AT&T and Yahoo! Refocus Alliance on Wireless and PC Screens

AT&T and Yahoo! announced a new multi-year strategic alliance that revises the previous revenue sharing arrangement under which AT&T paid Yahoo! a fee for each broadband user it served. The new agreement focuses instead on advertising-based revenue opportunities for both companies from search and display capabilities from either a mobile handset or a PC. Financial terms were not disclosed.


The companies said the new alliance includes the following features:

• A new look and feel for the att.net portal, "powered by Yahoo!," beginning in the second quarter, for new customers. Later in the year, the att.net portal, which will run on the My Yahoo! and Yahoo! Mail platforms, will be available to existing AT&T Yahoo! customers as well as those AT&T Internet customers in the former BellSouth service area and those with the legacy AT&T WorldNet service.
  
  
• Yahoo! provides search and display advertising for AT&T consumers on mobile devices and the PC.
  
  
• Once the new att.net portal launches later this year, any AT&T customer -- even those without AT&T Internet service -- can access the new Web portal and e-mail services at no additional charge. For example, an AT&T wireless customer in Seattle could establish an att.net e-mail address and access e-mail via a mobile smart device or a PC.
  
  
• Access to co-branded versions of Yahoo!'s mobile Web properties and the Yahoo! Go application for AT&T's 14.2 million broadband customers.
  
  
• AT&T's YELLOWPAGES.COM becomes the lead local search experience on both the wireless and PC screens for AT&T customers, bringing easy-to-use local search capabilities to customers at home or on-the-go.
  
  
• AT&T U-verse TV customers continue to have access to Yahoo! content through the service's interactive AT&T U-bar feature, where available.

http://www.yahoo.comhttp://www.att.com

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Equinix Selects Infinera for Metro Networks in North America and Asia

Equinix has selected Infinera for its metro networks linking its Internet Business Exchange (IBX) centers in major cities in North America and Asia. Equinix currently has 37 IBX centers located in 17 strategic markets across North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific. Financial terms were not disclosed.


Equinix plans to leverage Infinera's Bandwidth Virtualization to deploy large bandwidth quickly, and reconfigure it easily, rapidly, and cost-effectively.


The Infinera DTN is a Digital ROADM for long-haul and metro core networks, combining high-capacity DWDM transport, integrated digital bandwidth management, and GMPLS-powered service intelligence in a single platform.http://www.equinix.com

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Infinera Offer Bandwidth Virtualization over Optical Transport

Infinera is promoting the concept of "Bandwidth Virtualization" over optical transport networks based on its digital circuit technology as a means to meet the needs for a faster, more responsive Internet.


In a traditional optical network using Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM), each service that a service provider sells is typically linked to a specific wavelength, which is installed and turned up after a customer commits to purchase that service. Each service to be sold typically requires pre-planning, engineering activities and testing at time of installation, and there is often a significant delay between customer commitment to purchase and turn-up of the corresponding service. Service providers introducing new services, such as 40 Gbps and 100 Gbps services, must frequently re-engineer or overbuild their WDM networks to support the new services, creating long cycles between end-user service requests and service delivery, as well as inefficient network utilization, operational complexity, and the need for additional capital outlays.


Infinera said Bandwidth Virtualization overcomes these challenges and accelerates operators' speed of service provisioning by decoupling the service layer in the network from the underlying optical transmission layer.


Bandwidth Virtualization is enabled by an Infinera Digital Optical Network using high-capacity photonic integrated circuit technology on every route in the optical network, and integrates sub-wavelength digital switching with end-to-end software intelligence. This provides operators with a readily available pool of WDM bandwidth to meet immediate service requests, and allows new services to be deployed over the same infrastructure. The transmission layer can be configured to support any service simply by installing a service interface module at each of the two service endpoints and activating new end-to-end services using software rather than via hardware-based re-engineering of network resources.


Bandwidth Virtualization also yields significant operational benefits for service providers. By deploying hundreds of Gigabits of capacity at initial installation and being able to turn up additional services with digital plug-and-play ease, service providers can operate their network with smaller skilled engineering teams and at lower cost than on traditional WDM networks.


Infinera has released a video on its website in which Equinix and XO Communications (both customers) and Infinera CEO Jagdeep Singh explain the benefits of Bandwidth Virtualization.



http://www.infinera.com

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Juniper Debuts Enterprise Ethernet Switches Running JUNOS

Juniper Networks unveiled a new family of Ethernet switches running on its JUNOS software and designed to meet the technical, business and economic requirements of a service-enabling network infrastructure. The new EX-series, which includes three Ethernet switching families, the EX 3200, 4200 and 8200, are based on three key tenets -- operational simplicity, carrier-class reliability, and integration and consolidation.


Operational simplicity -- Legacy enterprise switch infrastructures are often inundated by multiple, inconsistent versions of network operating systems, resulting in unpredictable performance as new features are enabled on the network. Juniper said that deploying its JUNOS software across the enterprise would help to automate network operations while minimizing the complexity, cost and risk associated with implementing network features and upgrades. JUNOS is the same operating system used in its carrier-grade routers.


Carrier-Class Reliability: To mitigate the impact of security risks on network operations, Juniper Networks has integrated its Unified Access Control (UAC) solution with the new EX-series switches to provide businesses with the ability to control user access to mission critical applications and company assets through the enforcement of end-to-end policies.


Integration and Consolidation: Traditional enterprise networks are often built upon multiple layers of switches deployed in three general areas: access, aggregation and core. The new EX-series switches will offer scalable port densities and carrier-proven high availability features that consolidate legacy switch layers.


All of the Juniper EX-series switches will include ASIC-based flow capabilities that permit the hardware-based collection of network statistics combined with the integrated ability to identify applications.


The Juniper EX 3200


The EX 3200 series switches are fixed-configuration Ethernet platforms offering a simple, cost-effective, standalone solution for low-density regional and corporate office deployments. Installed in wiring closets to provide network access, the 24- and 48-port EX 3200 switches offer plug-and-play 10/100/1000BASE-T connectivity. Full and partial Power over Ethernet (PoE) options are available for supporting IP-enabled devices such as telephones, security cameras and WLAN access points. Optional four-port GbE and two-port 10GbE uplink modules with pluggable optics are also available for supporting high-speed connections to other switches or upstream devices such as routers.


The Juniper EX 4200 series


The EX 4200 series Ethernet switches with Virtual-Chassis technology combine modular systems capablities with the economics and flexibility of stackable platforms. Target applications include data center, corporate and regional office environments.


Like the EX 3200 switches, EX 4200 series switches offer 24- and 48-port 10/100/1000BASE-T configurations with full and partial PoE and optional GbE and 10GbE uplink modules, plus a 24-port fiber switch offering 100/1000BASE-X support.


The Virtual Chassis technology allows up to 10 EX 4200 series switches to be interconnected over a 128 Gbps backplane, creating a single virtual switch supporting up to 480 10/100/1000BASE-T ports and up to 40 GbE or 20 10GbE uplink ports. All EX 4200 series switches include HA features such as redundant, hot-swappable internal power supplies and field-replaceable, multi-blower fan trays to help deliver maximum uptime.


The Juniper EX 8200 series


The modular EX 8200 series Terabit Ethernet switches are aimed at high-density 10GbE enterprise core and aggregation deployments. Juniper will offer two EX 8200 series switches -- an eight-slot 1.6 Terabit Chassis and a 16-slot 3.2 terabit Chassis.


The EX 8200 switches will feature enterprise-class routing tables and deep, hardware-based packet buffers. Wire-speed 10GbE port densities will scale to 64 ports in the eight-slot chassis and 128 ports in the 16-slot chassis. Two fully-equipped 16-slot EX 8200 switches will fit in a single 42-unit rack, delivering 256 wire-speed 10GbE ports per rack.http://www.juniper.net/training/fasttrack/

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NewStep Raises $9.5 M for FMC, Appoints CEO

NewStep Networks, a spin-out from Bell Canada based in Toronto, closed a Series C round of $9.5 million from existing investors for its session management convergence solutions for carriers and enterprises.


NewStep's technology operates at the signaling layer, facilitating standards-based integration with legacy TDM/SS7 networks, IP/SIP networks and enterprise communication software and IP PBX implementations. The solution enables carriers to establish and retain control of calls across IP and TDM, wireless and wireline, service provider and enterprise networks. NewStep's platforms enable subscribers to have a single number, single voicemail, simultaneous ringing across multiple phones, and other features like corporate extension dialing, from existing mobile phones.


NewStep said widespread FMC adoption is being driven by business and consumers requiring a more personalized and mobile communications experience. Its technology permits this experience to be delivered through seamlessly managing the user's session independent from the underlying network.


NewStep also announced that Peter N. Vicars has joined the company as president and CEO. Vicars most recently served as president and CEO of Chantry Networks, a company in the WLAN space, which he subsequently sold to Siemens AG. Prior to Chantry, he held CEO positions with Cayman Systems (acquired by Netopia); Teloquent Communications (acquired by Syntellect); and Tekelec, where he directed all corporate activities . http://www.newstep.com

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Fujitsu Network Communications Files Patent Infringement Lawsuit against Tellabs

Fujitsu Limited and Fujitsu Network Communications announced a patent infringement lawsuit asserting that Tellabs' products infringe four of Fujitsu's U.S. patents covering optical communication technologies. The accused products include the Tellabs 7100 Optical Transport System, Tellabs 5500 series and Tellabs 6300 series. Fujitsu said its complaint follows numerous attempts by Fujitsu to engage in cooperative discussions with Tellabs.


"Fujitsu has been investing heavily for years in research and development and owns approximately 10,000 patents in the field of optical communications around the world," said Masanobu Katoh, corporate vice president and president of the Law & Intellectual Property Unit of Fujitsu Limited. "In this field, Fujitsu is a leader and has patents that are important to optical communication technologies such as Synchronous Optical Networking (SONET), Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH), and Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM)."http://us.fujitsu.com/telecom

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RadiSys Introduce Packet Processing Module Based on Cavium OCTEON

RadiSys ntroduced its Promentum ATCA-7220 Dual OCTEON PLUS Packet Processing Module, offering a high density of Gigabit Ethernet interfaces on a single blade for packet processing applications such as Radio Network Controllers, session border control (SBC), security gateways, edge routers and media gateways.


The ATCA-7220 is a single slot ATCA module that supports the Option 9 (10 GE) fabric interface. It incorporates an onboard 10GE switch to facilitate very flexible data flow models and enables powerful packet processing solutions needed for the next generation equipment. RadiSys said the combination of ATCA-7220 with fully validated IP data path software such as IPV4/V6 forwarding, load balancing, IPSec, etc., along with the award winning 10G ATCA Platform enables equipment manufacturers to accelerate their time to market. The ATCA-7220 also includes a local management processor to enable blade management functions and offers front or rear I/O.


The ATCA-7220 module is designed with a Cavium Networks' OCTEON Plus multi-core MIPS64 processor, which features a Smart FrontEnd with a 10 Gigabit Ethernet Switch and content aware capabilities. The Smart FrontEnd allows offloading preprocessing from the Cavium Processors, enhances manageability of the processors, and enables flexibility of data flow to and from the processors.


The ATCA-7220 Dual OCTEON PLUS Packet Processing Module will be available in early 2008.http://www.radisys.com

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Harmonic Sees Q4 Sales of $88.4 million, up 17%

Harmonic Inc. reported Q4 2007 net sales of $88.4 million, up 17% from $75.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2006. For the full year 2007, net sales were $312.2 million, up 26% from $247.7 million in 2006. The Company saw revenue growth in both domestic and international markets, with international sales representing 43% and 44% of revenue for the fourth quarter and for the full year of 2007, respectively.


GAAP net income for the fourth quarter of 2007 was $13.3 million, or $0.15 per diluted share, up from $5.0 million, or $0.07 per diluted share, for the same period of 2006. For the full year 2007, GAAP net income was $30.1 million, or $0.36 per diluted share, up from $1.0 million, or $0.01 per diluted share in 2006.


Harmonic said the strong revenue growth reflects sales to an expanding range of cable, satellite, telco and other customers that are deploying a growing array of new video products and solutions.


"We enter 2008 with a very strong competitive position in cable, satellite and telco markets worldwide, and a growing position in new broadcast and Internet video delivery markets. The powerful trends toward more high-definition, on-demand and anytime, anywhere video continue to intensify and reshape the video delivery marketplace. Going forward, we expect to continue to extend the breadth and depth of our product solutions to address these major trends, and intend to continue working with our expanding global customer base to take their video services in exciting new directions. We are very encouraged about our opportunities for growth in 2008 and beyond," stated Patrick Harshman, President and CEO of Harmonic.www.harmonicinc.com

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Chelsio Delivers Unified Wire for HP BladeSystem c-Class

Chelsio Communications announced the general availability of its T3-based Unified Wire Accelerators, which enable server networking, storage networking and clustering on a single platform, for HP BladeSystem c-Class. Chelsio's S320EM-BS 10GbE Unified Wire expansion card solution has been qualified by HP for use by BladeSystem customers. The new expansion card from Chelsio is a dual-port 10 Gigabit Ethernet (10GbE) adapter with PCI Express interface. It offloads TCP/IP, iSCSI iWARP, classification, virtualization, and traffic management processing from the host system, freeing up host CPU cycles for other applications. http://www.chelsio.com

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mig33 Closes $13.5 Million for its Mobile Social Network

mig33, a start-up based in Burlingame, California, closed Series B funding of $13.5 million for its global mobile social network.


mig33 offers a mix of free and inexpensive services, including VoIP calls, instant messaging, e-mail, text messaging, picture sharing, social networking and community features. The company has more than 9 million users across more than 200 countries. The service claims more than 2 million sessions per day, more than 45 million messages each day and more than a million pictures a month.


mig33 will use this round of funding to continue expansion of the company and growth of the mig33 global communication service in the U.S. and around the globe.


The funding round was led by DCM with participation from existing Series A firms Accel, Redpoint and TVP.http://www.mig33.com

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Foundry Posts Q4 Revenue of $168.7 Million

Foundry Networks posted Q4 2007 revenue of $168.7 million, compared to $132.0 million in the fourth quarter of 2006 and compared to $159.5 million in the third quarter of 2007, an increase of 27.7% and 5.7% respectively. Net income was $28.9 million, or $0.18 per diluted share, compared to net income of $15.7 million, or $0.10 per diluted share, in the fourth quarter of 2006, and net income of $27.6 million, or $0.18 per diluted share, in the third quarter of 2007.


Included in Foundry's results for the fourth quarter of 2007 were $13.2 million of non-cash stock-based compensation expense and $54,000 of expenses related to the stock option investigation and restatement of Foundry's consolidated financial statements. Excluding these expenses and the related tax effect, non-GAAP net income in the fourth quarter of 2007 was $37.8 million and non-GAAP net income per diluted share was $0.24.



Foundry Networks said that in Q4, North American commercial (non Federal Government) revenue represented 48% of total revenue while sales to Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) represented 18% of total revenue. Business from Japan increased to 6% of total revenue, while sales from the rest of Asia increased to 9% of total revenue.



Sales to the U.S. Federal Government remained strong, representing 19% of total revenue.



Within the service provider market, router revenue grew to 20% of total revenue, a 26% increase from the third quarter of 2007. Overall, service provider revenue grew to represent 26% of total revenue in the quarter.
http://www.foundrynetworks.com

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JDSU Offers Low-Cost Optical Detector Chip for GPON

JDSU began shipping an avalanche photo detector (APD) chip designed for GPON deployments. In order to make APD chips affordable for the GPON market, JDSU said it leveraged its manufacturing expertise to reduce production complexity, while retaining the same high reliability and performance of legacy APD chips. The chip is based on a planar platform, known for higher reliability and easier fabrication. JDSU has shipped tens of thousands of APD chips for telecom applications, with a reputation for field performance and reliability.


JDSU is currently developing packaged versions of the APD chip for the GPON space and other telecommunications markets.http://www.jdsu.com/

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Ikanos Reports Q4 Revenue of $29.9 Million

Ikanos Communications reported Q4 revenue of $29.9 million compared with revenue of $27.3 million for the third quarter of 2007 and revenue of $21.0 million for the fourth quarter of 2006. GAAP net loss for the fourth quarter of 2007 was $4.1 million, or $0.14 per share, on 29.3 million weighted average shares. This compares with a net loss of $13.0 million, or $0.45 per share, on 28.7 million weighted average shares in the third quarter of fiscal 2007 and with a net loss of $15.6 million, or $0.56 per share, on 27.6 million weighted average shares in the fourth quarter of 2006.


Separately, Ikanos Communications appointed Frederick M. Lax to its Board as a Non-Executive Director. Lax succeeds Mike Goguen who has been on Ikanos' board since May 1999. Lax has previously served with Tekelec, Lucent Technologies, AT&T and Bell Laboratories. As President and CEO of Tekelec, a leading developer of next-generation switching and signaling telecommunications network performance management technology and value-added applications, Lax oversaw Tekelec's growth strategy as it expanded its telecommunications product portfolio, strengthened its competitive position and successfully expanded its global presence, including the acquisition of several private companies. Currently Lax serves on the board of Argent Networks.http://www.ikanos.com

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Korea Digital Cable Laboratories Aligns with MoCA

The Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA) and Korea Digital Cable Laboratories (KLabs) have entered into a formal liaison where both
organizations will share information assuring ongoing compatibility within South Korea's cable environment. Both MoCA and KLabs will continue to develop specifications independently, and share published and draft specifications as well as proposed documentation.


The arrangement is expected to ensure seamless integration of and interoperability between their respective technology as it is implemented by service providers.


KLabs is a non-profit research institute established by Korea's cable industry for the development and advancement of digital cable. KLabs is the leading authority on Korea's cable standardization and certification.http://www.mocalliance.org

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