Orange "Unik for Professionals" Combines Fixed/Mobile Telephony

Orange introduced a "Unik for Professionals" fixed and mobile telephony service for business customers. "Unik for Professionals" uses a GSM/WiFi mobile phone that connects via WiFi to a Livebox Pro gateway when inside the office.



With the Livebox Pro, Orange is offering unlimited 24/7 calling to all national and international landlines (Europe, USA and Canada).



Orange said that calls started through the Livebox Pro can continue outside on the GSM network with no interruption. The user is kept informed of which network is being used by a symbol on the phone display. Calls initiated at the workplace are therefore included in the unlimited offer, even once the call has switched over to the mobile network. Calls initiated away from the workplace are deducted from the customer's usual Orange mobile minutes.



The Unik for Professionals contract is offered as a limited edition to 10,000 subscribers in mainland France until April 18th 2007, at a price of EUR15.88 excl. VAT per month. Customers must already have an Orange broadband connection (minimum 1 megamax), a Livebox and must acquire a Unik-compatible handset (UMA technology).



Orange is currently offering three UMA handsets: the Nokia 6136, the Samsung P200 and soon the Motorola A910 with a reimbursement offer of EUR 30.

http://www.francetelecom.com

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NDS Announces Peer-to-Peer Content Sharing and Distributed-DVR Capabilities

NDS, which supplies end-to-end content protection systems for network operators, announced two new product enhancements of Synamedia Metro, the NDS IPTV middleware solution.



The new capabilities are an in-home Distributed-DVR function and a "ShareTV" P2P aimed at lowering storage and bandwidth overhead of archive-TV for IPTV operators.

• Distributed DVR: Traditionally, DVRs require a set-top box (STB) with a disk contained in it. Distributed DVR capability from NDS uses the home network and Jungo Residential Gateway UPnP software to find suitable external hard disks for DVR TV storage. Without the need for a hard drive, the cost of the IP-STB is reduced, and the residential gateway becomes the home's virtual on-demand TV server. The subscriber therefore is not restricted by the amount of storage provided in the STB. Furthermore, the subscriber can add as much storage to the home network as required to store recorded programs.



• ShareTV: Once content is stored within the home network, ShareTV allows IPTV subscribers to legally share their stored TV content using peer-to-peer technology running in the Jungo Residential Gateway software. For example, a missed episode of a TV series can be requested from other subscribers using Share TV's peer-to-peer software. ShareTV manages the download of the content from other peers on the operator's network and then stores it on a selected hard disk for playback.

NDS said its VideoGuard technology protects both the rights of content owners and those of operators for both ShareTV and Distributed-DVR. As the media files are encrypted, content is protected even if the content is transferred to a portable media player. A subscriber can only access and view content for which they have a valid subscription.

http://www.nds.com

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World Wide Packets Adds Provider Backbone Transport (PBT) Support

World Wide Packets is now supporting Provider Backbone Transport (PBT) through its LightningEdge 311v platform (LE-311v).



PBT is a means of Ethernet tunneling with MPLS interoperability.



World Wide Packets LE-311v, a Layer 2 VPN platform, also supports transparent LAN Services delivered over Ethernet or over MPLS. With the addition of PBT, the LE-311v will simplify the network and enable service providers to drive down the overall costs of deployment which allows for the generation of new revenue by offering optimal services at a fraction of the cost.



"PBT is quickly becoming part of the next generation of Carrier Ethernet delivery. Therefore, we are committed to supporting PBT in our current and future offerings and will continue to work closely with customers to integrate these services into their architectures," said Kevin Daines, CTO, World Wide Packets.

http://www.worldwidepackets.com

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Juniper Routers Achieve Ethernet First Mile OAM Certification

Iometrix, an independent testing lab, has certified that Juniper's M- and T-series routers are the industry's first routing platforms to successfully pass Iometrix compliance testing for Ethernet in the First Mile Operations Administration and Maintenance (OAM), as specified by IEEE draft 802.3ah.



IEEE draft 802.3ah specifies reliability and high availability requirements for Ethernet-based services, enabling service providers to deliver advanced, cost-effective Ethernet-based services with the high levels of quality and reliability required for business-class services.



The IEEE's 802.3ah OAM draft outlines requirements for link monitoring, fault signaling, and remote loopback capabilities. These features allow service providers to better manage customer access and to monitor and trouble-shoot network operations for Ethernet based services. Juniper Networks successfully tested all the required components of 802.3ah as well as many optional specifications which enable additional advanced capabilities and features.

http://www.juniper.net

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Nokia Siemens Networks to Outline Product Plan in Feb

Nokia and Siemens plan to start sharing the proposed product portfolio plan for the future Nokia Siemens Networks with employees and customers starting in early February. Planning is still underway to assess the personnel, site and country-level impact of the proposed product portfolio plan as well as expected transition times and requirements for ongoing support for existing products.



"As we continue to make strong progress in integration planning for Nokia Siemens Networks, it is critical that we are able to maintain the strong support that we have seen so far from customers by providing them with clarity about our future portfolio plans," said Simon Beresford-Wylie, CEO-designate of Nokia Siemens Networks.



As previously announced, the synergies associated with the creation of Nokia Siemens Networks are expected to result in a headcount adjustment over the next four years of approximately 10-15 percent from the initial combined base of approximately 60,000.



The companies said their planned merger is now expected to close in the first quarter of 2007.

http://www.nokia.com

http://wwww.siemens.com

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Motorola and TI Expands Relationship to High-Volume 3G, WiMAX and OMAP

Motorola and Texas Instruments are expanding their strategic relationship to include 3G, WiMAX and OMAP technologies in the design and development of new, experience-optimized mobile devices. The expanded relationship covers current, emerging and next-generation wireless standards and leverages intellectual property from both Motorola and TI.



As part of the expansion, Motorola is developing 3G handsets based on a TI customized 3G solution that will include high-performance, power-efficient processors from TI's OMAP 3 architecture, as well as advanced, unique 3G and 3.5G building blocks from both Motorola and TI. New handsets using this solution are expected to be available to consumers as early as 2008.



Additionally, TI is supporting Motorola's mobile WiMAX initiative, including development of a customized Motorola WiMAX solution, and providing digital design elements, high-performance analog components, RF solutions, and manufacturing process and fabrication expertise. The solution will focus on core 802.16e mobile WiMAX functionality supporting voice, video and data for low-power mobile applications. The solution will be manufactured in 65nm and is expected to be ready to support production of new mobile devices that Motorola plans to launch during 2008.

http://www.motorola.com

http://www.ti.com/wirelesspressroom

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Extreme Networks Adds DHCP-Based Edge Security (NAC)

Extreme Networks has updated its modular operating system, ExtremeXOSversion 11.6, featuring new enhancements for securing networks using Network Access Control (NAC) technologies. The switch-based enforcement allows network administrators to securely deploy NAC using DHCP or 802.1x.



Extreme Networks noted that many enterprises deploying NAC to protect the network perimeter have used DHCP servers, which left vulnerabilities. Users that were denied access could simply configure a static IP address to gain entry into the network and get out of quarantine. Extreme Networks removes this NAC exploit, as the switch enforces all endpoints to only allow devices with valid DHCP assigned IP addresses into the network. Users that attempt to bypass NAC solutions will be automatically blocked by the switch and alert the administrator of the attempted breach.



ExtremeXOS has also introduced enhancements to 802.1x through the innovative Universal Port framework. Universal Port simplifies network operations by automatically provisioning network resources when new users and devices connect. When combined with 802.1x, Universal Port provides more granular policy enforcement including per-user Quality of Service (QoS), rate limiting of bandwidth, and dynamic ACLs.



Both of these enhancements in the latest ExtremeXOS release can be used in conjunction with Sentriant AG, Extreme Networks NAC solution, to lock down the edge of the network and help ensure endpoints are free from threats and in compliance with company security policies before gaining access. Sentriant AG provides deep endpoint testing without requiring an agent and supports both DHCP and 802.1x enforcement modes allowing it to easily integrate with any network environment.
http://www.extremenetworks.com

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Broadcom Offers New Chips for Bluetooth Wireless Headsets

Broadcom introduced a new silicon and software platform that significantly improves the user experience of wireless mono and stereo headsets. Based on the company's existing Bluetooth technology, the audio portfolio features two new single-chip solutions that support Bluetooth Version 2.0 with EDR (upgradeable to Bluetooth Version 2.1) and Broadcom's "SmartAudio" sound enhancement technology. Sampling is underway.



The Bluetooth headset market now exceeds the 80 million unit threshold.

http://www.broadcom.com

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Brocade Completes McDATA Acquisition

Brocade completed its acquisition of McDATA Corporation, a transaction valued at approximately $973 million. Brocade also embarked on a new branding campaign, including an updated logo and website. Brocade is launching an integrated product and service offering across the range of its Storage Area Network (SAN) and File Area Network (FAN) solutions, including professional services.

http://www.brocade.com

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Solarflare Introduces Low-power 10 Gigabit Ethernet Controller

Solarflare Communications introduced a low-power 10 Gigabit Ethernet controller that operates at just 2.2 watts. The company said its device offers the lowest latency of all 10 Gigabit Ethernet controllers in the market, and it supports virtualization of its host interface, providing the most efficient way to accelerate I/O in virtualized operating system deployments. In addition, the company introduced the industry's first standards- compliant 10GBASE-T server adapter reference design, along with 10GBASE-CX4 and XFP optical server adapter reference designs.

http://www.solarflare.com

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Global IP Sound Becomes Global IP Solutions, Acquires Video Codec

Global IP Sound, a supplier of voice quality enhancement software for VoIP, has re-named itself to Global IP Solutions (GIPS) to reflect the expansion and broadening of its market position, including new multi-media technology to be integrated with all of GIPS offerings and real-time applications for the Enterprise market.



GIPS acquired Espre Solutions patented video codec technology, which it plans to incorporate into all GIPS' client and server Engines, enabling service providers, application developers, and hardware manufacturers to develop IP enabled media with enhanced sound and image quality. Financial terms were not disclosed.

GIPS has also acquired CrystalVoice, a provider of real-time IP-based applications, and plans to offer enterprise-based solutions. The acquisition includes patented security and packet management technologies that offer targeted enterprise based solutions. GIPS said it will partner with Cisco, Avaya and 3COM to offer these enterprise market solutions, which include Remote Extension and Click-to-Talk functionality. Remote Extension provides the ability to have high quality and secure voice extensions to enterprise IP-PBX networks. Click-to-Talk will allow enterprises to integrate communication functionality to any web site allowing those enterprises to offer immediate VoIP connectivity to their markets. Financial terms of this deal were not disclosed.



http://www.globalipsound.comCompanies using Global IP Solutions products include Nortel, Skype, WebEx, Yahoo!, AOL, EarthLink, BlueCross/BlueShield and other key players in the VoIP market.

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Mobile Satellite Ventures Appoints Nextel Exec as Chief Network Officer

Mobile Satellite Ventures (MSV), which is developing a hybrid satellite-terrestrial communications network for coverage across the U.S. and Canada, has hired Drew Caplan as Chief Network Officer. Mr. Caplan will be responsible for MSV's network engineering and technology functions, as well as leading the development and deployment of MSV's next generation network.



Prior to joining MSV, Mr. Caplan served as Vice President of National Network Services at Nextel Communications from November 1996 to August 2005. Prior to joining Nextel, Caplan served in progressive engineering, operations, and product development roles in MCI Communications from 1983 to 1995. He was a founding member of MCImetro, MCI's CLEC startup, in 1993, overseeing the launch of their first 20 switched services market.

http://www.msvlp.com

• In May 2006, Mobile Satellite Ventures (MSV) and its joint venture partner, MSV Canada, announced an agreement with Boeing to accelerate the deployment of its two North American satellites, which will form the backbone of its satellite-cellular wireless communications network. The agreement will move up, by approximately eight months, the construction, launch and operations of each of the two North American satellites, with the launch of the U.S. satellite scheduled for mid-2009 and the Canadian satellite in early 2010. These two new satellites will replace and expand upon the current MSAT satellite system operated by MSV and MSV Canada. The development of the third satellite for South America, MSV-SA, has been deferred to the third delivery position for the MSV system.


• Ancillary Terrestrial Component (ATC) technology allows existing satellite phone spectrum to also be used in dedicated terrestrial networks. Call capacity is managed and reallocated, in real time, between satellite and terrestrial networks via a common control center.

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Verizon Reaches 7.0 million Broadband, 207,000 FiOS TV Customers

Verizon ended 2006 with 7.0 million broadband connections, up 35.7% year-over-year, with more than 1.8 million net adds (FiOS and DSL) for the year and 409,000 net new adds for Q4. The company served 207,000 FiOS TV customers by year-end, with the service available for sale to 2.4 million premises, nearly doubling the addressable market in one quarter. FiOS Internet customers accounted for 165,000 of the net broadband connection additions in the fourth quarter and totaled 687,000 at year-end.



Verizon Communications posted Q4 operating revenues of $22.6 billion, a 26.1 percent increase compared with the fourth quarter 2005. Full-year 2006 operating revenues were $88.1 billion, a 26.8 percent increase compared with 2005.



Q4 reported earnings were $1.0 billion, or 35 cents per share, compared with $1.7 billion, or 59 cents per share, in the fourth quarter 2005. Fourth-quarter 2006 earnings include non-recurring charges for the recognition of taxes related to the sale of Verizon's Dominican Republic assets and for costs related to the spin-off of Verizon's directories publishing business.



Some highlights for the quarter:

• Verizon Wireless added 2.3 million net customers in the fourth quarter 2006 for a total of 59.1 million customers nationwide, a 15 percent increase in total customers from the end of the fourth quarter 2005.



• Verizon Wireless reported total churn of 1.14 percent for the quarter and 1.17 percent for the year. Churn among the company's retail post-paid customers -- almost 93 percent of total customers -- was even lower, at 0.89 percent for Q4 and 0.91 percent for the year.



• Verizon Wireless quarterly revenues topped $10 billion for the first time.



• New broadband and video sales have more than made up for a reduction in primary wireline voice access lines of customers. The company added 142,000 more net broadband and video customers during the fourth quarter 2006 than it lost in primary wireline voice access lines, compared with 120,000 added in the third quarter 2006. Primary residential access lines decreased by 366,000 in the fourth quarter 2006 compared with the third quarter 2006, while Verizon added 508,000 residential broadband and video customers over the same period.



• At year-end 2006, Verizon served 45.1 million total domestic wireline access lines -- which also include secondary residential lines, public telephones, business lines and wholesale voice connections. This is a 7.6 percent decrease compared with year-end 2005.



• Verizon Business operating revenues rose to $5.3 billion in the fourth quarter 2006. This is a 2.3 percent increase compared with the third quarter 2006, and a 2.7 percent increase compared with the fourth quarter 2005 (pro- forma).



• CAPEX totaled $17.1 billion in 2006, including $1.6 billion due to the inclusion of former MCI, compared with $15.0 billion in 2005. Verizon is targeting capital expenditures of from $17.5 billion to $17.9 billion in 2007. As part of that total, Wireline capital expenditures are expected in the range of $10.7 billion to $10.9 billion, and Wireless capital expenditures are expected in the range of $6.6 billion to $6.8 billion.

http://www.verizon.com

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Atheros Introduces Bluetooth 2.1 Chip for PCs

Atheros Communications, a leading supplier of 802.11a/g, 802.11g, and 802.11n WLAN chipsets, introduced its first Bluetooth chip for laptops and desktops, enabling WLAN co-existence and simultaneous usage of multiple Bluetooth-based devices like mice, keyboards, voice and stereo headsets and mobile phones. The company said it foresees rapid adoption of Bluetooth alongside WiFi as the cost to implement the technology declines and the number of peripherals multiplies.



The Atheros AR3011, which is the first member of the company's new "ROCm", Radio-on-Chip for Mobile, family of Bluetooth solutions, supports the new Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR specification. Bluetooth 2.1 introduces a number of enhancement to short-range wireless communications, including:

• Secure Simple Pairing -- improves ease of pairing of Bluetooth devices while implementing strong security;



• Encryption Pause and Resume -- increases security in the link by ensuring that no user data is transmitted without encryption and enables periodic update of the keys;



• Extended Inquiry Response -- provides better filtering of devices before connection;



• Sniff Subrating -- reduces power consumption when devices are in the sniff, low-power mode, increasing battery-life.

The AR3011 features a USB 2.0 device interface, dual 1.2V voltage regulators, integrated 32-bit CPU, and integrated RAM. The device is implemented in standard digital CMOS using 0.13 micron in a miniature, low-cost 6x6 mm QFN package. Atheros eliminated the need for external Flash by integrating SRAM. To reduce the number of external RF components, Atheros designed the AR3011 radio to eliminate the need for Balun and matching network. The AR3011 also offers 2- , 3- and 4-wire TDM co-existence support to provide optimal co-existence with a co-located WLAN solution. Availability is set for this quarter.

http://www.atheros.com

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Yipes and NASDAQ to Offer Market Data Access and Trading via Ethernet Extranet

Yipes Enterprise Services and the NASDAQ Stock Market will offer market data access and trading capabilities through the Yipes FinancialConnect! platform.



Yipes FinancialConnect! is an Ethernet-based extranet for electronic trading capable of directly delivering financial market and exchange data to banks, brokers, hedge funds, and institutional investors.



Yipes is evolving from being a bandwidth provider to a trusted source of content for the financial community.



Yipes said the agreement represents a major step forward in the development of its FinancialConnect! service and further validates Ethernet as the next-generation network of choice for electronic trading. The dramatic rise in electronic trading volume continues to be a major issue for exchanges at all levels, making trading technology and connectivity innovation increasingly important operational considerations.



Yipes currently links hundreds of financial services firms to member exchanges and trading platforms. Yipes FinancialConnect! employs the company's secure, global, fiber-based network and guarantees connectivity with aggressive service level agreements (SLAs).



In concert with the launch of Yipes FinancialConnect last month, Yipes also announced an agreement with the IntercontinentalExchange (ICE). ICE (www.theice.com) was the first exchange to offer extranet connectivity via the Yipes network. Yipes expects to announce additional exchange agreements in the coming months.

http://www.yipes.com

• Yipes operates a global native Ethernet network that employs Virtual Private LAN Service (VPLS) over an MPLS platform. At the physical layer, Yipes leverages its 14,000 metro fiber route mile infrastructure over which it offers Ethernet services at speeds up to 1 Gbps. The company operates primary POPs in 17 major metropolitan markets: Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Hong Kong, Houston, Los Angeles, London, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, Seattle, Tokyo and Washington D.C.

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