Comcast Selects Thomson for VoIP Cable Modems

Comcast awarded a contract to Thomson for VoIP cable modems (eMTAs modems) to support the continued rollout of its Comcast Digital Voice service. As a long-term supplier of data-only cable modems to Comcast, the agreement strengthens Thomson's relationship with Comcast beyond the current provision of pure cable modems.



Comcast will use Thomson's DHG535 eMTA to connect its customers to both Comcast Digital Voice and Comcast High-Speed Internet through one integrated device.



Thomson said the contract enables it to further address the worldwide market for eMTAs, which will be worth about EUR 650 million this year alone according to market research firm Dell'Oro.

http://www.thomson.net

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Motorola Selected for WiMAX + IMS Network in Bahrain

Mena Telecom, an investment subsidiary of Kuwait Finance House (Bahrain), selected Motorola to plan, deploy and manage a nationwide 802.16e-based mobile WiMAX and IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) network in the Kingdom of Bahrain. The deployment will enable Mena Telecom to deliver wireless broadband connectivity as well as advanced voice and nomadic broadband data services to both business and residential customers across Bahrain. Financial terms were not disclosed.



The end-to-end network, operating in the 3.5GHz frequency band, will comprise WiMAX infrastructure, IMS core, Customer Premises Equipment (CPE), voice and data applications, and operational and business support systems. Under the terms of the contract, Motorola will also take responsibility for the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems, as well as the technical operations of the project and management of the entire WiMAX/IMS network.



Mena Telecom expects the network to be ready for service by the fourth quarter of 2007. In the first phase, a full range of services is expected to be available from Manama to the Seef Area beginning in January 2008. In the second phase, coverage will be extended to other areas in the Kingdom by March 2008.

http://www.motorola.com

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Harmonic to Acquire Rhozet for Mobile Video Creation

Harmonic agreed to acquire Rhozet, a start-up offering software-based universal transcoding solutions that facilitate the creation of multi-format video for Internet, mobile and broadcast applications. Harmonic will pay $15.5 million comprised of cash and the value of approximately 1.1 million shares of Harmonic stock.



The Rhozet product line includes Carbon Coder, a stand-alone software transcoding application, and Carbon Server, an enterprise-level distributed transcoding management application. This highly scalable solution is designed to allow users to start with a single system that can be expanded to a large transcoding server farm, and includes features such as load balancing and failover protection for maximum reliability. Rhozet is based in Santa Clara, California.



Harmonic said the addition of Rhozet's software transcoding technology will enable Harmonic's existing broadcast, cable, satellite, and telco customers to seamlessly create and deliver high quality Internet and mobile video programming. It is also expected to expand Harmonic's presence into the online video service provisioning market, where Rhozet's transcoding solutions are today in use by leading Web video content providers including Amazon.com, MSN and Yahoo!.

http://www.harmonicinc.com

http://www.rhozet.com

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European Commission Proposes to Open More Spectrum for New Services

The European Commission proposed opening more radio spectrum for advanced mobile data and multimedia services, such video streaming to mobile handsets. Specifically, the EC proposes to repeal the existing GSM Directive and replacing it with a directive that allows new technologies to coexist with GSM in the frequencies of 900 MHz and 1800 MHz, while preserving the continued operation of GSM in the EU.



In the Commission's assessment, the proposed measures will have a positive economic effect on the sector and promote the take-up of new wireless services. Estimates given by the sector itself suggest that in Europe the wireless communications industry may achieve cumulative capital expenditures reductions of up to 40% in network costs over five years.

http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/policy/radio_spectrum/

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Equinix Posts Q2 Sales of $91.8 million, up 8% Sequentially

Equinix posted Q2 revenues of $91.8 million, a 34% increase over the same quarter last year and an 8% increase over the previous quarter. Recurring revenues, consisting primarily of colocation, interconnection and managed services, were $87.9 million, a 35% increase over the same quarter last year and a 9% increase over the previous quarter.



During Q2, Equinix announced plans to acquire IXEurope for approximately £270.1 million.

http://www.equinix.com

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Harmonic Posts Q2 Sales of $71.3 million, up 34%

Harmonic reported Q2 net sales of $71.3 million, up 34% from $53.3 million in the second quarter of 2006. GAAP net income for the second quarter of 2007 was $6.2 million, or $0.08 per diluted share, compared to a GAAP net loss of $2.9 million, or $0.04 per share for the same period of 2006.



"We are pleased with our sales and earnings growth in the first six months of 2007, as well as our improved gross margins and inventory management, and our strong bookings in the second quarter of 2007," said Patrick Harshman, President and Chief Executive Officer.



"While we continue to capture market share among satellite operators with our powerful MPEG-4 AVC high-definition video encoding solutions, we are also seeing success with our strategy to extend our satellite solution footprint to include video-on-demand and innovative video processing."http://www.harmonicinc.com

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Kentucky's Foothills Telephone Selects Occam

Kentucky's Foothills Telephone Cooperative has selected Occam Networks' Broadband Loop Carrier system and remote terminal cabinets to upgrade its network. Specifically, Foothills has purchased Occam remote terminal cabinets, Gigabit Ethernet transport ring equipment, BLC 6252-02 ADSL2Plus Blades and BLC 6244 ADSL2Plus Blades. The BLC 6252 will provide 48 ports of ADSL2Plus with Lifeline POTS on the same physical interface to deliver voice, data and video services. The BLC 6244 will provide 24 ports of ADSL2Plus with Lifeline POTS to deliver high take rate voice, data and video services in low-density applications. Combining the two blades will integrate subscriber DSL and POTS ports with Gigabit Ethernet transport capabilities allowing them to be 100% DSL equipped.



Foothills Telephone Cooperative serves over 15,000 residential and business customers throughout Johnson, Lawrence and Magoffin Counties in Kentuckyhttp://www.occamnetworks.com

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DOCSIS 3.0 and PacketCable 2.0 Standards Advance at ITU

CableLabs announced that much of DOCSIS 3.0 and additional key elements of the PacketCable 2.0 specifications have been given "consent" status by a study group of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU-T) placing the technologies on a pathway to become international standards. The meetings of Study Group (SG) 9 occurred in mid-June in Singapore and were chaired by CableLabs President and CEO Dr. Richard R. Green.



The DOCSIS 3.0 specification establishes ways for cable companies to tie multiple 6MHz transmission channels together to deliver data at speeds in excess of 160 Mbps to consumers and at 120 Mbps or more upstream from consumers. DOCSIS 3.0 also incorporates support for IPv6.



CableLabs noted that SG 9 has in the recent past begun the process of producing the second generation of standards known as IPCablecom. These standards, identified as PacketCable 2.0 in the U.S., provide the specifications for delivering advanced, real-time multimedia services over cable operators' networks. The initial set of IPCablecom2 Recommendations, covering the core elements of the PacketCable 2.0 architecture, was consented by the study group in 2006. The additional standards consented during the Singapore meeting add Home Subscriber Server (HSS) functionality to the architecture. The HSS provides key mechanisms needed to support subscriber mobility and roaming.



A new draft standard has been produced that defines service level requirements and an architectural framework for cable networks to provide new services based IPTV. The new draft standard is extensive and includes requirements for network elements as well as CPE, including middleware application interfaces which consist of software libraries that provide uniform access to system services. It leverages existing deployed cable technologies, such as MPEG, DOCSIS, GEM (Globally Executable MHP), and IPCablecom to provide a smooth path for cable operators to integrate IPTV into their networks.
http://www.cablelabs.com

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AT&T Offers Mobile Backup for Handsets

AT&T is launching a Mobile Backup application that lets its mobile subscribers store, update and access the contact information on their wireless phones through a new downloadable handset application.



AT&T Mobile Backup will be available on a variety of handsets, beginning with six Motorola devices: the Motorola RAZR V3xx, RAZR V3i, RAZR V3r, V365, SLVR L7 and KRZR K1. The service will be compatible with more handsets in the future.



"Most people have contact information on their wireless devices that they do not have stored anywhere else," said Carlton Hill, vice president of Voice Products and Devices for AT&T's wireless unit. "Because of this, we are excited to offer a secure backup option to protect this important information."



AT&T Mobile Backup is powered by Asurion, a provider of enhanced services to the wireless industry. The product will be available on compatible handsets for $1.99 a month.
http://mobilebackup.att.com/

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EarthLink and SK Telecom Add Funding to HELIO

EarthLink and SK Telecom will each could provide up to $100 million in additional funding to HELIO, their wireless voice and data services joint venture.



EarthLink and SK Telecom have each approved initial funding of $30 million. EarthLink and SK Telecom had each previously announced that HELIO would require additional funding in 2007.

http://www.earthlink.net

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Ikanos Partners with Atheros on VDSL2 Gateway with 802.11n

Ikanos Communications has partnered with Atheros Communications to develop a VDSL2 gateway reference platform based on Ikanos' Fusiv Vx180 processor and Atheros' dual-band concurrent and dual-band configurable XSPAN 802.11n draft 2.0 technology.



The reference platform, which is aimed at Triple Play rollouts, supports 802.11n using less than one-half the processing power of comparable DSL platforms. This is accomplished by optimizing and running 802.11n drivers on Fusiv's distributed architecture, which includes a host CPU and multiple high-performance Accelerator Processors.



Ikanos' Fusiv Vx180 is a single chip, multi-mode VDSL2 gateway processor that provides up to 2.7 GHz of processing power, on-chip VoIP, virtual private network (VPN) security, routing and bridging, while supporting QoS and wire speed performance.



Ikanos and Atheros will jointly market the fully integrated residential gateway reference designs to DSL service providers and their gateway equipment suppliers. The joint reference platform is now available. It is the first in a series of 802.11n-enabled solutions to be developed by Ikanos and Atheros to support VDSL2, ADSL2+ and Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) gateway solutions.

http://www.ikanos.com

http://www.atheros.com

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ARRIS Posts Q2 Revenue of $252.7 Million, Up 15%

ARRIS reported Q2 revenues of $252.7 million, up 14.9% as compared to $220.0 million in the second quarter 2006 and up 7.4% as compared to $235.3 million in the first quarter 2007. Net income was $23.3 million, or $0.21 per diluted share, and compares to net income of $24.8 million, or $0.23 per diluted share, in the second quarter 2006.



Broadband product revenues were $77.4 million in the second quarter 2007 as compared to $98.8 million in the second quarter of 2006 and as compared to the first quarter 2007 level of $80.2 million. These results reflect the previously anticipated and disclosed decline of CBR telephony product sales.



Supplies & CPE product revenues were $175.3 million in the second quarter 2007 as compared to $121.2 million in the second quarter 2006 and compared to $155.1 million in the first quarter of 2007.



International sales were $67.8 million in the second quarter 2007 and compare to $58.2 million in the second quarter 2006 and $60.5 million in the first quarter 2007.



Gross margins for the second quarter 2007 were 28.6%, and as expected, were down slightly from the first quarter 2007 gross margin results of 29.2%. http://www.arrisi.com

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