OIF Hosts Global Interoperability Demonstration

The Optical Internetworking Forum (OIF) is hosting a "Worldwide Interoperability Demonstration - On-Demand Ethernet Services" to showcase interoperability in a multi-carrier environment. Interoperability testing of heterogeneous network equipment includes MSPPs, routers, Ethernet switches, cross-connects, OADMs in the data plane, as well as both embedded and proxy controllers in the control plane.



Participating vendors include Alcatel-Lucent, Ciena Corporation, Ericsson, Huawei Technologies, Marben Products, Sycamore Networks, Tellabs and ZTE.



Participating OIF Carrier members include AT&T, China Telecom, Deutsche Telekom, France Telecom Group, KDDI, Telecom Italia and Verizon.



OIF participating members are demonstrating end-to-end provisioning of dynamic switched Ethernet services over multiple, control-plane enabled intelligent optical core networks through the use of OIF implementation agreements UNI 2.0 and E-NNI including:

• Ethernet Private Line - allowing carriers to leverage existing TDM infrastructure to carry Ethernet



• Neighbor Discovery - automating what is currently a manual provision process between neighbors



• Control Plane Failure Recovery - an important carrier-class reliability feature



• Non-Disruptive Bandwidth Modification - optimizes network operation and resources by adapting to bursty data traffic flows.

The test phase of the event has been underway in Carrier labs since June 2007. The event will culminate in a public demonstration of the results at ECOC 2007, September 17-19, 2007 in Berlin.

http://www.oiforum.com

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Cox Selects BigBand for Switched Digital Video

Cox Communications, the third largest cable operator in the US, has selected BigBand Networks' switched digital video (SDV) solution for use in multiple cable systems --- including both Motorola and Scientific Atlanta set-top box environments -- and has begun to deploy the solution in its Northern Virginia market. Financial terms were not disclosed.



"BigBand's switched digital video solution gives us the ability to dramatically expand programming--particularly high-definition channels--at a low cost-per-subscriber," said James Kelso, vice president of video engineering for Cox Communications.



Cox is the third U.S. cable operator to deploy BigBand's SDV solution.

http://www.bigbandnetworks.com

http://www.bigbandnetworks.comBigBand Networks began deploying switched digital video commercially in 2005.

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IBM to License OpenScape Technology from Siemens

IBM will license elements of Siemens' OpenScape open unified communications capabilities to enhance the IBM Lotus "Unified Telephony" offering, which is a planned expansion of the Lotus Sametime product family.



By incorporating OpenScape technology, Lotus software users be get access to communications tools within the applications they already use regardless of their back-end telephony systems.
The integration will also enable Lotus customers to decouple their unified communications investments from their PBX infrastructure.



Siemens' OpenScape Unified Communications suite is built on Siemens OpenSOA architecture, and based on Siemens' open communications model.



Siemens said that IBM's decision to license elements of OpenScape and incorporate them within the Lotus Sametime "Unified Telephony" product supports the Siemens' Open Communications model and showcases how SOA-based solutions work well together.

http://www.siemens.com

http://www.ibm.com

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EMBARQ Offers Reward for Copper Cable Thieves

EMBARQ is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and prosecution of anyone stealing the company's live traffic-carrying cable, primarily copper, in the Las Vegas area.



Copper theft is becoming an industry-wide problem. Officials believe that the copper is taken to recycling centers where it is sold as scrap. So far in Las Vegas, more than 60 people have been arrested for copper theft this year. http://www.embarq.com

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Dialogic Debuts Hybrid Media Gateways for Unified Communications

Dialogic introduced its DMG4000 Media Gateway series designed to connect Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 to existing PBX systems and the PSTN.


Based on a standard rack-mount server running Microsoft Windows Server 2003, the DMG4000 gateways are in the class of "basic-hybrid gateways" designed to provide both the media gateway function and the Mediation Server role of Office Communications Server 2007.



Mediation Server provides PSTN and PBX interoperability, high-fidelity audio via the Microsoft RT Audio Codec, and VoIP security for Office Communications Server 2007.



Dialogic said its integration of a media gateway subsystem and Windows Server 2003 delivers two key elements of an Office Communications Server 2007 deployment in one easily managed, 1U rack mount device. The Mediation Server software from Microsoft is a required element of an Office Communications Server 2007 deployment with PBX or PSTN integration, and will come pre-installed on the Dialogic 4000 Media Gateway Series.



The DMG4000 Series feature the Dialogic Diva Media Boards, Dialogic Diva "SIPcontrol" software, Windows Server 2003 and the Mediation Server software for Office Communications Server 2007. These elements are integrated in an Intel IP-Network Server featuring 64-bit Dual-Core Intel Xeon 5100 series processors, RAID 1 hard disk subsystem and redundant power supplies, in a 1U rugged design that can be deployed in a data center rack.



The media gateway sub-system offers dual load-balancing Gigabit Ethernet interfaces towards the IP networks, as well as a choice of either two or four T1/E1 interfaces towards the PSTN or PBX. The two integrated turnkey configurations can support up to 60 or 120 channels of unified communications traffic between legacy networks and the IP network and thus are capable of supporting hundreds of IP endpoints registered to Office Communications Server 2007. Multiple units can be co-located or distributed across a managed IP network as enterprises scale up their unified communications deployments.

http://www.dialogic.com

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Aztek Networks Raises $7.5 Million for Emergency Switches

Aztek Networks, a start-up based in Boulder, Colorado, raised $7.5 million in Series B funding for its Emergency Stand Alone (ESA) switching products.



Aztek Networks 5000S ESA switching device is an open-standards, environmentally hardened and fully redundant ESA switch designed to ensure public safety by constantly maintaining local calling capabilities and subscriber access to emergency 911 services in the event the link to the primary host switch is severed due to an accident or natural disaster.



The funding was led by the Telecommunications Development Fund (TDF), a previous investor in Aztek Networks. Other existing investors, including Sequel Venture Partners and Grotech Capital Group, also contributed to the financing, along with new investor Legend Ventures. The company, which has now secured a total of $14.1 million.

http://www.azteknetworks.com

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Toshiba Debuts 32GB SDHC Card for Mobile Devices

Toshiba reinforced its line up of SD High Capacity (SDHC) cards with three new cards, including the world's first 32-gigabyte (GB) memory card in this high density.



The rollout includes a 16GB SDHC card and an 8GB microSDHC card. All the new cards meet the Class 4 specification in the SD Speed Class, making them suitable for use in advanced mobile phones and other personal digital products.



The 16GB SDHC card will be available worldwide from October, and the 32GB SDHC card and 8GB microSDHC card will be launched worldwide in January next year.

http://www.toshiba.com

• The SD memory card was jointly developed in 1999 by Toshiba, SanDisk and Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd. (best known for its Panasonic brand name products).


Toshiba noted that i has shipped more than 300 million memory cards and is currently the world's second largest supplier of NAND Flash memory.

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Alcatel-Lucent Announces Departure of Two Senior Execs

Frank D'Amelio, Chief Administrative Officer of Alcatel-Lucent is leaving the company to accept the position of Chief Financial Officer at Pfizer and Mike Quigley, President, Science, Technology and Strategy of Alcatel-Lucent, has decided to leave the company and return to Australia.



Etienne Fouques, currently head of the Carrier Business Segment will assume the leadership for the Science, Technology and Strategy functions that previously reported to Quigley. In addition Fouques will also oversee the Services Business Group, which will continue to be led by John Meyer.



Michel Rahier, head of the Wireline Business Group will assume the overall leadership of the Carrier Business Segment, which includes our Wireline, Wireless, and Convergence businesses.



With Frank D'Amelio's departure the organizations that previously reported to him will now report to other members of the senior leadership team. http://www.alcatel-lucent.com

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Verizon Wireless to Build Regional HQ in Tennessee

Verizon Wireless is building a $54 million regional headquarters facility in Franklin, Tennessee. Verizon Wireless will hire 600 to 700 new employees at the state headquarters over the next three to five years to manage a variety of functions, including business services, sales, financial services, IT, HR and network operations. The company currently employs over 2,200 people in the state of Tennessee. Approximately 550 Nashville area Verizon Wireless employees will relocate to the new facility/http://www.verizonwireless.com

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JDSU Reports Quarterly Revenue of $351 Million

JDSU reported quarterly revenue of $350.7 million and a net loss was $17.9 million, or $(0.08) per share. This compares to net revenue of $361.7 million and a net loss of $14.2 million or $(0.07) per share in the preceding quarter.



"In 2007, JDSU achieved 16% growth in revenue with contributions from all of our reported businesses. For the first time in more than five years, JDSU was non-GAAP EPS positive for all four quarters of the year. Further, free cash flow was more than $25 million for the fourth quarter," said Kevin Kennedy, JDSU's Chief Executive Officer.

http://www.jdsu.com

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Nokia Offers Windows Live Services

Nokia and Microsoft released a suite Windows Live services specifically designed for Nokia devices. Nokia customers in 11 countries with compatible S60 devices can now download the new suite enabling access to Windows Live Hotmail, Windows Live Messenger, Windows Live Contacts and Windows Live Spaces. The suite will be extended to compatible Nokia Series 40 handsets next year.

http://www.nokia.com

http://www.microsoft.com

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Bubble Motion Cites Uptake of "Voice SMS" in Asia

Bubble Motion, a start-up based in Mountain View, California with offices in Singapore, cited a rapid uptake of its "Voice SMS" application amongst users in Asia.



"BubbleTALK" is a "Click, Talk and Send" asynchronous Short Voice Messaging Service (SVMS). Messages are limited to 30 seconds of voice recording. The application runs on all handsets.



Bubble Motion said the top user last month made a record-breaking 3201 Bubble messages in a single month. Despite this huge number, this user was not alone in their high usage of the service, as many consumers have started to use BubbleTALK as their main form of communication. In fact all top five BubbleTALK users racked up at least 67 Voice SMS messages every day, or 2000+ messages per month.



BubbleTALK carriers include Vodafone in Egypt, Airtel in India, Digi in Malaysia, Indosat in Indonesia, CSL and New World Mobility in Hong Kong.

http://www.bubblemotion.com

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