Occam Announces Gigabit FTTH Deployment in Alabama

New Hope Telephone Cooperative, which is headquartered outside Huntsville, Alabama, has selected Occam Networks for the upgrading of its entire service network to point-to-point (P2P) Gigabit Ethernet fiber to the home (FTTH) network. New Hope Telephone has purchased multiple components of Occam's Broadband Loop Carrier (BLC) system, including the BLC 6312 active FTTH Blade, the 6450 10-Gigabit Transport Blade and 2342 FTTH ONTs. This next generation technology upgrade is made possible through funding provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Utilities Service program.http://www.nehp.net/

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Comstar Double is Broadband Base to 695,000 in Moscow

Comstar, the leading fixed-line telecommunications company in Moscow both in terms of revenues and subscribers, announced that its broadband Internet subscriber base almost doubled year on year to 695,000 users in Moscow by the end of 2007.

A total of 228,000 net new subscribers were added in the fourth quarter alone, which was nearly five times as many net additions as in the fourth quarter of 2006.


The 651,000 residential subscribers accounted for 94% of Comstar's broadband subscriber base at the year end. 198,000 net new residential broadband subscribers were added in the fourth quarter, including more than 66,000 new subscribers signed up by MGTS. Internet connection speeds of 1 Mbps or above were chosen by 97% of the new broadband residential subscribers signed up during the fourth quarter of 2007.http://www.comstar-uts.com

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SFR and Alcatel-Lucent Test DVB-SH Mobile TV Terrestrial Network

SFR, the second largest mobile telecommunications operator in France serving some 18 million users, and Alcatel-Lucent completed a six month DVB-SH pilot in December 2007. The pilot used pre-commercial low-power terrestrial repeaters for the broadcast part, co-localized with several SFR's 3G+ operational sites. The broadcast signal from a satellite was emulated by a transmitter located in a high-altitude helicopter perceived as a fixed point. The mobile terminals used were pre-commercial terminals provided by Sagem Mobiles and Samsung Electronics offering an improved reception quality thanks to the antenna diversity related to the use of the S-Band (2.2GHz).


The companies said the tests validated that it is possible to reuse the 3G+ sites, towers and antennas in order to deploy a DVB-SH Mobile TV broadcast network in the frequency bands adjacent to UMTS (i.e. in the S band at 2.2 GHz, currently available all over Europe).


Furthermore, tests performed in the city of Pau (South-West of France), both outdoors and inside buildings, validated several fundamental assumptions on the performances of a DVB-SH network, notably the coverage, continuity and quality of service.


In particular, the tests confirmed that it only requires that portions of the 3G+ sites are equipped with DVB-SH repeaters to allow Mobile TV coverage inside buildings identical to the 3G+ coverage. This validates the economical efficiency of the deployment of a DVB-SH terrestrial network for Mobile TV broadcast with a very high coverage quality.


In addition, tests related to the satellite part of a hybrid DVB-SH network were performed using a helicopter as a fixed point at high altitude, thus emulating a geostationary satellite. These tests confirmed that, for the user of a mobile terminal in a pedestrian as well as a vehicular situation, the signals coming from the satellite perfectly combined with those coming from the terrestrial repeaters, in a transparent manner for the terminal.


The rigorous methodological approach followed in the framework of this test, which relies on the analysis of network deployment hypotheses at the same time real and diversified, shows the flexibility of Alcatel-Lucent's "Unlimited Mobile TV" solution. This solution allows the adaptation of the DVB-SH network deployment to the capacity needs (i.e. number of channels) and to the level of coverage desired by the operators, while securing the economic efficiency of the deployment and the perfect integration of the DVB-SH network with their preexisting 3G+ network.


With almost 18 million customers, SFR is the second largest mobile telecommunications operator in France. Operating its own GSM/GPRS and UMTS/HSDPA networks, SFR is able to provide a complete range of mobile telephony and multimedia services, as well as mobile data solutions to its personal, SOHO and business customers. SFR has become the operator of choice for new uses of mobile phones, having been the first operator to launch 3G and 3G+ services on the French market, and now boasts 3,5 million 3G/3G+ customers (September 2007). SFR benefits from a stable ownership structure, with two mahttp://www.alcatel-lucent.comhttp://www.sfr.fr

• On August 22, 2007, the European Commission adopted a proposal to select systems for mobile satellite services at European level. If adopted by the European Parliament and the EU Council, this new selection mechanism will allow Mobile TV based on DVB-SH in the S-Band to develop across Europe beginning in 2009.

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Arcor Selects NDS VideoGuard to Secure IPTV in Germany

Arcor, the second largest telecommunications provider in Germany, has selected NDS VideoGuard content protection to secure its new IPTV service. Arcor-Digital TV will initially be available in 51 German cities and communities offering digital TV and advanced entertainment services such as VOD. Arcor, which is a subsidiary of Vodafone, operates a nationwide broadband network with a DSL subscriber base of over two million connections.


The NDS solution features VideoGuard CA and DRM technology, which now provide security in over 50 Pay-TV platforms around the world. The hardware-based security components of the solution include CA/DRM security in the headend for linear and on-demand services, as well as authentication and content protection in the decoder chip in the set top-box.


NDS noted that there are now more than 78.6 million smartcards deployed worldwide for its VideoGuard system.http://www.nds.comhttp://www.arcor.de

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Strix Introduces In-Vehicle Mobile Wireless System

Strix Systems introduced an in-vehicle Mobile Wireless System (MWS) 100 that enables on-board video surveillance, VoIP and critical data applications for in-vehicle wired or wireless client connectivity in public safety, railway, municipal, strategic and tactical wireless broadband mesh networks.

The MWS 100 is designed for any vehicle type and works in concert with Strix's Access/One Outdoor Wireless Systems (OWS) to create an end-to-end mobile broadband wireless connectivity. Strix said its MWS achieves the longest reach and instant mesh hand-off compared to any other mobile wireless device on the market. The unit utilizes Strix Access/One Edge capabilities to achieve the continuous high throughput and low latency via intelligent radio algorithms with optimized channel selection, dual diversity, significantly enhanced roaming algorithms, and maximized signal strength via the highest power output. The MWS quickly detects new and alternate wireless nodes while traversing the larger wireless mesh network and instantaneously establishing best network path criteria for seamless transitions maintaining any video, voice and data sessions.


The MWS 100 supports 802.11a and high power (DSRC-C) 4.9 GHz for public safety applications or optionally 802.11g for unlicensed client access. The MWS also includes an Ethernet port for wired connectivity to in-vehicle laptops and on-board systems.


Strix is also introducing Strix Mesh OS 3.1 with mesh networking capabilities for transportation systems. In particular, Strix said its new "SuperCloud fleet management" capabilities completely shatter the concept of dynamic large-scale and long-distance mobile mesh networks. Current railway deployments with Strix Systems Access/One products enable unparalleled range and performance for track-side-to-train and in-train multi-car mesh networking. With Strix's new "SuperCloud" capability, locomotives and passenger or freight cars (carriages) can be changed without the need for configuration/reconfiguration. Any locomotive can connect to any carriage and all Strix Access/One nodes, including the MWS and OWS are fully visually managed from a centralized or other remote location. Other significant enhancements to Strix Mesh OS 3.1 includes the latest in fast roaming algorithms for wireless mesh networks, Intelligent background scanning, Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol, high-speed mobile fast authentication services, multi-VLAN enhancements, Mesh and Edge management and more.http://www.strixsystems.com

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Ixia Appoints VP of Marketing

Ixia has appointed Anupam Sahai as vice president of Marketing. He previously served as Senior director and general manager, Software Products and Applications for the Voice division at Polycom. Sahai will report to Atul Bhatnagar, Ixia's president and COO.http://www.ixiacom.com

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Oracle to Acquire BEA Systems

Oracle and BEA Systems reached an agreement under which Oracle will acquire all outstanding shares of BEA for $19.375 per share in cash. The offer is valued at approximately $8.5 billion, or $7.2 billion net of BEA's cash on hand of $1.3 billion.


Oracle said the proposed merger with BEA would accelerate the development of a world-class suite of middleware for business applications. Oracle Fusion middleware has an open "hot-pluggable" architecture that allows customers the option of coupling BEA's WebLogic Java Server to virtually all the components of the Fusion software suite.


For the telecom sector, BEA Systems' Liquid Services Framework serves as a next generation Service Delivery Platform (SDP) based on Service Oriented Architecture (SOA). The BEA Liquid Services Framework addresses key areas of service delivery: IT service exposure, network service exposure, application exposure, service orchestration, application orchestration, business processes, legacy network element integration, charging, policy, network management, data management/provisioning, and integration with core network infrastructure (including IMS and legacy networks).


BEA's WebLogic Service Delivery Solution is used by network operator for mobile content delivery.


BEA provides a "Services Network" infrastructure for Communications Service Providers to deliver new IMS network services. The "Services Network" is a means of presenting the functionality of network capabilities in a consistent, managed, and contractually defined way.http://www.oracle.comhttp://www.bea.com

• In October 2007 Oracle proposed to acquire BEA Systems for $17.00 per share in cash, representing a 25% premium over the previous day's closing price of $13.62 and values the company at $6.7 billion. The Board of Directors of BEA Systems rejected that offer.

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Alcatel-Lucent Gains JITC Approval on Two Metro Optical Products

The Alcatel-Lucent 1665 DMX Data Multiplexer and 1665 DMXtend Multiplexer have been certified as interoperable with the Defense Switched Network (DSN) by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) Joint Interoperability Test Command (JITC). As a result, these two metro optical products have been added to the DoD Approved Products List (APL). Both platforms are next-generation multiplexers designed for high-capacity voice, data and video transport.


LGS designs and delivers Transformed Communications and R&D-based technology solutions to the U.S. government community. Leveraging the world-class R&D of Bell Labs and innovation of Alcatel-Lucent, with global reach and expertise, LGS challenges itself to solve the unsolvable and deliver secure, reliable, standards-based solutions to its customers. LGS, headquartered in Vienna, Va., and with offices in California, Colorado, Maryland, New Jersey and North Carolina, was created by joining the Lucent and Alcatel Government business units and Bell Labs Government. http://www.alcatel-lucent.comhttp://www.LGSinnovations.com

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Qualcomm Announces Marketing Changes

Qualcomm announced an executive reorganization including the creation of a chief marketing officer (CMO) position.


Jeff Jacobs, executive vice president, has been named CMO. Over the past several years leading global business development, Jacobs has built an organization that has played a significant role in the globalization of Qualcomm and the expansion of the business. In the newly formed CMO role, Jacobs will oversee global marketing, external communications and standards- related efforts.


Qualcomm will evolve the structure of its global business development organization by forming three overarching regional areas: Americas and India, Asia Pacific and Middle East/Africa and Europe. Each area will be led by a member of Qualcomm's executive committee:

• Peggy Johnson has been named executive vice president of the Americas and India. Johnson previously served as executive vice president and president of Qualcomm Internet Services (QIS)/ MediaFLO Technologies (MFT).



• Jing Wang has been promoted to executive vice president of Asia Pacific and Middle East/Africa.



• Andrew Gilbert has been promoted to executive vice president and president of QIS/MFT and Qualcomm Europe.

http://www.qualcomm.com/

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XO Expands IP Services Portfolio and Offers Bandwidth-Based Pricing

XO Communications announced several significant enhancements to IP services offerings, including the launch of XO IP Flex, the nationwide availability of XO SIP, and the introduction of a bandwidth-based pricing offering for converged IP services. Highlights of the announcement include:


Bandwidth-based Pricing-- XO Communications claims to be the first major nationwide service provider to offer a pricing concept for converged IP services that eliminates pricing based on the number of voice lines. Unlike other approaches to IP pricing that still are based on traditional TDM services pricing models, XO's bandwidth-based pricing acknowledges that voice is simply another application on the IP port and offers rates based on the size of the port, not on the number of voice lines. Customers simply select an IP port speed from 1.5 to 45 Mbps, a calling plan and any additional features. Because voice is just another application on the IP port, customers pay nothing for incremental lines or voice channels provisioned within the port speed they have with their service. XO is offering this bandwidth-based pricing with its XO IP Flex, XO IP Flex with VPN and XO SIP services.

XO IP Flex --a new converged IP services bundle that upgrades and replaces XOptions Flex, XO's VoIP services bundle. XO IP Flex extends XO's VoIP services to larger business customers by offering new higher-speed bandwidth options including 4.5 Mbps and 10 Mbps, leveraging XO's robust Ethernet capabilities.

XO SIP Nationwide Launch -- the service delivers converged voice and data services to businesses with IP-PBX systems over a single, high-speed IP connection. SIP uses a native IP-based facility to manage all traffic between a customer's IP-PBX system, the XO IP network, and the Public Switched Telephone Network. XO SIP features include:

• Dedicated Internet Access with Dynamic Bandwidth Allocation


• Unlimited local calling


• Unlimited site-to-site calling for multi-location customers with IP Flex, IP Flex with VPN and XO SIP locations


• Long distance calling with choice of calling plans


• Optional Voice Compression


• Online Feature Management through the XO Business Center

XO SIP is currently interoperable with Avaya IP Office, Cisco Call Manager, Cisco Call Manager Express and Digium Asterisk Appliance. XO SIP also utilizes the BroadSoft BroadWorks VoIP platform to provide customers additional advanced IP-PBX features, including auto attendant, call center and voice VPN.http://www.xo.com

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