Bookham Acquires Cierra Photonics for Thin-Film Components

Bookham Technology will acquire the business and assets of Cierra Photonics, a developer of thin-film filters and other optical components. Cierra has developed an Advanced Energy Deposition (AED) technology, which is a specialized process for wafer-scale deposition that results in thin-film components that will have lower costs, higher yields and better optical performance than conventional components. The acquisition was valued at £2.25 million. Cierra Photonics is based in Santa Rosa, California and has approximately 39 employees.
http://www.bookham.com
http://www.cierraphotonics.com/

• In September 2002, Bookham Technology and Cierra Photonics formed a technology and commercial partnership for WDM products, such as optical add/drop multiplexers (OADMs). Bookham Technology is contributing its ASOC design and manufacturing technology for fabricating integrated optical circuits on a silicon substrate, together with its integrated GaAs and InP tunable lasers and modulators. Cierra Photonics brings to the partnership its thin-film filters, based on the company's Advanced Energetic Deposition (AED) technology for waferscale integration. Under the two-year deal, Bookham will also be the exclusive distributor for Cierra Photonics' optical channel filters in Europe.

Read More

World Radiocommunication Conference Concludes

After four weeks of negotiations, the World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC) concluded with a number of major decisions on the use of radio frequency spectrum globally. Key points include:

• WLANs -- the ITU agreed to allocate 455 MHz of unlicensed spectrum in the 5-GHz band for global WLAN use. Once the agreement achieves final plenary approval, 100 MHz of spectrum (5.150-5.250 GHz) will be allocated for indoor WLAN use, while an additional 355 MHz will be allocated for mixed indoor/outdoor use (5.250-5.350 GHz and 5.470-5.725 GHz). The international agreement at the WRC effectively opens at least 19 non-interfering 5GHz channels for global WLAN use.




• IMT-2000 -- the ITU reaffirmed its support for the continuing deployment of mobile wireless communications by recognizing the need to provide a global vision for the future development and advancement of IMT-2000. As part of this commitment, ITU will study technical and operational issues for migrating to IMT-2000 networks, especially in developing countries, including use of the satellite component of IMT-2000 for suitable coverage of these countries.




• Communications for Disaster Relief -- the ITU approved a resolution that will pave the way for the deployment of new technologies for wideband and broadband public protection and disaster relief applications. At present, public protection and disaster relief applications are mostly narrow-band, but future systems are expected to operate at up to 100 Mbps. Countries are urged to use regionally harmonized bands for public protection and disaster relief to the maximum extent possible, taking into account the national and regional requirements and also having regard to any needed consultation and cooperation with other concerned countries. They are also to encourage public protection and disaster relief agencies and organizations to utilize relevant ITU-R Recommendations in planning spectrum use.




• High Altitude Platform Stations -- some countries have notified ITU of their intent to deploy high altitude platform stations (HAPS) in the bands 47.2-47.5 GHz and 47.9-48.2 GHz. While the decision to deploy HAPS can be taken on a national basis, such deployment may affect neighboring administrations, particularly in small countries. This decision includes a new resolution on the potential use of the bands 27.5-28.35 GHz and 31-31.3 GHz by HAPS in the fixed service.

http://www.itu.int/newsroom/press_releases/2003/19.html

Read More

NEC Completes World's Longest Single-Photon Transmission Over 100Km

NEC, the Telecommunications Advancement Organization of Japan (TAO) and the Japan Science and Technology Corporation completed a 100-km-long single-photon transmission using a quantum cryptography system over low cost optical fiber. The companies said their demonstration paves the wave for quantum cryptography transmissions in metropolitan optical networks. The system uses a low-noise photon receiver developed jointly by NEC and the Imai Quantum Computation Information Project, and a high performance transmitter developed by NEC and TAO. The transmitter is equipped with a filter that can purify the single-photon spectrum.
http://www.nec.co.jp/press/en/0307/0401.html

Read More

Bahrain's PTT Selects Ericsson for Packet Migration

Batelco, the public network operator in Bahrain, selected Ericsson for the migration of its fixed network to packet technology. The contract includes both Ericsson's ENGINE Multi-Service Network and Ethernet DSL Access solutions. Ericsson's ENGINE softswitch integrates voice and data traffic. Financial terms were not disclosed.
http://www.ericsson.com/multiservicenetworks

• In October 2002, Bahrain Telecommunications Co (Batelco), has selected the Cisco Metro Ethernet Switching portfolio to provide Gigabit Ethernet access over fiber connections to government offices and commercial organizations. Batelco will initially connect all of Bahrain's government ministries to the network. The deployment will use Catalyst 3550 switches at the network edge, together with the Cisco ONT 1031 (Optical Network Terminator) within customer sites, and Cisco 7600 and Cisco 7200 Series Internet routers in the broadband aggregation layer. The new architecture will also include the Cisco Ethernet Subscriber Edge Solution Engine for managing the fiber end-points within customers' premises. MPLS is used within the core to differentiate and streamline traffic types, and to provide the basis for VoIP, and video services in the future. Cisco is working with Schlumberger Network and Infrastructure Solutions on the project.

Read More

Comcast to Sell Its Stake in QVC to Liberty Media for $7.9 Billion

Comcast agreed to sell its stake in QVC, its on-air shopping channel, for approximately $7.9 billion to Liberty Media Corporation. The precise components of the consideration will be determined over the next several weeks subject to certain procedures set forth in a new stock purchase agreement entered into by the parties. Comcast said the cable business continues to be its primary focus and that the proceeds from the sale of QVC would boost its financial position and better enable it to invest for future growth.
http://www.comcast.com

• In 2002, QVC recorded more than $4.4 billion in sales and generated more than 150 million phone calls from its cable television audience. QVC has 11,000 employees and is based in West Chester, Pennsylvania, with additional U.S. telecommunications centers in San Antonio, Texas, Port St. Lucie, Florida, and Chesapeake, Virginia.



• In June 2003, Paul G. Allen, the Chairman of Charter Communications and one of the founders of Microsoft, completed his acquisition of Comcast's interest in CC VIII, LLC, a joint cable venture with Charter Communications, for approximately $728 million in cash, consistent with an original put agreement. Comcast said it will use the proceeds to pay down debt incurred in connection with the acquisition of AT&T Broadband in November 2002.

Read More

HP to Acquire Identity Mgt Software from Baltimore Technologies

HP agreed to acquire substantially all of the SelectAccess software assets of Baltimore Technologies, a UK-based developer of network security products, for £8.3 million in cash. The technology will become part of HP's Adaptive Management software portfolio, providing more secure user access to network services and enterprise resources. SelectAccess Web-based single sign-on for a seamless user experience across extranets, intranets and portals.
http://www.hp.com
http://www.baltimore.com/

Read More

SEC Revises Proposed Worldcom Penalty

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced an agreement that would provide for an additional contribution of $250 million in common stock in the new MCI for the shareholders and bondholders of the former Worldcom.
http://www.sec.govhttp://www.mci.com

Read More

Terayon Sees Better than Expected Results for Q2

Terayon expects revenues for its second quarter (ended 30-June-2003) to be in the range of $30 million to $31 million. Net loss per share for the quarter is now expected to be approximately $0.18 to $0.20. Terayon attributed its better than expected performance to greater shipments of its DOCSIS 2.0 CMTS in Asia and in North America, a larger than anticipated order for its Multigate circuit-switched cable telephony system from a European customer, and higher sales of its legacy S-CDMA product lines. Full results are expected on 30-July-2003.
http://www.terayon.com

• Hanvit I&B, the second largest Korean cable operator with more than 2 million subscribers, is using Terayon Communication Systems' cable modem termination system to deliver DOCSIS 2.0 services. DOCSIS 2.0 in Korea has already begun. In addition to Terayon's DOCSIS 2.0 CMTS, Hanvit I&B is using Terayon's DOCSIS 2.0 cable modems at the broadband subscriber end. Terayon said its DOCSIS 2.0 system can deliver approximately 40 Mbps of content from the Internet to the subscriber, and allows the subscriber to transmit nearly 30 Mbps upstream to the Internet.



• Terayon's end-to-end DOCSIS 2.0-based solution features both the A-TDMA (Advanced Time Division Multiple Access) and S-CDMA (Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access) advanced physical layer technologies that are included in the DOCSIS 2.0 specification.

Read More

Redback Expects Lower Q2 Numbers

Redback Networks now expects revenue for Q2 (ended 30-June-2003) to be approximately $22.0 million, compared to $29.5 million in Q1. Redback cited extended and delayed testing cycles, and slower than anticipated implementations of new service delivery platforms for the decline. It also highlighted the much publicized bans and restrictions on travel to the Asia Pacific region as having a negative impact of its revenues. Final results are expected 16-July-2003.
http://www.redback.com

Read More

ECI Telecom Updates Q2 Outlook

ECI Telecom now expects total consolidated revenues for its second quarter (ended 30-June-2003) to be approximately $101 million - $103 million. The company cited a revenue decline at ECtel and a slightly larger than expected decline in the revenues of its core businesses. ECI also announced plans to record charges associated with the recent restructuring of its Lightscape Optical Networks Division. It also said expects to make certain additional provisions with respect to a specific long term receivable reflecting the expected outcome of advanced discussions with a customer. As a result, ECI now estimates the total net loss for its Q2 to be between $30 million and $32 million or ($0.28)/share to ($0.30)/share. During the quarter, ECI continued to generate significant positive cash flow from operations and paid down $123 million of bank debt. At the end of the quarter, it had $170 million in cash, compared to an excess of $150 million at the end of the first quarter. Full results are expected on 06-August-2003.
http://www.ecitele.com

Read More

Sandburst Announce Key 10 Gbps Design Win with Riverstone

Sandburst, a start-up based in Andover, Massachusetts, announced that Riverstone's XGS family of 10 Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) switches are the first to use its Sandburst SANDWORKS Foundation Architecture. Sandburst's HIBEAM chip set and SANDWORKS Foundation Architecture can be configured for different applications through the selection of application firmware, memory size and switching capacity options. Choices range from low cost, high-density GbE line card solutions to performance-optimized configurations that deliver wire-speed 10 GbE switching.
http://www.sandburst.com

Read More

Infineon Pushes its Silicon Germanium ICs to 110 GHz

Researchers from Infineon Technologies demonstrated new peak performance values in high frequency integrated circuits developed using the company's advanced Silicon Germanium (SiGe) bipolar process technology. The measured circuit performances show 10 to 30% higher operating frequency compared to competing circuits from other vendors. Potential applications for such high-speed SiGe circuits include discrete components (transistors and diodes), 40 Gbps low-power wireline communication systems, high speed microwave radio links, ultra wide-band communication systems up to 60GHz and automotive radar systems at 77GHz.
http://www.infineon.com/news/

Read More

PowerCOM to Distribute Octasic's Voice Processors in Korea

PowerCOM, Korea's leading semiconductor distributor, will begin offering Octasic's voice processing chips to equipment manufacturers in Korea. Octasic's product line includes echo cancellation and voice quality enhancement chips, which support from 128 to 672 voice channels in a single chip; a 1023 channel full-duplex packetization engine for VoIP and VoAAL2 applications; and a 255 channel ADPCM compression device.
http://www.octasic.com

Read More

China Netcom chooses Alcatel 7770

China Netcom selected the Alcatel 7770 Optical Broadband Exchange (OBX) and the Alcatel 5620 Network Manager for the core of its IP network in Zhejiang province. The network will support value-added services such as video on demand, Internet access, video conferencing and MPLS-VPNs. The contract with Zhejiang Communication Company, a China Netcom subsidiary, was won through Alcatel Shanghai Bell. Financial terms were not disclosed.
http://www.alcatel.com

Read More

ETSI's VDSL Standard Allows for Either QAM or DMT Line Coding

The European Telecommunications Standards Institute's (ETSI's) TM6 sub committee has decided to support both Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM) and Discrete Multi-Tone (DMT) line coding in its VDSL standard. The decision to support dual line coding enables European service providers to choose for themselves which form of modulation they want for their VDSL network deployments. Infineon Technologies, which offers a QAM-based VDSL chip, said "the best way to accelerate VDSL deployment is to encourage true competition, in which component choice is based on price, performance, silicon size, and vendor reputation." Infineon claims to have shipped over 4 million QAM-VDSL ports, representing more than 2.5 million active lines.


The contribution in support of dual line code for VDSL can be found at the following URL:
ftp://ftp.t1.org/T1E1/E1.4/DIR2003/3E141761.pdf
http://www.etsi.orghttp://www.infineon.com

• Last month, the T1E1.4 committee, which is part of The Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions (ATIS), decided to specify only Discrete Multi-Tone (DMT) line coding in its American National Standard (ANS) for VDSL. The DMT modulation method will be specified in the American National Standard, and the Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM) method will be specified in a Committee T1 Technical Requirement (TRQ). The decision followed the release of data from the "VDSL Olympics," a series of performance tests conducted by Telcordia Technologies and BT.
• 
  
  Separately, the IEEE's 802.3ah Ethernet in the First Mile (EFM) Task Force selected DMT as its worldwide line-coding standard for VDSL.

Read More

China Railcom Selects Nortel for Packet Network

China Railcom named Nortel Networks as its exclusive supplier of packet voice equipment for Chongqing Municipal City. The carrier plans to use Nortel Networks Interactive Multimedia Server (IMS), Succession Communication Server 2000-Compact superclass softswitches, and Passport Packet Voice Gateways (PVG) to deliver converged voice/data services over twisted pair lines, ADSL, HFC, Ethernet or wireless. The contract follows a one-year trial that included extensive field testing under the close supervision of technical experts from China Railcom and the Ministry of Information Industry (MII). China Railcom is a fully licensed operator in China and its fixed-line network registered a capacity of over 15 million lines at the end of 2002. Financial terms were not disclosed.
http://www.nortelnetworks.com

Read More

CIENA Tunes its MetroDirector K2 for Ethernet

CIENA released new features that enable its MetroDirector K2 platform to deliver Fast Ethernet and Gigabit Ethernet enterprise services directly over existing service provider networks. The MetroDirector K2 combines the functionality of add/drop multiplexers, digital cross-connects, ATM switches and 10/100/1000 Ethernet switches in a single platform. New Fast Ethernet Bridging (FEB) and Gigabit Ethernet Bridging (GEB) cards for the K2 enable a suite of new enterprise services, including Guaranteed Ethernet Private Lines (from 50 Mbps up to full line rate), Shared Ethernet Private Lines (securely combines traffic from multiple customers on one SONET/SDH channel with standardized VLAN tags), and Switched Ethernet (a shared multi-point service).


CIENA also announced the availability of E1 support on MetroDirector K2 in SDH environments, enhancing its range from DS-1/E1 to OC-192/STM-64.
http://www.ciena.com

Read More

Cisco Builds Network Test Lab in Singapore

Cisco Systems has established a Networked Solutions Integration Test Engineering (NSITE) lab in Singapore to help customers test complex IP networking solutions in real world conditions. The other NSITE labs are located in North Carolina and California in the US, and in the UK, Belgium and Italy in Europe. The new Singapore lab is testing solutions for customers such as China Unicom, Japan's NTT and SingTel.
http://www.cisco.com

Read More

Spirent Introduces Dual-Media Gigabit Ethernet Test System

Spirent Communications introduced its SmartBits TeraMetrics XD Gigabit test family, a platform that allows users to evaluate and test both copper and fiber-based Gigabit Ethernet implementations. Spirent's SmartBits TeraMetrics XD scales to 768 ports and supports four dual-media test ports for both fiber and copper. Users can connect 10/100/1000Mbps copper -- or one Gigabit Ethernet fiber -- on each port.


Spirent's SmartBits TeraMetrics XD uses Xilinx Virtex-II Pro FPGAs. Spirent also used Xilinx Design Services for development of the product.
http://www.spirentcom.com/http://www.xilinx.com

Read More

Level 3 Prices $325 Million in New Bonds

Level 3 Communications has priced the offering of $325 million aggregate principal amount of its 2.875% Convertible Senior Notes due 2010 in an underwritten public offering. The underwriters (Citigroup, Credit Suisse First Boston, JPMorgan, Merrill Lynch & Co. and Morgan Stanley) also have an option to purchase up to an additional $48.75 million aggregate principal amount of the notes solely to cover over-allotments. Level 3 said the money would be used for working capital, capital expenditures and other general corporate purposes, including new product development, debt repurchases and acquisitions.
http://www.Level3.com

Read More