Atheros to Acquire Intellon for Powerline + SmartGrid Technology

Atheros Communications agreed to acquire Intellon Corporation in a stock and cash transaction valued at approximately $244 million, or $181 million net of Intellon's cash and investments.


Intellon, which is based in Orlando, Florida, specializes in powerline communications, providing HomePlug compliant and other powerline integrated circuits for home networking, networked entertainment, BPL access, Ethernet-over-Coax (EoC), smart grid management and other commercial applications. Intellon created and patented the baseline technology for HomePlug 1.0, and is a major contributor to the baseline technology for the 200-Mbps PHY-rate HomePlug AV powerline standard and the draft IEEE P1901 powerline standard. The company has sold more than 34 million HomePlug-based ICs to date.

Atheros said the deal represents another significant step in its mission to enable the very best connectivity experiences across the networking, computing and mobile device markets.
Atheros expects to close the transaction in the fourth quarter of 2009, subject to Intellon shareholder approval as well as customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals.
http://www.atheros.com
www.intellon.com.

Atheros Boosts Q3 Guidance, Revenue Expected to Jump 29-34% over Q2
Atheros Communications updated its revenue and earnings guidance for its third quarter of 2009, saying it now revenue to range between $145 million and $150 million, a sequential increase of 29 to 34 percent from the company's second quarter revenue of $112.2 million and 5 to 9 percent higher than the company's record revenue of $138.1 million in the third quarter ended Sept. 30, 2008. The company's previous guidance for the third quarter ending Sept. 30, 2009 was for revenue to be up 15 to 20 percent from second quarter revenue, resulting in a revenue range of $129.0 million to $134.6 million.
http://ww.atheros.com
http://www.intellon.com

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ECI Telecom Tests DSL Dynamic Spectrum Management

ECI Telecom has completed the first customer tests of its Dynamic Spectrum Management (DSM) L3 technology with three leading European Tier-1 operators.


The testing demonstrated that DSM L3 technology practically eliminates crosstalk interference between twisted pair copper wires so that the highest-speed DSL services can be more efficiently provided over longer distances in existing copper access loops. Specifically, ECI Telecom said that its testing shows that DSM L3 can triple the range of VDSL service reach -- enabling operators, for example, to stretch 30 Mbps upstream service from 150m (approximately. 500ft) to more than 450m (approximately. 1,500ft), effectively multiplying the VDSL coverage area of existing equipment by more than 900%


ECI believes DSM L3 technology could lead to a significant change in the economics of high volume DSL traffic. The company is a founding member of the iSMART consortium, which was established in 2006 to develop and materialize the next generation DSL access technology and solutions, based on Dynamic Spectrum Management (DSM). The consortium is a joint program of leading telecom vendors and senior researchers, together with Israeli and European operators. It is supported by the Magnet program of the Office of the Chief Scientist (OCS) of Israel's Ministry of Trade and Industry.
http://www.ecitele.com
http://www.ismart.org.il

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Juniper + NSN Carrier Ethernet Joint Venture Moves Ahead

The Carrier Ethernet joint venture between Juniper Networks and Nokia Siemens Networks has cleared regulatory reviews. The company has been incorporated in Amsterdam under the name "Carrier Ethernet Solutions B.V." and will be owned 60 percent by Juniper Networks and 40 percent by Nokia Siemens Networks.


John Stewart, previously vice president and general manager of the Mobility and Circuit Emulation Business Unit at Juniper Networks, will lead the joint venture company as Chief Executive Officer. Ton van den Boom, previously senior manager in finance and control from Nokia Siemens Networks, will take on the role of Chief Financial Officer. The company will also have a supervisory board chaired by Manoj Leelanivas, senior vice president and general manager of the Edge and Aggregation Business Unit at Juniper Networks, while Bernd Schumacher, head of Broadband Connectivity Solutions at Nokia Siemens Networks, will serve as vice chairman.


The solution will consist of Juniper Networks MX Series Ethernet Services Routers and Nokia Siemens Networks' A-series Carrier Ethernet Switches and end-to-end network management system including "point-and-click" provisioning. The joint venture will integrate these components into a seamless and fully-tested end-to-end solution. The plans call for the new solutions to be sold by both companies with a targeted introduction date of the first calendar quarter of 2010.
http://www.juniper.nethttp://www.nsn.com

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Actelis Lands New Funding as Deployments Grow

Actelis Networks, which specializes in Ethernet over copper solutions, announced a multi-million dollar funding boost from its investors to support its continued expansion in Europe and North America.

Actelis reports five consecutive years of growth, even during an economic downturn, including recent signing agreements with more than 20 additional new customers over the past two fiscal quarters in 2009.


In Europe, Actelis has signed new agreements with various CLECs and large incumbent network service providers, including NetCologne, Telekom Slovenije and France Telecom-Orange, the number three mobile operator and the number one provider of broadband Internet services in Europe. NetCologne, which is based in Cologne/Bonn, Germany, has deployed Actelis' carrier-class ML600 EADs and ML2300 Ethernet aggregation platforms, paired with SDU400 services module for full system redundancy, as an alternative to pulling new fiber. Cyberlink AG, which provides high-speed Internet services in Switzerland, has deployed the company's Ethernet Access Devices (EADs) and Ethernet aggregation platforms to deliver enhanced business-class broadband services at speeds in excess of 40 Mbps over existing copper lines. This represents an increase of nearly 50 percent in bandwidth capacity. Meanwhile, Telekom Slovenije, Slovenia's leading telecommunications carrier, has selected Actelis' Ethernet over copper solutions to deliver enhanced broadband voice and data services across the eastern European country. Telekom Slovenije is deploying Actelis' ML130 and ML2300 next-generation Ethernet aggregation platforms, along with the company's award-winning ML600 Ethernet Access Devices (EADs).


In the U.S., Actelis has been working closely with a number of large incumbent network operators as well as tier 2 and tier 3 independent operating carriers, providing ongoing support during their broadband stimulus application process. The company believes the new funding will enable it to take full advantage of opportunities presented from the $7.2 billion broadband stimulus, part of the Obama Administration's American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009. Existing Actelis investors Adams Street Partners, ATA Ventures, Argonaut Ventures, Carlyle Venture Partners, Dupont Capital Management, Global Catalyst Partners, Individuals' Venture Fund, Saints Capital, smac | partners, T-Venture, Vertex Venture Capital and The Walden International Investment Group participated in this round of funding.
http://www.actelis.com

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NEC Launches MPLS-TP Packet Transport Device

NEC introduced a next generation packet transport device that uses MPLS-TP to enable carrier networks to migrate to packet based networks.
The MN5000 series is designed for interworking IP and Ethernet with existing ATM and TDM networks. NEC said its new platform will assist with the migration of existing backhaul networks and metro/core networks to packet based next generation transport networks.


MN5000 Series shipments are scheduled to begin in December, 2009. NEC is showcasing the new platform at this week's Broadband World Forum 2009 in Paris.


MPLS-TP is being standardized through cooperation between the IETF and ITU-T.
http://www.nec.co.jp

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Global Broadband Reaches 445 Million Lines

The total number of installed broadband lines has passed the 445 million mark, according to the latest projections from the Broadband Forum and data from Point Topic..

Global broadband grew by 12.9 million lines in the second quarter of 2009, while IPTV growth remained strong at 11 percent - reaching 26.9 million lines.

In the past twelve months, broadband subscription in Europe grew 13 per cent overall, to reach 135 million, which included an impressive growth of 29 per cent in the Eastern European territories. Europe is the second largest broadband region in the world, and holds four of the top 10 country spots as detailed below.


Europe continues to lead the IPTV success story with 13,631,074 subscribers, a 51 per cent growth over the twelve months leading up to July 2009. In the second quarter 2009, there was a healthy six per cent growth in Western Europe -- where France remains the "champion" IPTV country with more than seven million subscribers -- and 12 percent in Eastern Europe, where new services in countries such as Poland, Czech Republic, Slovenia and Russia are in demand.


China continues its healthy growth, reaching 93,549,000 subscribers while Japan took the honors among the world's top ten countries -- being the only one to show an increased growth quarter on quarter over the last year. Australia, the Philippines, Indonesia, New Zealand and Hong Kong are also among countries where broadband growth continues to grow faster with each quarter.


Asia continues to play its part in the encouraging global growth of IPTV, adding approximately 2.9 million customers over the last year, and 1.2 million in the last quarter alone.


North America had total growth of 3.63 per cent and the USA and Canada between them now have more than 95 million broadband users.


In Latin America broadband now serves more than 29 million customers. Brazil, one of the global top 10 countries for broadband, showed solid gains at 4.02 percent - taking them to 23.3 per cent growth over the year, accounting for more than ten million of the region's users.


The Americas continue to show massive growth in IPTV, where over the last 12 months there has been an impressive increase of 86 per cent, partly due to a major commitment
by two of the region's leading operators. The Americas now have reached a major milestone in IPTV, serving over five million IPTV subscribers -- which represent nearly 20
per cent of IPTV penetration worldwide.


"This report shows that, while broadband adoption is not immune from the state of the world economy, the technology continues to move forward and I believe this year has shown that broadband expansion is not limited to the top industrialized countries, but is a key factor in assisting developing nations to gain a foothold in today's tough market," said George Dobrowski, Chairman and President of the Broadband Forum.
http://www.broadband-forum.org

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Broadcom Debuts Single Chip IAD with ADSL2+, 802.11n and DECT

Broadcom announced its first single chip broadband integrated access device (IAD) integrating high performance ADSL2+ and 802.11n wireless LAN (WLAN), along with Gigabit Ethernet switching, Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications (DECT), and VoIP for IADs and high-end residential gateways. The integrated DSL+WLAN solution eliminates the need for consumers to purchase a separate DSL modem, wireless router and DECT cordless base station, significantly reducing the cost of home networking.
http://www.broadcom.com

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TeliaSonera Deploys 100Mbps Access with Alcatel-Lucent

TeliaSonera is moving ahead with the deployment of the first 100Mbps VDSL2-based access network in Finland. TeliaSonera's fiber-to-the-building (FTTB) architecture makes use of fiber cables that are trenched from the operator's central offices to the basement of (apartment) buildings. From there, the end-users are offered very high-speed broadband applications over the existing, in-building copper wires. The architecture is based on Alcatel-Lucent's 7354 ISAM FTTB Remote Unit - which has specifically been designed for cabinet and multiple dwelling unit (MDU) deployments. Alcatel-Lucent also will provide a range of professional services related to the network roll-out project. http://www.alcatel-lucent.com
http://www.teliasonera.com

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Marvell Introduces TD-SCDMA Chipset

Marvell introduced a single-chip solution for enabling mass market availability of TD-SCDMA smartphones by the world's largest carrier, China Mobile. Developed by Marvell's research and development center in Shanghai, the PXA920 processor is an architectural evolution of Marvell's field proven PXA9 series tri-core architecture solution (codename Tavor). It is China Mobile OPhone ready, and supports all leading open OS software platforms. The Marvell PXA920 comes with a dedicated high performance ARM instruction set compliant Sheeva processor and an integrated release 7 (TD-SCDMA, TD-HSDPA, TD-HSUPA) TD-SCDMA baseband as well as a China Mobile proven EDGE modem.
http://www.marvell.com

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Microsoft's Silverlight 4 Delivers Live HD Video using HTTP

Microsoft's upcoming release of Internet Information Services (IIS) Media Services 3.0 will enable delivery of interactive, high-definition-quality Live Smooth Streaming, along with new tools to simplify the process of delivering online experiences with Microsoft Silverlight. IIS Media Services 3.0 is an integrated HTTP-based media delivery platform that delivers full HD streaming up to 1080p and provides real-time logging for data analysis. The platform also enables delivery of PlayReady-protected content for both on-demand and Live Smooth Streaming scenarios. Delivery of H.264 and Advanced Audio Coding formats over IIS Smooth Streaming is also enabled in IIS Media Services 3.0.

Microsoft Silverlight 4 will also include native multicast support and support for offline digital rights management (DRM) powered by Microsoft PlayReady technology. In addition, the company announced the release of its IIS Smooth Streaming Transport Protocol and Protected Interoperable File Format (PIFF) specification.

Since Microsoft said that since May 2009, broadcasters around the world have used beta versions of Live Smooth Streaming, a new feature of IIS Media Services 3.0, to successfully broadcast some of the world's premier live events. These include the Tour de France and the Roland Garros 2009 International French Open Tennis Tournament on France Televisions; the IAAF Athletics World Championships, FINA Swimming World Championships on both France Televisions and RAI; the FIFA Confederations Cup South Africa 2009 on RAI; and Champions League Soccer on BSkyB; as well as events such as the Michael Jackson Memorial on Sympatico/MSN inMusic and SKY News.
http://iis.net/mediahttp://www.microsoft.com

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Merger Plans for T-Mobile UK and Orange UK

Deutsche Telekom and France Telecom confirmed exclusive negotiations to combine T-Mobile UK and Orange UK in a new 50:50 joint venture company that would create the UK's leading mobile operator. It will have a combined mobile customer base of around 28.4 million, representing approximately 37 percent of UK mobile subscribers. By integrating Orange's broadband activities, the joint venture will also have the capabilities to offer convergent solutions to its customers in the future. The companies estimate that by merging the networks and operations of T-Mobile UK and Orange UK they will be able to generate synergies with a net present value in excess of EUR 4.0 billion (£3.5 billion).


The deal is expected to face a number of regulatory challenges, but the companies said the merger will benefit the consumer through expanded network coverage and enhanced indoor and outdoor network quality for 2G and 3G services. It would also free up money for new network upgrades.


Http://www.francetelecom.com
http://www.telekom.de

• Earlier this year, Mobile Broadband Network Limited (MBNL), the 50:50 joint venture formed by 3 UK and T-Mobile UK to integrate and manage their 3G radio access networks (RAN), selected Ericsson to provide managed services to complete the consolidation of their 3G infrastructure. Ericsson will be responsible for the network design and deployment requirements of the consolidation program, which will result in the creation of an integrated 3G network providing close to complete population coverage for 3G services. It will also reduce the number of radio sites from approximately 18,000 sites to 13,000, providing both environmental benefits and significant cost savings

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ADVA's FSP 3000 ROADM Deployed by Belgacom

Belgacom International Carrier Services (ICS) has deployed ADVA Optical Networking's FSP 3000 to offer competitive 1 Gbps and 10 Gbps Ethernet and wholesale STM-1/4/16/64 wavelength services to its customers. Belgacom ICS relies on its more than 90 global points of presence (POPs) in cities like Amsterdam, Brussels, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Geneva, London, Milan, Paris and Zurich. In these major locations, the carrier has built metro rings, which span up to 130 km and connect the carrier's primary local data centers via WDM links. The links uses ROADMs , which enable Belgacom ICS to automate the provisioning of new services, reach remote locations and decrease complexity in its network.
http://www.advaoptical.com

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NSN Shows VDLS2 Bonding Achieving 25 Mbps at 1500m

At this week's Broadband World Forum in Paris, Nokia Siemens Networks is showing a VDSL2 bonding solution capable of delivering 25 Mbps at distances of up to 1,500 meters. Bonding is a process by which several VDSL lines can be virtually combined to expand the reach of the VDSL2 network, increasing the access bandwidth for customers


"Restricted reach has put limits on the business opportunity of VDSL2. By doubling the reach with minimum complexity in terms of upgrading, our technology demonstration shows carriers a potential to extend their VDSL2 offering to millions of new customers", said Eduard Scheiterer, Head of Broadband Access at Nokia Siemens Networks.
http://www.nokiasiemensnetworks.com

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