan's gigabit/second FTTH broadband access network market. Mitsubishi has been supplying customer premise equipment (CPE) using Passave semiconductor devices to carriers in Japan since 2004.

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Ciena Posts Revenues of $193.5 million, up 17% Sequentially

Ciena reported revenue for its fiscal second quarter ended April 30, 2007 of $193.5 million, representing a 17.2% sequential increase from fiscal first quarter revenue of $165.1 million, and an increase of 47.5% over the same period a year ago. Ciena's net income (GAAP) for the fiscal second quarter 2007 was $13.0 million, or net income of $0.14 per diluted share. This compares with a reported GAAP net loss of $1.9 million, or a net loss of $0.02 per share, for the same period a year ago.



Second quarter 2007 highlights include:

• Overall gross margin of 42.3% and product gross margin of 47.3%.



• Positive cash flow with cash generated from operations in the quarter.



• Ended the fiscal second quarter 2007 with cash, cash equivalents and short- and long-term investments of $1.2 billion.

"Given the demand pipeline we see today, we expect to deliver fiscal third quarter revenue growth of up to five percent from our fiscal second quarter, and we are increasing our fiscal 2007 annual growth expectations from between 27 to 30 percent growth to up to 36 percent growth," said Gary Smith, Ciena's president and CEO.

http://www.ciena.com

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Level 3 Provides Multiple 10 GigE Links to Jupiter Hosting

Level 3 Communications' Content Markets Group will upgrade Jupiter Hosting's Internet access service to multiple 10 Gigabit Ethernet (10 GigE) circuits. Under the terms of the expanded multi-year service agreement, Level 3 will replace multiple single-gigabit Ethernet ports with 10 GigE circuits in three of Jupiter Hosting's Silicon Valley, California locations. The upgrades are needed to support the expansion of the Jupiter Hosting network, enabling the firm to better serve its existing managed hosting customers, as well as to facilitate its entry into new markets. http://www.level3.com

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EMBARQ Receives MEF Service Provider Certification

Embarq has received Metro Ethernet Forum (MEF) 9 certification for its suite of Ethernet services, including Ethernet LAN, Ethernet Private Line and Ethernet Virtual Private Line. Iometrix, MEF's certification lab, linked into the EMBARQ network to conduct the certification tests from a subscriber's point of view. MEF compliance shows the EMBARQ Ethernet services fully integrate with customers' overall network infrastructure.

http://www.embarq.com

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Kazakhtelecom Selects Amdocs OSS

Kazakhtelecom has selected Amdocs' billing and mediation solutions to support the delivery of its next-generation services. The implementation of Amdocs Charging 7 and Amdocs Service Mediation Manager 7 will enable Kazakhtelecom to offer modern, differentiated services and service bundles. Financial terms were not disclosed.



Amdocs Service Mediation Manager 7 is pre-integrated with Amdocs Charging 7 to create a unified network-to-bill process that guarantees an accurate flow of information from mediation to billing. Both products are featured in the recently launched Amdocs 7 suite.

http://www.amdocs.com

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Networx Enterprise Contracts Awarded to AT&T, Level 3, VZ, Qwest, Sprint

The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), which is the central procurement agency for the U.S. government, awarded its Networx Enterprise contracts to five carriers: AT&T, Level 3 Communications, Verizon Business (MCI), Qwest, and Sprint.



The Networx Enterprise contract provides a streamlined means for federal agencies to access a broad range of networking services.



By leveraging the government's telecommunications services buying power, GSA hopes to use the entire Networx program to provide government agencies with leading edge technology at the best prices in the marketplace. The entire Networx program is valued at an estimated $20 billion over the 10-year life of the Universal and Enterprise contracts.



In addition, the Networx program aims to support a government wide Enterprise Architecture that encourages cross-agency collaboration, transformation, and government wide technology improvement.

http://www.gsa.gov

• In March 2007, The General Services Administration (GSA) awarded a set of contracts under its "Networx" program valued at an estimated $20 billion over 10 years -- believed to be the largest networking contracts ever issued. Contract award recipients include AT&T, Verizon Business Services (MCI), and Qwest Government Services.

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Charles Cerino of Comcast Named New President of MoCA

The Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA), which promotes the distribution of digital video and entertainment through
existing coaxial cable in the home, named Charles Cerino as its new president.

Cerino is currently vice president of new media development at Comcast
Corporation, where he evaluates new technologies and how best
to incorporate their value into the network. He joined Comcast in 1978 as a system engineer helping to build a cable infrastructure in the Philadelphia suburbs.

http://www.mocalliance.org

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Veraz Enhances Media Gateway for Wireless Networks

Veraz Networks released an updated version of its I--Gate 4000 PRO media gateway that enables operators to optimize available bandwidth in wireless networks utilizing the major wireless industry codecs.



The I-Gate 4000 PRO is 80% more dense than its predecessor and enables 16,800 concurrent VoIP calls per chassis, or over 100,000 concurrent calls in four square feet of floor space, helping to optimize large switch site operations in fast growing wireless core networks.



The I-Gate 4000 PRO, which is Veraz's flagship media gateway product, leverages the company's in-house DSP technology to enable voice quality at compression rates of up to 12 to 1. The gateway is designed for non-blocking and failsafe switching. Additionally, the I-Gate 4000 PRO includes support for compressed TDM WAN interfaces enabling direct connection to carrier transport networks including SONET or SDH networks without the need for routers at each gateway site. The I-Gate 4000 PRO also adds support for enhanced security features such as an integrated firewall and IPsec VPN, and support for ITU Q.50, a critical protocol for legacy switch replacement.

http://www.veraznetworks.com

• Earlier this month, Veraz Networks announced the latest release of its ControlSwitch Interconnect, designed to help service providers migrate Intelligent Network (IN) service platforms as well as PSTN transport and peering signaling to IP. Additionally, advanced Quality of Service (QoS) routing improves revenue assurance through the enforcement of network-wide agreements.

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Verizon Business Expands Global Audio-Conferencing Access

Verizon Business has added more country and local city access points to its audio-conferencing services, including new locations in Latin America and Eastern Europe. These are in addition to city access points recently rolled out in France and the U.K.



In addition, Verizon Business has also announced direct IP Access to its Instant Meeting audio conferencing services for Verizon Private IP customers.
http://www.verizonbusiness.com

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Telefónica Germany Selects Ericsson's DWDM

Telefónica has selected Ericsson for a new nationwide optical backbone in Germany. The rollout of the network has already started. Financial terms were not disclosed.

http://www.ericsson.com

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Agilent to Acquire Adaptif Photonics

Agilent Technologies agreed to acquire Adaptif Photonics GmbH, which specializes in advanced polarization analysis and control for the test of optical components and systems, for an undisclosed sum. Adaptif is a privately-held company based in Hamburg, Germany. It was founded in 2002.



Agilent said Adaptif's technology and intellectual property will enhance its instrument portfolio for fiber-optic test. Specifically, Adaptif's technology will help customers obtain insight into their optical components and high-speed optical network designs.



Adaptif has a close association with the optical center of expertise at the Technical University of Hamburg-Harburg and has developed extensive intellectual property in optical-measurement product development.
http://www.agilent.com

http://adaptifphotonics.com/

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Spirent Launches New Testing Architecture

Spirent Communications introduced its Inspire Architecture, a new testing architecture, in concert with the launch of its Spirent TestCenter 2.0 testing platform.


Spirent said it aims to help network equipment manufacturers and service providers to significantly improve their testing productivity through the automation of test scripts and test cases, thereby accelerating time-to-market and reducing operating and capital expenses.



More than 60 customers are beta testing Spirent TestCenter 2.0. Spirent TestCenter 1.0 is used by more than 220 customers in labs and development environments throughout the world.

Spirent's Inspire Architecture leverages capabilities of existing test systems to deliver a converged test platform built for scalability, accuracy, density, automation and speed. Key components include:

• Extreme Automation - customers can automate test scripts and test cases for a 40 percent increase in the speed of execution of tests.



• HyperFilters - new technology that saves time in defining and troubleshooting tests by allowing users to quickly identify, organize, view and analyze received frames by header fields (MAC address, IP address, VLAN tag, MPLS tag, or any other field).



• RealTime Control -- test engineers can modify traffic headers, traffic rates and size on the fly, revealing results such as real time packet loss to deliver more effective testing. Customers also can capture and debug live traffic while tests are running.



• Scalability - more concurrent users can share a system to run more tests; multi-threading allows more ports, streams and protocol sessions to run simultaneously on the system.

For Carrier Ethernet equipment and service planning, Spirent TestCenter's Inspire Architecture analyzer allows real-time measurement and reporting of packet delay, delay variation, loss, and re-sequencing and more than a dozen other critical metrics for up to 65,535 EVCs per port, thus allowing validation of hard QoS performance in the lab. It can be used to validate Ethernet service scale in the lab, including end-to-end QoS and SLS adherence, or bridged Ethernet or VPLS functionality and scalability. It can also be used to provide a real-time packet delay variation (also known as "jitter") measurement as recommended by the Metro Ethernet Forum.



Additional applications for the Spirent Test Center include Broadband Access, IPTV and Video, Metro/Core Routing, QoS, and Switch Testing.

http://www.spirent.com/go/STC_2

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EZchip Announces 100-Gigabit Network Processor With Integrated TM

EZchip Technologies disclosed information on its upcoming NP-4 network processor, which is now in design in a 65 nanometer silicon process and scheduled to sample in 2008. The main highlights of the single-chip NP-4 will include:

• 100-Gigabit throughput for building 20-Gigabit, 40-Gigabit and 100-Gigabit line cards for Carrier Ethernet Switches and Routers (CESR).



• Integrated traffic management providing granular bandwidth control to enable the delivery of triple-play services in Ethernet networks.



• Integrated 100-Gigabit, eight 10-Gigabit and 24 1-Gigabit Ethernet serial ports.



• Integrated Fabric Interface Chip (FIC) for direct connection to Ethernet switches that are used as switch fabrics while providing system-wide Quality of Service (QoS).



• Utilizes external memory chips based on low cost and power DRAM technology.



• Operations, Administration and Management (OAM) processing offload.



• Software compatible with EZchip's present NP-2 and NP-3 network processors.

EZchip said its NP-4 will enable direct connection from the line card to Ethernet-based switching fabric through a unique integration of the functionality typically provided by a separate fabric interface chip. It provides control over traffic arbitration and scheduling from all the line cards in the system across the switch fabric, to provide end-to-end system-wide QoS. This allows system vendors to utilize low-cost Ethernet switches as their fabric solution and eliminate the fabric interface chip from their line cards. The result is significant reduction in line card and overall system cost. http://www.ezchip.com

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Motorola Lands First Design Win for MicroTCA Platform

Motorola announced the industry's first design win based on the MicroTCA specification for communications computing applications.



MicroTCA is a specification managed by the PCI Industrial Computer Manufacturers Group (PICMG), also the driving force behind AdvancedTCA and Advanced Mezzanine Cards (AdvancedMC) specifications. It uses the hot-swap and switch fabric capabilities within the AdvancedMC specification to define a modular scaleable computing platform that is cost-effective and can also address applications that require up to 5NINES service availability.



Hypercom Corp., which specializes in high security electronic transaction solutions, will integrate Motorola's Centellis 1000 series communications server into transaction network products that will be used to transport point-of-sale (POS) transactions globally.



Motorola said the use of the Centellis 1000 series for the high security transport of electronic payments marks a new application for the MicroTCA standard.

http://www.motorola.com/computing

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SiGe Semiconductor Raises $20 Million in Funding

SiGe Semiconductor, which develops RF front-end solutions for next-generation wireless systems, raised US $20 million in an expansion round of financing. Samsung Ventures, the US-based venture capital investment arm for Samsung Venture Investment Corporation (SVIC), joins as a strategic investor participating in this round. Additional investors include 3i Venture Capital, Prism VentureWorks, TD Capital Ventures, VenGrowth Private Equity Partners, RWI Ventures and GrowthWorks.



SiGe Semiconductor is targeting an expansion in of product lines supporting the Wi-Fi, WiMAX and GPS markets. Its portfolio includes Wi-Fi power amplifiers and front-end modules, GPS receivers and WiMAX transceivers. The company said its revenues increased more than 50 percent in 2006 to $49.4 million from $31.8 million in 2005. The company has shipped more than 160 million integrated circuits to customers and partners including Arris Interactive, Askey, Broadcom, Centrality, CSR, DeLorme, Furuno, Garmin, Gemtek, Mitsumi, Nintendo, Samsung, Tecom, Tyco, and USI.
http://www.sige.com

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Motorola Debuts Dual Core AdvancedMC Module at <$2K

Motorola introduced an AdvancedMezzanine Card (AMC) designed to serve as a low-power, plug-in board for MicroTCA and AdvancedTCA systems for telecom applications. Other target markets include network-centric warfare, digital security surveillance, medical imaging and industrial automation.



The PrAMC-7210 is a full-size AMC based on based on the Intel Core 2 Duo processor core and Intel 3100 server-class chipset. It offers up to 4GB double data rate (DDR2) SDRAM with error checking and correcting (ECC) running at 400 MHz and on board flash disk. One x8 lane PCI Express link supports auto-negotiation to lower lane-widths and port bifurcation. Combined with two Gigabit Ethernet links, these standard interfaces enable developers to interface to a wide variety of high performance modules as required by their applications. Two SATA links enable high-speed serial communication with hard disks drives for flexible storage configurations.



This latest addition to Motorola's embedded communications computing portfolio has already been verified in Motorola's Centellis 1000 series MicroTCA communications server. A mid-size version, the PrAMC-7211, is also available. Mid-size modules are more suited to use in ATCA environments.

http://www.motorola.com

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Motorola to Cut Additional 4,000 Positions

Motorola announced that its previously announced workforce reduction of 3,500 will be completed on schedule by June 30 and the company is on target to achieve the $400 million in annualized cost savings that it forecast in January. In addition, Motorola aims to achieve another $600 million in annualized cost savings in 2008 through a combination of an additional workforce reduction of approximately 4,000, prioritization of investments, continuing discretionary-spending controls, general and administrative expenses and site rationalization.

http://www.motorola.com

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Time Warner Telecom Builds 63-Site IP VPN for NCI Building Systems

Time Warner Telecom is providing a 63-site IP VPN and voice services solution for Houston-based NCI Building Systems Inc., the largest integrated provider of pre-engineered metal building systems, components and metal coating applications in the U.S. The $3 million contract covers the design, fabrication and installation operations at the 63 sites across the country. A 100 Mbps connection between NCI's Houston and Dallas data centers facilitates application synchronization ensuring business continuity.

http://www.twtelecom.com/

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Sony Unveils Whole House HD Video System via Cat5

Sony Electronics introduced a single-box solution system for distributing high definition video throughout a home via a single Cat5e wire per zone. The CAV- CVS12ES is designed to distribute up to 12 source components. It incorporates eight HD component video inputs (up to 1080p) and four composite video inputs with up-conversion for flexible device connectivity.



High definition video content is delivered to up to 12 zones through CAT5e wiring, which is fed into a component adapter connected to the display. The system also features IR and RS-232. It will be available in September with a list price of $2,700. The CAV-CVB1 Cat5e to component box will also be available in September at a list price of $129.

http://www.sony.com

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TiVo Subscriptions at 4.3 Million

For its first fiscal quarter ended 30-April-2007, TiVo reported net income of $835 thousand and net income per share of $0.01, compared to a net loss of ($10.7) million, or ($0.13) per share, for the first quarter of last year. Adjusted EBITDA was $6.7 million, compared to an Adjusted EBITDA loss of ($6.9) million in the year-ago period. Service revenues were $54.2 million, compared to the year ago quarter when service revenues were $47.0 million. Service and technology revenues were $58.1 million, compared with $55.0 million for the same period last year.

• Overall, TiVo-Owned subscriptions increased slightly to 1.7 million from 1.5 million in the year ago-period.



• TiVo-Owned subscription gross additions for the first quarter were 57,000, compared to 91,000 gross additions for the year-ago period.



• Cumulative total subscriptions as of January 31, 2007 were 4.3 million.



• The monthly churn rate was 1.1% compared to 0.9% in the year-ago period and down from 1.2% in the prior quarter.



• There was a net decline in DIRECTV TiVo subscriptions during the period as DIRECTV is no longer deploying new TiVo boxes.



• Amazon Unbox on TiVo now has about 10,000 titles available to TiVo subscribers.



• TiVo is reducing hardware subsidies and moving toward an advertising-centric approach.



• A lower-priced, mass appeal High Definition TiVO unit is expected to be available later this year.

http://www.tivo.com

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Apple TV to Add YouTube

Beginning in mid-June, Apple TV will wirelessly stream videos directly from YouTube and play them on a user's widescreen TV. The company also announced plans to offer a 160GB hard drive with its Apple TV box -- four times the current storage capacity and sufficient for up to 200 hours of video, 36,000 songs, 25,000 photos or a combination of each.

http://www.apple.com

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VeriSign Names New CEO

VeriSign named William A. Roper, Jr. as its new President and Chief Executive Officer, replacing Stratton Sclavos, who is leaving after 12 years at the post. Roper, who has served as a Director of VeriSign since November 2003, most recently served as Executive Vice President of Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC). He also served as SAIC's Chief Financial Officer from 1990 to 2000, and played a leadership role in Network Solutions from the time of its acquisition by SAIC in 1995 until its merger into VeriSign in 2000.



The company's Board also elected Edward A. Mueller as Chairman of the Board.

http://www.verisign.com

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Alcatel-Lucent Supplies IP/MPLS to Chile's Telefónica del Sur

Telefónica del Sur, the leading telecommunications company in the south of Chile, selected Alcatel-Lucent to supply a converged IP/MPLS network that will deliver high quality data and Internet services to business and residential customers. Alcatel-Lucent will install the 7750 Service Router for the backbone network. Network management will be handled by the Alcatel-Lucent 5620 Service Aware Manager, which automates tasks while supporting the introduction and administration of new services. Service launch is slated for early in Q4.

http://www.alcatel-lucent.com

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Windstream to Acquire CT Communications, Adding Lines in Rural U.S.

Windstream agreed to acquire all of the outstanding shares of CT Communications (NASDAQ: CTCI), in a deal valued at $585 million ($31.50 per share in cash, which represents a 31 percent premium to CT Communications' previous 30-day trading average). Windstream intends to finance the acquisition with debt and existing cash.



Windstream provides voice, broadband and entertainment services to customers in 16 states. It serves approximately 3.2 million access lines and has about $3.2 billion in annual revenues.



The acquisition of CT Communications will add approximately 158,000 access lines and 29,000 broadband customers. CT Communications serves residential and business customers located primarily in North Carolina. The deal will nearly double Windstream's presence in North Carolina.

http://www.windstream.com

• In July 2006, Alltel completed the spin off its wireline business, which was merged with VALOR Communications Group to create Windstream, a major wireline operator focused on the rural U.S. market.



• Windstream is based in Little Rock, Arkansas.

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Optibase/UTStarcom Supply IPTV with AKSH in India

UTStarcom will integrate Optibase's advanced H.264 Media Gateway (MGW) 5100 IPTV encoding platforms in its end-to-end RollingStream IPTV solution for deployment with AKSH in India. Aksh Optifibre Limited (AOL) is the second largest company in the Indian Optical Fibre cable industry. The company has entered into a seven-year agreement with MTNL to provide IPTV (Broadband content) services in Delhi and Mumbai.



Aksh plans to use Optibase's integrated carrier-grade TV streaming platforms in order to provide advanced H.264 high-quality encoding.

http://www.optibase.com

http://www.utstar.com

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Broadcom Prevails in Patenet Dispute with QUALCOMM

A federal jury ruled that certain QUALCOMM cellular baseband chips and software infringe claims of three Broadcom patents, and awarded Broadcom $19.64 million in damages for Qualcomm's past infringement. Because the violation was found to be willful, the court may increase the damages up to three times the amount awarded by the jury.



Broadcom said the three patents include:

• U.S. Patent No. 5,657,317, which relates generally to simultaneous participation on two networks using a single transceiver. The jury found that Qualcomm has used the multimode inventions of the '317 patent in its EV-DO baseband chips.



• U.S. Patent No. 6,847,686, which relates generally to a chip architecture for performing video processing. The jury found that Qualcomm has used Broadcom's patented architecture for providing increased video performance in its "Enhanced Multimedia" and Convergence" chip platforms.



• U.S. Patent No. 6,389,010, which relates generally to a phone that may be used to place calls over fixed or variable bandwidth networks. A 'push-to-talk' feature on a cell phone gives the user the choice of making a 'walkie-talkie' type connection instead of a traditional cell
  phone call. The jury found that Qualcomm uses the invention of the '010 patent in its QChat software.

In a press release, QUALCOMM said it plans to challenge the jury's findings of infringement, validity and willfulness in post-trial motions and on appeal, if necessary.

http://www.broadcom.com

http://www.qualcomm.com

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T-Mobile Invests in JAJAH for Mobile VoIP Calling

T-Online Venture Fund - the investment arm of Deutsche Telekom - has joined JAJAH's US$20 million Series C investment.



JAJAH offers a Mobile Suite application that enables consumers to make free long-distance and global calls directly from their mobile phones. To use the service, you first need a JAJAH account, which is free and without obligation.



The process is simple: callers type in their own number (landline or mobile) at http://www.jajah.com/ , and insert their desired destination number. JAJAH then rings both parties on their actual phones. The company says its JAJAH Mobile Suite will allow virtually any mobile phone to make JAJAH calls easily.



T-Mobile is already in the process of embedding JAJAH into its own web properties and expects to offer consumer and business solutions based on JAJAH technology in the future.



"The communication landscape is rapidly evolving," said Andreas Kindt, Chairman of the Investment Committee of T-Online Venture Fund and Member of T-Com Management Board for IT. "By investing in companies like JAJAH, we will be able to continue to bring users around the world the innovative solutions they are looking for."http://www.jajah.com

• In May 2007, JAJAH, a start-up based in Mountain View, California, announced $20 million in Series C funding for its mobile calling service. Intel Capital was the lead investor (amount undisclosed) in the round. Additionally, a business agreement was made with Intel Corporation that includes business and marketing components. Intel will provide JAJAH access to their extensive community of product dealers, OEM customers and developers, to further their reach into global development communities.



• JAJAH was founded in 2005, and has offices in Mountain View, Calif., Tel Aviv and Luxembourg.
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Zohar Zisapel Expands his Stake in RADCOM

Mr. Zohar Zisapel, who serves as Chairman of RADCOM, has expanded his stake in the company by acquiring 263,300 RADCOM shares during the current month through purchases on the open market. As a result, Mr. Zisapel now holds 3,626,342 RADCOM shares, representing 22.2 % of the company's issued share capital. He is the company's largest shareholder.

http://www.radcom.com

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Cisco Completes Acquisition of WebEx

Cisco Systems completed its acquisition of WebEx Communications, a leading provider of on-demand collaboration applications and services.
Cisco said the deal extends its vision for Unified Communications, particularly within the small to medium business (SMB) segment.



Cisco also said that it plans to preserve WebEx's subscription-based services strategy and business model going forward.



The deal was valued at $3.2 billion (in cash) when it was first announced in March 2007.

http://www.cisco.com

• WebEx was founded in 1995 and held its Initial Public Offering (IPO) in July 2000. The company has close to 2200 employees. For FY2006, which ended December 31, 2006, WebEx reported revenues of $380 million.

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OpVista Rebrands Optical Gear, Avoiding Trademark Dispute

OpVista is renaming its recently-launched "AnyWave" family of optical networking products to "nWave." The company said it is making this move to proactively avoid any potential dispute with Vanu's use of the "AnyWave" terminology.



OpVista' nWave Optical Networking platform is universally compatible with existing metro and regional DWDM systems and fiber plant. The nWave product family can quadruple the number of available wavelengths and enables carriers to deliver bandwidth in single wavelength increments to any node at any time.

http://www.opvista.com

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OpVista Rebrands Optical Gear, Avoiding Trademark Dispute

OpVista is renaming its recently-launched "AnyWave" family of optical networking products to "nWave." The company said it is making this move to proactively avoid any potential dispute with Vanu's use of the "AnyWave" terminology.



OpVista' nWave Optical Networking platform is universally compatible with existing metro and regional DWDM systems and fiber plant. The nWave product family can quadruple the number of available wavelengths and enables carriers to deliver bandwidth in single wavelength increments to any node at any time.

http://www.opvista.com

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Tundra Collaborates with Ericsson on MicroTCA Ecosystem

Tundra Semiconductor is working with Ericsson to license the Switching Module of a MicroTCA Carrier Hub (MCH) card, designed by Ericsson, with Tundra's Tsi578 Serial RapidIO Switch. The license granted to Tundra includes sub-licensing rights and Tundra will be sub-licensing the design as the Tsi578 MicroTCA Switching Module (MSM), thereby broadening the availability of Serial RapidIO-based MicroTCA Systems.

http://www.tundra.com

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MobiTV Hires DreamWorks Exec as CFO

MobiTV announced the appointment of Bill Losch as the Company's chief financial officer (CFO). Losch joins MobiTV from DreamWorks Animation SKG, where he managed all accounting and control, financial reporting, treasury, and tax functions as the company's chief accounting officer (CAO). He was part of the management team that completed a successful initial public offering in October 2004. Prior to DreamWorks Animation Losch was at Yahoo!, where he served as vice president of Finance and CAO.



MobiTV claims more than two million subscribers worldwide for its mobile content service.

http://www.mobitv.com

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China's Heilongjiang Mobile Selects Nokia Siemens Networks for GSM

China's Heilongjiang Mobile Communications Company (Heilongjiang MCC) selected Nokia Siemens Networks to provide GSM Base Stations and Base Station Controllers as part of a network expansion project. The delivery has already started and the network will be commercial in June. Nokia Siemens Networks will also provide professional services including network implementation, planning, managed service, training and maintenance services. Financial terms were not disclosed.



Nokia Siemens Networks noted that it has largest installed base of equipment in China Mobile's GSM network.

http://www.nokiasiemensnetworks.com/global

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JDSU Closes Picolight Acquisition -- VCSELs

JDSU completed its acquisition of Picolight, a leading designer and manufacturer of optical pluggable transceivers.



JDSU said the deal strengthens its position in high-growth pluggable optics for the enterprise market and adds an established, vertically integrated manufacturing model.



Picolight has been a pioneer in developing the vertical cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL), a key technology used in high-speed and short-to-medium distance optical interconnects. The company has shipped over 1 million small form-factor pluggable products. The product line includes 850 nanometer (nm) and 1310 nm VCSEL-based transceivers. JDSU said the acquisition supports its growth and margin expansion initiatives with a best-in-class vertically integrated manufacturinghttp://www.jdsu.com

• JDSU first announced plans to acquire Picolight in February 2007 in a transaction valued at approximately $115 million in JDSU stock, plus up to an additional $10 million in cash subject to the achievement of certain revenue targets during 2007.



• The term "VCSEL" was coined in 1989 by optical innovator and Picolight Founder/Chief Technology Officer Jack Jewell. VCSELs emit light vertically through the surface of a wafer—rather than through its edges, as with edge-emitting lasers. Picolight VCSELs are semiconductor lasers in which the active region on-chip is embedded between mirror layers on a semiconductor wafer.

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Spirent Announces US Delisting & Deregistration

Spirent Communications will delist its American Depositary Shares ("ADS") from the New York Stock Exchange ("NYSE") and to deregister from the US Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"). The company said the average daily trading volume of shares represented by its ADS is very
small, accounting for 0.5% of the total number of Spirent Ordinary shares traded in the most recent 12 month period. In light of this level of trading activity and the recent adoption of new rules by the SEC regarding the termination of reporting obligations under US securities laws, Spirent believes that the administrative burden and increasing costs associated with maintaining its listing on the NYSE and the reporting requirements necessary for its registration with the SEC under the US Securities Exchange Act of 1934 ("the Exchange Act") outweigh the benefits to Spirent and its shareholders.

http://www.spirent.com

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Japan's FamilyMart Convenience Stores Accept DoCoMo Mobile Credit

FamilyMart, which operates approximately 7,000 convenience stores across Japan, and NTT DoCoMo formed a strategic alliance through a capital tie-up in which DoCoMo will acquire 2,930,500 shares of common stock (approximately 3% of the retailer).




From July 10, FamilyMart convenience stores nationwide will begin accepting mobile credit via DoCoMo's iD platform, thereby enabling users to make payments simply by waving their phones over a reader/writer. Currently, the iD platform is accepted in about 140 FamilyMart stores in Tokyo, Nagoya and Fukuoka cities.



Initially, FamilyMart will upgrade reader/writers at FamilyMart payment counters for compatibility with DoCoMo's ToruCa information-capture service, thereby enabling customers to download coupons and useful information into their DoCoMo phones. In addition, Osaifu-Keitai compatible reader/writers will be installed in "Famiport" multimedia terminals in all FamilyMart stores. These services will become available by the end of May 2008.

http://www.ntt.co.jphttp://www.family.co.jp

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Norway's Largest Power Company Chooses PacketFront for FTTH

Norway's largest power utility company, Hafslund, selected PacketFront to build an open access FTTH network in Østlandet, the area in and around Oslo. The network will be open access and thus open to all service providers who wish to offer services through it. In the first stage, Hafslund will offer IPTV and other broadband services to selected cooperative housing areas in Oslo. PacketFront's partner, NetNordic, will be responsible for the integration of Hafslund's FTTH network. In addition, Datametrix will be responsible for the installation of the core network.



PacketFront described the project as one of the most important contracts in the Norwegian telecom sector. Financial terms were not disclosed.

http://www.packetfront.com

http://www.hafslund.no

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ATEME Supplies Encoders for NHK's "Super Hi-vision" Project

ATEME's encoding technology was selected for use in the first public Ultra HD demonstration with MPEG-4 AVC (H.264) by NHK in Tokyo.



NHK's prototype Super Hi-vision (Ultrahigh-Definition Wide-Screen System) technology uses a video format with 7680 x 4320 pixels (16 times higher than standard Hi-vision, NHK's HDTV system). Super-fast cameras capture data at a rate of 4,000 frames per second and the audio component is 22.2 (as compared to today's 5.1 surround sound). A full specification for Ultra HD is expected by 2009, satellite transmission tests are predicted in 2011, and by 2020, NHK hopes that Ultra HD will be ready for broadcast to households.



ATEME said 18 minutes of uncompressed Ultra HD footage consumes 3.5 terabytes of data and one minute of uncompressed footage consumes 194 gigabytes. The use of ATEME's MPEG-4 AVC compression technology significantly reduces these requirements.

http://www.nhklabs.com

http://www.ateme.comIn November, NHK demonstrated live-relay DWDM transmission of Super Hi-Vision between Kamogawa of Chiba prefecture and NHK Science & Technical Research Laboratories.

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Telstra Tests 40 Gbps Optical Transmission with Ericsson

Ericsson and Telstra completed a live network trial of 40 Gbps optical transmission technology. The trial was conducted over Telstra's existing 10Gbps 1,121 km coastal and 1,244 km inland optical fiber routes from Sydney to Melbourne.



Ericsson said its DWDM solution, Marconi MHL 3000, provides a seamless in service upgrade of capacity with minimal investment. The 40Gbps optical transmission technology is based on a new modulation format which exhibits high robustness against PMD (Polarization Mode Dispersion - a fiber characteristic which can limit high-speed transmission).

http://www.ericsson.com

http://www.telstra.com

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Alcatel-Lucent to Supply 802.16e-2005 WiMAX for Primus Canada

Primus Telecommunications Canada, the largest alternative communications carrier in Canada, and Mipps, a Canadian wireless operator that acquired 3.5 GHz licensed spectrum in most major cities across Canada, have selected Alcatel-Lucent's Evolium WiMAX solution to support market trials of IEEE 802.16e-2005 WiMAX broadband wireless access service.



Specifically, Mipps will deploy the Alcatel-Lucent 9100 Evolium WiMAX end-to-end radio solution, including base stations, Wireless Access Controller and Operation and Maintenance Center. Upon successful completion of the field trial, Primus Canada, through its strategic relationship with Mipps, will provide its subscribers with broadband access to high speed Internet and data transmissions with a guaranteed level of quality.



Alcatel-Lucent noted that more than 40 operators worldwide are deploying its WiMAX equipment.

http://www.alcatel-lucent.com

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CorEdge and Fujitsu Demo 10GbE MicroTCA

CorEdge Networks and Fujitsu Microelectronics America (FMA) are demonstrating a 10GbE MicroTCA implementation using CorEdge's 2U PicoTCA platform, which integrates a MicroTCA Carrier Hub (MCH), Power Module (PM), and up to four Advanced Mezzanine Cards (AMCs). Video streams are transferred between two of CorEdge's 10Gbps programmable AMCs through the 10GbE-capable MCH, using Fujitsu's MB8AA3020 20-port, 10 Gigabit Ethernet switch chip. 10GbE switching to the "fat pipe" region of the AMCs is enabled on the MCH by adding a 10GbE fabric module (CEN-FAB-E) to the base card. The Fujitsu MB8AA3020 20-port, 10 Gigabit Ethernet switch chip is the primary component for this module.



The demonstration is being given at the MicroTCA Summit in Baltimore, Maryland, between May 30th and June 1st. The companies said their demonstration addresses the need for 10Gbps data rate support in a MicroTCA environment, while also showing interoperability between leading commercial off-the-shelf (COTs) suppliers.



"We introduced the Fujitsu-based 10GbE fabric module for our MCH earlier this year," said Will Chu, president of CorEdge Networks. "This demonstration uses the fabric module to show that MicroTCA, in a form factor as small as our 2U PicoTCA platform, is ready to tackle 10GbE applications. It also reveals that CorEdge's 10GbE expertise is not only in switching, but also in providing 10GbE line card solutions using our programmable AMCs."http://www.coredgenetworks.com/http://www.fujitsu.com

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ITU cancels ITU TELECOM EUROPE 2007

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has canceled its forthcoming ITU TELECOM EUROPE 2007 event in Sofia, Bulgaria, which had been scheduled for December.



"Naturally, the decision to cancel an event is a disappointment. However, we feel that we have reached the best decision for all event stakeholders, given the constraints of time in which we found ourselves operating," Said ITU Secretary-General Dr Hamadoun Touré.



The next ITU event will take place in Africa and Asia in 2008. An announcement on ITU TELECOM AFRICA is expected imminently. ITU's flagship ITU TELECOM WORLD will take place in Geneva, Switzerland, 5−9 October 2009.

http://www.itu.int

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Nokia to Establish Research Facility at Tsinghua University

Nokia will establish a research center at Tsinghua University in Beijing. Tsinghua's professors and students will collaborate with NRC researchers on a wide range of topics; including wireless and Internet for Asia, interaction solutions for Asia, Mechanics & Hardware for Multimedia communications devices and mobile internet-based services. The collaboration will be substantial from the outset, with around 20 Nokia researchers working alongside 30 professors and associates and up to 50 students from Tsinghua.



Nokia has similar R&D arrangements with several world-class universities in the US, UK and Finland
http://www.nokia.com

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Boingo to Roam onto FON, More Than Doubling Its Hot Spot Network

Boingo Wireless signed a roaming agreement with FON, a Madrid-based start-up building a global community of Wi-Fi access point owners (or "foneros") willing to share their broadband connections. The roaming deal will provide Boingo users with access to an additional 130,000 hot spot locations -- more than doubling the company's network size.



The 130,000 Wi-Fi locations come from businesses and individuals who add their own hot spots to the FON community in exchange for the right to roam on other FON community locations for free or at a reduced rate. For Boingo users, these new locations provide a rich network of Wi-Fi locations in areas that complement Boingo's existing commercial locations.



Boingo said that access to the FON network will also benefit users of Boingo Mobile, its service for Wi-Fi-enabled handsets. Boingo Mobile users pay $7.95 per month for unlimited access to hot spots worldwide to make VoIP calls, use messaging services or surf the Internet from their handset.

http://www.boingo.com

http://www.fon.com/

• In April 2007, Time Warner Cable agreed to allow and encourage its broadband subscribers to share their home connections as open Wi-Fi hotspots in the FON community. Through a partnership with FON, Time Warner Cable subscribers will be able to create FON access points via their home or business broadband connection.



• La Fonera router is secure out-of-the-box and offers two distinct WiFi channels. One channel is for the exclusive use of its owner; the second channel is shared with other foneros. The La Fonera increases security through an encrypted private network and Foneros decide how much bandwidth to share. Public users cannot access the private network and there is no anonymous usage.



• In February 2006, FON, a start-up based in Madrid, Spain, secured EUR 18 million (US$21.7 million for its software that enables users to share their Wi-Fi access points while gaining access to a global community of Wi-Fi hotspots.



• FON investors include Index Ventures, Google, Sequoia Capital and Skype.

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Parks Associates Predicts 60 Million IPTV Subscribers by 2012

The number of IPTV subscribers will reach nearly 60 million worldwide by year-end 2011, spurred by both aggressive and reactionary telco tactics, according to a new report from Parks Associates.



The new IPTV: From Quadruple Play to Multiplay report, which provides forecasts and analyses for the worldwide IPTV market, predicts television choices for European consumers in particular will expand greatly in the next several years, due to a growing number of IPTV providers per country, a surge in digital terrestrial offerings, and a resurgence of cable providers in certain markets.



While Asia has established solid growth to date, the Parks Associates' study finds that certain regulations may bar IPTV providers from offering truly differentiated content. Finally, North American growth, spurred by major Tier 1 providers, will reach solid numbers by the end of the forecast period.



"On a global scale, the IPTV experience is going to provide widely-varying levels of success and challenges," said Kurt Scherf, Parks Associates' vice president and principal analyst. "European incumbents are being encouraged now to enter non-traditional markets, and this has spurred not only growth of multi-channel television delivery, but a whole new level of reliance on residential gateways and the beginnings of truly converged communications services. Asian markets have, in many cases, the necessary infrastructure to support incredible television experiences, but providers may struggle to truly differentiate their offerings from cable competitors. Finally, the North American model for telcos is going to have to shift very quickly from a defensive to an offensive posture for Tier 1 providers to establish a foothold and actually build revenue per subscriber."http://www.parksassociates.com

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AudioCodes Releases VoIPerfect Solution for WiMAX CPE

AudioCodes released its "VoIPerfect" solution for WiMAX CPE applications, adapted for Intel WiMAX Connection 2250 (previously codenamed Rosedale 2) chipset. The AudioCodes toolkit includes a hardware reference design for a VoIP Analog Telephone Adapter (ATA) and a Linux-based SIP VoIP application, fully integrated and tested with the Intel WiMAX Connection 2250. A variety of vocoders are supported, including G.711, G.726, G.729, G.723.1, iLBC, etc., as well as wideband vocoders for HD voice quality.
Echo cancellation, T.38 Fax relay, conferencing and flexible telephony signals detection and generation are also supported. The solution also includes provisioning for Real Time Polling Service (RTPS) allowing dynamic allocation of bandwidth, which provides the Quality of Service (QoS) required for VoIP calls while optimizing the usage of the required bandwidth.



The AudioCodes VoIPerfect architecture, which has been deployed for over 12 years, includes a DSP firmware, media processing VoicePacketizer stack, SIP stack and call control layer for a complete SIP VoIP application. Additionally, an infrastructure is provided to allow the configuration and management of the stand-alone SIP VoIP application from the user's main application.



"With the growing number of WiMAX installations globally, service providers will want to enable their customers with voice as well as data," stated Shaul Weissman, Vice President, VoIP Processors, at AudioCodes. "Using our integrated VoIPerfect solution allows OEMs and ODMs to rapidly provide a VoIP enabled WiMAX CPE for such applications."http://www.audiocodes.com

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ViaSat Expands Agreement with WildBlue, Ordering 500,000 Terminals

WildBlue Communications awarded a requirements contract to ViaSat to supply the next 500,000 Ka-band satellite terminals to be deployed by WildBlue for use with its WildBlue-1 and Anik F2 satellites. Together with units already delivered, the number of terminals supplied by ViaSat is expected to exceed 750,000. The contract provides for potential expansion to other on-orbit Ka-band satellites that may be used by WildBlue. The contract, which also includes network infrastructure upgrades and software support services, could exceed a value of $200 million over the next three to five years, depending on the underlying market demand for WildBlue subscriber terminals.



"ViaSat and WildBlue have been working very closely together for a number of years to create a scaleable market for satellite broadband services," said ViaSat CEO Mark Dankberg. "WildBlue's impressive growth has shown there is very strong demand for high-quality, affordable satellite broadband service in rural America. We are extremely pleased to be a part of their continued growth."



ViaSat was first selected as the supplier of the WildBlue satellite networking system in 2001.

http://www.viasat.com

http://www.wildblue.com

• n March 2007, WildBlue Communications began offering Internet access services using its new Ka-band spot beam satellite, WildBlue-1. The new satellite allows WildBlue to more than triple its customer capacity, making high-speed Internet service available to more than 750,000 rural consumers throughout the continental United States. WildBlue expects that the additional capacity accessible on WildBlue-1 will be available to all areas of the contiguous United States by the second quarter of 2007. WildBlue will also continue to utilize its capacity on Anik F2, alongside WildBlue-1.

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Hitachi's GPON Platform Receives USDA-RUS Acceptance

Hitachi Telecom's AMN1220 GPON product has been accepted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Utilities Service (RUS) for deployment under the Rural Development Broadband Loan and Loan Guarantee Program. Acceptance for the RUS program requires that the product is standards-compliant (ITU G.984.1 - 4 for GPON), has been deployed in a "revenue-generating service environment" with at least six months of operating experience, and is recommended by current customers.



RUS acceptance means that communities of up to 20,000 inhabitants can now install Hitachi's AMN1220 GPON Fiber to the Premises solution using funding obtained under the USDA Rural Development funding programs.



The Broadband Access Loan program provides loans for funding the costs of construction, improvement, and acquisition of facilities to provide broadband service to eligible rural communities.



Hitachi's GPON products for North America are compliant with ITU-T G.984 standards.

http://www.hitachitelecom.com

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Voxant Partners With Dow Jones Online

Voxant has partnered with Dow Jones Online to make videos from The Wall Street Journal Online, MarketWatch.com and Barron's Online available through VSN's TheNewsRoom. Voxant offers proprietary "viral mashing" technology that allows the copyright-protected content to be "mashed" from TheNewsRoom and legally embedded on websites and blogs.

http://www.voxant.com

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EarthLink to Launch Next Phase in Philadelphia Wi-Fi Rollout

The City of Philadelphia approved EarthLink's 15-square-mile Wi-Fi Proof of Concept (POC) area -- or test zone. In turn, EarthLink will continue building the 135-square-mile Wi-Fi mesh network, slated for citywide completion in the third quarter of 2007.



EarthLink will finance, build and manage the wireless network, and provide Wireless Philadelphia (the non- profit created by the City to manage the project) with revenue sharing fees to help support the non-profit and its Digital Inclusion programs.



EarthLink Wi-Fi for consumers offers download and upload speeds up to 1 Mbps for a limited time promotional rate of $6.95 a month for the first six months, returning to the recurring rate of $19.95 a month thereafter. A premium 3 Mbps download and 1 Mbps upload service is priced at $9.95 for the first six months, returning to the recurring rate of $21.95 a month thereafter. EarthLink will also offer business services.

http://www.wirelessphiladelphia.org/http://www.earthlink.net

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AT&T Wins $30 Million Contract with Centers for Disease Control

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) awarded a $30 million contract to AT&T Government Solutions to provide Managed Telecommunications Services to multiple CDC locations throughout the country. AT&T will provide the CDC Information Technology Services Office with managed telecommunications and support services for its existing PBX and cabling systems. AT&T will also provide the CDC with a dedicated staff of employees responsible for maintaining and updating the CDC's telecommunications infrastructure.



The contract has a two-year base with a three-year option. AT&T will support 14 CDC locations in Atlanta, Ga.; Cincinnati, Ohio, and Hyattsville, Md. The CDC has approximately 6,500 employees.

http://www.att.com

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Aruba Networks Posts Revenue of $34.7 Million

Aruba Networks reported quarterly revenues of $34.7 million, an increase of 65% from $21.0 million reported in the same quarter of last year. GAAP net loss for the quarter was $9.3 million, or $0.26 per share, compared to a net loss of $1.5 million, or $0.13 per share in the same quarter of 2006.



"Our momentum in the marketplace is reflected in our revenue growth, which increased during the quarter on both a sequential and year-over-year basis," said Dominic Orr, president and chief executive officer of Aruba Networks. "We continued to add new customers at a rapid rate and now have over 2,400 customers."http://www.arubanetworks.com/

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Sony Ericsson Joins the WiMAX Forum

Sony Ericsson has joined the WiMAX Forum.



"Sony Ericsson's membership in the WiMAX Forum is a logical step as we seek to understand the technology and the opportunities in the marketplace," said Mats Lindoff, Chief Technology Officer, Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications AB.

http://www.sonyericsson.com

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AT&T unveils Networx Transition Management Center

AT&T Government Solutions showcased its portfolio of products, services and capabilities for Networx Universal, a multibillion telecommunications network and services contract awarded by the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA). At its Networx Universal Program Launch meeting , AT&T unveiled its Transition Management Center, where AT&T PMP-certified program managers and staff showcased tools, resources, inventory management and processes that will be used for agencies that will partner with AT&T for their transitions.



AT&T also detailed its products and services for Mobility, Network Disaster Recovery and Continuity of Operations, Security, Order Processing and Billing, Managed Services and Services Management, including its Web-based customer portal, BuisnessDirect.
http://www.att.com

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RadiSys Releases Convedia CMS-3000 and CMS-9000 Media Servers

RadiSys announced the general availability of its Convedia CMS-3000 and CMS-9000 media servers, which are based on a modular hardware platform, incorporate the latest DSPs and processor chipsets and utilize the company's eXtended Media Processing (eXMP) technology.

The platforms are optimized for media-intensive IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) networks and can be used to enable fixed mobile convergence by delivering a shared IP media processing resource for any access network, including wireless, broadband, cable, PSTN or satellite. The media servers provide a standards-based Multimedia Resource Function Processor (MRFP) that can be shared across a broad range of IMS applications.



RadiSys said the processing of XML-based scripts for IVR applications, storing and retrieving multimedia files for messaging applications, as well as the growing use of low bit rate audio codecs, high complexity video codecs, and sophisticated VoIP security, including media encryption, require increasingly powerful and flexible IP media processing platforms.



The CMS-9000, a carrier-class IP media server, incorporates a family of new modular media processing cards. The processing cards are backwards compatible with CMS-6000 deployments, allowing existing customers to benefit from recent hardware advancements while fully protecting their investment in CMS-6000 systems.



The CMS-3000 media server, targeted at enterprise customers and smaller service providers, incorporates eXMP media processing technology in a 1RU network appliance packaging. Both products are backwards compatible with management and control interfaces from RadiSys, and meet or exceed Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) environmental standards for telecommunication equipment.

http://www.radisys.com/

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Agilent and Net-O2 Announce CFM Test Suite for Carrier Ethernet

Agilent Technologies and Net-O2, a developer of automated communications testing software, have integrated Net-O2's ATTEST Connectivity Fault Management (CFM) protocol conformance test suite into Agilent's N2X multiservices test solution. Network equipment manufacturers and service providers can use N2X to ensure their Carrier Ethernet switches and routers implementing the CFM mechanisms conform to the relevant IEEE and ITU-T standards.



Defined currently in IEEE 802.1ag draft 8.0, CFM provides end-to-end Carrier Ethernet diagnostic capabilities that allow service providers to rapidly detect and locate faults, ensuring the reliable delivery of delay-sensitive triple play services.



The companies said the IEEE CFM mechanisms are very similar to those in the ITU-T Y.1731 standard. The tight alignment between these two influential standards bodies attests to the relevance of CFM to the industry. The Agilent N2X CFM test suite provides the industry's first solution for validating CFM standards compliance.

http://www.agilent.com

http://ww.net-o2.com

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Jangl Assigns a Phone Number to Every Email Address

Jangl, a start-up based in Pleasanton, California, unveiled a service that lets consumers call anyone using only their email address. The new Jangl service, which is available in 31 countries, builds on the social networking phenomenon.



Jangl Service Highlights:

• Call anyone: Connect via your mobile phone simply by knowing someone's email address.



• Keep your real phone numbers private at all times.



• Want to be called? Add a simple Jangl web address to your email signature to let people connect with you even when you're not online, or post a customized Jangl widget to your online profile.



• Control your phone access and manage Jangl voicemails, numbers and relationships online.



• Use any of your personal phones to connect -- mobile, landline or VoIP.

Jangl works by matching email addresses to phone numbers. To make a call, you begin by enter someone's email address at Jangl's homepage to get connected. You'll be given a phone number -- local to you -- to call them. During the first call, you'll leave a voicemail, which Jangl then delivers via email. Once they receive that message, the recipient receives instructions to get a number -- local to them -- to call you back. This service still keeps your personal number safe, enables text messaging via SMS and the exchange of voicemails.

http://www.jangl.com

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Skype Chooses VSNL's Teleglobe for VoIP Call Termination

Skype has selected Teleglobe voice termination services to provide call termination for SkypeOut. Skype connects to VSNL's international global network via the Teleglobe VoIPLink service, which exchanges VoIP traffic worldwide. SkypeOut is then terminated using the Teleglobe Voice Termination Service (VTS).



"We chose to partner with VSNL for international voice termination services because their services allow us to quickly connect to a true global network without the operational burden and the expenses associated with interoperability requirements," said Scott Bagby, Skype's vice president for new markets."http://www.vsnlinternational.com

• India's Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited (VSNL) acquired Teleglobe International in 2005. Telegloge was once the international carrier for Bell Canada. Following a split from Bell Canada Enterprises in 2002 and a subsequent bankruptcy, Teleglobe was relaunched in June 2003 as a provider of international voice, wireless roaming, data and Internet services. Teleglobe later acquired ITXC, one of the first large providers of international VoIP wholesale services.

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QUALCOMM Ventures Expands Into Europe, Invests in Streamezzo

QUALCOMM plans to invest EUR 100 million in European companies offering innovative technologies and services that enhance the global wireless communications ecosystem. The company said its investment strategy will focus on European small- to medium-sized enterprises and startups that can serve the 3G (WCDMA) business case in Europe through innovation in the following sectors: mobile application/platform software developers, handset components, network infrastructure and core technologies providers.



QUALCOMM Ventures' first direct equity investment in Europe is in Streamezzo, a leading provider of rich media solutions, platforms and service for mobile communications. http://www.qualcomm.com

http://www.streamezzo.com

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Asia Netcom Offers Country-Specific Route Service

Asia Netcom has begun offering a new Country-Specific Route (CSR) IP Transit Service that provides a corresponding set of performance guarantees for a given route. In its initial phase, the service is available to ISPs/CSPs from Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Australia, on the following routes: China, Japan, Greater China, Australia, and Taiwan.



"By creating dedicated and direct routes within its backbone, Asia Netcom's CSR service effectively allows ISPs and CSPs to access a fast lane on the Internet," said Mark Simpson, Chief Operating Officer, Asia Netcom.



Asia Netcom's Country-Specific Route IP Transit service uses virtual-route-forwarding (VRF) tables to separate different routes into different VRF routing tables. The country routes are distributed to country- specific routers. Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) communities are then used to control the routing between the main Internet routes, and different country VRF routes. The result is a service that ensures performance between different countries, allowing ISPs/CSPs to ensure the optimal user experience for their subscribers.

http://www.asianetcom.com

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KeyEye and Methode to Jointly Develop 10GBASE-T Copper Modules

KeyEye Communications, which develops low-power semiconductor transceivers for 10 Gbps copper-media communications, and Methode Electronics will to jointly develop the industry's first 10 GbE copper MSA pluggable modules compatible with the short-reach, low-power mode of the IEEE 802.3an 10GBASE-T standard.



The companies said that while demand is rapidly growing to deploy field-configurable 10Gb servers and switches, building MSA pluggable modules that enable application-specific configurability presents major power dissipation, footprint and cost challenges. First-generation 100-meter 10GBASE-T ICs typically consume in excess of 10 Watts, offer inadequate signal margin, employ packaging that exceeds the industry-standard module footprint, and are only available at costs rivaling optical devices.
http://www.keyeye.nethttp://www.methode.com/

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Chelsio Delivers Unified Wire for Gigabit Ethernet

Chelsio Communications, a start-up based in Sunnyvale, California, introduced a family of Unified Wire Adapters that enable the convergence of storage, clustering and server networking applications onto a single unified fabric. This would allow the replacement of disparate fabric technologies such as Fibre Channel and InfiniBand in a wide range of applications, including Network-Attached Storage (NAS) Filers, Storage Area Network (SAN) Arrays, Server Adapters, High Performance Cluster Computing, Blade Servers, Video Servers, Application Servers and Web Accelerators.

http://www.chelsio.com

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Internet2 and Microsoft to Extend Shibboleth for Windows CardSpace

The Internet2 consortium will develop new extensions to Shibboleth to support Microsoft's Windows CardSpace and other compatible identity selectors.



Shibboleth, a SAML-based software suite, provides Web Single Sign On (SSO) capability and a secure attribute exchange framework to enable individual access to an unlimited number of online resource providers. Shibboleth leverages an institution's existing sign-on and directory system to authenticate users and then passes only relevant identity information to the provider. The system removes the need for universities to set up multiple passwords and accounts for each online resource.



Adding information card support to Shibboleth would enable interoperability with Windows CardSpace which provides critical support for secure user-centric authentication and identity information exchange for web-based applications.

http://shibboleth.internet2.eduhttp://www.microsoft.com

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New Zealand's National Electricity Grid Deploys Alcatel-Lucent

Transpower, which owns and operates New Zealand's high-voltage electricity transmission network, selected Alcatel-Lucent to deliver, operate and maintain a new IP-based private communications network connecting 192 sites across New Zealand. Financial terms were not disclosed.



As part of the proposed five-year contract, Alcatel-Lucent will be responsible for Transpower's overall life cycle management including project management, network design and integration, procurement, deployment, operations, and maintenance of the multivendor network. The architecture will be based on Alcatel-Lucent's service routing and optical networking portfolios including the 7710 SR, 5620 Service Aware manager and Optical Multi-Service Node systems. http://www.alcatel-lucent.com

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KPN Selects Amdocs and Huawei OSS

KPN, the largest service provider in the Netherlands, has licensed solutions from Cramer, Amdocs OSS Division for end-to-end triple play fulfillment. Additionally, KPN is among the first service providers to deploy broadband access services that support triple play solutions using Multi-Technology Operations System Interface (MTOSI), the industry standard developed by the TeleManagement Forum. The solutions will be implemented by Amdocs Cramer Global Services and will be ready for deployment by July 2007. Financial terms were not disclosed.



KPN has selected several products from the Amdocs Cramer OSS Portfolio, including Activation Engine, Automation and Activation Packs for the rollout of residential broadband services.



Cramer, Amdocs OSS Division is working with Huawei Technologies to deliver the solution. Amdocs Cramer Activation and Automation Packs have been integrated as part of Huawei's U2900 OSS solution to deliver an integrated fulfillment solution for triple play services. The companies said their combined solution uses a preliminary version of the TeleManagement Forum's MTOSI Release 2 interface for activationhttp://www.amdocs.com

http://www.huawei.com

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BT Builds MPLS VPN for Nestle

Nestle awarded a new global services agreement to deliver and manage an MPLS-based VPN connecting more than 1,000 sites worldwide. The service includes multimedia voice and video running across the network as well as the roll out of managed audio conferencing services. The agreement also covers the management of secure inbound and outbound internet traffic using BT's Managed Firewall service. Financial terms were not disclosed.

http://www.btplc.com

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Tellabs 1134 Access Platform Supports VDSL2 and GPON

Tellabs introduced its new 1134 multiservice access platform for supporting a variety of last mile services, including VDSL2 and GPON. The Tellabs 1134 is designed to combine the functions of a broadband digital loop carrier and an IP DSLAM.



The Tellabs 1134 platform, which is part of the company's "DynamicHome" solution, measures seven inches of rack space (7U) and can be deployed in existing Tellabs or third-party cabinets in FTTN, FTTC or FTTP topologies. It features an IP/Ethernet packet architecture and offers 24 Gbps to 200 Gbps of switching fabric options. Other key features include:

• Multiple 1 GbE and 10 GbE interfaces



• Distributed IGMP design for deterministic IPTV services



• IGMPv2/v3 transparent snooping with proxy reporting



• Supports 16 GPON OLT ports, 96 xDSL circuits, and 16 point-to-point GbE-fed ONUs



• Supports interface to Tellabs 1000 Voice Gateway and facilitates migration to a softswitch.

http://www.tellabs.com

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Motorola Builds IMS Ecosystem of Partners

Motorola is building an IMS ecosystem of partners as part of its strategy to offer its customers a best-of-the-best approach to IMS across multiple technologies, including WiMAX. Within its ecosystem, Motorola builds the IMS control server that provides the call session control function (CSCF) and mobility/call continuity seamless mobility application servers, forming the heart of the entire ecosystem.



Motorola's third-party solution providers include:

• Acme Packet


• Apertio


• Colibria


• Iperia


• IP Unity Glenayre


• jNetX


• NetNumber


• OpenCloud


• RadiSys


• Sonus Networks


• Sylantro Systems


• Ubiquity Software.

These companies provide Motorola's convergent ecosystem with key standards-defined functionality such as session border control function, home subscriber servers, presence server, unified IP messaging, application feature servers for voice, meet-me conferencing application servers, media server and media resource function, media gateways and media gateway control function.



In addition to WiMAX, other IMS applications offered by Motorola include OMA PoC (open mobile alliance -- push-to-talk-over-cellular), PTX (push to X includes push-to-view, push-to-video, push-to-hear, push-to-ask, push-to-play, etc.) and IPTV.

http://www.motorola.com

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Telefonica Picks Narrowstep OS for TV-over-IP

Telefonica is testing Narrowstep's proprietary "telvOS" to deliver TV over IP channels. Specifically, Telefonica has been trailing two broadband TV channels, Terra TV Spain (www.terra.ES) and Terra TV Peru (www.terra.com.PE). Narrowstep said the early results indicate the broadband channels have been experiencing massive success.



The broadband TV offerings are the fastest growing features on the portals with Terra TV Spain attracting more than 300,000 unique viewers in March this year and click through rates consistently measuring higher than any other offering on the portal. Terra TV Peru is also attracting thousands of unique viewers and is converting 10 percent of its portal visitors to TV viewers.

http://www.narrowstep.com

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PCCW and Bharti Announce MPLS VPN Agreement

Hong Kong-based PCCW Global announced a partnership arrangement with India's Bharti Airtel. Bharti currently owns 102 MPLS points of presence (PoPs) in India covering every one of the nation's 23 telecoms circles.



In addition, PCCW Global has announced expanded coverage to Middle Eastern markets, including Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, plus Turkey, where Europe meets Asia.
http://www.bhartiairtel.in/http://www.pccwglobal.com/

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Veraz Enhances Softswitch for Transitioning IN to IP

Veraz Networks announced the latest release of its ControlSwitch Interconnect, designed to help service providers migrate Intelligent Network (IN) service platforms as well as PSTN transport and peering signaling to IP. Additionally, advanced Quality of Service (QoS) routing improves revenue assurance through the enforcement of network-wide agreements.



Major enhancements to the ControlSwitch-IC include:

• New Directory Services Element: The element adds application layer capabilities, enabling the transition of IN-based services to IP which improves operational costs and flexibility of the services themselves. For example, large databases containing hundreds of millions of numbers such as screening databases for the National Do Not Call Registry and number mapping databases such as nationwide local number portability and telephone number mapping (ENUM) can be migrated over to IP.



• Advanced QoS-based Routing Module: This module allows service providers to meet custom service level agreements (SLAs) by measuring network quality fluctuations and dynamically enforcing network-wide routing policies. It also improves revenue assurance by being able to charge a premium for meeting priority levels of service.



• New Signaling Element: The element lowers the cost of signaling by enabling the efficient backhaul of PSTN signaling over IP via M3UA, an industry standard signaling transport protocol. The ControlSwitch-IC can now connect directly to standards compliant IP signaling gateways and IP based STPs thus enabling operators to avoid the cost of separate PSTN signaling backhaul networks. Additionally, to simplify the move to direct IP peering between service providers the ControlSwitch-IC now supports industry standard IP signaling that preserves important information from traditional PSTN SS7 signaling that for example, identifies how a video call travels across different carrier networks.

ControlSwtich-IC supports PSTN signaling backhaul over IP based on the Message Transfer Part 3 User Adaptation (M3UA) protocol, an industry standard. SIP-I is a supported industry standard which is used to support direct IP peering between carriers in a way that preserves traditional PSTN signaling.
http://www.veraznetworks.com

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Orange Business Offers "Business Together with Microsoft" Service

Orange Business Services announced a "Business Together with Microsoft" collaborative solution to accelerate the use of unified communications in companies. "Business Together with Microsoft" gives access to a range of tools that companies can use either when mobile or from workstations. Orange Business Services will offer a range of services including consulting and audits, migration to IP, integration, managed IT infrastructure and applications services, and outsourcing.

http://www.orange-business.com

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Thales Offers 10 Gig Ethernet Layer 2 Encryptor

Thales launched its new Datacryptor 10 Gig Ethernet Layer 2 Encryptor, which can be used for secure 10 gigabit backbone WAN links with minimal latency. The company said its Datacryptor 10 Gig encrypts the data without the overheads associated with IPSec security. It uses the strongest security with 256 bit AES allowing government and enterprise to meet the performance and the security requirements.
http://www.thales-esecurity.com

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Nortel Supplies IMS-ready NGN for Kazakhtelecom

JSC Kazakhtelecom, the country's incumbent communications operator, selected Nortel for a nationwide next-generation network (NGN). Under the multimillion dollar contract Nortel supplied project design, equipment and development services, while Russian Jet Infosystems - Nortel's Carrier VoIP Service and Solution Partner - provided installation, deployment, testing and connection services. The infrastructure incorporates two Nortel Communication Server 2000 Compact soft switches in Almaty - Kazakhstan's largest city - and a number of carrier-class Media Gateway 15000 gateways located in ten regional centers. More than 50 exchanges all over the country are already connected to the NGN network.

http://www.nortel.com

http://portal.telecom.kz/

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Vietnam Upgrades Optical Backbone with Nortel

Vietnam Post and Telecommunications (VNPT), the country's dominant carrier, is using a Nortel optical solution to double the capacity of its national, north-south optical backbone from 20 Gbps to 40 Gbps. The expanded capacity will enable VNPT to provide ADSL to more residential and enterprise customers. The Nortel high-capacity transport solution for VNPT comprises the Optical Long Haul 1600 with the Optical Cross Connect DX for DWDM transport, and the Optical Metro 4000 series of multiservice SDH platforms to enable 10 Gbps connectivity into and from cities along the backbone's north-south path. Financial terms were not disclosed.

http://www.nortel.com

• In 1995, Nortel built the original optical backbone – the country's first optical DWDM network at 2.5 Gbps – running from Hanoi in the north to Ho Chi Minh City in the south with interconnections into the national network for major cities along the route. In 2003, Nortel upgraded the national backbone to 20 Gbps.

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UNH-IOL to Host "10 Gig Tech Summit" and 10BASE-T Plugfest

The University of New Hampshire InterOperability Laboratory (UNH-IOL) announced plans to host a new "10 Gigabit Technology Summit" and the industry's first 10GBASE-T group test, or "plugfest." Although dates have not yet been set in stone, the events are planned for late summer and early fall 2007, respectively.



The 10 Gigabit Technology Summit (10 Gig Tech Summit) will create a data-center-class test network comprising participating companies' 10 Gigabit network devices. Once it has been tested and debugged, the test bed will be used to support testing and demonstration of high-level business and other 10 Gigabit-capable applications such as financial databases, storage arrays and computer clusters.



The 10 Gig Tech Summit will put the market readiness of 10 Gigabit Ethernet to the test. Test plans will encompass multiple flavors of 10 Gigabit Ethernet, including LR/SR/ER optics, LRM optics, CX4 copper, KR and KX4 backplane Ethernet ports. Possible applications for 10 Gigabit networking to be tested include iWARP and RDMA services, iSCSI targets and initiators and 10 Gigabit Ethernet switching.



Strict vendor-to-vendor interoperability will be the focus of the test lab's autumn 10GBASE-T plugfest. The UNH-IOL said the group test will be open to all interested participants for a $6K testing fee and free for members of the laboratory's 10 Gigabit Ethernet Consortium (10GEC). More information is online.

http://www.iol.unh.edu

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SonicWALL Unveils Enterprise-Class, 16-Core Network Security Appliance

SonicWALL unveiled its Network Security Appliance (NSA) E7500, a new gateway security appliance that makes deep packet inspection security productive and easy to manage in larger network deployments. The NSA E7500 is a Unified Threat Management (UTM) appliance that harnesses sixteen processing cores in a single network platform. The scalable multi-core architecture of the NSA E7500 provides gigabit-scale deep packet inspection throughput with multiple layers of protection.
The platform is designed for campus networks, distributed environments and data centers.



The company said granular, application-specific policies enabled by its SonicWALL Application Firewall allow custom access control on multiple levels. Capabilities of SonicWALL Application Firewall include inbound and outbound content control, application level access control, intelligent prevention functionality and digital rights management functionality.

http://www.sonicwall.com

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UTStarcom to Supply GEPON in Goa, India

United Telecom Limited selected UTStarcom to supply its Gigabit Ethernet Passive Optical Network (GEPON) fiber access solution to serve as the foundation for the new Statewide Area Network (SWAN) in the state of Goa in India. The network will be used to provide high-speed fiber connectivity across all state government offices in Goa for running e-Governance applications. The network will be capable of delivering up to one gigabit-per-second 1 Gbps bandwidth to each office and is expected to be extended in the near future to cover the sub-districts and villages to enable the Goa state government to provide better services to its citizens. Financial terms were not disclosed.



UTStarcom's FTTx solution complies with the IEEE802.3ah standard for Ethernet PON (EPON) and includes a BBS1000 Optical Line Termination system (OLT) for deployment at the Central Office (CO) as well as an Optical Network Unit (ONU) for deployment at the customer's premises.
http://www.utstar.com

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Firetide Offers CPE for Extending Outdoor Wireless Mesh Nets Indoors

Firetide introduced a consumer device designed to extend the reach of outdoor wireless networks to the indoors. The Firetide CPE supports the industry's most advanced security to ensure privacy of customer communications and reduce service provider liability.



Firetide's CPE comes in two versions -- indoor and outdoor -- to provide added flexibility in any environment. The indoor variety is designed for large-scale municipal deployments that require reliable access to penetrate through thick walls. The rugged outdoor CPE can be placed on rooftops, in atriums and outdoor hallways. The outdoor CPE is power over Ethernet-enabled.



The Firetide CPE connects to multiple outdoor access points providing users redundancy of coverage and better signal availability, featuring high-power 400 milliwatts radio. The product also allows for efficient power management between high-power outdoor access points and low-power consumer equipment including laptops, mp3 players, and cameras.



The gear will be sold to wireless mesh operators that offer wireless services directly to residents and small home and business offices (SOHO). Using Firetide's mesh management platform, HotView Pro, service providers can configure the CPE to offer guaranteed throughput to end customers, supporting their service level agreements.

http://www.firetide.com/

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