Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Newport to Acquire ILX Lightwave for Photonic Devices

Newport Corporation (NASDAQ: NEWP) today reported that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire ILX Lightwave Corporation ("ILX"), a market and technology leader in high-performance test and measurement solutions for laser diodes and other photonics components.

On December 28, Newport Corporation agreed to acquire ILX Lightwave Corporation, for $9.3 million in cash.

ILX , headquartered in Bozeman, Montana, is a supplier of high-performance test and measurement solutions for laser diodes and other photonics components. The product line includes laser diode controllers and drivers, temperature controllers, current sources, optical power and wavelength meters, semiconductor laser/LED burn-in, test and characterization systems, and fiber optic sources. The company expects 2011 revenues of approximately $8 million. The company is profitable, and Newport expects the acquisition to be accretive to its earnings immediately after closing.

Robert J. Phillippy, Newport's President and Chief Executive Officer, said, "The addition of ILX, together with our recent acquisition of Ophir Optronics, will further enhance Newport's position as the industry's leading provider of photonics instrumentation and measurement equipment. With our expanded portfolio of products and technology, we will offer our customers solutions to the most demanding applications in both the scientific and industrial markets."

http://www.newport.com http://www.ilxlightwave.com

Verizon Cancels Plans for $2 Convenience Fee

On December 28, Verizon Wireless announced plans to begin charging customers a $2 "convenience fee" for making payments via online credit or debit card transactions. The company later dropped the plan following media attention, consumer complaints, and a statement from the FCC promising to look into the matter. http://www.verizon.com

Exar Trims Financial Guidance

On December 28, Exar Corporation revised downward its financial guidance citing "weaker economic conditions in Asia and Europe and continued inventory corrections" across all product lines. Exar now expects revenue for the fiscal third quarter to be between $28 million and $30 million and non-GAAP gross margin to be between 48% and 50%. http://www.exar.com

Vodafone Egypt Upgrades Subscriber Data with NSN

Vodafone Egypt, the country’s largest telecom operator, is upgrading its subscriber data management system built on the One-NDS platform provided by Nokia Siemens Networks, enabling the operator to speed up the process of launching new, targeted services. Specifically, Nokia Siemens Networks is upgrading its comprehensive subscriber data management solution, including the One-NDS platform, and providing its Home Location Register (HLR), and Mobile Number Portability (MNP). The One-NDS platform unifies fragmented data into a single repository and is more efficient than having multiple databases for different front-end applications such as HLR and MNP. http://www.nsn.com

Verizon Wireless Cites LTE Growing Pains

During December, Verizon Wireless suffered three intermittent nationwide outages on its LTE network -- all of which were caused by glitches in the network's IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS). Verizon Wireless' VP of network engineering Mike Haberman told GigaOM that these disruptions should be seen in light of the company's pioneering efforts with LTE. As of December 2011, Verizon Wireless has deployed its 4G LTE network in more than 190 markets across the U.S., covering more than 200 million people. The company said it has taken decisive steps to remedy each of the software bugs as well as to segment its network geographically to limit the extent of any future issues. http://www.verizon.com http://www.gigaom.com