Orange France offers Internet Satellite Service with NordNet

Orange, through its subsidiary NordNet,

is launching a new "Internet Satellite Pack" for EUR 34.90 per month, including the dish. The bi-directional satellite link delives speeds at up to 2 Mbps. There is a 2 GB per month data cap. Orange said this service enables it to reach 100% broadband internet coverage in mainland France. The company claims 98.4% of the country's population is able to get ADSL service.
http://www.orange.com

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France Telecom Acquires Data & Mobiles for M2M Services

France Telecom has acquired Data & Mobiles, a French company specializing in Machine-to-Machine" (M2M) telemetry. The company's on-board devices and application platform is currently used for tracking a fleet of some 20,000 vehicles in France. Financial terms were not disclosed.


France Telecom said the Data & Mobiles acquisition strengths furthers Orange Business Services goals to provide real-time business solutions for companies in France and internationally.
http://www.orange.com

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Global Crossing Signs Voice Patent License with Ronald A. Katz Technology Licensing

Global Crossing has settled patent litigation proceedings and signed a licensing agreement with Ronald A. Katz Technology Licensing, L.P. As part of the agreement, Global Crossing will purchase a nonexclusive license under a comprehensive portfolio of patents that Katz owns relating to interactive voice applications. The nonexclusive license covers services offered by Global Crossing in the Group Conferencing Field of Use including collaborative and conferencing services delivered through automated systems and live agents. Other terms of the license were not disclosed.


Ronald A. Katz Technology Licensing, L.P. said the patents it holds cover a wide range of interactive technology including automated forms of: customer service, prescription refill services, securities trading, merchandising, prepaid services, telephone conferences, registration, home shopping, as well as functions involved in securing information from databases by telephone, interactive cable transactions, and various other uses of toll free and local numbers. The company noted over 275 companies with license rights under this portfolio, including over 45 energy and utility companies.

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Corning Unveils Ultra-Bendable Multimode ClearCurve Fiber

Corning unveiled a new ClearCurve ultra-bendable multimode optical fiber for use in data centers and enterprise networks.




Corning said its ClearCurve multimode fiber is the world's first laser-optimized multimode fiber to withstand tight bends at or below 10 mm radius with substantially less signal loss than traditional multimode fiber. This new fiber allows designers, installers and operators of enterprise networks -- including local area networks, data centers and industrial networks -- to deploy optical fiber in more places by delivering all of the bandwidth benefits of optical fiber in a package that is easier to handle and install than copper.


ClearCurve 50-micron multimode fiber meets or exceeds the OM3 industry standard for high-bandwidth, laser-optimized multimode fibers, as well as the proposed OM4 standard. Laser-optimized multimode fibers are the fibers of choice for bandwidth-intensive companies such as financial institutions, hospitals, high-tech manufacturing firms and universities.
http://www.corning.com/clearcurve

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NDS Shareholders Approve Privatization Deal

The shareholders of NDS

have approved a scheme under which all of its issued and outstanding NDS A ordinary shares would be cancelled, and approximately 67% of the issued and outstanding NDS B ordinary shares (held by News Corporation) would be cancelled, in each case, for per share consideration of $63.00 in cash.


Completion of the transaction is expected to take place in early February.
http://www.nds.com

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Glimmerglass Claims New World Records in Data Transfer Rates

Glimmerglass claimed a new data transfer world records for its role at the Supercomputing Conference 2008 (SC08) recently held in Austin, Texas. An international team led by the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) High Energy Physics (HEP) group and the Center for Advanced Computing Research (CACR), with partners from around the world, set new records for sustained data transfer among storage systems over wide area networks.




Glimmerglass said its Intelligent Optical Switch managed 10Gps lightpaths including 12 WAN paths, demonstrated self healing through optical fail-over utilizing different WAN paths and supplied 10GE signals used for the new data transfer world records. The high-energy physics team's demonstration of "High Speed LHC Data Gathering, Distribution and Analysis Using Next Generation Networks" achieved a bidirectional peak throughput of 114 gigabits per second (Gbps) and a sustained data flow of more than 110 Gbps among clusters of servers on the show floor and around the world.
http://www.glimmerglass.com

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Boingo Launches WLAN Roaming with China Telecom

Through a partnership with China Telecom, Boingo Wireless

is adding 10,904 hotspots to the Boingo Roaming Network in the Jiangsu Province, Zhejiang Province and Shanghai. These locations are the first three of the 18 provinces and three municipalities that will be added to the Boingo network.
http://www.boingo.com

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STMicroelectronics and Paratek Develop Tunable RF

Paratek and STMicroelectronics have entered into a strategic relationship to supply RF tunable products to mobile wireless markets. The two companies have been cooperating to advance the next generation of Paratek's ParaScan materials technology for high-volume manufacturing and to jointly develop tunable products that improve Total Radiated Power (TRP) for mobile phones, leading to longer battery life and fewer dropped calls. Initial production will take place at STMicroelectronics' fabrication facility in Tours, France by the end of 2009.

http://www.paratek.com
http://www.st.com/

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Veraz Expands its SIP Media Gateway Line

Veraz Networks has expanded its line of media gateways for bridging the gap between TDM and IP networks.

The new I‑Gate 4000 EDGE SIP Gateway (GW) enables Service Providers to offer SIP trunking services that their business customers can use to interconnect existing PBXs to remote offices, teleworkers, and local and long-distance PSTN services. The gateway can be scaled from single PBX sites to multi-tenant buildings and industrial parks with multiple customers' PBXs. In addition, the I-Gate 4000 EDGE SIP GW provides Veraz's high voice compression to deliver toll quality at significantly reduced bandwidth.


The I-Gate 4000's key differentiators include:

• Six 9's reliability


• 30 to 50% reduction in size for the same maximum traffic load. The I-Gate 4000 EDGE SIP Gateway provides sustained high call-handling performance independent of traffic load.



• Easy to use and comprehensive digital handling and call routing features.



• Demonstrated multi-vendor interoperability.

The I‑Gate 4000 EDGE SIP GW is available directly from Veraz and through select partners.
http://www.veraznetworks.com

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Ericsson to expand Zain Madagascar network

The Zain Group has selected Ericsson to expand the core network and the GSM radio access network in Madagascar.

The upgrade is centered upon deploying Ericsson's Packet Core Network, including both SGSN and GGSN nodes, and Ericsson's Mobile Softswitch Solution. Rollout of the first phase of the project has already begun. Ericsson will also provide a range of associated professional services including systems integration, network deployment, field maintenance, and support services in order to ensure successful delivery of the expanded network. Financial terms were not disclosed.
http://www.ericsson.com

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Saudi Telecom Optimizes Network to Handle Hajj Pilgrimage Crowds

Saudi Telecommunications (STC), in partnership with Nokia Siemens Networks, has successfully handled another year of the holy Hajj pilgrimage, a two weeks long event includes millions of visitors and results in a huge increase in mobile traffic.


The companies said preparing for the Hajj from a network perspective involves dedicated teams for planning, optimization, and implementation. First, line maintenance and network monitoring teams must be deployed very quickly, and the network must be geared up to handle high traffic generated by pilgrims moving in three different areas. To accommodate this traffic load, STC implemented a specialized software solution developed by Nokia Siemens Networks enabling STC to improve call processing and boost Base Station Controller performance by solving unforeseen problems. The implementation involved setting up and rolling out many Base Station Controllers (BSCs), Base Tower Stations (BTS) not to mention a number of firsts such as mega BSCs and High Speed Signaling (HSL) Links. EDGE was also used for the first time in the Hajj area to provide high throughput for multimedia applications. Field teams maintained the network around the clock, with nonstop monitoring and remote support services. After the Hajj, over, 90% of the network is drawn down, going off air.
http://www.nokiasiemensnetworks.com
http://www.stc.com.sa

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Thomson Launches HD Set-Top Box with Cable Modem

Thomson introduced a new high-definition digital set-top-box (STB) with integrated DOCSIS/EuroDOCSIS cable modem. The DCI704 is also the first product in the 700 Series to feature a new compact and ecological design capable of less than one watt power consumption in deep standby mode.



The DCI704 has a high definition multimedia interface (HDMI) output for high definition output. It decodes MPEG-4 AVC video streams as well as classic MPEG-2 broadcasts. Other key features of the new DCI704 digital set-top box include:

• Optional VC-1 Decoding



• Compliance with DVB standards



• Capable of supporting standard and high definition video up to 1080p



• Capable of supporting multi-channel digital audio



• External power supply for ease of handling



• Compliance with multiple Conditional Access Systems



• Offers up to two high-speed USB ports with the possibility of mounting an external hard disk drive

Thomson said early adopters of the new set-top box include Portuguese media group, ZON Multimédia, which is deploying it to help deliver high-definition programming to its subscribers.
http://www.thompson.net

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U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to Re-Examine TiVo Patent

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) has granted a petition from DISH Network and EchoStar to re-examine the software claims of TiVo's '389 patent, which are the subject of TiVo's current motion for contempt. DISH and EchoStar said the PTO has now found that there is a "substantial new question of patentability as to the software claims in light of prior patents that appear to render TiVo's '389 patent invalid as obvious.".
http://www.dishnetwork.com

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Ubicom Raises $7 Million, Names New CEO

Ubicom, a start-up based in Sunnyvale, California, raised $7 million in new funding for its families of 32-bit embedded communications and media processors. The company's IP series of processors employ unique, multithreaded architecture, software-controlled interfaces, and hardware accelerators to achieve superior processor performance and efficiency at low power consumption. Target applications include wireless routers, access points, broadband access devices, security VPN routers, networked media players and other embedded devices.


All major investors including August Capital, Mayfield Funds, Levensohn Venture Partners, Lehman Brothers Ventures and Investcorp Technology Partners have participated in the round.


Ubicom also announced the appointment of Gangesh Ganesan as CEO. Prior to joining Ubicom, Gangesh held management roles in Strategic Marketing, Business Development, Product Marketing and Engineering at Marvell Semiconductor, Cypress Semiconductor and Telex Communications. Gangesh has been serving as the Vice President of Worldwide Sales and Marketing at Ubicom since March 2007. http://www.ubicom.com

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Genachowski Seen as Likely Pick for FCC Chairmanship

Julius Genachowski emerged as President-elect Barack Obama's likely choice to become chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, according to various news reports. If confirmed, he would replace outgoing FCC Chairman, Kevin Martin.


Mr. Genachowski, who served as technology advisor to the Obama campaign, holds a J.D. from Harvard Law School (1991), where he studied with Barack Obama.


During the Clinton administration, Genachowski served as council to FCC Chairman Reed Hundt. Later, he co-founded LaunchBox Digital, a venture capital firm.


Genachowski has served on the Boards of Directors of Expedia, Hotels.com, Ticketmaster, Website Pros, and The Motley Fool.


Genachowski is believed to be a strong support of Net Neutrality.

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Matisse Networks Awarded Patent for Optical Burst Receiver

Matisse Networks, a start-up based in Mountain View, California, has been awarded a patent (U.S. Patent No. 7,436,920 B2) on optical burst receiver technology that provides key functionality for optical burst switching. The patent covers an innovation on receiving optical burst transmissions using a charge pump PLL with loop stabilization to improve the reliability and performance of the receive function of the optical burst transponder.


"This patent is an important achievement for Matisse, as it protects a part of the core intellectual property in our EtherBurst optical burst switching solution," said Claude Hamou, Matisse Networks' Chief Operating Officer. Hamou continued, "We've made a significant breakthrough in optical burst technology that has broad applicability in WDM optical transport networks and other applications."htttp://www.matissenetworks.com

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China Approaches 300 Million Internet Users

China's online population has reached 298 million,

according to the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC), up by 42% in the past year. About 91% of these are using a broadband connection. In addition, there are now 13.57 million Web sites registered using .cn, the Chinese domain name.
http://www.cnnic.net.cn/en/index/

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