VoiceRamp Raises $7.8 Million for Broadband Software

VoiceRamp Technologies, a start-up based in Richardson, Texas, raised $7.8 million in series A funding for its development of software solutions for broadband access and existing switching networks. The company said its architecture would support circuit switched networks as they transition to converged packet based technologies while leveraging the value of the installed base of network elements and operational support systems. The investment was co-led by CenterPoint and Star Ventures, with STARTech Early Ventures also participating.
http://www.voiceramp.com

• VoiceRamp Technologies is headed by Allen Adams, who also co-founded DSC Communications and IPCell Technologies (recently acquired by Cisco Systems).

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BRECIS Secures $20 Million for its Multiservice Processor

BRECIS Communications, a start-up based in San Jose, California, raised an additional $20 million in funding for its line of multiservice processors. The BRECIS network processors will leverage distributed intelligent processing "engines" on the same chip to rapidly and simultaneously perform prioritized data transactions with an extremely efficient peer to peer communications mechanism. Each of these engines could be dynamically managed, prioritized, or even reprogrammed to suit both the immediate needs of the data being processed and the particular design goals of the integrated access device. The new funding round, which was led by new investor Crosslink Capital, and includes returning investors InterWest Partners, Focus Ventures, Norwest Venture Partners, and Sequoia Capital, brings total investment in the company to $72.4 million.
http://www.brecis.com

• BRECIS Communications is led by George Alexy, who previously was Senior Vice President of Marketing at Cirrus Logic.

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Quintum Offers Portal for Passing VoIP Traffic Through Firewalls

Quintum Technologies, a start-up based in Eatontown, New Jersey, introduced a VoIP platform designed to eliminate repeated compression and decompression of traffic due to firewalls at the network edge. Quintum's Tenor Call Relay allows service providers and enterprises to route VoIP calls to external IP networks from behind network address translation firewalls. The new product supports up to 720 simultaneous VoIP calls. Quintum offers a smaller version supporting up to 32 simultaneous voice calls.
http://www.quintum.com

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Mitel Networks Introduces Teleworker IP Phone System for Broadband

Mitel Networks introduced an enterprise teleworker solution that enables an IP phone with a broadband connection (DSL or cable modem) to become a secure extension off the corporate network. Mitel Networks' 6010 Teleworker solution uses secure Real-Time Protocol (RTP) encryption for voice privacy. Remote data connections are supported off an easily configured Ethernet port on the IP phone.
http://www.mitel.com

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Sonus Networks Adds Voice VPN Capabilities

Sonus Networks released a major software upgrade that adds Voice VPN capabilities, a new set of international signaling variants, and network optimization tools to its packet voice platform. The Voice VPN features in the latest Release 5.0 of the Sonus Open Services Architecture enable service providers to offer a packet-based voice VPN to enterprise customers. With the carrier-hosted SMARRT Voice VPN service, enterprises gain the ability to connect multiple, geographically distributed sites and remote users in a single virtual network. The new international capabilities for the Sonus platform include national SS7 variants for Argentina, Brazil, Chile, China, India and Spain. With the addition of these new signaling types, Sonus now supports more than 30 SS7 variants and international versions of ISDN PRI and CAS.
http://www.sonusnet.com

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Multiservice Switching Forum Plans Testing Round in 2004

The Multiservice Switching Forum (MSF) plans to conduct a second Global Multiservice Interoperability (GMI) event in 2004 to demonstrate a deployable and operationally ready IP telephony network with network management, enhanced QoS and security features. The group conducted its first such GMI 2002 over the course of ten days in November. Fifteen participants, including carriers, system suppliers and test equipment manufacturers, demonstrated the MSF Release 1 Architecture utilizing MEGACO/H.248, Bearer Independent Call Control (BICC) and SIP as the main control and signaling protocols. The MSF expects even more participants in 2004.
http://www.msforum.org

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Juniper Networks Release Performance Data from BTexact Testing

Juniper Networks announced the results of performance tests carried out on its T640 Routing Node by BTexact Technologies, BT's advanced research and technology business. BTexact measured the total aggregate throughput of a T640 configured with 32 OC-192c/STM64 SONET/SDH interfaces. Using 32 Agilent Router Tester modules, BTexact demonstrated that a fully loaded single chassis T640 Routing Node was capable of a forwarding rate in excess of 780 million packets per second, with traffic consisting of 40 byte IP packets on every port and 500,000 active BGP routes. Throughout this test no packets were dropped. Juniper Networks said this rate is 99.7% of the theoretical maximum.
http://www.juniper.net

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Etisalat Deploys Juniper Networks M160 Routers

Etisalat, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Telecommunications Corporation, has deployed Juniper Networks' M160 routing platforms in POPs throughout the country. Financial terms were not disclosed.
http://www.juniper.net

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Marconi to Supply its Access Hub to Telecom Italia

Telecom Italia awarded a two-year contract valued at EUR 80 million to Marconi for upgrades to its access network. Marconi will supply its Access Hub platform and work alongside Italtel, which will supply switching technology and professional services, to build the new network infrastructure. Marconi's Access Hub technology will enable the distribution of a variety of services to end users such as xDSL, traditional telephony and ISDN, interacting both with traditional telephone exchanges and IP systems.
http://www.marconi.com

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RAD Data Communications Carries E1 Leased Line over MPLS

RAD Data Communications will demonstrate its IPmux TDM over IP (TDMoIP) gateway carrying an emulated end-to-end E1 leased line over an MPLS backbone. The multi-vendor interoperability event, organized by the MPLS Forum and the European Advanced Network Testing Center (EANTC), in cooperation with the ETSI Interoperability Services and hosted by Upper Side, is showcasing MPLS equipment interoperability, and, in particular, network scalability and fast rerouting (under 50 ms). More than a dozen equipment manufacturers are participating. The event is being held this week in Paris.
http://www.rad.com
http://www.upperside.com

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The MPLS Forum and EANTC Complete MPLS Scalability Test

The MPLS Forum and the European Advanced Networking Test Center (EANTC) completed a multi-vendor MPLS scalability and resiliency interoperability test event that involved 13 vendors. The one-week interoperability program tested MPLS VPN scalability and also verified MPLS Fast Reroute techniques. One of the services tested was TDM over IP over MPLS, which requires SONET/SDH-grade carrier class recovery characteristics. Participating vendors were Agilent Technologies, Alcatel, Avici Systems, Cisco Systems, Data Connection, IXIA, NetPlane, Nortel Networks, Quallaby, RAD Data Communications, Redback Networks, Riverstone Networks and Spirent Communications. The test, which will be showcased at the MPLS World Congress in Paris, February 5-7, 2003, was conducted with the cooperation of the ETSI Interoperability Service and hosted by Upper Side.
http://www.mplsforum.org/http://www.eantc.com

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Sprint Reports Stabilized LD Pricing, 20% Revenue Gains for FR/ATM, 9% for IP

Sprint reported Q4 revenues of $6.53 billion, compared to $6.52 billion last year. Full-year 2002 consolidated revenues were $26.63 billion, up 4% from $25.52 billion in 2001. Net income for Q4 was $39 million, compared to a fourth quarter loss of $1.23 billion in 2001. Some highlights of the report:

operations produced more than $665 million of positive free cash flow in Q4.
the pricing environment for long-distance services continues to stabilize, even with recent RBOC entry into the long-distance business.
data services revenues in Q4 increased 7% year-over-year. Frame Relay and ATM revenues both increased more than 20% from the same period last year. Internet revenues increased 9% from the same period last year.
dial-up IP revenue declined in double digit amounts due to AOL repricing
total access lines for Sprint's Local Telecommunications Division declined 1.7% in 2002
while voice grade equivalent lines grew 9%.
Sprint's Local Telecommunications Division added 38,000 new DSL lines in Q4, ending with 150,000 DSL lines in service.
In 2003, Sprint FON Group Capital expenditures are expected to increase slightly to $2.3 billion. Global markets has targeted capital of $800 million primarily to support growth in demand for enterprise services. The local division capital plan of $1.4 billion includes investments for broadband initiatives and the phased transition from circuit to packet switching.
Sprint PCS had 250,000 net customer additions in Q4 and more than 1.2 million net new customers for 2002.
Sprint PCS average revenue per user for the quarter was just over $62 compared to just under $61 a year ago.
Sprint PCS capital expenditures were $590 million for Q4 and $2.67 billion in 2002. For 2003, Sprint PCS capital expenditures are expected to decline to a range of $2.3 - 2.4 billion.
http://www.sprint.com

• Separately, The Wall Street Journal reported that Sprint's Board of Directors is forcing out William T. Esrey, chairman and chief executive officer, and Ronald T. LeMay, president and chief operating officer, over an issue of tax accounting of their stock options.

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BellSouth Offers Wholesale, Inter-LATA GigE Service

BellSouth is rolling out interstate, native mode LAN interconnection (NMLI) Gigabit Ethernet Service for wholesale customers. The service is also available at 10 Mbps and 100 Mbps. BellSouth said NMLI is the first service of this type to be deployed as part of its High Speed Transport Service portfolio.
http://www.interconnection.bellsouth.com

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ATM Forum Advances Standards for Interworking with IP, MPLS

The ATM Forum reported progress on several fronts at its quarterly meeting last week in Santa Clara, California. Key developments focus on IP addressing, a new MPLS interworking mode, and new support for transporting voice and video traffic. Highlights of the meeting include:

• a new specification for IP addressing on native ATM switches advanced to straw ballot. The new standard, which would allow direct mapping of IP addressing onto an ATM switch would especially help network administrators who are upgrading their router connections from PVCs to SVCs. The common IP-ATM addressing scheme would also benefit enterprise networks that utilize IP firewall and filtering applications alongside an ATM backbone.



• adopted a new work item for ATM and MPLS interworking that adds a fourth encapsulation mode (N-to-1 Cell mode) to the original ATM/MPLS interworking specification. Each of the four encapsulation modes are optimized for certain applications or traffic characteristics. Support for the N-to-1 Cell encapsulation mode brings harmony to the related work of The ATM Forum, The MPLS Forum, the ITU and the IETF.



• adopted a new work item for ATM -- SIP interworking. This would provide optimized support for transporting IP voice and video connections over an ATM backbone.



• adopted a new work item for MPEG-4 over ATM. There is already an MPEG-2 over ATM specification (audio/video multimedia services or AMS).



• initiated a dialogue with the Metro Ethernet Forum regarding future specification roadmaps. One possibility is the development of a Metro Ethernet -- ATM interworking specification



• the ATM Forum's quarterly meeting was collocated with the Broadband Content Delivery (BCD) Forum. The MPLS Forum is co-locating some of its meetings with these organizations as well.



• the ATM Forum hosted its second Broadband Exchange event, bringing together technical experts to discuss evolving broadband technologies and applications. This quarter's Broadband Exchange focused on the architectural issues and market opportunities for content delivery networks. Presentations at the day-long meeting covered video services over DSL, video-on-demand (VOD) rollouts and market prospects, the MPEG-4 standard, backbone architectures for MSOs, and the latest trends in VOD servers.



• the next Broadband Exchange will cover 3G/4G Wireless and will be held in conjunction with the ATM Forum's upcoming technical committee meeting in April in Madrid, Spain.

http://www.atmforum.com

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FCC Seeks Budget of $280 Million for 2004

The FCC is seeking a budget of $280,798,000 for fiscal year 2004, up 1% from 2003. The FCC said the budget provides for mandatory increases for salaries and benefits and other areas and inflationary increases for contract services. The budget level also includes funds for additional staff to provide engineering expertise to ensure effective management of the electromagnetic spectrum and encourage the provision of new technologies and services to the public, continue infrastructure improvement for the laboratory facility, and enhance the audit capabilities of the Office of Inspector General. The proposed spending plan is online.
http://www.fcc.gov

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Alcatel Reports Sales up 28% Sequentially, But Warns on 2003 Outlook

Alcatel reported Q4 sales of EUR 4.508 billion, up 28% compared to the previous quarter, but down 33% from the EUR 6.766 billion in Q4 2001. Alcatel cited seasonality as well as strong advances in broadband and mobile infrastructure for the gains. Sales for Q4 were up sequentially across all of Alcatel's business segments and in all geographic regions. Income from operations was EUR 20 million but there was a net loss of EUR 1.1 billion due primarily to restructuring charges. Some highlights:

• Revenue for carrier networking equipment rose sequentially by 40.5% to EUR 2.417 billion due primarily to a high level of DSL sales in Europe and in China, as well as mobile network sales.



• Gross margins in Q4 were 27.3%



• During 2002, Alcatel reduced its breakeven level of quarterly sales by more than EUR 2.0 billion to reach EUR 4.1 billion at the end of 2002. The company plans to reduce the quarterly sales breakeven target to EUR 3.0 billion by year-end.



• Employee headcount was 77,000 at the end of 2002, compared to 101,000 at the end of 2001.



• The company anticipates further cuts to 60,000 employees at the end of 2003.



• Geographically, Western Europe accounts for 43% of revenues, Eastern Europe 7%, North America 18%, Asia 19% and the rest of the world 13%.



• Alcatel's outlook for 2003 calls for revenues to be down 15% year-on-year due to the strong EUR and the lower level in world demand for telecommunications equipment.



• Sales for Q1 2003 are expected to be down 25% to 30% compared with Q1 2002.



• Alcatel expects to reach its operating breakeven target in 2003.

http://www.alcatel.com

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Level3 Reports Flat Revenues, Closes Genuity Purchase

Citing a modest improvement in new communications sales and revenue, Level 3 Communications reported communications Q4 2002 GAAP revenue of $273 million, versus $269 million for the fourth quarter 2001, and versus $274 million for the third quarter of 2002. Included in total communications GAAP revenue was $243 million of communications services revenue and $30 million attributable to reciprocal compensation revenue. Level 3 noted strength in its softswitch and IP services segments, as well as modest growth in new sales of transport services. Overall, Level 3 reported a net loss for the quarter of $313 million, or $0.73 per share.

Level 3 has completed its acquisition of substantially all of Genuity's assets and operations. Level 3 paid $60 million in net cash consideration to Genuity and assumed certain long-term operating agreements. As part of the transaction, the company also paid $77 million in cash for prepaid network vendor services to be used by Level 3 during 2003. The company also expects to incur one-time integration costs of approximately $75 to $100 million during 2003. As a result of the Genuity acquisition, the company now expects to turn free cash flow positive during the second quarter of 2004.
http://www.level3.com

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Tropic Networks Closes $20 Million for its Metro DWDM

Tropic Networks, a start-up based in Ottawa, Canada, closed US$20 million in third round funding to support is metro DWDM solutions. The company has recently streamlined its business strategy to focus on the metro optical market. Tropic's TRX-24000 platform, which was introduced last October, takes ITU grid wavelengths from an existing SONET/SDH ADM, switch or router and transports it across multiple rings while staying in the optical domain. The platform has a range of 600 km. Tropic also features a Wavelength Tracker technology that monitors and provides failure detection functionality to manage the signal as it travels throughout the network. Five existing investment firms participated in the company's third round of financing -- Celtic House Venture Partners (lead investor), Goldman Sachs' Private Equity Group, Kodiak Venture Partners, Crescendo Ventures and the Teachers' Merchant Bank, the private equity arm of the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan.
http://www.tropicnetworks.com/

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Network Photonics Ships 1x4 MEMS-based Optical Switch

Network Photonics announced the first customer shipment of a 1x4 MEMS-based wavelength switch designed for use in DWDM networks. The CrossWave 1400 is a 1x4 wavelength-selective switching subsystem that provides transparent NxN wavelength switching nodes in long-haul, ultra-long-haul and regional carrier networks. Network Photonics said wavelength-selective switching could be used in conjunction with sub-wavelength grooming OEO switches or ADMs at junction points to manage wavelength connections and deliver services. All-optical NxN switches would allow express wavelengths to traverse the network junction point without requiring unnecessary OEO regeneration while providing dynamic add/drop switching capability for rapid reconfiguration and flexible deployment of transport services. Its new CrossWave 1400 switch can handle up to 96 wavelengths per fiber at 50 GHz channel spacing in the C-band.
http://www.networkphotonics.com

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Axonlink Unveils Its Alternative to CWDM and DWDM

Axonlink, a start-up based in Red Bank, New Jersey with R&D in Kfar-Saba, Israel, unveiled its Agile Wave Division Multiplexing (AWDM) demonstration system. Axonlink's AWDM transceiver features full transmit and receive tunability using off-the-shelf optical components. The company said its technology enables easier amplification than CWDM and DWDM, as low as 12.5Ghz wavelength spacing and simple fiber interface using colorless splitters. Potential uses include wavelength services, fiber relief and fiber to the building (FTTB) access and metro applications.
http://www.axonlink.com

• Axonlink is headed by Dror Nahumi, who previously was president of I-Link, a VoIP-based service provider. Axonlink's technical team is led by Sason Sourani, who previously led the development of the DCME product at ECI Telecom.



• First round investors in Axonlink included ECI Telecom, Benchmark Capital and Innovacom.

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