NYT: Vast Spy Network Unveiled

A vast international spy ring with servers based in China has used various forms of malware to penetrate the networks of hundreds of organizations across the world, according to The New York Times. The article is based on research conducted by the Munk Center for International Studies at the University of Toronto.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/29/technology/29spy.html?em

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Huawei Supplies 21 Mbps HSPA+ Network for StarHub in Singapore

StarHub has launched an HSPA+ network in Singapore using equipment supplied by Huawei Technologies. The network offer mobile broadband speeds of up to 21 Mbps.


"The launch of the first HSPA+ network in Asia-Pacific represents a major milestone for the mobile broadband industry," said Mr Wan Biao, President of Huawei' s Wireless Product Line. "Huawei is delighted to have played a vital role in this endeavor. By leveraging our leading technology and abundant network deployment experience worldwide, Huawei will continuously drive the development of the mobile broadband industry forward and bring sustainable business success to our clients."

http://www.huawei.com
http://www.starhub.com

• In May 2008, StarHub appointed Huawei to expand and upgrade its nationwide 3.5G mobile broadband network to HSPA+. The HSPA+ service launch is part of StarHub' s overall strategy to provide an unparalleled mobile broadband experience that can deliver better surfing experience, higher resolution on streamed mobile content, improved interactivity and other next-generation wireless applications with high bandwidth requirements.

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Fractal Antenna Systems Announces Metamaterial Breakthrough

Fractal Antenna Systems, an antenna and electronics firm based in Waltham, Mass. announced a breakthrough in its development of wideband, high fidelity performance metamaterials. Metamaterials are man-made structures that are built from patterns of electronic resonators. The behavior of metamaterials can be used to make light bend in the ‘wrong' direction; enabling unusual lenses and invisibility cloaks.


Fractal Antenna Systems said it solved a key problem limiting the practicality of metamaterials -- how to make them work at a large range of wavelengths. Previous efforts by others had not succeeded, and had only shown practical use at narrow bands, or single colours.


The company has demonstrated the world's first wideband see-through ‘invisibility cloak'. The invisibility cloak causes microwaves to bend around an object to the other side and have close to same intensity, as if there was no object at all.
http://www.fractenna.com

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NeoPhotonics Expands Portfolio of GPON Transceivers

NeoPhotonics introduced a new line of "pluggable" GPON OLT transceivers, compliant with the ITU-T G.984.5 Class B+ and C+ networking standards. These new pluggable OLT transceivers enhance NeoPhotonics' existing line of GPON modules for optical line terminals (OLT) and Optical Networking Units (ONU), which are deployed in Central Offices (CO) and at Customer Premises (CPE), respectively. Furthermore, the new transceivers cover both Class B+ and C+ link budgets, feature Receive Signal Strength Indicators (RSSI) and advanced monitoring capabilities and meet Commercial (C-Temp) and Industrial Temperature (I-Temp) grade specifications. Advanced monitoring features allow early fault location and reduce down time in system operation.
http://www.neophotonics.com

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Vitesse Forms Next-Generation FTTx Ecosystem

Vitesse Semiconductor is forming an FTTx Ecosystem of industry partners with the goal of advancing the development of next-generation, end-to-end, passive optical networking (PON) systems at 10 Gbps and 40 Gbps rates. This collective effort will focus on standards compliance, backward compatibility, and a smooth upgrade path from existing PON networks. The initial participants of the FTTx Ecosystem include Vitesse, Teknovus, Emcore, and Anritsu. Each company offers specific PON expertise and is well underway with their contribution to making next-generation wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) and high-speed PON-based networks a reality.
http://www.vitesse.com

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Charter Enters Pre-Arranged Chapter 11, Seeks to Eliminate $8 Billion in Debt

Charter Communications, the fourth-largest cable operator in the United States, entered into a pre-arranged Chapter 11 bankruptcy restructuring that is expected to reduce the company's debt by approximately $8 billion.


As announced on February 12, 2009, the company reached agreements-in-principle with members of a committee of certain of the company's debt holders (collectively, the "Bondholder Committee"). These agreements-in-principle contemplate the investment by members of the Bondholder Committee of more than $3 billion, including up to $2 billion in equity proceeds, $1.2 billion in roll-over debt and $267 million in new debt to support the overall refinancing.


Charter expects the proposed restructuring to position the company to generate positive free cash flow through significant interest expense reductions. The Company has been working closely with the Bondholder Committee to finalize a pre-arranged plan of reorganization and related documents and agreements based upon the agreements-in-principle (the "Pre-Arranged Plan").


Charter said it expects that cash on hand and cash from operating activities will be adequate to fund its projected cash needs as it proceeds with its financial restructuring and therefore does not intend to seek debtor-in-possession (DIP) financing.
http://www.charter.com

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Samsung Selects Spreadtrum as New Chipset Supplier

Samsung has selected Spreadtrum Communications as a new chipset supplier. Spreadtrum's QS520 GSM/GPRS and QS1001 EDGE transceivers have been designed into Samsung's mobile phone models that are to be shipped internationally. Volume shipments to Samsung are underway.
http://www.spreadtrum.com

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NSN Cites Progress in Reducing CO2

Nokia Siemens Networks said it is on track to achieving its targets for reducing carbon dioxide emissions. The company presented its achievements at last week's WWF Climate Savers Summit in Washington DC. The company calculates that 17% of its corporate energy requirements in 2008 were drawn from renewable sources. In addition, NSN recently launched the most energy efficient base station, the Flexi Multiradio, which in certain operation modes can help operators reduce energy consumption in their networks by up to 40 percent. The Flexi Multiradio Base Station consumes only 790W of power while simultaneously running GSM/EDGE and WCDMA/HSPA.


WWF and Nokia Siemens Networks have jointly developed a climate action plan that includes measurable emission reduction targets and steps to meet its goals. The agreement involves negotiations between the WWF, Nokia Siemens Networks and independent technical experts who monitor and verify compliance with the agreement.


Nokia Siemens Networks' Climate Savers commitment is to:

• Improve the energy efficiency of their GSM/EDGE and WCDMA/HSPA base station products by up to 40 percent by 2012.



• Decrease the energy consumption of its buildings by 6 percent by 2012
.


• Increase the use of renewable energy in company operations to 50 percent by the end of 2010.

The baseline for each of these commitments is 2007, and on completion, Nokia Siemens Networks' initiatives will decrease the company's CO2 footprint by approximately 2 million tons annually, compared to 2007.
http://www.nsn.com

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