CWA Union Ratifies Wireline Agreement in AT&T's West Region

Wireline employees represented by the Communications Workers of America in AT&T's West Region (CWA District 9) voted to ratify a three-year agreement with the Communications Workers of America. The agreement covers about 23,000 employees in California and Nevada.
A total of about 57,500 employees -- roughly half of those covered under AT&T's core wireline contracts -- now have ratified or tentative agreements.
AT&T noted that negotiations are continuing in other regions where contracts expired on April 4, as they did in Midwest, West, and Legacy T. They include East (CWA District 1), and Southwest (CWA District 6). Negotiations are also continuing in Southeast (CWA District 3), where contracts expired Aug. 8.
http://www.att.com

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BT Deploys ADVA's FSP 150 for National Ethernet Access

Openreach, BT's UK-based access network arm, is deploying the ADVA FSP 150, featuring Etherjack technology, throughout its national Ethernet Access Direct (EAD) services. Using a range of intelligent Ethernet services, Openreach's customers will now be able to perform last-mile test and diagnostic.

Designed to supersede Openreach's current Ethernet offerings, EAD will deliver point-to-point fixed symmetrical Ethernet bandwidth services ranging from 10 Mbps to 1,000 Mbps. Stretching across distances of 35km radial and up to a maximum of 66km route fiber, these new cost-effective services will form the foundation of Openreach's next-generation service roll out and will complement Openreach's Ethernet Backhaul Direct (EBD) and Bulk Transport Link (BTL) products.  Customers will be able to perform last mile test and diagnostics.


ADVA Optical Networking noted that it is currently the only vendor to provide Ethernet access devices into Openreach's EAD services.
http://www.advaoptical.com/

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Nortel Carries 40G Across 12,000km Submarine Cable

Nortel has demonstrated 40G optical transmission across Reliance Globalcom's Atlantic cable FA1.

The recently completed trial was conducted over a 6000 km submarine segment between the United Kingdom and the U.S. During the trials Nortel equipment was simply added to both ends of the third-party submarine cable, with Nortel able to demonstrate the ability to provide over two times the bandwidth capacity without the need to replace or upgrade the submarine cable or undersea repeaters.  In addition, the FA-1 cable was looped back to create a continuous 12,000 km segment.  The result is believed to be the longest 40G result yet achieved.
http://www.nortel.com
http://www.relianceglobalcom.com

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Qwest Readies 100 Gbps Upgrade with Alcatel-Lucent

Qwest Communications announced plans to upgrade its nationwide network to deliver speeds of up to 100 Gbps to its customer edge sites. This build-out has begun on Qwest's network and is planned through 2010.


Qwest's evolving backbone capabilities will deliver 100 Gbps across its national network directly to customers in markets where the company offers its Ethernet-based iQ Networking and QWave data networking services. Qwest's upgraded backbone will transport and switch data faster and more cost-effectively, thus ensuring Qwest customers have the ability to scale bandwidth more conveniently and with greater ease.


Qwest has selected Alcatel-Lucent's architecture to enable the upgrade. Specifically, Qwest will deploy Alcatel-Lucent's recently announced 100 Gbps Ethernet service routing capability. Installation includes supporting routers and switches out to the edge of the network, as well as Alcatel-Lucent's optical, ultra long-haul platform that will transport the 100 Gbps services. Terms of the agreement are not being disclosed.


Qwest said its objective with this network upgrade is to deliver more powerful capabilities to its customer base, including global enterprises and governments. Additionally, this upgrade directly addresses and alleviates pressure on the network backbone. Internet traffic is doubling approximately every 19 months. And each year, individual Internet users consume approximately 43 percent more bandwidth than the previous year.


"This industry-leading upgrade, with the help of our partner Alcatel-Lucent, allows Qwest to meet the very real challenges of responding to data consumption trends. Qwest is satisfying customers' appetites for increasingly sophisticated applications while honoring the need to be more resource-efficient," stated Pieter Poll, chief technology officer, Qwest:

http://www.qwest.com
http://www.alcatel-lucent.comIn July 2009, Alcatel-Lucent introduced a 100 Gigabit Ethernet interface and a 10-port 10 Gigabit Ethernet interface, both with massive queuing, classification and traffic management capabilities, for its 7750 Service Router and 7450 Ethernet Service Switch (ESS). Operators who have deployed Alcatel-Lucent service routers since 2004 can add the new line cards and immediately multiply capacity up to 100 Gbps per slot , double the current 50 Gbps maximum.


The new 100 Gigabit Ethernet capabilities are enabled by Alcatel-Lucent's custom FP2 chipset (launched July 2008), which is capable of sophisticated and optimized network processing and traffic management at speeds up to 100 Gbps. The FP2 chipset integrates 112 array cores for 95,000 MIPs performance and is implemented in 90nm process technology. The silicon was developed in house.

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Dell'Oro: Supply Shortages Dampen Wireless LAN Market in Q2

The worldwide Wireless LAN market sales were constrained by supply shortages affecting a number of equipment manufacturers, according to a new report from Dell'Oro Group.. The most significant impact on sales levels came from the enterprise class of products, followed by products targeting the Small Office Home Office users.


"The overall Wireless LAN market sales were about flat quarter to quarter at just under $1.0 billion," said Tam Dell'Oro President and Founder of Dell'Oro Group. "We calculate that sales would have risen about 5 percent had it not been for component shortages such as high speed memory chipsets. US government stimulus programs are turning into sales orders faster than people expected. It is not clear that the shortages are over," added Dell'Oro.
http://www.DellOro.com

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Occam Networks Introduces New GPON ONTs

Occam Networks introduced three new GPON optical network terminals (ONTs) designed to accelerate the transition to FTTP. The ON 2541, 2543 and 2544 ONTs offer a wide range of features allowing for maximum flexibility to fit subscribers' needs as well as the providers' network architecture. All ONTs are compatible with Occam's award winning BLC 6000 MSAP featuring the 6322 GPON OLT. The new ONTs will be available in late 2009.


All ONTs in the ON 2540 series provide a 2.5Gbps downstream and 1.2Gbps upstream GPON optical uplink and two POTS ports. The ON 2541 and ON 2543 also offer a Gigabit Ethernet option and the ON 2543's HPNA port allows for simple, cost-effective home device connectivity through existing coaxial wiring. The ON 2543 features the industry's first implementation of intelligent bandwidth management over coaxial interfaces. In order to assure high quality of experience (QoE), Occam has also integrated a significant set of troubleshooting and management tools for HPNA over coaxial cable. The cost-effective ON 2544 includes four Fast Ethernet ports for a variety of premise network and ancillary equipment connectivity needs.


All Occam ONTs feature patented IP Security Management (IPSM) that allows for dynamic, "hands free" network security that ensures robust subscriber traffic Administration, Authorization and Accounting (AAA). The ONTs deliver lifeline POTS using SIP or MGCP VoIP or GR-303, high speed Internet, Ethernet private line, IPTV and RF video. These new ONTs can be deployed in environmentally-hardened enclosures for outdoor installation, and are compliant with the following standards: ITU-T G.984, ITU-T G.984.4 OMCI, TR-156 and TR-101.


Occam announced the availability of these new ONTs at its Fifth Annual Occam Networks Users' Group (ONUG) Conference, held this week in Austin. Occam said more than 300 service providers, partners and others are attending.
http://www.occamnetworks.com

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Broadcom Adds DSM L3 Cross-Talk Cancellation VDSL2

Broadcom unveiled a VDSL2-compliant Fiber-to-the-x (FTTx) line termination reference design featuring advanced chipset-level crosstalk cancellation technology. Vectoring or far end crosstalk (FEXT) cancellation significantly increases line performance by reducing the interference that originates from subscriber lines located in the same cable binder.


Broadcom said its technology accurately estimates and significantly reduces such crosstalk noise by processing feedback information from receivers located at the customer premises. The Broadcom vectorized VDSL reference design provides crosstalk cancellation to groups of 24 pairs of DSL lines and easily scales to groups of 48 pairs or more on the same line termination board. Broadcom designed a small footprint and flexible software to manage crosstalk cancellation using existing line card controllers which ultimately helps achieve energy-efficient, space-efficient and materials-efficient green designs for service provider networks.
http://www.broadcom.com

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Broadcom Adds GPON to its Carrier Access Portfolio

Broadcom announced its first GPON products for optical network terminals (ONTs) or optical network units (ONUs) . The new designs feature Broadcom's existing 400 MHz dual core processor architecture, hardware-assisted gigabit bridging and routing, hardware-assisted IPsec security for virtual private network (VPN) termination, gigabit switch and PHYs, VoIP, support for USB 2.0 host and devices, and support for Broadcom's latest wireless LAN (WLAN) devices utilizing PCI Express . The BCM6800 family includes TR-069 and OMCI management software.


Broadcom's GPON portfolio also features integration of a Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA ) media access controller (MAC), PHY transceiver and RF tuner. This enables service providers to transform a subscriber's existing coax network into a home media distribution gateway.
http://www.broadcom.com

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Clearwire Selects WiChorus for 4G Packet Core

Clearwire has selected WiChorus, a start-up based in San Jose, California, to supply its SmartCore platform. WiChorus said its platform was selected for its performance, massive service flow capacity and network optimization & content monetization capabilities. SmartCore provides a key interface to millions of constantly moving mobile devices with their multiple service flows to the IP world, managing security, dynamic services, seamless mobility, paging, location tracking and dynamic charging. The platform provides key analytics about the network and enforces cross-layer optimizations to reduce OPEX. Financial terms were not disclosed.


"This contract is a strategic win and significant milestone for WiChorus and validates the un-paralleled multi-dimensional performance and benefits of the SmartCore 4G platforms," said Rehan Jalil, President and CEO of WiChorus.


WiChorus is backed by Accel Partners, Mayfield Fund, Pinnacle Ventures and Redpoint Ventures.
http://www.wichorus.com

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America Movil and Nokia Customize the Mobile Experience for Latin America

America Movil and Nokia have formed a partnership to bring the Ovi Store to mobile customers in Latin America. In an innovative effort to extend mobile device and technology choices to more users in the region, America Movil customers will be able to download and purchase apps, videos, ringtones or games from Ovi Store in a seamless way.


The Ovi Store service will be available to America Movil customers in Latin America later this year through Nokia's flagship device, the Nokia N97 and by accessing the store directly at store.ovi.com. Specific markets, additional devices, languages and features will be announced over the course of the year.


America Movil is the first operator in the region to announce the roll-out of a Latin America-wide offering of the Ovi Store to its customers.https://store.ovi.com
http://www.americamovil.com

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AT&T Opens Dedicated Certification Lab for Emerging Devices

AT&T has opened a new lab dedicated to emerging device certification thereby accelerating the entry of innovative consumer electronics and M2M devices into the marketplace.


Located in Austin, the new lab will serve as the hub for testing network compatibility, data performance and audio quality for a broad range of non-traditional, wirelessly-enabled devices, such as netbooks, eReaders, portable navigation devices, utility products, and healthcare-related tracking devices, among others. The lab will also manage the field tests for these devices in markets across the country. The facility is designed specifically for the AT&T emerging device and business M2M (machine to machine) organizations.


"By offering emerging device manufacturers a one-stop shop for testing and certification, we're positioned to deliver even greater customer choice and innovation at a much quicker pace," said Glenn Lurie, president, AT&T Emerging Devices and Resale. "Our new lab will focus on consumer electronics and M2M manufacturers and thereby accelerate the process, make it easier for manufacturers and, ultimately, provide a top notch consumer and enterprise customer experience."


AT&T said it is on track this year to exceed the number of non-stock devices - devices not sold in AT&T stores - certified for its wireless network. Last year, AT&T certified 355 non-stock wireless units, including devices, modules, and maintenance releases. Since it began certifying non-stock devices in 2005, AT&T to date has certified more than 1,000 wireless hardware units for its network.
http://www.att.com/choice

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NYT: iPhones are Over Stressing AT&T's Network

iPhone usage has cause such a spike in mobile data traffic on AT&T's network that the result is dropped calls, spotty service, delayed text and voice messages and glacial download speeds, according to an article published by The New York Times. The problem is especially acute in New York and San Francisco, where access to the 3G network is routinely congested at peak hours. The latest iPhone 3GS models appears to be exacerbating the problem.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/03/technology/companies/03att.html?_r=1&hp

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Spirent Tech-X Flex Adds Copper, DSL Modules to Handheld Tester

Spirent Communications introduced new wideband copper and ADSL/VDSL2 modules for its Spirent Tech-X Flex. The DSL module offers a single solution for field testing ADSL-based and VDSL2 services with multi-vendor interoperability for many chipsets including Infineon, Broadcom, Ikanos and Conexant. As service providers migrate from ADSL-based services to VDSL2, Tech-X Flex allows for the continued use of a single solution helping to reduce or even eliminate additional purchases of test equipment. In addition Tech-X Flex provides technicians with a method of verifying that the data rates into the home are suitable for the delivery of high bandwidth services such as IPTV. The solution can also be used to determine if data service is operating correctly by way of the on board Web browser. Spirent's active Web browser allows Web connectivity to be checked over the DSL interface which helps sectionalize problems should they occur elsewhere in the home or other dwelling.


The copper module provides a range of comprehensive tests that allow technicians to test standard voice services as well as troubleshoot and maintain wideband services up to 30MHz which are required for the delivery of triple play services. Spirent's Advanced Impulse Noise Capture test, for example, allows technicians to capture information on electrical noise and its impact on DSL service so that further analysis can be carried out to identify the source of the interference.
http://www.spirent.com

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