Reliance Globalcom Posts 15% Growth, Signs Infrastructure Sharing Deal with Etisalat

India's Reliance Globalcom (RCOM) posted revenue of Rs. 6,145 crore (US$ 1,283 million) for the quarter ended 3-June-2009, up 15.5% from Rs. 5,322 crore (US$ 1,240 million) in the same quarter a year earlier. There was a net profit of Rs. 1,637 crore (US$ 342 million), higher by 8.3% compared to the net profit of Rs. 1,512 crore (US$ 352 million) in the corresponding quarter last year.


In addition, Reliance Infratel (RITL), a subsidiary of RCOM, signed a long term agreement with Etisalat DB, a new wireless mobile services provider for sharing its telecom infrastructure. The company expects the deal to enhance RCOM's revenue by Rs. 10,000 crores (US$ 2.2 bn) which includes revenue from sharing of end-to-end tower and transmission infrastructure. The geographical scope of the deal covers 15 telecom circles which constitutes over 85% of India's population and over 90% of subscribers and revenue market in India.


The deal provides Etisalat DB the advantage of faster roll-out with the coverage comparable to the incumbents. The deal also enables Etisalat DB to adopt an asset light model by converting most of the capex into opex. RCOM can potentially sign agreement for sharing other infrastructure elements like Bandwidth/Fibre, domestic and International long distance carriage services, collocation of BSC & other core network equipments which would be a further upside to this agreement.
http://www.rcom.co.in/

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Soapstone Completes Liquidation and Dissolution by Stockholders

The stockholders of Soapstone Networks voted to approve the liquidation and dissolution of the company. In connection with the approval of the company's Plan of Liquidation, the company's Board of Directors has approved an extraordinary cash dividend of $3.75 per share of the company's common stock. A certificate of dissolution has been filed with the Delaware Secretary of State.
http://www.soapstonenetworks.comSoapstone Networks, which was the company created when Avici Systems decided to exit the core router business, developed control plane software to help automate service provider networks. One of its main capabilities was PBB-TE module for the PNC which includes the dynamic provisioning, monitoring and repair of services across a multi-vendor Carrier Ethernet network as well as network operations support.

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Extreme Networks Reports Revenue of $81.3 Million

Extreme Networks reported quarterly net revenue of $81.3 million, representing a sequential increase of 5 percent as compared to revenue of $77.2 million in the previous quarter and a 17 percent decrease as compared to revenue of $98.3 million in the same period last year. Non-GAAP net income was $2.3 million or $0.03 per diluted share, compared to non-GAAP net income of $3.0 million or $0.03 per diluted share in the fourth quarter last year. Non-GAAP financial results exclude the impact of stock-based compensation and restructuring charges.


Net revenue in North America was $34.9 million, revenue in EMEA was $31.6 million, and revenue in APAC was $14.8 million. That compares to revenue of $26.9 million in North America, $38.5 million in EMEA, and $11.8 million in APAC in the previous quarter.


"We delivered the highest non-GAAP operating income in five quarters while competing in a very difficult global economy," said Mark Canepa, president and CEO of Extreme Networks. "We launched three new product families during the fiscal year, adding to our broad set of products designed for the changing dynamics in the metro carrier, the data center, and converged enterprise markets."http://www.extremenetworks.com

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HK Broadband Network Upgrades with Juniper M Series

Hong Kong Broadband Network Limited (HKBN) has deployed Juniper Networks' M Series Multiservice Edge Routers to support continued expansion of its international network connectivity. Financial terms were not disclosed.


HKBN, a wholly-owned subsidiary of City Telecom (H.K.), offers residential broadband Internet access up to 1Gbps, telephony, IPTV, corporate and mobile data services with its self-built Metro Ethernet IP network.


HKBN already has more than 350,000 FTTX broadband customers in Hong Kong, giving it the second largest market share. It aims to extend its network coverage to 90 percent of Hong Kong households by the end of 2012. HKBN's core service is a market-leading symmetric 100Mbps unlimited broadband access for the residential market priced at US$34/month.


The Juniper Networks M Series Multiservice Edge Routers have been installed at HKBN's peering point for load-balancing and redundancy. http://www.juniper.net

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Cisco Collaborates with Landis+Gyr on Smart Grid

Cisco and Landis+Gyr agreed to collaborate on smart grid communications infrastructure for helping utility companies and their customers better manage energy. The collaboration between Cisco and Landis+Gyr is expected to accelerate the delivery of standards-based solutions for the energy industry and facilitate the integration of existing capabilities with renewable power sources, plug-in vehicles and distribution automation functionality.


Landis+Gyr specializes in in advanced metering infrastructure and applications.


Landis+Gyr's and Cisco's collaboration aims to capitalize on the strengths of open standards, such as IP, allowing for greater ease of deployment and scalability, as well as optimized efficiency of communications networks. The two companies plan to work on future architectures in the areas of smart metering, the utility data center, and wireless and fixed last-mile communications with the objective to ensure interoperability across Cisco's and Landis+Gyr's smart grid solutions.


"As the largest global player in electricity metering with one of the broadest portfolios of products and services, we believe that working with Cisco to establish an interoperable infrastructure will empower utilities and consumers to improve their energy efficiency, reduce their energy costs and thus contribute to a sustainable use of resources." said Andreas Umbach, president and chief operating officer of Landis+Gyr. "I believe this agreement is key for both companies. Together we have the opportunity to shape, in a meaningful way, the evolving smart grid."http://newsroom.cisco.com
http://www.landisgyr.com

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Corning and Soitec Collaborate on OLED Mobile Displays

Corning and the Soitec Group are collaborating on the development of high-performance silicon-on-glass (SiOG) substrates for the flat panel mobile display market and in particular for organic light-emitting diode (OLED) mobile displays.


Corning is currently developing thin, single-crystal silicon film that can applied to Corning display glass. This development is expected to produce an engineered substrate with outstanding electrical mobility and material uniformity, upon which electronic circuits can be easily applied by display manufacturers. The first applications for this technology are anticipated to be small- to medium-sized mobile display devices.


Soitec's proprietary Smart Cut technology is used to transfer ultra-thin single crystal layers of wafer substrate material (such as silicon) onto another surface. The technique is currently used to fabricate more than 90 percent of SOI production wafers in the semiconductor industry. http://www.corning.com
http://www.soitec.com

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WSJ: FCC Looks Into Apple's Rejection of Google Voice App

The Wall Street Journal reported that FCC Commissioner Julius Genachowski sent letters of inquiry to Apple, AT&T and Google asking for more information on why the Google Voice iPhone application was rejected by Apple for inclusion in its popular iStore.
http://www.wsj.com

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Singapore's StarHub Implements 3G Direct Tunnel with NSN

Singapore-based StarHub has migrated its 3G core network to a flat network architecture using Nokia Siemes Networks' Direct Tunnel solution. This expansion will strengthen StarHub's HSPA+ (High Speed Packet Access)-based wireless broadband service, which offers speeds of 21 Mbps and up. Financial terms were not disclosed.


"Data traffic has increased exponentially over the last two years, and StarHub is now geared to handle the current and future traffic needs of its subscribers. What's more, there is no need to invest substantial amounts of money to build capacity to handle the increased data throughput. It's really thanks to this innovative software offering from Nokia Siemens Networks that routes 3G data traffic effectively, improving the user experience while reducing capital and operating expenses," said Peter Cook, Vice-President of Integrated Network Engineering, StarHub.


Direct Tunneling allows user data traffic to bypass the Serving Gateway Support Node (SGSN), which, in traditional packet core setups, is responsible for both signaling and routing user data. When user data bypasses the SGSN, it reduces the load on the SGSN capacity and lowers transmission network costs. Further, with Nokia Siemens Networks as StarHub's incumbent packet core solution vendor, the Direct Tunneling functionality is a mere software upgrade for the operator.
http://www.nokiasiemensnetworks.com

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Zeugma Adds SmartBoost Capability its Service Delivery Router

Zeugma Systems introduced a SmartBoost capability that enables its service delivery router (SDR) to instantly increase the bandwidth to an individual broadband subscriber. The new capability leverages the Zeugma Services Node's (ZSN's) Open Application Sandbox (OAS) and robust traffic management capabilities providing the ability for subscribers to self-provision temporary bandwidth increases. Subscribers could signal their desire for more bandwidth via a Web-browser, the set-top box interface or web-enabled smart phones, such as the iPhone.


Zeugma said its SmartBoost capability is far simpler for a network operator to implement than previous industry attempts to deliver individualized subscriber bandwidth shaping. Previous approaches require modification to a myriad of devices such as broadband remote access servers (BRAS), policy servers, and access nodes, which severely complicates implementation, driving up both cost and time-to-market. Zeugma's Smart Series applications run within the Zeugma Open Application Sandbox (OAS) to provide granular choices for defining basic and advanced broadband services. Other Zeugma Smart Series applications include SmartVideo, SmartMeter, SmartVOIP, and SmartMonitor.


Texas-based Hill Country Telephone is implementing the new SmartBoost capability.
http://www.zeugmasystems.com

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Mobile Hard Drives Reach 1 TB Capacity

WD introduced the industry's first 2.5-inch hard drive reach 1 TB capacity. A 750 GB WD Scorpio Blue model also will be available.


The WD Scorpio Blue 750 GB and 1 TB hard drives have a 12.5 mm form factor and are designed for use in portable storage solutions, such as the newly released My Passport Essential SE Portable USB Drives. Other applications include select notebooks and small form factor desktop PCs, where quiet and cool operation are important. Both WD Scorpio Blue drives deliver high-performance with a 3 Gbps transfer rate.


The manufacturer's suggested retail price (MSRP) for the WD Scorpio Blue 1 TB drive is $249.99 USD and for the 750 GB version it is $189.99 USD.
http://www.westerndigital.com

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Australia Picks Mike Quigley to Head National Broadband Network Initiative

The Australian government has appointed Mike Quigley as the Executive Chairman of the company established to deliver the National Broadband Network (NBNCo).


Quigley most recently served as President and Chief Operating Officer of Alcatel-Lucent. As a long-term Alcatel executive, he was instrumental in the merger with Lucent Technologies. During the course of his career, Mr. Quigley has led the development and integration of large scale Fibre-To-The-Premise (FTTP) and Fibre-To-The-Node (FTTN) implementations for some of the largest U.S. carriers.
http://www.minister.dbcde.gov.au/

• Under the Rudd Government's new national broadband network every house, school and business in Australia will get access to affordable fast broadband. The plan calls for the government to set-up a new entity that would install fiber connections to ninety percent of Australian homes and businesses over an eight year period. The network will deliver wholesale services of 100 Mbps or better. Locations outside the fiber footprint would be served by high-speed (12 Mbps) wireless connections. Private investors could take a minority stake in the project and after five years the government would sell its majority stake. The Government's investment in the company will be funded through the Building Australia Fund and the issuance of Aussie Infrastructure Bonds (AIBs), which will provide an opportunity for households and institutions to invest in the national broadband network.

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Corning's Telecom Sales Increase 14% Sequentially to $437 Million

Corning's telecommunications segment sales in Q2 2009 were $437 million, an increase of 14% over the previous quarter. In its quarterly financial report, Corning said it experienced strong demand for optical fiber and cable in China. In North America, the company saw increased demand for its fiber-to-the-home products.
http://www.corning.com

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BigBand Unveils Converged Video Exchange Software Control Plane

BigBand Networks introduced its Converged Video Exchange (CVEx), an intelligent software control plane that provides a unified means to deliver and manage linear and non-linear video services across the network edge, to traditional MPEG set-top boxes (STBs) and next-generation IP devices.


BigBand said it developed the CVEx to remove the boundaries between disparate video service types by dynamically controlling the allocation of all RF and IP video services within a single bandwidth pool. The software is designed to offer a single control plane as operators move toward eliminating the dedicated bandwidth silos for individual services such as Video on Demand (VOD), Switched Digital Video (SDV) and IPTV, while simultaneously improving spectrum utilization.


Key capabilities of the CVEx platform include:

• A common interface and single means to rapidly deploy and ensure a quality video service experience across traditional MPEG set-top boxes and next-generation IP devices including PCs, TVs and ultimately, to mobile devices;
  
• Allows for bandwidth to be pooled and reallocated on an as-needed basis; and
  
  
• Provides subscriber and video service measurement tools that cross multiple data planes with holistic views of program and service behaviors, network resource usage and "what if" scenario planning.

The initial implementation of the CVEx platform will include application sharing between RF applications with subsequent functionality added as the industry further evolves toward IP.
http://www.bigbandnet.com

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ADTRAN Supplies Total Access 5000 to Iowa's Walnut Communications

Walnut Communications, a network operator serving west central Iowa, has selected Adtran's Total Access 5000 Multi-Service Access and Aggregation Platform (MSAP) for next-generation access and Ethernet transport throughout its network. Financial terms were not disclosed.


Walnut will utilize ADTRAN's enhanced Pseudowire Emulation Edge to End (PWE3) technology via the Total Access 5000 for TDM service delivery and Ethernet transport over fiber. Walnut will also utilize the Total Access 5000's eSHDSL capabilities to provide high-bandwidth services to local businesses using Ethernet in the First Mile (EFM) for Ethernet service delivery.
http://www.adtran.com

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UNH-IOL Builds IPv6 Test for U.S. Government Compliance

The University of New Hampshire InterOperability Laboratory (UNH-IOL), in collaboration with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), has just completed a test review event confirming the first test specifications for the US Government IPv6 (USGv6) Test Program. The new specifications resulting from the test review event will be used to test products for USGv6 compliance.


As of July 2010, U.S. Government agencies will require IPv6 compliant products in IT acquisitions. In light of this, the USGv6 Test Program, utilizing the NIST USGv6 profile, will provide government buyers and agencies guidance on the status of IPv6 in equipment they are purchasing.


The USGv6 Test Program calls for IPv6 vendors to arrange for both conformance and interoperability product testing in order to comply with the profile. The USGv6 Test Event, held at the UNH-IOL, focused on interoperability product testing. It allowed vendors to pre-test USGv6 interoperability test specifications, lend technical expertise to interoperability test specification development, and gain a higher level of confidence of compliance before mandates. The USGv6 Test Event provided both the participants and test labs the opportunity to preview the interoperability portion of the USGv6 Test Program in a live test.
http://www.iol.unh.edu

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Huawei Opens LTE Laboratory in North America

Huawei inaugurated a Long Term Evolution (LTE) laboratory located in Richardson, Texas. Initially established with prototype equipment in fall of 2008, the facility has been upgraded to fully support commercial product releases for North America. The lab recently implemented Huawei's first commercial LTE solution release targeted at operators in the United States and Canada. Additionally, local research and development teams are now able to work more closely with North American operators to rigorously test LTE systems before delivery.


"It is a key step forward in our readiness to support customers launching LTE in the United States and Canada with local facilities and resources," said Carl Liu, Executive Vice President of Huawei North America. "Building on the LTE field trial we did in AWS (Advanced Wireless Services) spectrum in the U.S. last year, we are very pleased to be able to offer the latest in LTE multi-band technology as carriers partner with Huawei to deliver advanced mobile broadband services."


The state-of-the-art lab is equipped with Huawei's SingleRAN DBS3900 eNodeB, USN 9810 unified service node, UGW 9811 unified gateway, M2000 element management system and the latest versions of commercial software. Huawei's industry-leading SingleRAN solution incorporates software-defined radio technology to support CDMA/LTE and UMTS/LTE dual-mode operation, which Huawei first demonstrated in AWS spectrum at CTIA Wireless 2008.
http://www.huawei.com

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Tellabs Reports Q2 Revenue of $385 Million, Down 11% YoY

Tellabs' second-quarter 2009 revenue totaled $385 million, compared with $432 million in the second quarter of 2008. Tellabs earned $16 million or 4 cents per share on a GAAP (U.S. generally accepted accounting principles) basis, compared with $39 million or 10 cents per share in the year-ago quarter, which included a tax benefit of 9 cents per share.


The company said more than half of overall revenue came from growth products, including the Tellabs 6300, 7100, 8600 and 8800 systems and professional services.

GAAP gross profit margin was 43.5% in the second quarter of 2009, compared with 34.7% in the year-ago quarter. The company generated $64 million in cash from operations and added $58 million to its cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities, which rose to more than $1.2 billion.

For the second quarter of 2009, Broadband segment revenue was $210 million, Transport segment revenue was $119 million and Services segment revenue was $56 million.
http://www.tellabs.com

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Mobile Initiative for East Africa's Lake Victoria

Zain, and Ericsson, in an initiative coordinated by the GSM Association, have kicked off an effort to improve public security and bring development across the Lake Victoria region by extending the mobile network coverage. This initiative is expected to fuel economic and social development of the lakeside communities and potentially reduce the number of fishing-related deaths each year.


The expanded mobile coverage will comprise the area of the lake where 80 percent of fishing activities take place, allowing communication and SMS exchange to and from phones. Thanks to the project, the Lake Victoria region now has an additional 21 energy-efficient sites, with three of them solar powered. A Rescue Coordination Centre has been established. Local stakeholders supporting the project include the International Maritime Rescue Federation (IMRF) and its local representative the National Lake Rescue Institute (NLRI).


Lake Victoria is the second largest lake in the world with nearly 200,000 fishermen, 35 million people living along its shores and a fishing fleet of more than 70,000 boats.


"As the East African community gets connected to undersea cables for the first time, the communities of Lake Victoria can now access a mobile safety net," said Gabriel Solomon, Senior Vice President GSM Association. "It is now incumbent upon the governments of East Africa to leverage this network by partnering with the private sector and delivering a rainbow of new services."http://www.ericsson.com

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Swisscom Invests in Quantenna for Whole-Home 4x4 MIMO

Swisscom has made a strategic investment in Quantenna Communications, a start-up developing silicon for high-speed, wireless high definition (HD) video home networking. The investment expands Quantenna's Series C funding round, which also includes previous announced investors Grazia Equity, Sequoia Capital, Sigma Partners, Southern Cross Venture Partners and Venrock Associates. To date, Quantenna has raised over $44 million.


Quantenna leverages dynamic digital beamforming to deliver very high-speed wireless coverage throughout the whole home for sharing high definition (HD) video and multimedia content between home gateways and TVs. Quantenna's silicon is targeted at devices such as home residential gateways, set-top boxes, routers, HDTVs and consumer electronic devices, which all require high bandwidth and reliability to support whole home HD video distribution and networking over standard Wi-Fi networks.
http://www.quantenna.com

• In May, Quantenna Communications named David French as its new CEO, succeeding Dr. Behrooz Rezvani, who will continue his role as president of Quantenna and chairman of the Board of Directors. French brings more than three decades of semiconductor experience to Quantenna. Most recently, he was president and CEO of Cirrus Logic Inc., a leading fabless semiconductor public company. Under French's leadership, Cirrus Logic emerged as a world leader in audio integrated circuits, such as audio converters and audio digital signal processors, as well as industrial mixed-signal and embedded ICs. Prior to Cirrus Logic, French was the vice president and general manager at Analog Devices Inc.

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CopperGate joins HomeGrid Forum Board

The HomeGrid Forum, which promotes the ITU-T's G.hn standardization efforts, has expanded its Board of Directors with the addition of CopperGate Communications. CopperGate joins Best Buy, BT, Infineon, Intel, Panasonic, and Sigma Designs in leading the HomeGrid Forum.


CopperGate Communications offers standards-based chipsets enable carrier-class distribution of broadband digital content over all three types of existing wires in the home: coax, phone, and power. The company sells its technology to OEMs for use in set-top boxes, residential gateways, optical network terminators and Ethernet bridges.


The G.hn standard aims to deliver a single unified technology for the wired home network that addresses key issues of service providers, electronics manufacturers, and consumers alike. Through one worldwide standard, G.hn will unify the networking of content and devices over any wire -- coax cable, phone and power lines. G.hn enables service providers to deploy new offerings including IPTV more cost effectively; allows consumer electronics manufacturers to provide powerful devices for connecting all types of entertainment, home automation and security products throughout the house; and greatly simplifies consumer purchasing and installation processes.
http://www.HomeGridForum.orghttp://www.copper-gate.com

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Solarflare Appoints VP of Engineering

Solarflare Communications, a start-up developing low-power 10 Gigabit Ethernet (10GbE) silicon, appointed Danny Shamlou as senior vice president of engineering. Prior to Solarflare, Shamlou served as general manager and engineering vice president at Mindspeed and Conexant. Recently, Shamlou worked for Starport Systems as vice president of engineering, where he led the development of ultra high-frequency radio frequency identification SoC devices and a 65 nanometer XFI SERDES IP core. He has a bachelor's degree from the University of Tennessee and a master's degree from Georgia Institute of Technology.
http://www.solarflare.com

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Verizon Offers Free Wi-Fi for Broadband Customers

Verizon has begun offering free Wi-Fi connectivity at its public hotspots to its broadband customers.


New Verizon FiOS Internet customers who order an up-to- 25/15 Mbps or faster connection, or new HSI customers who order an up-to- 3 Mbps/768 Kbps or up-to- 7.1 Mbps/768 Kbps connection, can connect to the new Verizon Wi-Fi hot spots, at no additional charge as part of their broadband service.


The new WiFi service is also available free of charge for existing FiOS Internet customers with up-to-20 Mbps or faster packages and existing HSI customers who have either an up-to-3 Mbps or up-to- 7.1 Mbps package.
http://www.verizon.com

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Verizon Sees Continued Consumer Spending as Business Weakens

Despite the U.S. recession, consumer demand for wireless, broadband and video products continued to grow in Q2 at Verizon Communications, while sales at Verizon Business weakened.


Verizon's total operating revenues grew 11.3 percent to $26.9 billion, compared with the second quarter 2008, including revenues from Alltel Corporation, which was acquired in January 2009. On a pro forma basis (determined by consolidating the operating results of Verizon and the former Alltel as though the acquisition had occurred on Jan. 1, 2008), operating revenue growth was 1.9 percent. Verizon reported diluted earnings per share (EPS) of 52 cents in the second quarter 2009, compared with 66 cents per share in the second quarter 2008. On an adjusted basis (non-GAAP), second-quarter 2009 earnings were 63 cents per share, compared with second-quarter 2008 earnings of 67 cents per share.


"Verizon posted continued strong wireless revenue growth and new levels of sales success with FiOS in the second quarter," said Verizon Chairman and CEO Ivan Seidenberg. "This resilience in consumer demand for our wireless, broadband and video products has again produced overall revenue growth despite cyclical impacts, especially in business markets. Verizon's continued strong cash flow reflects the exceptional focus and disciplined execution across our business."


Some operational highlights:


Wireless


Wireless retail (non-wholesale) gross customer additions were up 26.0 percent over the second quarter of 2008. On a pro forma basis, retail gross customer additions were down slightly, by 0.6 percent, due in part to fewer additions in the business market.

Verizon Wireless had 87.7 million customers at the end of the quarter, an increase of 27.7 percent year over year and 7.9 percent on a pro forma basis.

Wireless revenues totaled $15.5 billion, up 27.7 percent year over year and up 7.6 percent on a pro forma basis. Service revenues were $13.3 billion, up 27.2 percent year over year and up 9.0 percent on a pro forma basis, as demand continued to grow for data services. Data revenue grew to $3.9 billion, up 52.6 percent and up 33.2 percent on a pro forma basis.

Service ARPU (average monthly service revenue per user) decreased 0.8 percent year over year to $51.10. On a pro forma basis, service ARPU was up 0.6 percent. Total data ARPU was $14.96, up 18.9 percent year over year and up 22.8 percent on a pro forma basis.

In the second quarter, data revenues grew to 29.3 percent of all service revenues, up from 24.0 percent in the second quarter 2008 on a pro forma basis.

During Q2, Verizon Wireless customers sent or received nearly 146 billion text messages. Customers also sent more than 2.5 billion picture/video messages and completed 40 million music and video downloads during the quarter.


Wireline

• Verizon added 303,000 net new FiOS Internet customers, a record number for the second consecutive quarter. By the end of the second quarter, the company had 3.1 million FiOS Internet customers, an increase of 56.1 percent compared with June 30, 2008.



• FiOS Internet sales penetration (sales as a percentage of potential customers) increased to 28.1 percent, compared with 23.5 percent at June 30, 2008. FiOS Internet was available for sale to 11.0 million premises by the end of the quarter.



• Verizon added 300,000 net new FiOS TV customers. The company had 2.5 million FiOS TV customers by the end of the quarter, an increase of 82.1 percent compared with June 30, 2008.



• FiOS TV sales penetration increased to 24.6 percent, compared with 19.7 percent as of June 30, 2008. FiOS TV service was available for sale to 10.3 million premises by the end of the quarter.



• Revenue growth from broadband and video services boosted consumer ARPU to $72.59 in the second quarter 2009, a 13.7 percent increase year over year. FiOS ARPU remained strong at more than $135.



• Sales of strategic business services -- such as IP, managed services, Ethernet and security solutions -- generated $1.5 billion in revenue in the quarter, up 3.0 percent from the second quarter 2008.



• Broadband connections totaled 9.1 million in the second quarter, a 9.4 percent increase year over year and a net increase of 186,000 from the
  first quarter 2009. This includes a decrease of 117,000 DSL-based Verizon High Speed Internet connections from the first quarter, which
  was more than offset by the 303,000 increase in FiOS Internet customers.



• During the quarter, Verizon installed 26 Private IP edge switches for a total of 705 across 59 countries. It also expanded its global mesh networks, completed 1,488 miles of ultra-long-haul network in Europe, expanded remote access services to India and had suppliers begin laying cable for the 15,000-kilometer (9,000-mile) Europe India Gateway submarine cable.

On Tuesday, July 28, Verizon Wireless will host a Verizon Developer Community conference and webcast to facilitate application development for use on the Verizon Wireless 3G and 4G networks.
http://www.verizon.com

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Rayspan Raises $12.5 million for Better Antennas

Rayspan, a start-up based in San Diego, raised $12.5 million in venture funding for its work with metamaterial air interface for wireless communications.


Rayspan said its metamaterials provide breakthrough improvements in antenna and RF front-end component miniaturization, performance, cost reduction and ease of manufacture. The technology support a full range of fixed and mobile wireless WAN and LAN applications including all 2/3/4G cellular handsets, WiFi, Bluetooth and GPS.


The new Series B financing was led by new investor Khosla Ventures, who was joined by existing Rayspan investor Sequoia Capital as well as individual private investors. http://www.rayspan.com

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Ericsson Wins Bid for Nortel's Wireless Assets

Ericsson will acquire acquire Nortel's CDMA and LTE assets in North America in a deal valued at US$1.13 billion in cash. Ericsson's bid prevailed in the auction process initiated by Nortel. The deal is subject to approval by the United States and Canadian Bankruptcy Courts and the satisfaction of regulatory and other conditions.


The agreement includes important CDMA contracts with North American operators such as Verizon, Sprint, U.S. Cellular, Bell Canada and Leap, as well as LTE assets, certain patents and patent licenses relating to CDMA and LTE. Nortel's customers will also benefit from the continued support of Nortel's installed CDMA base and the migration path to LTE.


Nortel's North American CDMA operations generated approximately USD 2.0 b. in 2008, with robust profitability from a good product mix, which includes a significant amount of services. Going forward, research and development costs are expected to be relatively low in CDMA compared with other technologies.


Ericsson's North American business generated SEK 17.9 (USD 2.7) b. of sales in 2008, mainly from GSM and WCDMA equipment and associated services. When coupled with the recently announced Sprint services agreement, this acquisition makes North America the largest region within Ericsson and encompasses some 14,000 employees.


Ericsson said the acquisition will have a positive effect on its earnings within a year after closing.


Magnus Mandersson, presently head of Ericsson Northern Europe, is appointed President of Ericsson CDMA operations, and Richard Lowe, Nortel, is appointed Chief Operating Officer.


"Acquiring Nortel's North American CDMA business allows us to serve this important region better as we build relationships for the future migration to LTE. Furthermore, by adding some 2,500 highly skilled employees, of which about 400 are focused on LTE research and development, Ericsson reinforces and expands a long-term commitment to North America. This deal, along with our recently announced Sprint service agreement, truly positions Ericsson as a leading telecoms supplier in North America," said Carl-Henric Svanberg, President and CEO of Ericsson.


"Nortel remains focused on finding the right buyers for our other businesses while continuing to maintain excellent customer service levels. We are determined to maximize value while preserving innovation platforms, customer relationships and jobs to the greatest extent possible. With today's agreement and through the anticipated sales of the Company's other businesses, Nortel will leave its mark on the industry for decades to come," stated Nortel President and Chief Executive Officer, Mike Zafirovski.
http://www.ericsson.com
http://www.nortel.com

• Earlier this month, Sprint awarded a seven-year network management outsourcing contract to Ericsson covering its CDMA, iDEN and wireline networks. Sprint said the deal enables it to focus on delivering a superior customer experience, innovative services and popular new devices while letting Ericsson handle the day-to-day operations of its network. The agreement, with an option for renewal, will result in payments for services valued at between $4.5 billion and $5 billion (USD) over the seven-year term of the contract. The transaction calls for about 6,000 Sprint employees to begin performing their network functions as Ericsson employees sometime in the 3rd quarter.



• In June, Nokia Siemens Networks had announced its bid to acquire Nortel's key wireless assets for $650 million.

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Vodafone Revenue Falls Across Europe, Grows in India and Africa

Vodafone Group's Q2 revenue increased by 9.3% overall thanks to the positive impact of exchange rates (8.6% of the gain) and growth in India, South Africa and Italy, but its organic service revenue declined by 2.1% due to weakness across most of Europe and Central Europe due to economic conditions. The declines were primarily driven by reductions in voice revenue resulting from continued pricing pressure and slower usage growth in the current economic climate, as well as lower visitor and roaming revenue as people traveled less. These declines were partially offset by growth in data, fixed line and wholesale revenue. The organic service revenue growth rate was similar to the previous quarter after taking into account mobile termination rate cuts, seasonality and the impact of a new accounting standard for loyalty programs.

A few other highlights from the quarterly report.

• The total number of mobile customers the Group now reaches has surpassed 315 million (proportionate to the investment held in various operators).



• Organic data revenue growth was 19.4%, slightly lower than the previous quarter due to the impact of lower data roaming and lower enterprise activity.



• In fixed broadband the Group generated over 200,000 additions in Europe and fixed line revenue grew at constant exchange rates by 18.5% in Italy and 15.4% in Spain. Europe's enterprise revenue declined reflecting the economic pressure on business customers.



• Capital expenditure of GBP1.2 billion was at a similar level to the same quarter last year after adjusting for foreign exchange, reflecting continued investment in Europe to support network quality and data growth and in India to drive revenue through footprint expansion.



• In India, Service revenue grew by 23.0% at constant exchange rates including a 7.0 percentage point benefit from the revenue stream generated by the network sharing joint venture Indus Towers. The average customer base increased by 56.0% reflecting the launch of services in seven new circles in the previous financial year. Usage per customer
  slowed as a higher number of customers utilized SIMs from more than one operator, in particular in the new circles.

http://www.vodafone.com

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Nokia to Acquire Cellity for Mobile Software Development

Nokia has agreed to acquire cellity, a start-up based in Hamburg, Germany, for an undisclosed sum.


cellity currently offers a solution to collect and securely store users' contacts in one place. The service is an easy way to connect people on the mobile and the web.


Nokia said it will acquire the cellity team to strengthen its competencies in the area of social networking. cellity's current service will not transfer to Nokia and the service will be discontinued.


After closing, cellity's 14 employees will become part of Nokia's Services unit.
http://www.nokia.com
http://www.cellity.com

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Social Security Administration Chooses Verizon, AT&T

The U.S. Social Security Administration selected Verizon Business to serve as primary IP and data services provider, under a new Networx Universal task order. Under the agreement, valued at $140 million through 2017 if all options are exercised, Verizon Business will continue to advance and manage the SSA's wide-area network, known as the Enterprise-Wide Network Infrastructure (SSANet). In addition, Verizon Business will transition to an MPLS platform for the portion of the SSANet used for connecting to external business partners. Verizon Business previously implemented a similar transition for the SSA's internal network.


The SSA also named AT&T Government Solutions as secondary data network provider. This contract was valued at approximately $80 million. The agency leveraged the $20 billion U.S. General Services Administration Networx Universal contract to make the award. AT&T noted that it has served the voice and data network needs of SSA for several years. AT&T currently provides MPLS services to support approximately 1,000 SSA locations throughout the United States, including the U.S. Virgin Islands, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and Alaska.
http://www.verizon.com
http://www.att.com

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Aircell's Chairman and CEO Swap Positions

Aircell announced the transition of Ron LeMay from Chairman of the Board to President and CEO of the company. Jack Blumenstein, current President and CEO, will assume the position of Chairman of the Board.


Aircell said it has experienced dramatic growth over the past few years since winning its exclusive FCC frequency license in 2006. Mr. Blumenstein has overseen the development of the Aircell Network and Gogo Inflight Internet service, as well as Aircell's airline partnerships, which represent the majority of the U.S. commercial aviation market.


LeMay is a 38-year veteran of the communications industry, having served as an officer at Southwestern Bell, AT&T and Sprint. His Sprint career spanned 18 years and included starting up Sprint PCS as its first employee and serving as its CEO.


"It is time for us to take Aircell to the next level and become the multibillion dollar company we know it can be," said Jack Blumenstein, Chairman of the Board, Aircell. "Ron brings a tremendous depth of operational experience from his days at Sprint and Sprint PCS and has worked closely with me over the past few years to guide the company through its rapid growth. I look forward to continuing to work with Ron and writing one of the great business success stories."http://www.aircell.com

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Extreme Appoints Vish Nandlall as CTO

Extreme Networks has appointed Vish Nandlall to the position of Chief Technology Officer Nandlall previously served as CTO for Nortel's Carrier Networks division, overseeing the technology vision for the company's successful Wireless and in Carrier VoIP Applications businesses. In addition to his role as CTO for Carrier Networks at Nortel, Nandlall has served in various technical leadership roles, as the chief architect for Nortel's CDMA technologies and lead architect for Metro DWDM. He is also a key figure in networking standards bodies that drive next-generation networking and communications, including, the IETF, 3GPP, 3GPP2 and as a board member for ATIS.


Nandlall holds a BSC Engineering, First Division, Electrical Engineering, from the University of New Brunswick.
http://www.extremenetworks.com

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Verizon Wireless Adds Record 1.1 Million in Q2, Earnings Out Today

Verizon Wireless added 1,1 million net customers in Q2 2009. This gives the company a total base of 87.7 million customers, including 85.2 million retail customers, which are those it directly serves and manages, and who choose the Verizon Wireless brand.


Verizon Communications is expected to release further operational data along with its quarterly financial results on July 27. http://www.verizonwireless.com

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Verizon Wireless Adds Record 1.1 Million in Q2, Earnings Out Today

Verizon Wireless added 1,1 million net customers in Q2 2009. This gives the company a total base of 87.7 million customers, including 85.2 million retail customers, which are those it directly serves and manages, and who choose the Verizon Wireless brand.


Verizon Communications is expected to release further operational data along with its quarterly financial results on July 27. http://www.verizonwireless.com

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Nokia Siemens Networks Underscores Wireless in North America

Following the news that Ericsson had prevailed in the auction to acquire Nortel's key wireless assets, Nokia Siemens issued a statement confirming its commitment to the global wireless infrastructure industry and highlighting its recent momentum in the North American market.


"Our final offer for Nortel's assets represented a fair price, and we did not enter this process with a win-at-any-cost mindset," said Bosco Novak, Chief Markets Operations Officer, Nokia Siemens Networks. "Ours was an opportunistic bid aimed at supporting the great progress we've made in North America in the past 18 months, and we are very confident that momentum will continue to grow." http://www.nsn.com

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US. Senate Confirms Mignon Clyburn and Meredith Attwell Baker as FCC Commissioners

The U.S. Senate confirmed Mignon Clyburn and Meredith Attwell Baker as FCC Commissioners. This brings the FCC back to having a full set of five commissioners.


Since 1998, Mignon Clyburn has been a member of South Carolina's Public Service Commission, which regulates the state's investor owned public utilities, including providers of telecommunications services. The South Carolina General Assembly elected Clyburn as a Commissioner representing the Sixth Congressional District in May of 1998, and she has been re-elected three times. She chaired the Commission from 2002 to 2004. Clyburn is a past chair of the Southeastern Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners. She is presently the chair of the Washington Action Committee of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC).


Meredith Attwell Baker most recently served as Acting Assistant Secretary of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration from 2007 to January 2009. She was previously Vice President at the firm of Williams Mullen Strategies, where she focused on telecommunications, intellectual property, and international trade issues. Earlier, she held the position of Senior Counsel at Covad Communications from 2000 to 2002, and Director of Congressional Affairs at the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association (CTIA) from 1998 to 2000.
http://www.fcc.gov

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Riverbed Posts Q2 Revenue of $91 Million

Riverbed Technology reported Q2 revenue of $91.0 million, an increase of 12% from $81.6 million of GAAP revenue reported in the second quarter of fiscal year 2008. The GAAP net loss for Q2 was $290,000, or $0.00 per diluted share. This compares to a GAAP net loss of $869,000, or $0.01 per diluted share, in Q2'08.


"Riverbed has continued to deliver revenue growth in a persistently challenging global economic environment, and the second quarter marks our 14th consecutive quarter of year-over-year top line expansion," said Jerry M. Kennelly, Riverbed president and CEO. "We experienced another strong quarter of new customer additions, ending the second quarter with more than 6,500 customers."http://www.riverbed.com

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ST-Ericsson Posts Revenue of $666 million; up 18% Sequentially

ST-Ericsson reported Q2 net sales of $666 million and an adjusted operating loss of $165 million. Net sales in the second quarter were higher than normal seasonal patterns and showed a progress of 18.5% compared to first quarter 2009 pro-forma sales. This was mainly due to the higher demand in China - driven by TD-SCDMA- and in the rest of Asia-Pacific and to the alignment of inventory to demand levels across the handset supply chain.


President and CEO, Alain Dutheil, commented: "During the second quarter our sales performed above normal seasonal patterns. This was due to the destocking phase in the channels being over, to the pick-up of demand in China, and to our steady execution on our commitments towards our customers.


"We have kept a strong focus on our restructuring and realignment plans. The $250 million cost synergies program, defined by ST-NXP Wireless in the third quarter 2008, is expected to be completed by year-end according to schedule. The new restructuring plan of $230 million cost synergies, announced at the end of April, has been initiated and is expected to be completed by the second quarter 2010."
http://www.stericsson.com

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TIA Issues Recommendations for National Broadband Plan

The Telecommunications Industry (TIA) issued its set of recommendations for creating a strong National Broadband Plan that will improve lives, enhance innovation, and help restore America's long-term prosperity. The comments filed with the FCC are intended to provide a "Roadmap" with targeted goals over the next three years.


Specifically, the TIA believes that the FCC should work to:

• enhance efforts to stimulate investment and innovation in next-generation broadband;



• pursue forward-looking spectrum management and the allocation of additional spectrum;



• strive to provide communications to all Americans, including low-income Americans and those in rural areas, and persons with disabilities;



• support open and fair market access for U.S. companies by promoting full, fair and open trade and competition in international markets;



• foster investment by increasing federal funding, and employing tax credits, expensing provisions, and similar tools; and



• promote the development of a broadband interoperable public safety network capable of protecting all communities in the event of further domestic disasters.

"The Commission has a unique chance to establish a transparent strategic National Broadband Plan to ensure that all Americans have access to affordable high-quality broadband and to enable ubiquitous consumer adoption of such services. TIA's Roadmap provides practical solutions, action items, and timelines that will swiftly bridge the broadband divide," said TIA Vice President for Government Affairs Danielle Coffey.
http://www.tiaonline.org

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Alvarion and Nokia Siemens Networks Expand OEM Deal

Nokia Siemens Networks has expanded an existing OEM agreement to include Alvarion's portfolio of mobile WiMAX solutions. As part of this new agreement, Nokia Siemens Networks will resell Alvarion's latest mobile WiMAX 802.16e solutions to Nokia Siemens Networks' current and prospective WiMAX customers. This includes the Alvarion 4Motion Mobile WiMAX Solution, including the BreezeMAX base stations, ASN Gateways and 4Motion Element Management System. The company will also provide deployment, management and maintenance Services for the products and will leverage its proven multi-vendor capabilities for a most efficient and smooth solution.
http://www.alvarion.com
http://www.nsn.com

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SEACOM Enters Service with Terabit Capacity for East Africa

SEACOM's 17,000 km, submarine fiber optic cable system entered into commercial service, linking south and east Africa to global networks via India and Europe with 1.28 Terabit per second (Tbps) of capacity.


Backhauls linking Johannesburg, Nairobi and Kampala with the coastal landing stations have been established and SEACOM is also working with its national partners to commission the final links to Kigali and Addis Ababa shortly. The entire system will be operated and controlled through SEACOM's Network Operations Centre which is based in Pune, India.


The SEACOM system was designed and installed by Tyco Telecommunications.


"Today is a historic day for Africa and marks the dawn of a new era for communications between the continent and the rest of the world. Our tireless efforts of the past 24 months have come to fruition, and we are proud to be the first to provide affordable, high quality broadband capacity and experience to east African economies. Turning the switch ‘on' creates a huge anticipation but ultimately, SEACOM will be judged on the changes that take place on the continent over the coming years," commented Brian Herlihy, SEACOM's CEO.


Inauguration events are being held in South Africa, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda and Mozambique, where SEACOM, in conjunction with Cisco Systems, will provide media and invitees direct access to true broadband connectivity, carry out live broadcasts and interactive real-time presentations across the system.


SEACOM is a Mauritian company owned 75% by African investors as a collaboration between East and Southern Africans and owns 100% of the SEA International Cable.
http://www.seacom.mu

• Tata Communications has become an anchor tenant customer on the privately owned SEACOM cable system, enabling the company to provide fully integrated network services from South Africa, Mozambique, Tanzania and Kenya to its networks in Europe, Asia and India. Another subsidiary company, Tata Communications Transformation Services Limited (TCTS), has been awarded the network administration, operations and maintenance contract of the cable supporting 1.28 Tbps of capacity.
  
  
  Tata Communications operates the landing point in Mumbai while Neotel will manage the landing point in South Africa. As result of this, the company can provide seamless connectivity between the SEACOM cable system and the Tata Communications global network, along with Neotel's converged network in South Africa.

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AT&T Posts Strong Wireless Growth

AT&T reported Q2 revenues of $30.7 billion, compared with $30.9 billion in the year-earlier quarter, as growth in wireless and advanced wireline data services in large part offset pressures from the macro-environment, including revenue declines in voice and legacy data products.


Compared with results for the year-earlier quarter, AT&T's operating expenses for the second quarter of 2009 were $25.2 billion versus $24.3 billion; operating income was $5.5 billion versus $6.6 billion; and AT&T's operating income margin was 17.9 percent, compared with 21.3 percent.


Net income attributable to AT&T totaled $3.2 billion versus $3.8 billion in the year-earlier quarter, and earnings per diluted share totaled $0.54, compared with $0.63 in the second quarter of 2008.


Some highlights for the quarter:


Wireless

• Postpaid Subscriber Gains. Retail postpaid net adds totaled 1.2 million, up 29.0 percent versus results in the year-earlier second quarter and up 31.8 percent versus the first quarter of 2009. This marked AT&T's fourth consecutive quarter with a double-digit year-over-year improvement in postpaid net adds. Total wireless subscribers, which include prepaid and reseller results in addition to postpaid, increased by 1.4 million in the second quarter to reach 79.6 million, up 6.7 million over the past year.



• Subscriber Churn. Average monthly postpaid churn improved to 1.09 percent, the lowest level in the company's history; postpaid churn was 1.10 percent in the year-earlier second quarter and 1.20 percent in the first quarter of 2009. Total wireless subscriber churn reached a record low at 1.49 percent, down from 1.64 percent in the year-earlier quarter and 1.56 percent in the first quarter of 2009.



• 2.4 Million iPhone Activations. On June 19, AT&T began offering Apple iPhone 3GS, the fastest, most powerful iPhone yet, and immediate customer response was positive. The day of the launch was the best sales day ever for AT&T's retail stores, and att.com experienced its largest order day ever on that day. For the full second quarter, AT&T iPhone activations totaled more than 2.4 million, with more than a third of those activations for customers who were new to AT&T.
  
  
• Integrated Devices. AT&T offers a wide variety of integrated devices that bring advanced functionality to subscribers, ranging from advanced multifunction handsets for business customers to quick messaging and social networking devices. Including iPhone, the total number of 3G integrated devices in service on AT&T's network increased by more than 3.5 million in the second quarter. Over the past year the number of postpaid integrated devices on AT&T's network has more than doubled, and at the end of the second quarter, 36.0 percent of AT&T's 62.1 million postpaid subscribers had integrated devices.



• Wireless Data Revenue Growth. AT&T's wireless revenues from messaging, Internet access, access to applications and related services increased $934 million, or 37.2 percent, versus the year-earlier second quarter. Data represented 28.7 percent of AT&T's second-quarter wireless service revenues, up from 22.9 percent in the year-earlier quarter and 17.3 percent in the second quarter of 2007. Wireless text messages on the AT&T network exceeded 108 billion, more than 1 billion text messages a day and nearly double the total for the year-earlier quarter. Internet access, data access and media bundle revenues also continued their strong growth. The number of 3G LaptopConnect cards on AT&T's network increased by nearly 50 percent over the past year to 1.4 million.



• Postpaid ARPU Growth. Driven by strong data growth, postpaid wireless subscriber ARPU increased 2.3 percent versus the year-earlier quarter to $60.21. This marked the sixth consecutive quarter AT&T has posted a year-over-year increase in postpaid ARPU and the first time postpaid ARPU has topped $60. Postpaid data ARPU reached $17.72, an increase of $3.66 over the year-earlier quarter and up $1.24 from the first quarter of this year. Total service ARPU, which includes reseller and prepaid results in addition to postpaid, grew 0.2 percent versus the year-earlier quarter and was up 1.2 percent sequentially.



• Wireless Margins. AT&T's second-quarter wireless operating income and margins reflect solid revenue growth of 10.1 percent and strong operational execution in network and support systems, offset by increased acquisition costs from the company's iPhone 3GS launch. AT&T iPhone subscribers, both new customers and upgrades, take two-year contracts with data packages. As a result, robust iPhone demand drives strong recurring revenues and substantial long-term value. Versus results for the year-earlier second quarter, wireless operating expenses totaled $10.1 billion, up 12.5 percent; operating income was $3.2 billion, up 2.8 percent; and AT&T's wireless operating income margin was 23.8 percent versus 25.5 percent in the year-earlier quarter. AT&T's second-quarter wireless OIBDA service margin was 38.3 percent, compared with 41.2 percent in the year-earlier quarter. (OIBDA service margin is operating income before depreciation and amortization, divided by total service revenues.) AT&T estimates that without increased acquisition costs associated with the iPhone 3GS launch, its second-quarter OIBDA service margin would have been more than 40 percent, in line with results for the second quarter of 2008 and the first quarter of 2009.

Wireline

• AT&T U-verse Growth. AT&T U-verse TV subscribers in service increased by 248,000 in the second quarter to reach 1.6 million, up more than 1 million over the past year. This growth reflects the high quality of the AT&T U-verse video experience, which offers a host of advanced features, including AT&T U-verse Total Home DVR, integrated voice and broadband service and at least 100 High Definition channels in all markets. U-verse TV's broadband attach rate continues to run above 90 percent, and its U-verse Voice attach rate was more than 65 percent in the second quarter. More than 75 percent of U-verse TV subscribers have a triple- or quad-play option from AT&T (adding broadband, wireline voice and wireless). AT&T's total video subscribers, which combine the company's U-verse and bundled satellite customers, reached 3.8 million at the end of the second quarter, representing 13.8 percent of households served.



• Broadband Net Adds. Total AT&T U-verse broadband subscribers nearly tripled over the past year to reach 1.6 million, and growth in stand-alone broadband continues to be strong. These factors drove a substantial year-over-year improvement in net adds as AT&T's wireline broadband connections increased by 112,000 in the second quarter. This was up from net adds of 46,000 in the year-earlier second quarter, with both quarters reflecting typical seasonality. Total broadband connections, which include wireline subscribers and wireless customers with 3G LaptopConnect cards, increased by 209,000 in the second quarter to reach 16.9 million in service. In addition to AT&T's high-quality wireline and wireless options, broadband subscribers also benefit from access to AT&T's industry-leading Wi-Fi footprint, enabling customers to take advantage of broadband connectivity in more than 20,000 hot spots in the U.S. and in more than 100,000 hot spots around the world.



• Consumer Revenue Connections. Combined, wireline consumer broadband and TV connections increased by 363,000 in the second quarter and 1.9 million over the past year. AT&T U-verse Voice connections increased by 176,000 in the quarter and 539,000 over the past year. These trends are reflected in a second-quarter sequential decline in consumer connections (retail voice, high speed Internet and video) that was nearly 40 percent smaller than the decline in the year-earlier quarter, with both quarters impacted by typical seasonality. AT&T had 46.3 million total consumer connections at the end of the second quarter, compared with 48.4 million at the end of the second quarter of 2008 and 46.8 million at the end of the first quarter of 2009. Total wireline consumer customer revenues were $5.4 billion in the second quarter, compared with $5.7 billion in the year-earlier quarter and essentially flat, down only $11 million, versus the first quarter of this year. This marked the company's smallest sequential decline in consumer revenues in seven quarters.



• 17.0 Percent Growth in Wireline IP Data Revenues. AT&T posted its sixth consecutive quarter of mid-teens growth in total wireline IP data revenues, driven by expansion in AT&T U-verse services and growth in business products such as VPNs and voice over IP. Increased AT&T U-verse TV and broadband penetration with a greater number of triple- and quad-play customers drove 29.7 percent year-over-year growth in consumer IP revenues in the second quarter, and AT&T posted its sixth consecutive quarter of year-over-year growth in consumer wireline revenues per household, up 2.1 percent. Total wireline data revenues grew 5.2 percent to $6.6 billion, led by a 17.0 percent increase in revenues from IP-based services. IP services now account for 48.3 percent of AT&T's total wireline data revenues, up from 43.4 percent in the year-earlier second quarter and 39.3 percent in the second quarter of 2007.



• Business Strategic Services. Revenues from the new-generation capabilities that lead AT&T's most advanced solutions -- including Ethernet, VPNs, hosting, IP conferencing and applications services -- grew 15.2 percent year over year. Progress in these areas reflects the strength of AT&T's network and its advanced product sets for business customers. Total second-quarter wireline business customer revenues -- which include results from enterprise, wholesale, government, education, medical and small/midsize customers -- totaled $10.6 billion versus $11.2 billion in the year-earlier quarter and $10.7 billion in the first quarter of this year, reflecting economic impacts.

http://www.att.com

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Indonesia's Bakrie Telecom Selects NEC + Juniper for IP Upgrade

PT Bakrie Telecom, Tbk, one of the Republic of Indonesia's leading providers of fixed wireless access services, has selected NEC to upgrade its IP backbone. Under the contract, NEC will provide a full-turnkey based communications system that includes multi-service edge routers and equipment installation. NEC will be supplying Juniper's routing gear. Financial terms were not disclosed.
http://www.nec.com

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Lockheed Martin Develops Submarine Communications System

Lockheed Martin completed a key systems requirement milestone in its effort to deliver a Communications at Speed and Depth (CSD) capability for U.S. Navy submarines. The capability will enable secure, two-way communications between submarines operating below periscope depth and at tactical speeds with surface ships, aircraft and land-based assets. All classes of U.S. Navy submarines will be equipped with this transformational capability.


The Lockheed Martin-led industry team, which includes Ultra Electronics Ocean Systems and ERAPSCO, a joint venture between Sparton Electronics Florida, Inc. and Ultra Electronics - USSI, will deliver three types of two-way communications devices and associated submarine and shore equipment. Two of the devices - the tethered expendable communications buoy (TECB) Iridium system and the TECB-UHF system - are launched from submarines. The third is an acoustic-to-RF Gateway (A2RF) system that can be launched from submarines and aircraft.
http://www.lockheedmartin.com

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PMC-Sierra Reports Q2 Revenue of $123 Million, up 20% Sequentially

PMC-Sierra reported Q2 net revenue of $123.2 million, an increase of 20% compared to $102.6 million in the first quarter of 2009 and 12% lower than net revenues of $139.8 million reported in the second quarter of 2008. Net income (GAAP) was $7.8 million (GAAP diluted earnings per share of $0.03) compared with a net loss of $3.9 million (GAAP loss per share of $0.02) in the first quarter of 2009 and net income of $135.9 million (GAAP diluted earnings per share of $0.60) in the second quarter of 2008.


"In the second quarter of 2009, we benefited from a solid ramp in our new 6Gb/s SAS RAID-on-Chip device at H-P and improved demand in our Fiber-To-The-Home business," said Greg Lang, president and chief executive officer of PMC-Sierra. "Continued cost control allowed us to achieve the same level of non-GAAP net income as in the second quarter of 2008 but on revenue that was 12% below the peak level last year."http://www.pmc-sierra.com

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Broadcom Reports Q2 Revenue of $1.040 Billion, Up 22% Sequentially

Broadcom Corporation reported Q2 revenue of $1.040 billion, up 21.9% compared with the $853.4 million reported for the first quarter of 2009 and a decrease of 13.4% compared with the $1.201 billion reported for the second quarter of 2008. Net income (GAAP) was $13.4 million, or $.03 per share (diluted), compared with GAAP net loss of $91.9 million, or $.19 net loss per share (basic and diluted), for the first quarter of 2009, and GAAP net income of $134.8 million, or $.25 per share (diluted), for the second quarter of 2008.


On April 26, 2009, Broadcom and QUALCOMM Incorporated announced that they had entered into a settlement and multi-year patent agreement. Under the agreement, QUALCOMM will pay Broadcom $891.2 million over a four-year period. In connection with this agreement, Broadcom recorded a $65.3 million gain on settlement and $67.3 million of licensing revenue in the three months ended June 30, 2009.


"Despite the continued global economic uncertainty, Broadcom's results for the second quarter reflected a return to a more stable ordering pattern and the ramp of new products from our end customers," said Scott A. McGregor, Broadcom's President and Chief Executive Officer. "In the second quarter, Broadcom generated strong sequential revenue growth, with product revenue near the top end of the range provided in April. We are pleased that research and development and selling, general and administrative expenses once again increased less than anticipated from the first quarter of 2009, reflecting our continued focus on maintaining solid financial discipline. In addition, we generated strong cash flow in excess of $325 million from operations."http://www.broadcom.com

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Juniper Posts Q2 Revenue of $786.4 million, up 3% Sequentially

Juniper Networks reported preliminary Q2 revenue of $786.4 million, up 3% from $764.2 million reported in the first quarter of 2009 and down 11% on a year-over-year basis. Net income (GAAP) was $14.8 million, or $0.03 per diluted share, and non-GAAP net income of $103.8 million, or $0.19 per diluted share.


"We continue to take a disciplined approach to controlling operating expenses as we navigate this challenging economic period," said Kevin Johnson, Juniper's chief executive officer. "With service provider sales relatively flat quarter-over-quarter, our sequential revenue increase was supported by double digit quarter-over-quarter growth in the enterprise market. A solid product portfolio, compelling value proposition, and improved sales and marketing execution are enabling us to expand and diversify our customer base."


Juniper's operating margin for the second quarter of 2009 increased to 12.2% on a GAAP basis from 10.6% in the first quarter of 2009, and decreased from 18.3% in the prior year second quarter. Non-GAAP operating margin for the second quarter of 2009 increased to 18.1% from 16.4% in the first quarter of 2009 and decreased from 23.6% in the prior year second quarter.
http://www.juniper.net

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Nortel Enhances its Carrier VoIP Communications Server 1500

Nortel is preparing to release a new version of its Communications Server (CS) 1500 in Q3 that will enable carriers to be more efficient by taking advantage of remote upgrades and introduce new billing, operations, administration and maintenance capabilities. Some of the new features enabled include:

• SIP Business Trunking: Provides carriers an IP connection to PBXs, which allows them to use a single broadband connection for both voice and data traffic to businesses with on-site PBXs. Having a single connection helps cut costs because it eliminates the need to invest in costly (and less functional) TDM media gateways or PRI trunks to interface with the PSTN.



• Remote upgrades: Provides a more cost-effective method of applying a software release. When the remote upgrade method is used, a Nortel technician can access the carrier's switch remotely to direct the software upgrade.



• Hunt Group Queuing: Allows business subscribers to ensure that important calls do not go unanswered. If all lines in a hunt group are engaged, incoming calls are placed in a queue while they are waiting to be answered, and connected as soon as a line is free.



• Contact Center Interoperability: Enterprise customers using Nortel's Business Communication Manager and Communication Server 1000 can be assured that their contact centers will continue to process calls trouble free with the CS 1500 as their connection to the outside world.



• Standard Service Profiles with Graphical User Interface: This simplifies the carrier's task of provisioning a variety of service packages to residential subscribers.

http://www.nortel.com

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Comcast's DOCSIS 3.0 Rollout Nears 50% Completion

Comcast has reached nearly 50% of all homes passed by its DOCSIS 3. rollout, which means that nearly 25 million homes and businesses can now get download speeds of up to 50 Mbps.


Comcast's latest DOCSIS 3.0 upgrade has occured in Philadelphia, including the counties of Bucks, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery, southern New Jersey and northern Delaware. The speed upgrades began in December 2008.
http://www.comcast.com

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Informa: Mobile broadband Subscriptions Surge Ahead

There were more than 225 million mobile broadband subscribers (all technologies) at the end of March 2009, representing 93% year-on-year growth, according to Informa Telecoms & Media's latest World Cellular Data Metrics report.


Penetration of mobile broadband remains at its highest in Asia Pacific (over 90 million subscribers), while growth is most notable in Latin America (385% year-on-year growth to over 10 million subscribers).


Informa notes that the evolution of the device market has also contributed to a surge in mobile data traffic. Informa estimates that the increased usage in non-voice services has resulted in mobile operators recording total data revenues of US$46.5bn during 1Q09, which is an 8.5% y-o-y increase on the corresponding period in 2008. The value of the non-voice market for the whole of 2008 was over US$180bn, accounting for over 20% of total service revenues.


The spread of the iPhone continues to boost data usage for those operators that distribute the model with O2 reporting that 40% of its data traffic in UK comes from the smartphone market. Once the preserve of the corporate segment, the consumer market is now driving the evolution of the mobile data market. And yet, the value of the global data market has decreased by 1.8% in the last quarter due to the data market is "global currency exchange volatility."http://www.informatm.com/itmgcontent/icoms

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AT&T and Jasper Wireless Launch M2M Platform for Emerging Devices

AT&T, in partnership with Jasper Wireless, a start-up based in Sunnyvale, California, announced commercial availability of a new platform designed to connect and support a variety of emerging consumer electronic and business devices on AT&T's nationwide wireless network. This will enable the wireless connection of personal navigation, in-car navigation, e-readers, mobile Internet devices, gaming, healthcare, tracking, and other devices. Financial terms were not disclosed.


The platform -- AT&T Control Center, powered by Jasper Wireless -- aims to accelerate market entry for connected devices while offering unique features such as instant activation and flexible rate plans that benefit device manufacturers and end-user customers, including consumers, small businesses and enterprises. Key capabilities include:

• Instant activation -- simplifies provisioning and enhances the customer experience by automatically activating wireless service when the device is powered on for the first time.


• Usage analytics -- enables manufacturers and service providers to gain real-time insight into product performance on the AT&T network.
• Performance assurance -- utilizes best practices to test devices and assure their performance before deployment.


• Flexible business models -- provides customized rate plans that address the needs of particular market segments.


• Design services -- optimizes devices for global deployment within a few weeks.


• Customer support -- ensures service continuity with support from expert engineers.

"With the AT&T Control Center platform, we can offer consumer electronics and M2M device manufacturers and enterprise solution providers an experience they simply cannot receive from another provider," said Glenn Lurie, president, Emerging Device and Resale, AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets. "We're streamlining the process by offering a one-stop solution for network provisioning, device activation, customer support, billing options, performance audits and much more. Consumers and businesses will benefit from an unprecedented end-user experience -- instant activation, flexible pricing options, and customized support."


The partnership was led by AT&T's new Emerging Devices Organization.
http://www.att.com
http://www.jasperwireless.com/att

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Alvarion Offers WiMAX Management for Service Providers

Alvarion launch its new Star Management Suite, a network management solution designed to manage complete WiMAX network infrastructure with the necessary level of control, and to enable operators to simplify management of IP services such as VoIP and IPTV while enhancing quality of service in a centralized, integrated manner.


Star Management Suite is designed to deliver greater network control capabilities with a common feature set across the entire family of BreezeMAX solutions. This new carrier class management system provides critical capabilities essential for service provider network operations, including an effective fault management framework, a common set of network management applications including quality of service (QoS), and a common service assurance suite.

The Star Management Suite has been successfully trialed and used in multiple markets by operators around the world. This solution features tools that allow customers to monitor, visualize and troubleshoot complex WiMAX infrastructure, enabling them to enhance network reliability and performance. It also allows customers to prioritize network traffic and services to deliver critical data to the right people at the right time.

The Star Management Suite includes multiple solutions for overall network management. AlvariSTAR is the network management system already deployed by operators globally. StarACS is a standard based platform capable of managing TR-69 based CPEs. StarQuality is a unique carrier-class performance monitoring system for monitoring WiMAX networks.
http://www.alvarion.com

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NTT Com Offers Integrated Security Solution for Corporate OCN

NTT Communications launched OCN Security Gateway, an integrated security solution for unified threat management (UTM) covering virus protection, an intrusion detection/prevention system (IDS/IPS) and filtering for corporate customers of NTT Com's OCN-branded Internet access services in Japan. The service provides router function, firewall, IDS, and monthly reports covering Web log and general trends in network security. One-stop support, which begins prior to system installation, covers system configuration, operation, and maintenance.


The "Basic Set" version of OCN Security Gateway offers all security functions and the "Firewall Set" also offers an especially robust firewall. Optional services can be added as required. The monthly fee is 19,215 yen (including tax) for the Basic Set and 15,750 yen for the Firewall Set, excluding setup, UTM equipment rental fees and OCN access charges.
http://www.ntt.co.jp

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iControl Raises $23 Million for Broadband Home Management

iControl Networks, a start-up based in Palo Alto, California, raised $23 million in Series C funding for its broadband home management solution.


iControl's broadband home management solution allows homeowners to see and control their homes -- including security and energy systems -- via the Internet, iPhone and other mobile devices. Broadband operators, security providers and utilities could used the technology to deliver home security, energy management, remote monitoring and home health care to consumers.


The new funding includes investments from Tyco International's ADT Security Services, Cisco, Comcast Interactive Capital and GE Security, together with continued investment by Charles River Ventures, Intel Capital and the Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB) iFund. This brings total venture and strategic capital funding to more than $45 million.
http://www.icontrol.com

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Plastic Logic eReader to Connect via AT&T 3G Network

Plastic Logic, a start-up developing an eReading device for business users, has chosen AT&T's 3G network to provide the mobile broadband connection.


The Plastic Logic Reader, which is also Wi-Fi enabled, is expected to launch in 2010. The company is targetting busy, on-the-go business professionals who want to keep up to date on key information and who need to read and review multiple documents throughout the day. The Plastic Logic device is about the size of an 8.5 x 11 inch pad of paper, less than a ¼ inch thick and weighs less than many print magazines.


"We're extremely proud to be able to offer the Plastic Logic Reader with the nation's fastest 3G network through AT&T. This alliance is a pillar in our strategy to provide mobile business professionals with a device that delivers a great reading experience, and is fully connected through 3G and Wi-Fi to deliver easy access to digital content," said Richard Archuleta, CEO of Plastic Logic.


The Plastic Logic Reader is unique among its competitors due to its plastic display, which is based on the company's revolutionary plastic electronics technology. The eReader features the first ever, commercial high-quality plastic display. Its battery is expected to last days, instead of hours.


Financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed.
http://www.plasticlogic.com

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Zhone Posts Q2 Revenue of $30.3 Million

Zhone Technologies reported Q2 revenue of $30.3 million compared with $24.1 million for the first quarter of 2009 and $40.1 million for the second quarter of 2008. Net loss (GAAP) was $2.3 million or $0.02 per share compared with a net loss of $6.9 million or $0.05 per share for the first quarter of 2009, and a net loss of $80.3 million or $0.53 per share for the second quarter of 2008.


"Strong sequential revenue growth, improving gross margins and continued expense control contributed to better than expected earnings for the quarter," stated Mory Ejabat, Zhone's chief executive officer. "We are encouraged by the immediate acceptance of our new products and hope to build on that momentum to achieve our primary goal of reaching quarterly EBITDA profitability by year end."http://www.zhone.com

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NETGEAR's Q2 Revenue Falls to $144 Million from $205 Million in Q2 Last Year

Netgear reported Q2 revenue of $144.7 million, compared to $204.5 million for the second quarter ended June 29, 2008, and $152.0 million in the first quarter ended March 29, 2009. Net loss (GAAP) was $3.3 million, or $0.10 per diluted share. This compared to net income of $11.1 million for the second quarter of 2008 and net loss of $3.8 million in the first quarter of 2009.


Patrick Lo, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NETGEAR, commented, "Due to normal seasonality, the second quarter is generally the slowest quarter of our fiscal year. Given this, we are pleased to achieve net revenue of $144.7 million, especially in light of the worldwide macroeconomic downturn, while at the same time reducing our "on-hand" and our distribution channels' inventory levels. Our net revenue from service providers was approximately 30% of total net revenue, as compared to 27% in the second quarter of 2008, and 27% in the first quarter of 2009. In addition, we are excited to have added Megacable of Mexico to our service provider customer list in the second quarter of 2009."http://www.netgear.com

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LSI to Acquire ONStor for Clustered NAS Solutions

LSI Corporation has agreed to acquire ONStor, a privately-held developer of clustered network-attached storage (NAS) solutions, for approximately $25 million in cash inclusive of assumed debt and other net liabilities.


ONStor, which is based in Campbell, California, offers NAS solutions designed to help enterprises consolidate, protect and manage the accelerating growth of unstructured data. ONStor products include NAS gateways, NAS systems and unified storage systems sold to end users through a worldwide network of channel partners and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs).


"The rapid growth of unstructured data is creating significant challenges for enterprises in provisioning, protecting and managing their storage in an efficient and cost-effective manner," said Abhi Talwalkar, LSI president and chief executive officer. "With the addition of ONStor products and technology, LSI will be well positioned to offer a comprehensive set of storage solutions to help enterprise customers effectively manage both their unstructured and structured data with ease."http://www.lsi.com

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Qualcomm Posts Revenue of $2.75 Billion

Qualcomm reported revenue of $2.75 billion for its third quarter of fiscal 2009 ended June 28, 2009, compared to $2.76 billion in the prior year and $2.46 billion in the prior quarter. Net income was $737 million, compared to $748 million in the prior year and a net loss of $289 million in the prior quarter.


"We delivered a strong quarter as the worldwide migration to 3G-enabled products and services remains robust," said Dr. Paul E. Jacobs, chairman and CEO of Qualcomm. "Our revenues were at the high end of our prior guidance, and our operating income exceeded our prior guidance. Our financial results reflect a record quarter for MSM chipset shipments, strong licensing and royalty revenues based on healthy end market demand in the March quarter and a 5 percent year-over-year reduction in combined R&D and SG&A expenses."


"Despite the global economic uncertainty, we anticipate another strong quarter for our chipset shipments in the fourth fiscal quarter. We believe the CDMA inventory channel has largely stabilized, yet remains near historically low levels consistent with our prior forecast. We are raising our fiscal 2009 revenue and operating income estimates given the strong underlying fundamentals of our business."http://www.qualcomm.com

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GSMA: Global Mobile Broadband Connections Near 150 million

With more than 300 networks across 127 countries now supporting HSPA, the number of mobile broadband connections will pass the 150 million mark by the end of the summer, according to the GSM Association. Moreover, this figure is expected to reach 200 million connections by early next year and as many as one billion connections by 2013. This includes HSPA, HSPA+ and forthcoming LTE connections via dongles, external data cards, internal laptop modems, and connections built into smart phones and mobile handsets.

According to Wireless Intelligence, the following regions are driving global HSPA connection growth:

• AsiaPac accounts for almost 50 million live HSPA connections today and will have over 56 million by this September



• EMEA HSPA connections will pass the 50 million mark any day and will have reached almost 60 million by the end of September this year



• The US currently has almost 32 million HSPA connections with the number expected to rise to nearly 37 million by this September



• The Americas will have just over four million connections by the end of September

"The tremendous success of HSPA demonstrates the enormous ongoing demand for truly mobile broadband access, said Dan Warren, Director of Technology, GSMA. "HSPA's leading position is not just important to the mobile industry -- by using a single technology for mobile broadband services globally, we avoid the fragmentation that limits its potential to improve the quality of people's lives."http://www.gsmworld.com
http://hspa.gsmworld.com

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IBM to Resell Juniper's Ethernet Product under OEM License

IBM has entered into an OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer)

agreement to resell Juniper's Ethernet networking products and support within the IBM data center portfolio of products. The companies said the deal reflects their shared vision of advancing the economics of networking and the data center by reducing costs, improving services and managing risk.



The agreement builds on an existing partnership between IBM and Juniper. Earlier this year, the companies demonstrated how enterprises can seamlessly extend their private data center clouds. The demonstration between Silicon Valley and Ireland showed a use case where customers could take advantage of remote servers in a secure public cloud to ensure high priority applications are given preference over the lower priority ones when computing resources become constrained. IBM and Juniper are installing these advanced networking capabilities into IBM's nine worldwide Cloud Labs for customer engagements. Once installed in the nine worldwide Cloud Labs, IBM and Juniper will be able to seamlessly move client computing workloads between private and publicly managed cloud environments, enabling customers to reliably deliver on service level agreements.


'With Juniper's Ethernet technologies added to our data center portfolio, IBM is able to offer customers more choice and flexibility in their networking solutions to address the growing demands being placed on their IT environments,' said Jim Comfort, IBM VP of Enterprise Initiatives. 'This new OEM agreement with Juniper will help support IBM's data center networking initiatives through unparalleled network scalability, carrier-class reliability and operational simplicity, accelerating the deployment of our customers' virtualized applications and services, and extending the value of their networks.'http://www.juniper.nethttp://www.ibm.com

• In May, Juniper Networks released a new 16-slot EX8216 Ethernet platform boasting a switch fabric capacity of up to 12.4 terabits and optimized for high-density 10 Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) data center and cloud computing environments. The modular EX8216 switch delivers wire-rate performance, low latency and carrier-class reliability. The EX8200 line, which also includes the eight-slot EX8208, features a per-slot capacity of 320 Gbps and delivers up to two billion packets per second (pps) performance. It also offers a built-in migration path to 100 GbE.

In June, Avaya and IBM announced an expansion of their alliance to deliver unified communications solutions backed by newly Avaya certified security products for enterprise clients and government organizations worldwide. The two companies also plan to focus support on Avaya Aura -- Avaya's new unified communications architecture -- by incorporating Avaya Aura into existing IBM converged communications services.

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Parks Associates: 40 Million Telco/IPTV Households Worldwide in 2009

The number of subscribers worldwide to telco/IPTV services will approach 40 million by year-end 2009, according to a new report from Parks Associates. Parks Associates reports the number of telco/IPTV households worldwide grew by nearly 80% in 2008 to exceed 20 million. The growth rate will exceed 50% in 2009, according to the firm.
http://www.parksassociates.com

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NTT Com Selects Infinera for Tokyo Metro Backbone

NTT Communications Corporation (NTT Com) has selected Infinera for its new IP backbone network in the Tokyo Metropolitan area. The new network will leverage Infinera's Digital Optical Networks to deliver a broader range of services with greater speed and flexibility to Internet Service Providers.


NTT Com operates an extensive infrastructure including the Arcstar Global IP-VPN and Global e-VLAN, as well as a Tier-1 IP backbone reaching more than 150 countries in partnership with major Internet service providers, and secure data centers in Asia, North America and Europe. Financial terms were not disclosed.


NTT Com's Tokyo Metropolitan area IP backbone network will leverage the digital intelligence of the Infinera Digital Optical Networks to achieve large capacity and network flexibility.


Infinera's Bandwidth Virtualization architecture puts a minimum of 100 Gbps of capacity throughout the network, enabling NTT Com to deliver to its customers a full range of services between any points on the network more quickly and cost-effectively than ever before. The GMPLS intelligence in the Infinera DTN network will enable NTT Com to deliver new services in days or minutes, as compared to weeks or months with traditional DWDM networks.
http://www.infinera.com

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Infinera Posts Q2 Revenues of $69M, Stronger Orders, CEO to Step Down

Infinera reported Q2 revenues of $68.9 million compared to $66.6 million for the first quarter of 2009 and $90.8 million on an adjusted GAAP basis in the second quarter of 2008. GAAP gross margins for the quarter were 29%. GAAP net loss for the quarter was $27.1 million, or $0.28 per share.


"We saw a number of positive developments in the second quarter, with both existing and new customers," said Jagdeep Singh, president and chief executive officer at Infinera. "There was a significant quarter-over-quarter increase in orders, including over 2,000 TAMs booked, and we continued our new customer win momentum adding four new customers to our roster. We also announced another tier one win today with NTT, the world's second largest service provider.


Infinera added four new customers this quarter bringing total customer count to 62. This included a win at COLT for a Pan European network.


In addition, Jagdeep Singh announced plans to step down as the company's CEO on January 1, 2010 and become executive chairman of the company. Tom Fallon, currently Infinera's COO, will succeed Singh as President and CEO at that time.
http://www.infinera.com

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TerreStar Completes Handset-to-Handset VoIP Call Over New Satellite

TerreStar Networks successfully completed the first end-to-end VoIP phone call over its newly launched TerreStar-1, the world's largest, most advanced commercial communications satellite. The call used two handsets developed by EB (Elektrobit).


The satellite-terrestrial smartphone reference design represents the world's first quad-band GSM and tri-band WCDMA/HSPA device running the Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.5 operating system, and offering integrated satellite-terrestrial voice and data capabilities.
http://www.terrestar.com
http://www.elektrobit.com

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MatlinPatterson Bids $725 Million for Nortel's CDMA/LTE, Topping NSN

MatlinPatterson Global Opportunities Partners III, a private equity firm with $9 billion under management, announced a bid to acquire substantially all of Nortel's CDMA and LTE Access assets for US$725 million. The bid effectively tops the $650 million acquisition proposal from Nokia Siemens Networks submitted last month.

MatlinPatterson is proposing to form a "New Nortel" with long-term viability in order to maximize value for all stakeholders. This independently held business would provide a range of opportunities -- from additional bolt-on acquisitions to partnerships to reinvention and new ideas from within the technology asset base.


The company said its alternative proposal is substantially similar to the NSN proposal, but it is notably different in that it offers $75 million more than NSN's bid for the selected CDMA and LTE Access assets, it provides existing creditors with the opportunity to participate side-by-side in its investment, and it creates potentially value-enhancing alternatives for additional Nortel assets other than liquidation.


For customers and suppliers, MatlinPatterson said its proposed new company would provide a smooth transition and continuity of normal commercial relations. MatlinPatterson would be positioned to acquire additional Nortel assets to meet the global needs of the existing customer base. For employees, MatlinPatterson would aim to preserve as many, if not more, jobs as the NSN proposal with the potential to save many thousand more Nortel jobs.


MatlinPatterson has engaged a team of industry advisors led by former Nortel executives Dion Joannou, Richard Piasentin and Tony Pirih, to assist in evaluating transaction alternatives. Its team also includes former executives at AT&T, Alltel and Motorola.
http://www.MatlinPatterson.com

• On June 19, Nokia Siemens Networks announced its bid to acquire Nortel's key wireless assets for $650 million. The deal would bring together the assets of the two companies in the field of mobile radio access, especially in CDMA, where Nortel is a leading supplier. The acquisition of Nortel's profitable CDMA business would significantly improve Nokia Siemens Networks' presence in North America and make it a leading supplier of wireless infrastructure products in the region.

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Qwest and DIRECTV Extend Agreement for 5 More Years

Qwest Communications and DIRECTV announced a 5-year extension to their existing strategic partnership that allows Qwest to continue to offer DIRECTV services to residential customers. Financial terms of the arrangement were not disclosed.


The agreement extends a strategic alliance that started in October 2004. Under the deal, Qwest will provide an enhanced customer experience through streamlined customer support and the development of integrated products and services in partnership with DIRECTV.


In addition to the new agreement, Qwest and DIRECTV have launched a new suite of integrated services, including Remote Recording, Integrated Calling and management from the TV set (currently in beta).


http://www.directv.com
http://www.qwest.com

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Samsung Launches "Mondi" WiMAX-Enabled Mobile Internet Device

Samsung Mobile is launching the "Mondi" -- a mobile WiMAX-enabled handheld device for the Clear Mobile WiMAX service now available in Atlanta, Las Vegas, Portland, OR and future WiMAX markets.


The Mondi slides open horizontally to reveal a full QWERTY keyboard. The device offers instant access to E-mail, Internet, video content and business applications. The device also supports various services including Fring, Gypsii, and Windows Live Messenger. The Mondi is equipped for GPS Navigation through Route 66, providing turn-by-turn directions.


The Mondi's compact design provides the user with a more mobile form factor and ease-of-use than the typical laptop or netbook. While it is small enough to fit into the user's hand or pocket, the Mondi packs an Opera 9.5 web browser, which takes full advantage of the device's 4.3-inch touch screen.


The device will be sold at Clearwire retail outlets and select Best Buy stores located in Atlanta, Las Vegas and Portland, OR.
http://www.samsungmobileusa.com

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Vietnam's Viettel selects NSN for 3G network

Viettel, the leading telecommunications provider in Vietnam has selected Nokia Siemens Networks for Vietnam's first 3G network.

Under the contract, Nokia Siemens Networks will provide the hardware, software and services required to build and manage the network, including skills training for Viettel's team. Product deliveries begin this month.
http://www.nokiasiemensnetworks.com

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Zain Nigeria Selects NSN for Optical Backbone

Zain Nigeria has selected Nokia Siemens Networks to expand its existing 4000 km nationwide fiber backbone network by an additional 600 km.


The Nokia Siemens Networks' Outside Plant Turnkey Solution for fixed networks ensures that all elements including project management, logistics and installation services are designed to optimize CAPEX and lower OPEX. NSN said Zain has already profited from the efficient roll-out of Phase 1 resulting in savings of close to US$7 million.
http://www.nokiasiemensnetworks.com

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Alcatel-Lucent's LGS Supplies Optics for U.S. Army in Germany

LGS, a subsidiary of Alcatel-Lucent, has completed the European Dense Wave Division Multiplexed -- Optical Transport Network (DWDM-OTN) for the U.S. Army. This project, valued at more than $35 million, caps off a three and a half year effort to design, deploy and system test an installation information infrastructure in Europe that will link the forward-deployed soldiers to worldwide Command and Control (C2) and information systems.


The DWDM-OTN Network project, awarded in the spring of 2006, consists of three DWDM rings spanning some 2,100 kilometers connecting 15 access locations supporting Army installations throughout Germany, Italy and Belgium. The U.S. Army selected the Alcatel-Lucent Metropolis Wavelength Services Manager (WSM) for implementing the rings which can provide up to forty 10 Gbps (gigabits per second) of transmission capacity each.
http://www.LGSinnovations.com
http://www.alcatel-lucent.com

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China Mobile Deploys Alcatel-Lucent's GPON

China Mobile has named Alcatel-Lucent as sole supplier for the deployment of a fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) network in 10 cities across the provinces of Guangdong and Anhui. Guangdong Mobile and Anhui Mobile will use GPON to deliver broadband services over distances of up to 20km. The contracts were secured through Alcatel-Lucent Shanghai Bell.


Alcatel-Lucent will deploy its 7342 Intelligent Services Access Manager Fiber-to-the-User (ISAM FTTU) platform, the company's flagship GPON solution for the delivery of ultra-high-speed services to residential and business users.
http://www.alcatel-lucent.com

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China Mobile selects Alcatel-Lucent and Datang for TD-SCDMA Phase 3

China Mobile has selected Alcatel-Lucent Shanghai Bell, and Datang Mobile for deployment of its phase III TD-SCDMA mobile networks in 11 provinces.


The consortium has now captured an overall market presence in 16 out of 31 provincial markets in China. Notably, the consortium secured prominent market positions in Guangdong, Shandong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, the four provinces with the highest gross domestic product (GDP) and network growth potential in China.
http://www.alcatel-lucent.com

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Huawei Names Oclaro as Strategic Supplier

Oclaro, the new company that resulted from the merger of Bookham and Avanex, has received official designation as a Strategic Supplier by Huawei Technologies.


Huawei indicated that Oclaro was chosen for this relationship due to the breadth of its product portfolio and enabling technologies, and the scale of the current business relationship.
http://www.huawei.com

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