Obama Renominates McDowell for FCC Commissioner

President Obama will renominate Robert M. McDowell for another term as FCC Commissioner.

McDowell was first nominated by President George W. Bush in 2006. Immediately prior to joining the FCC, Commissioner McDowell was senior vice president and assistant general counsel for COMPTEL, an association representing competitive facilities-based telecommunications service providers, emerging VoIP providers, integrated communications companies, and their supplier partners, where he had responsibilities involving advocacy efforts before Congress, the White House and executive agencies.
http://www.fcc.gov

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Vitesse Builds Ecosystem for 10G-PON Deployments

Vitesse Semiconductor has expanded its Next-Generation Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTx) Technology Ecosystem with the addition of three industry leading companies: ZTE Corporation; Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI); and CyOptics. The partners are working to accelerate the deployment of next-generation 10G-PON systems.


In addition to Vitesse, the original FTTx Technology Ecosystem members included MAC vendor, Teknovus; test equipment supplier, Anritsu; and optical component manufacturer, Emcore. Working closely with the FTTx Ecosystem members, Vitesse continues to expand its IC contributions to 10G-EPON deployments with the volume production release of the VSC8479-01 Burst Mode 10G SerDes and sample release of a complete 10G-EPON XFP module reference design. Vitesse's XFP module reference design is targeted for 10G-EPON symmetric ONU/ONT applications utilizing Vitesse's industry-proven PMD chipset including 10G burst mode driver, 10G APD ROSA with TIA and 10G post limiting amplifier. In addition, the XFP reference design uses the industry's latest 10G-EPON compliant TOSA and ROSA which are designed in standard XMD-MSA fit and form-factor. The reference design achieves real world, high-performance interoperability in common design platforms to accelerate time-to-market.
http://www.vitesse.com/fttx

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Israel's 013 NetVision Deploys Veraz's I-Gate SIP Gateway

Israel-based 013 NetVision has chosen Veraz Networks' I-Gate 4000 EDGE SIP Gateway to support advanced voice and data services for its enterprise customers. 013 NetVision chose Veraz's I-Gate 4000 EDGE SIP Gateway because of its voice quality, handling of fax calls, high reliability and ease of management and deployment. The I-Gate 4000 EDGE SIP Gateway leverages Veraz's expertise in VoIP softswitching and media gateways and provides service providers a highly reliable, feature rich platform for enterprise VoIP applications.
http://www.veraznetworks.com

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Cortina Unveils Next Gen Optical Transport Platform

Cortina Systems, a start-up based in Sunnyvale, California, introduced its next generation optical transport processor platform designed for efficient multiplexing and transparent transport of a broad spectrum of 10G class clients including Ethernet, SONET/SDH, and storage over 10G or 40G optical transport networks. The platform offers analog integration, optical transport networking, and advanced forward error correction (FEC) technology.



Cortina said its design allows for denser and more flexible line cards for metro and long-haul dense wavelength-division-multiplexing applications, Ethernet switch and router platforms, and submarine ultra long-haul systems. Key features include aggregation of four fully independent synchronous or asynchronous 10Gs tributaries to a 40G signal; super forward error correction ("Super FEC"); transport, mapping, and performance monitoring; and networking support for various client signals.


The CS6001 Transport Processor, the first member of the CS600x family, features two 17-lane or 16-lane 40G-class interfaces (SFI-5.1 or 16-lane SFI-4.2), eight four-lane 10G-class interfaces (XAUI or SFI-4.2), and four XFI serial 10G-class interfaces. Additionally, each SFI-5.1 interface can be down-clocked to operate as a 16-bit SFI-4.1 compliant interface. The CS6001 can handle full duplex processing of either a single 40G signal or up to four independent 10G signals. The receiver and transmit ports can be configured independently to monitor (and optionally terminate) OTU3/OC-768, 40GE, and OTU2/OC-192/10 GbE/FC-1200/FC-800 signals.


The CS600x device family is offered as five different options that are specifically tailored to various 40G or 10G applications. It is built with 65nm technology and Cortina is currently shipping samples. The CS600x will be generally available in July 2009.


Cortina also unveiled an Integrated Access development suite that includes silicon and software solutions optimized for 1 to 10 Gigabit EPON, GPON, and active Ethernet access technologies. The company's forthcoming CS8x12 Multi Dwelling Unit (MDU) products will address EPON, GPON, and Active Ethernet deployments.


The CS8x12 is a carrier class, single chip, MDU device with integrated aggregation switch, carrier-class traffic manager, and Ethernet or xDSL subscriber interface. The CS8x12 product family comprises the CS8212 (GPON) and CS8012 (EPON) System on a Chip (SoC) devices that are shipping in volume as of today. Both devices, as part of the Integrated Access platform, share the same software model, can reuse board design rules, and can be configured in Active Ethernet configuration to address non-PON-based fiberhttp://www.cortina-systems.com

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Polatis Raises $8 Million for Optical Switching

Polatis, a start-up based in Andover, Mass., raised $8 million in venture capital, for its low loss, all-optical switching products. Polatis all-optical products operate at the transport layer of fiber networks, providing the intelligent foundation for switching massive amounts of data traffic in a precise and automated way. It develops and manufactures low loss all-optical switches that scale to the largest networks in telecommunications, data center, government & defense, and test & measurement markets.



The new funding came from existing investors 3i Ventures, Alta-Berkeley Ventures, DFJ Esprit, Flagship Ventures, Gainesborough & Peponi Investments, JK&B Partners, and Massachusetts Technology Development Corporation.
http://www.polatis.com

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Dell'Oro: Worldwide Router Market Dropped Sharply in Q1

The worldwide router market declined 23 percent year-over-year in the first quarter of 2009 as the global recession weakened sales across all geographical regions and market segments, according to a newly published report by Dell'Oro Group. Accounting for more than 90 percent of the worldwide router revenue are the top four vendors, in ranked order: Cisco Systems, Juniper Networks, Alcatel-Lucent and Huawei.



The report includes a forecast for 2009 that shows the router market declining for the first time in seven years. The year-over-year decline in 2009 is expected to approach that of 2001, the year of the bursting dot-com bubble.


"The results from the first quarter set the stage for a very difficult year for router manufacturers," said Shin Umeda, Vice President at Dell'Oro Group. "Service providers and enterprises slashed their spending budgets for 2009, and those reduced budgets caused a very steep decline in router sales in the first quarter. Although there are some signs of stabilization in the market, there are few upside opportunities for the remainder of this year," added Umeda.
http://www.delloro.com

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Huawei Launches CDMA2000 1xEV-DO Rev B -- Downlinks up to 9.3 Mbps

Huawei Technologies introduced a CDMA2000 1xEV-DO (Evolution-Data Optimized) Revision B Solution, boasting a downlink rate of up to 9.3 Mbps and an uplink rate of up to 5.4 Mbps. Huawei said that with minimal capital investment to upgrade from Revision A, operators will be able to deliver much faster mobile broadband services in data-intensive, delay-sensitive applications such as VoIP, video telephony, multi-media and online gaming.
http://www.huawei.com

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Blue Coat Reports Revenue of $114 Million

Blue Coat Systems reported total net revenue for its fourth quarter of fiscal 2009 (ended 30-Apr-2009) of $114 million, an increase of 29% compared to net revenue of $88 million in the same quarter last year, and an increase of 4% compared to net revenue of $110 million in the immediately preceding quarter. Excluding net revenue associated with Packeteer, net revenue for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2009 was $89 million, an increase of 1% compared to net revenue of $88 million in the same quarter last year, and an increase of 3% compared to net revenue of $86 million in the immediately preceding quarter.


Net revenue for the fiscal year ended April 30, 2009 was $445 million, an increase of 46% when compared to net revenue of $305 million for the fiscal year ended April 30, 2008. Excluding net revenue associated with Packeteer, net revenue for fiscal 2009 was $356 million, an increase of 16% compared to net revenue of $305 million in fiscal 2008.


On a GAAP basis, the Company reported net loss of $3 million, or $(0.09) per share, in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2009, compared to net income of $12 million, or $0.32 per diluted share, in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2008, and net income of $1 million, or $0.02 per diluted share, in the third quarter of fiscal 2009. http://www.bluecoat.com

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TiVo Prevails in Patent Case Against EchoStar

A United States District Court in Texas ruled in favor of , in the lawsuit against EchoStar Communications. The court awarded an additional $103 million plus interest through April 2008 to TiVo.
http://www.tivo.com

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CenturyTel + EMBARQ = CenturyLink

The new company formed by the merger of CenturyTel and EMBARQ will be known as CenturyLink. Full deployment of the brand is expected to occur in the months following closing. As markets are converted to the new brand, customers will receive advance notification and CenturyLink will begin to appear on building signage, company vehicles and marketing materials.




CenturyLink will have an operating presence in 33 states, nearly eight million access lines, approximately two million broadband customers and more than 400,000 video subscribers, based on data as of Sept. 30, 2008. The merger, announced Oct. 27, 2008, is expected to close during the second quarter of 2009 after federal and state regulatory approvals are received.


CenturyLink expects to trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol CTL, the current symbol of CenturyTel.
http://www.centurylink.com

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Motorola Offers Embeddable WiMAX, HSPA and LTE Cards for Mobile Internet Devices

Motorola is launching a new initiative to embed its WiMAX, HSPA and LTE data cards into consumer electronics.

The Motorola WTM1100 is an IEEE 802.16e Wave 2 compliant, single-band Half Mini-PCIe wireless network adapter that operates in the 2.5 GHz or 3.5 GHz spectrum for WiMAX connectivity. Motorola's HTM1000 is a 3G/2G HSPA EDGE and GPRS Half Mini-PCIe WWAN adapter that supports HSPA data rates up to 10.1 Mbps downlink and 5.76 Mbps uplink. Motorola's LTM1000 is a single-mode LTE card, which is capable of speeds up to 100 Mbps downlink and 50Mbps uplink. All three products conform to the PCIe revision 1.2 standard. The Motorola WTM1100 and Motorola HTM1000 are available in Half-Mini Card form factors with optional extender for Full-Mini slots, while the Motorola LTM1000 comes in Full-Mini Card form. All support various PC and embedded operating systems. Motorola is currently working with infrastructure vendors and operators to achieve module certifications for the use of these data card solutions on their networks.


"As operators continue to deploy higher speed wireless networks to accommodate for growing consumer demand for mobility, there are opportunities for manufacturers and operators to roll out a wide range of low-power consumer electronics to enhance today's mobile lifestyles," said Gary Koerper, vice president of Engine Systems for Motorola Mobile Devices. "We look forward to working with the leaders in the wireless broadband ecosystem to incorporate high-speed broadband into more devices."


The Motorola WTM1100 and Motorola HTM1000 will be commercially available in Q3 2009 with samples of the Motorola LTM1000 coming in Q4 2009. http://www.motorola.com

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WiSpry Raises $10 Million for RF Silicon

WiSpry, a start-up based in Irvine, California, raised an additional $10 million in Series C funding for its programmable radio frequency (RF) semiconductor products for the wireless industry. WiSpry is developing highly-integrated, programmable RF products for multi-band, multi-standard handsets including tunable antennas and tunable impedance matching networks using industry standard CMOS processes. The company said its technology enables the wireless industry to provide users with smaller, more technically advanced, and more energy efficient wireless devices that reliably stay connected at the high data rates that future mobile wireless applications will require. WiSpry's tunable RF-MEMS devices enable the development of reconfigurable RF front-ends.


The latest funding round brings the total of the Series C round to $20 million. The round was led by new investment partners, Chart Venture Partners and Acadia Woods Partners, bringing the number of new investors in WiSpry to four with Paladin Capital and Murata participating in the first closing.
http://www.wispry.com

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Motorola's Mesh Vehicle Mounted Modem

Motorola's Enterprise Mobility Solutions business introduced a Vehicle Mounted Modem (VMM) 4300 as part of its Mesh Wide Area Network (MWAN) portfolio. Designed to deliver wireless broadband connectivity at highway speeds, the VMM 4300 provides public transportation organizations and public safety agencies with the opportunity to extend mobile applications and video to buses, trains, public works vehicles and police cars for increased productivity and improved safety.



The modem leverages Motorola's MeshConnex routing technology and Opportunistic Radio Link Adaptation (ORLA) to enable reliable and secure mobile access to multiple voice, video and data applications, including advanced passenger information services.


Motorola claims the data rates provided by the MWAN 4300 network far surpass those available through operator data cards, enabling new applications, such as streaming video from the moving vehicle or accessing real-time video surveillance footage for better situational awareness. Motorola's VMM 4300 offers a high-powered radio that can be configured in a 5.8, 5.4 or 4.9 GHz band for wireless backhaul connectivity and easily installed in the trunk of a police car, providing megabit data connections even during high-speed maneuvers.

The VMM 4300 will be available for purchase in North America starting in the second quarter of 2009. Global availability is expected in the third quarter of 2009.
http://www.motorola.com

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IP Infusion Releases ZebOS 7.7 with PBB-TE Support

IP Infusion began shipping its ZebOS Network Platform version 7.7 software which supports PBB-TE functionality.

Specific features in ZebOS 7.7 include:

• Support for Provider Backbone Bridge-Traffic Engineering
  
• Support for OpenSAF, the industry's leading high-availability (HA) middleware


• Hardened implementation of BGP Route Server for deployment in Carrier Networks utilizing commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) hardware


• Enhanced resiliency for IP routing with the support for Bidirectional Forwarding Detection (BFD)


• Ability of MPLS solution to support pseudowires across multiple Packet Switched Networks (PSNs)


• Complete non-stop forwarding (NSF) functionality for IP and MPLS

http://www.ipinfusion.com/http://www.access-company.com/

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Portugal Telecom selects Alcatel-Lucent‘s GPON

Portugal Telecom has selected Alcatel-Lucent to deploy the country's largest GPON project. Alcatel-Lucent will deploy its 7342 Intelligent Services Access Manager Fiber-to-the-User (ISAM FTTU) and the related Alcatel-Lucent 5520 Access Management System for element management. In addition, Alcatel-Lucent is supplying the Optical Network Terminals (ONTs) to install at the end-users' premises. Financial terms were not disclosed.
http://www.alcatel-lucent.com

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PingPing and Alcatel-Lucent Partner on Contactless Payments

Alcatel-Lucent's "touchatag" joint venture is working with PingPing, an independent brand by Belgacom for mobile & micro payments, to create an open model to encourage the development of new applications for contactless cards and mobile payment technology.


Contactless applications are the next step in the evolution of the "electronic wallet." Among other things, this technology makes it possible to pay for a service, such as a theater ticket or gas purchase, by simply waving a contactless card or mobile phone in front of the register or even a poster.


The partnership combines PingPing's payment system for mobile phones and touchatag's contactless services, such as interactive advertising, loyalty programs and coupon services. By the fall of this year, Belgian consumers will be able to use one contactless card or sticker to initiate a variety of applications, as opposed to numerous cards currently required. Both parties will also support Near Field Communication (NFC) phones; these are devices that have a contactless reader and scanner built-in, as alternatives to contactless cards.

PingPing and touchatag will work together to create an accreditation program that will allow other technology suppliers, operators and application developers to develop new programs and uses for the technology.
http://business.touchatag.com
http://www.pingping.be

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Alcatel-Lucent opens Alternative Energy Laboratory in France

Alcatel-Lucent has opened an alternative energy laboratory dedicated to the telecoms sector. Located on its Bell Labs research site in Villarceaux, France, this station forms part of an Alternative Energy strategic program launched by Alcatel-Lucent to respond to the growing demand from wireless operators for energy-autonomous and green wireless networking equipment that can provide advanced communications capabilities even in remote areas with no access to commercial power grids. The Villarceaux pilot site consists of a wireless base station powered by a hybrid system of solar panels and wind turbines, but not dependent on the electrical grid. At the same time, the laboratory section is researching other energy sources, such as fuel cells and bio-fuels.



Alcatel-Lucent said its Alternative Energy program will make it possible for operators to extend the reach of their wireless services to access a huge population of potential new subscribers for its customers -- the more than one billion people living in areas not served by an electrical grid. These people have no access to phone or broadband services and consequently are cut off from a vital tool for economic and social development.


This program builds on Alcatel-Lucent's recent innovations to create more energy efficient wireless networks and leverage its experience deploying more than 300 radio sites powered by alternative energy sources. The goal is to develop a mass-produced alternative energy solution capable of being deployed to more than 100,000 wireless base station sites through 2012.


"The site offers Alcatel-Lucent and its customers and its industrial, institutional and academic partners, the ability to analyze, test and validate the solutions proposed by the dynamic, but fragmented, alternative energy sector. It is also a center for people within the company and outside to discuss and try out new ideas to bring the world of telecoms and that of alternative energy closer together," said Rich Garafola, director of Sustainable Power solutions at Alcatel-Lucent.
http://www.alcatel-lucent.com

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NTT Com Surpasses 210 Gbps of TransPacific Capacity

Earlier this year, NTT Com Global IP Network surpassed 200 Gbps of installed capacity on its transpacific network. U.S. customers are using the NTT Com network to reach customers, suppliers and international offices in Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand and Australia.
http://www.nttamerica.com

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NTT Com Plans "Setten" Cloud Service

NTT Communications is field-testing a network-based PC desktop environment on a cloud platform -- code named "Setten" (Japanese for contact point or interface). A total of 15 organizations, including logistics companies, educational institutes, non-profit organizations and other global operators, are jointly testing the platform as an alternative to conventional PC-embedded desktop environments. The aim is to provide a globally accessible, network-based desktop environment for greater efficiency, convenience and system availability.



The platform will provide operating systems, storage and software-as-a-service (SaaS) applications, including AdventNet K.K.'s Zoho Writer, Zoho Sheet, Zoho Show, Zoho Mail and NTT Resonant's Business goo. The virtual desktop environment uses the Internet to provide access to office Web systems, email and file servers, with no loss in quality compared to real desktop environments. Productivity application software, Web mail and groupware are available as SaaS applications. Mashup applications combining multiple functions are also possible, such as editing and sending the files via different applications. Highly secure access to the platform is ensured with multifactor authentication technologies.


The field test will also confirm system operability, identify any difficulties and study candidate SaaS applications.


NTT Com plans to leverage its position as a trusted carrier to provide a cloud platform that encompasses everything from applications to networks, with a focus on high quality, high reliability and high added value. The Setten platform will be accessible from anywhere using a Web-enabled communication device. A commercial "Setten" launch is expected later this fiscal year.
http://www.ntt.co.jp

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