NTT Com Offers SaaS-based Internet Gateway Service

NTT Com is preparing to launch a new Internet gateway service in October that combines a software-as-a-service (SaaS)-based Internet gateway and integrated virtual private network (VPN) in a single package with one-stop support. Customers will access through NTT Com's virtual private network services (e-VLAN, Arcstar IP-VPN and Group-VPN), ensuring a highly secure corporate communication environment that bypasses the Internet.


Using NTT Com's existing corporate Internet gateway service, "Secure ICT," customers wishing to use a VPN must establish the network themselves and provide a line for connection to the service, as well as register separately for each application software. With Secure ICT over VPN, however, integrated support will enable customers to quickly access a secure Internet gateway with less preparation and expense.


Corporate customers will be able to use the gateway as a unified platform for managing security policies, such as firewalls, Web proxy and logging in. Business continuity plans will be supported with multi-home Internet transit and complete server redundancy.


Optional features will include e-mail hosting, virus checking, spam filtering, Web proxy and URL filtering. Monthly fees will start as low as 98,000 yen.


NTT Com also announced that it will launch an e-mail hosting service, Secure Mail over VPN, to enable customers to outsource their e-mail environments for just 63,000 yen per month. Security will equal that of an in-company server, and the service will offer options such as virus checking, spam filtering and e-mail archiving.http://www.ntt.co.jp

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NextWave Wireless Receives $100 Million Debt Financing Commitment

NextWave Wireless, a global provider of wireless broadband and mobile multimedia products, today announced that, subject to certain conditions, it has received a commitment from Avenue Capital Management II, L.P. and Sola to provide $100 million of new financing through the issuance of senior-subordinated secured second-lien notes. Through a combination of cost reduction actions, the planned divestiture of its infrastructure businesses and the sale of other business assets, the $100 million in net proceeds from the financing is projected to fund NextWave's business operations into 2010.


"This financing will provide the runway we need to execute our strategic plan in an orderly and efficient manner. It will allow us to seek to maximize the value of our assets, including our spectrum, as we implement a global restructuring of our business," said Allen Salmasi, chief executive officer and president of NextWave Wireless. "To help conserve cash, we are working to divest our infrastructure business units in the near term. In addition, we have recently taken important steps to reduce our operating costs including reducing our global workforce by over 20 percent and scaling back corporate overhead expenses."http://www.nextwave.com

In April 2008, NextWave announced that it had retained Deutsche Bank and UBS Investment Bank to sell its U.S. spectrum assets. The company has also retained Canaccord Adams to sell its Canadian spectrum assets.

Also in April, NextWave Wireless announced its NW2000 Wave 2-ready family of second-generation mobile WiMAX chipsets designed for high-volume, small form-factor wireless broadband subscriber stations, including CPE modems, PC card modems, laptops, multimode/smartphone handsets and mobile multimedia terminals.

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BT Launches Enterprise Mobility Services in North America

BT announced a suite of mobility solutions and professional services designed for mobile workforces.



BT's Global Enterprise Mobility Portfolio includes:

• Work Anywhere Quick Start - This concept is the core of the consultancy and professional services that is provided within the Work Anywhere proposition and provides the strategic and tactical guidance for all other work that follows.



• BT Workstyle Managed Service - offers a portfolio of managed services which address the Property, People and Process needs of an enterprise.



• Mobile Data Services - BT MobileXpress enables end-users secure access to the corporate intranet & key applications when working remotely.



• Mobile Infrastructure Services - focus on helping customers plan, design, procure, stage, & deploy WLAN environments.



• Mobile Collaboration and Advisory - BT Conferencing offers a suite of audio, video, & web solutions facilitating knowledge sharing & improved productivity across a distributed base of employees.



• Mobile Voice/Data Services - Managed Mobility is a comprehensive managed solution that helps enterprises gain control of their wireless spend and devices for both mobile voice and data.



• Unified Communication & Collaboration Services - BT can turn the complexity of integrated voice, data, fixed, mobile and applications into an operationally supporting and business impacting UCC environment.



• Professional Services including planning and assessment, intelligent buildings, design, implementation, management and security, training and support.

BT said these mobility capabilities have enabled approximately 70,000 of its own employees (70% of its global workforce) to work flexibly from anywhere. Through flexible working, BT has enabled over 90% of its female workforce to return to work after maternity leave, compared with the average of 47% for most companies.

To meet the requirements of its customers, BT offers "Work Anywhere" - a consultancy-based approach combined with an integrated global enterprise mobility portfolio addressing property, people and process needs.

The BT Working Anywhere proposition is now available in North America and will be available in the UK and Europe later this year.http://www.btglobalservices.com/business/us/en/products/workforce/index.html

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Motorola Debuts Wireless LAN Real-time Location Solution

Motorola introduced a real-time location solution as part of its the Wireless Next Generation (Wi-NG) architecture supporting its RF Wireless Switches. The Real-time Location System (RTLS) delivers location awareness and standards-based application programming interfaces (APIs) for third-party business applications across Motorola's indoor and outdoor wireless LAN (WLAN) infrastructure. The solution enables accurate location determination and presence detection capabilities for Wi-Fi-based devices, Wi-Fi-based active RFID tags and passive RFID tags.


Motorola said its location solution is both RF- and tag-agnostic, and includes built-in location determination algorithms that can integrate data from third-party location engines. An application level events (ALE) interface allows developers to create location-based business applications using location data. The design is capable of processing many location technologies simultaneously and delivering the data with a single XML-based interface.


http://www.motorola.com

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Motorola Expands Wireless Ethernet Bridge Portfolio

Motorola introduced an addition to its Wireless Ethernet Bridge portfolio -- the Point-to-Point (PTP) 200 Series designed for customers who need a wireless bridge that can perform reliably in line-of-sight (LOS) or near line-of-sight (nLOS) conditions where obstacles partially block the radio's line-of-sight.


The PTP 200 Wireless Ethernet Bridges operate in the 5.4 GHz band providing users with data rates of up to 21 Mbps and line-of-sight distances of up to five miles (eight kilometers). The PTP 200's Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) technology provides resistance to interference and fading while providing virtually instant fade recovery. The PTP 200 is also equipped with GPS synchronization capabilities that significantly reduce self-interference, which allow network operators to support collocation applications. In addition, Dynamic Frequency Selection (DFS) detects radar-based users in the band and automatically switches to a non-interfering channel.http://www.motorola.com

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XO Deploys Juniper MX960 Ethernet Services Routers in Major Metros

XO Communications is deploying Juniper Networks MX960 Ethernet Services Routers in major metropolitan locations nationwide to support a broad range of services, including High Speed IP Transit, IP-VPN and VoIP services for businesses, large enterprises and wholesale customers. Specifically, the additional capacity will enable XO Communications to continue to meet customer demand for higher speed IP transit services at speeds of 1 Gbps and 10 Gbps. The deployment delivers a three-fold increase in capacity across the edge of the XO IP network. Financial terms were not disclosed.


In the first half of 2008, IP traffic on the XO network grew by nearly 60 percent, driven by enterprise and wholesale customers' bandwidth demands and utilization of XO High Speed IP Transit services to support the growing bandwidth consumption of their downstream customers from services such as video streaming, voice over IP, gaming, ecommerce, and online file sharing.


The XO High Speed IP Transit service provides:

• DS3, OC3, OC12, OC48, Fast Ethernet, Gigabit and 10 Gigabit Ethernet Service options;


• Full port or burstable billing options;


• Service Level Agreements; and


• Direct connectivity to high valued content and access destinations on the Internet.

http://www.xo.comhttp://www.juniper.net

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BT Vision launches HD Films with NBC Universal

BT Vision has entered an agreement with NBC Universal International Television Distribution for a broad selection of feature films to appear on BT Vision's new Hi-Def on demand movie service in the UK,. BT Vision's HD service is delivered through the existing V-box, and does not require an expensive additional monthly subscription. Current BT Vision HD films will be competitively priced at £4.95 each, with library titles costing just £2.95. Customers simply select an HD film and it automatically downloads to the V-box. Customers are only charged once the film has completely downloaded and viewing has started, and all NBC Universal titles can be watched repeatedly during a 48 hour rental period.http://www.bt.com

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Juniper EX-series Switches Achieve Avaya Interoperability Certification

Juniper Networks has achieved certification compliance for its EX-series Ethernet switches with IP telephony solutions from Avaya. Juniper's EX-series Ethernet switches were successfully compliance tested by Avaya resulting in seamless interoperability with Avaya Communication Manager R5.0, Avaya 9630 IP telephones and Avaya 4610SW IP telephones.
http://www.juniper.nethttp://www.avaya.com

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IP for Smart Objects (IPSO) Alliance Targets the "Internet of Things"

A new IP for Smart Objects (IPSO) Alliance has been formed with a mission to promote IP as the networking technology best suited for connecting sensor- and actuator-equipped or "smart" objects and delivering information gathered by those objects.


Smart objects are defined as things in the physical world that - typically with the help of embedded devices - transmit information about their condition or environment (e.g., temperature, light, motion, health status) to locations where the information can be analyzed, correlated with other data and acted upon. Applications range from automated and energy-efficient homes and office buildings, factory equipment maintenance and asset tracking to hospital patient monitoring and safety and compliance assurance.


The new IPSO Alliance said it would complement the efforts of entities such as the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), which develop and ratify technical standards in the Internet community.


The IPSO Alliance role will be to perform interoperability tests, document the use of new IP-based technologies, conduct marketing activities and serve as an information repository for users seeking to understand the role of IP in networks of physical objects. The alliance also seeks to advocate how networks of objects of all types have the potential to be converged onto IP.


Founding members of the IPSO Alliance are Arch Rock, Atmel, Cimetrics, Cisco, Duke Energy, Dust Networks, EDF R&D, eka systems, Emerson, Freescale, IP Infusion, Jennic, Kinney Consulting, Nivis, PicosNet, Proto6, ROAM, SAP, Sensinode, SICS, Silver Spring Networks, Sun Microsystems, Tampere University, Watteco and Zensys.http://www.ipso-alliance.org

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Verizon Business Launches IT Virtualization Professional Services

Verizon Business is launching a new set of Virtualization Consulting and Management Services aimed at helping enterprises make the most of virtualized environments. The company also announced that it has earned the top designation as a provider of VMware technology.


Verizon Business said its professional services team could customers determine what virtualization solution will enable them to make the best use of their IT resources. Industry experts estimate that roughly 80 percent of computing capacity is unused at any one time.


First, Verizon Business engineers evaluate the utilization and capacity of customers' servers, recommend which servers and applications are strong candidates for virtualization, and provide a cost-benefit analysis. In the build phase, VMware servers are installed and configured into the customer's infrastructure. Professional services experts also migrate physical servers and applications into the new virtual environment.


Once the migration is complete, Verizon Business can monitor and manage the virtualization technology round-the-clock, 365 days a year. Verizon Business can manage the virtual servers and infrastructure at the customer's data center, a third party center or a Verizon Data Center.


Earlier this year, Verizon Business deployed a shared VMware Virtual Center management infrastructure to configure and operate virtualized environments. These new consulting services enable Verizon Business to assist hosted customers in a shared infrastructure with an easier transition and deployment.http://www.verizonbusiness.com/us/itsolutions

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Verizon Business Activates Services on New Trans-Pacific Express Cable

Verizon Business has begun activating services over the new Trans-Pacific Express submarine cable network, which connects the United States with mainland China, South Korea and Taiwan. Multinational customers can now start migrating IP, data and voice communications traffic moving onto this cable system, which will deliver additional capacity, greater physical diversity, reduced latency, improved performance and seven-way mesh network diversity.


Verizon Business teamed up with founding TPE Consortium members - China Telecom, China Netcom, China Unicom, Korea Telecom and Chunghwa Telecom (Taiwan) -- to build the TPE cable. The new 18,000-kilometer (more than 11,000-mile) cable system can support the equivalent of 77.5 million simultaneous phone calls, more than 60 times the overall capacity of the existing cable directly linking the United States and mainland China. The operating capacity of the system is 3.2 terabits per second (Tbps), an increase of 25 percent over the original system design.


Verizon said that with a minimum 80 wavelengths per fiber, TPE has the highest wave-density of any submarine cable in the world at this length. Customers can access the cable system at wavelengths of up to 10 Gbps directly from the U.S. to China, Korea and Taiwan. In the next phase, the system will add links to Japan.http://www.verizonbusiness.com

• TPE is the first major undersea system to land on the U.S. West coast in more than seven years. The project represents an investment by consortium members of more than $500 million.



• Landing points for TPE are at Nedonna Beach, Oregon; Qingdao, China; Chongming, China; Tanshui, Taiwan; and Keoje, South Korea.

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Nortel Cuts Outlook, Seeks Buyer for Metro Ethernet Division

Citing "significant pressure as Carrier customers cut back their capital expenditures" during the expanding economic downturn,
Nortel cut its financial outlook for the quarter ending September 30, 2008 and trimmed its full year 2008 outlook. In particular, Nortel said certain Enterprise and Metro Ethernet customers were deferring new IT and optical investments. As well, since reporting second quarter 2008 results, the company is seeing additional pressure on revenue due to foreign exchange impact and certain product delivery delays from the third quarter into the fourth quarter.


Nortel now expects Q3 revenues to be about $2.3 billion. Third quarter gross margin is currently expected to be approximately 39 percent of revenue primarily as a result of a product delivery delay into the fourth quarter and customer mix within the Carrier business.

Nortel revised downwards its full year 2008 outlook , saying it currently expects revenue to decline between two and four percent compared to 2007. Gross Margin for all of 2008 is expected to be approximately 42 percent of revenue.

The company is planning further restructuring and other cost reduction initiatives to significantly reduce its cost base to achieve a more competitive business structure as well as to mitigate the risks associated with the company's 4th generation carrier wireless investments.

Nortel also announced its intention to sell its Metro Ethernet Networks (MEN) business, which includes optical and Carrier Ethernet portfolios. The business has a strong customer base, and leading edge technology in areas such as 40G/100G optical networking.

"It is clear that the business environment in which we operate requires additional immediate and decisive actions," said Nortel President and Chief Executive Officer Mike Zafirovski. "A comprehensive review of our business is taking place and we are determined to reshape the Company to maximize its competitiveness, drive a significant increase in effectiveness and efficiency company-wide, and re-focus to establish a clear path for growth, profitability and renewed shareholder value."http://www.nortel.com

• In June 2008, Nortel announced that Verizon Telecom had selected its Metro Ethernet Routing Switch (MERS 8600) to expand its metro Ethernet backbone. The platform provides Provider Backbone Bridge (PBB) technology, MPLS related technology, and the Metro Ethernet Manager (MEM) system. Verizon will be testing all the MERS technologies in its laboratories for use with its Ethernet-based networks, including the Switched Ethernet Services (SES) network. The Nortel solution also includes Ethernet OAM technologies. Financial terms were not disclosed. Nortel's said its PBB-based solution helps address scalability challenges in metro Ethernet. Additionally, fault monitoring allows rapid troubleshooting to meet strict Service Level Agreements (SLAs) and ensures a better customer experience.
  
  
  At the time, Nortel noted that it had more than 30 customers around the globe selected its Carrier Ethernet solution in 2007, including, Dakota Carrier Network, Frontier Communications, Silk telecom, groupe-e, and Shanghai Telecom, among others.



• Also in June 2008, Nortel announced a re-alignment of its 4G wireless broadband strategy including plans to focus its own wireless R&D resources on 4G LTE and wireless applications, while partnering with Alvarion to address WiMAX opportunities.

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