Alcatel Selected for Municipal FTTH Network in Georgia

Dalton Utilities, a public utility serving small cities in the state of Georgia, has selected the Alcatel 7340 Fiber-to-the-User (FTTU) system to deliver triple play services to residences and businesses. The Alcatel 7340 FTTU system uses a Broadband Passive Optical Networking (BPON) architecture. Financial terms were not disclosed.
http://www.alcatel.com

• Dalton Utilities is using General Bandwidth's G6 platform to deliver full feature voice services over their new Fiber to the Premises (FTTP) network. Dalton Utilities' OptiLink service delivers voice, video and high-speed data over an all-fiber access network. Financial terms were not disclosed. The General Bandwidth G6 platform is a carrier class, VoATM and VoIP access/media gateway supporting multiple signaling protocols such as GR-303/TR-08, TGCP/MGCP and SIP/PRI.



• Earlier this month, Alcatel introduced a new optical network termination (ONT) device for businesses being served by Broadband Passive Optical Network (BPON). The new Alcatel 7340 FTTU Business Optical Network Termination (B-ONT) unit interconnects various customer-owned devices, including telephones, PCs, and TVs to a network operator's PON. On the customer interface side, the new box offers an Ethernet connection, up to four DS-1s, a video port for an overlay video service, and up to 8 POTS lines. Voice traffic is carried across the BPON using the VoATM BLES standard.



• The Alcatel 7340 is based on the ITU-T BPON (Broadband Access Passive Optical Networking) standard and complies with the Full Service Access Network PON (supports both 155 Mbps symmetrical and 622/155 Mbps asymmetrical PONs). Each fiber from the CO carries one PON and can be shared by up to 32 subscribers using optical splitters. Capabilities include interactive video services using CATV, DBS or baseband technologies and support for hundreds of analog and digital channels; data access at 20 Mbps per subscriber with even higher bursting rates; and four POTS lines (VoATM) with lifeline support and toll-quality voice. The Alcatel 7340 product line consists of multiple elements, including a Packet Optical Line Terminal, a Home Optical Network Terminal, a Video Optical Line Terminal, and an element management system.

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Fortinet Raises $30 Million for ASIC-powered Antivirus Firewalls

Fortinet, a start-up based in Santa Clara, California, closed $30 million in fourth round funding for its ASIC-powered, network-based anti-virus firewall systems. The FortiGate systems deliver a full range of network-level services -- firewall, VPN, intrusion detection and traffic shaping -- as well as application-level services such as anti-virus and content filtering. The round was led by Redpoint Ventures, who was a new investor along with Meritech Capital Partners. All existing institutional investors also participated in the financing. Fortinet has raised $43 million to date.
http://www.fortinet.com

• Fortinet was founded by Ken Xie (CEO) and Michael Xie (CTO). Ken Xie previously was founder, president and CEO of NetScreen and was also founder, president and CEO of Stanford Infosystems, and the lead security architect with Healtheon (now WebMD). Michael Xie previously was vice president engineering for ServGate, software director and architect at NetScreen, and security architect for Milkyway.

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Riverstone Networks Updates its Financial Restatement

Riverstone Networks released results of its ongoing accounting review confirming that previously announced financial results were overstated. Based of the review, Riverstone has determined that it overstated its previously reported net revenues of $210.8 million for the fiscal year ended March 2, 2002 by as much as $85.5 million and its previously reported net revenues of $54.5 million for the nine months ended November 30, 2002 by as much as $12.7 million.


In addition, the company has determined that previously announced net revenues of $69.6 million for the fiscal year ended March 1, 2003 were overstated by as much as $13.3 million. The company anticipates a positive impact of as much as $700,000 on previously announced net revenues for the first quarter of fiscal 2004 ended May 31, 2003 of $12.7 million. More information is online.
http://www.riverstonenet.com

• Last week, Riverstone named Oscar Rodriguez as its new president and CEO, replacing Romulus Pereira, who will continue to serve as chairman of the company. Rodriguez previously served as president of Nortel Networks' Enterprise Solutions and Intelligent Internet divisions and as president and COO of Arris Interactive.

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AMCC Delivers 10 Gbps Transceivers With Electronic Compensation

Applied Micro Circuits Corp. (AMCC) introduced two 10 Gbps CMOS transceivers that could be used to deliver more integrated capabilities for line card and XFP modules. The transceivers interface with a variety of AMCC's OC-192 framers, mappers and Forward Error Correction (FEC) devices. Both transceivers support OC-192/STM-64, 10 Gigabit Ethernet, 10 Gigabit Fibre Channel and G.709 OTU-2 rates.
http://www.amcc.com/

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Flag Telecom's Outstanding Debt Reduced by 55%

FLAG Telecom completed the redemption of outstanding notes at a discounted rate, enabling the company to reduce its total outstanding debt by 55% to approximately $35 million.
http://www.flagtelecom.com

• In May 2003, FLAG Telecom announced plans to enhance the reach of its European network through an agreement with Verizon Global Solutions. This agreement is a key element in FLAG's global network plan. FLAG said it would also open new POPs in Amsterdam and Frankfurt to provide seamless connectivity to its submarine cable systems: FLAG Atlantic-1 (FA-1), FLAG Europe Asia (FEA) and FLAG North Asia Loop (FNAL).



• In March 2003, FLAG Telecom announced a capacity expansion to key segments of its cable system from Western Europe to Japan through the Middle East, India, Southeast Asia and China. This upgrade will double the system's capacity on key segments from the U.K. to the Middle East (from 10 Gbps to 20 Gbps).



• In February 2003, FLAG Telecom named Patrick Gallagher as its new CEO, replacing Mark Spagnolo who retains his position on the company's board of directors. Gallagher previously served with British Telecom, including five years as the Chief Executive of BT Europe and, most recently, as the Group Director for Strategy and Development also with responsibility for Japan, China, and investments in France, Italy, Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Korea.



• In October 2002, FLAG emerged from Chapter 11 with its network in tact and a significantly lower level of debt. Verizon originally was one of the principal shareholders in FLAG Telecom.

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ADC Names New Officers

ADC named Gokul Hemmady as its new CFO. Hemmady joined ADC in 1997 as Assistant Treasurer and has served as ADC's Corporate Controller and Treasurer since 2002.


ADC also announces the promotion of Mark Borman to the position of Treasurer, combined with his current position of Vice President of Investor Relations.
http://www.adc.com

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Boingo's Wi-Fi Network Reaches 2,600 Hotspots

Boingo Wireless now has over 2,600 unique hot spot locations either live or in the process of integration in its Wi-Fi roaming network. The company has added some 1,300 locations over the past 90 days.
http://www.boingo.com

• Boingo Wireless was founded by Sky Dayton, founder and chairman of EarthLink. The company received venture funding from New Enterprise Associates (NEA), Sprint PCS and Evercore Ventures.

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BT Supplies MPLS VPN for the Financial Times

BT was awarded a GBP 3.5 million contract to supply an MPLS VPN for the Financial Times. Over the past nine months, the FT has been migrating all its print sites, currently connected via a BT Frame Relay network, to a consistent page distribution solution. The new MPLS VPN is expected to reduce FT's distribution costs by 20% over the first year.
http://www.bt.com

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Bob Annunziata Joins Tropic Networks' Board

Bob Annunziata, a former CEO of Global Crossing, has been named non-executive Chairman of the Board of Directors of Tropic Networks, a start-up developing metro-optical network equipment. Previously, Annunziata helped establish Teleport Communications Group (TCG), a CLEC that was acquired by AT&T. In 1999, Annunziata became CEO and a Director of Global Crossing. In May of 2000, he was appointed Chairman of the Board at Velocita Corporation.
http://www.tropicnetworks.com

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D-Link Launches Airspot Line of Combo Public/Private Internet Gateways

D-Link launched the first in its line of affordable Airspot Public/Private Gateways aimed at small to medium-sized business that wish to create a public hot spot to cater to Wi-Fi enabled mobile consumers and businesspeople while maintaining access to its own private LAN. The D-Link Airspot DSA-3100 is a complete hot spot gateway that provides a firewall, DHCP server and router functions for both public and private broadband Internet access. From the gateway's web-based configuration menu "command center," the administrator can limit user access according to specific MAC addresses, direct customers to custom-designed welcome pages and manage web access and session times. It can manage up to 250 user accounts in its database and it also supports POP3, RADIUS, and LDAP external authentication for larger-scale Airspot networks. For instance, a coffee shop customer could purchase a cup of coffee and thirty minutes of Internet access, receiving a printed ticket with an assigned hot spot username and password. Bandwidth allocation can be limited per user to ensure quality service for all users.
http://www.dlink.com

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RCN Launches Cinemax On Demand

RCN began offering a Cinemax On Demand subscription video on demand (SVOD) in its Philadelphia, New York and Massachusetts markets. The service offers 50 hours of top Cinemax programming to digital subscribers for $4.95 per month.
http://www.rcn.com

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Cox Selects CIENA's ONLINE Multiservice Solutions for Nationwide Network

Cox, the fourth largest cable operator in the U.S., has selected CIENA's ONLINE Metro and ONLINE Edge platforms to support data services on its multiservice broadband communications network. CIENA's ONLINE platforms will be used to deliver video-on-demand, storage area networking and Gigabit Ethernet services. Financial terms were not disclosed.
http://www.ciena.com

• In June 2003, Cox began to move its long distance voice traffic onto its national IP backbone. Cox is using Nortel Networks' Succession cable VoIP solution and Nuera Communications' media gateways. The companies confirmed that this is the first packet trunking deployment by a cable operator in North America. Cox currently has some 750,000 voice customers being served over Nortel Networks DMS circuit switches and is handling more than 24 million calls per day. Cox has now deployed Nortel Networks Succession Communication Server 2000 superclass softswitch and has begun to move long distance traffic onto its national IP backbone. Cox is also using Nuera's ORCA GX-21 and GX-8 VoIP media gateways.



• In May 2003, Juniper Networks announced that Cox Communications had deployed its T-series routing platforms in a national IP backbone. Juniper's T320 platforms serve as peering points in Cox's new IP backbone.

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General Bandwidth Completes IP Centrex Interoperability Testing With VocalData

General Bandwidth announced an interoperability alliance with VocalData, an application developer of hosted IP telephony services. General Bandwidth's G6 platform simultaneously supports SIP-based IP Centrex services with feature servers, as well as MGCP-based softswitches and Class 5 derived voice services. VocalData's flagship VOISS product is a feature-rich, standards-based voice application server that can be used to deliver IP Centrex, hosted PBX, VoIP VPN, and enhanced services such as conferencing and unified messaging.
http://www.genband.com

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Connexion by Boeing Selects Eutelsat for In-Flight Satellite Connectivity

Connexion by Boeing signed a contract with Eutelsat for satellite transponder capacity covering key areas or Europe and Asia. The deal covers leased capacity on Eutelsat's SESAT satellite, which is located at 36 degrees East and provides a footprint stretching from the eastern Atlantic Ocean across the European continent and as far east as Central Asia. The connectivity will provide in-flight, real-time access to email, company intranets, the World Wide Web and entertainment content.
Financial terms were not disclosed.
http://www.boeing.com/connexionhttp://www.eutelsat.com

• In July 2003, the ITU's World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC) approved a new frequency allocation to the aeronautical mobile satellite service in the 14-14.5 GHz band, paving the way for greater availability of the Connexion by Boeing airborne broadband service. Boeing said the authorization follows three years of intensive effort within the ITU study groups, which concluded that aeronautical mobile-satellite services, such as Connexion by Boeing, can operate without causing harm to other users of the frequency band.

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DISH Network to Offer Free Digital Video Recorder

EchoStar Communications will begin offering a combination satellite TV receiver and digital video recorder (DVR) to new subscribers of its DISH Network service. The DISH Player - DVR 510 features a seven-day on-screen program guide, a 120-gigabyte hard drive capable of up to 100 hours of tapeless recording, parental locks and other features. The new DISH Video On Demand service allows viewers to skip commercials and other pre-recorded programming without videotape, as well as pause live TV, perform slow-motion instant replays, fast forward and fast reverse.
http://www.dishnetwork.com

• DISH Network is using the OpenTV platform to power 14 interactive TV services, including payment services, Instant Weather, horoscopes and sports scores.



• DISH Network currently has 8.8 million subscribers.

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McDATA Agrees to Acquire Nishan Systems and Sanera Systems

McData announced separate agreements to acquire Nishan Systems and Sanera Systems, both start-ups targeting storage area networks (SANs). McDATA said that as a result of these acquisitions its expanded portfolio would allow its customers to seamlessly build and grow their storage services infrastructure in several dimensions simultaneously.


Nishan Systems, which is based in San Jose, California, offers a line of IP storage switching products that enable enterprises to leverage their Fibre Channel storage network infrastructure and their IP networks to consolidate storage infrastructures across the campus and enterprise. Nishan switches are qualified with all major storage platforms and replication applications, including those of EMC, HDS, HP, IBM, XIOtech, Sun, StorageTek and LSI Logic. McDATA has agreed to acquire all outstanding shares of Nishan Systems for $83 million in cash and will also assume approximately $2 million in debt.


Sanera Systems, which is based in Sunnyvale, California, offers terabit, protocol transparent SAN switches. Sanera's DS10000 datacenter-class director, introduced in April 2003, scales to as many as 256 non-blocking 2 Gbps ports or up to 64 10 Gbps ports per chassis. The platform can be used for SAN consolidation, large fabric deployment and in-network storage services integration. McDATA has agreed to acquire all outstanding shares of Sanera Systems for approximately $102 million in cash, net of debt and cash on hand.


Both acquisitions are expected to close within one to two months, pending regulatory approvals.


Separately, McDATA announced today that it has entered into an agreement with Aarohi Communications to provide technology for McDATA's intelligent switch platforms.
http://www.mcdata.com
http://www.nishansystems.com/

• Sanera Systems is headed by Alex Mendez, who is a founding partner of Storm Ventures, and was previously VP & General Manager of Cisco's Multiservice Access Business Unit.



• In July 2003, Sanera Systems received $35 million in third round financing to support the development of its terabit, protocol transparent SAN switch.



• Nishan Systems was founded in October 1998 and is led by Aamer Latif, who previously was President and CEO of Amati Communications, an early developer of ADSL. In October 2000, the company announced the closing of $50 million in third round funding.

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California Town Plans Municipal FTTH Network

The town of Truckee, California, plans to begin construction this Fall of a municipal FTTH network serving 12,000 subscribers. The Truckee Donner Public Utility District ("TDPUD") recently sold a 16.5 mile conduit that runs through the town to Sierra Pacific Communications (SPC). Proceeds will be used for construction of the new FTTH network. The conduit will assist SPC in completing its Salt Lake City to Sacramento fiber optic network. The deal also provides TDPUD with the rights to four strands of dark fiber running from Reno to Sacramento. The dark fiber will be used to fulfill programming requirements of the municipal FTTH network.


Aggregate Networks was hired by TDPUD to assist it in the valuation of the conduit, dark fiber route, related network assets, as well as negotiation and disposition of the asset. Aggregate Networks is also representing TDPUD in procuring financing for the construction and roll-out of services for its broadband network.
http://www.aggregatenetworks.net

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Lucent Selected for Telecom Rebuilding in Iraq

Bechtel has awarded a $25 million subcontract to Lucent Technologies to carry out emergency repair and rehabilitation of the communications network in Iraq. Under the contract, Lucent will provide 13 5ESS and 5ESS Very Compact Digital Exchange (VCDX) central office switches, the Lucent Metropolis ADM Multiservice Mux, and its Navis Network management system. Deployment will begin next month.


Prior to the war, approximately 1.1 million Iraqis subscribed to the Iraqi Telephone and Post Company (ITPC) for landline telephone service. Much of the communications network was centralized in Baghdad. Currently in Baghdad, 240,000 out of 540,000 telephone lines are out of service. Bechtel estimates that as much as 80% of the actual deployment work for restoring these lines will be done by Iraqi workers and engineers. Lucent will also help establish a training program to facilitate the installation and maintenance of its equipment.
http://www.lucent.com

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General Bandwidth Adds SIP-Based IP Centrex to G6 Gateway

General Bandwidth has added full SIP and PRI support within its G6 Packet Telephony Migration Platform. The G6 platform can now be used in conjunction with a SIP feature server to provide a wide range of traditional Centrex and other messaging capabilities. New features can include advanced call screening, single number service, click-to-call, dial from directories, voice & email integration, as well as legacy Class 5 and other new services.


General Bandwidth's G6 platform already offered support for derived voice services from legacy Class 5 switches through GR-303/TR-008 and V5.2 interfaces. Carriers now have the capability to simultaneously deploy VoIP services from the same G6 platform while supporting calls from multiple softswitches and features servers. The G6 software also includes support for RFC2833 with Named Telephony Events (NTE) enabling full Class 5 feature capabilities over VoIP such as voice mail indicator and flash hook-based features as well as support for low bit rate codecs such as G.729e to provide better bandwidth utilization across the carrier's network.
http://www.genband.com

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Alaska's Matanuska Telephone Deploys Minerva's IP Headend

Matanuska Telephone Association (MTA), an independent operating company (IOC) serving 38,000 member-owners in Alaska, has deployed Minerva Networks IP television headend for its triple play network. This fall, MTA will begin offering live next-generation digital television, video on demand (VOD) and pay-per-view bundled with voice and data services over an ADSL network. The MTA service includes 195 channels of high-quality digital TV including local channels, VOD, pay-per-view and later this fall, MTA will offer TV-based Caller-ID bundled together with its existing telephony and high-speed Internet access.


MTA is using the Minerva iTVManager service management software and the Minerva VC8000 video processing platform. The iTVManager administration module manages business functions and monitors customer preferences while the iTVManager client module, running on the subscriber's set-top box, creates the interactive user experience.
http://www.minervanetworks.com
http://www.mtasolutions.com

• Matanuska Telephone Association (MTA) is using Net Insight's Ethernet-based transport platform to support is triple play DSL network. The Net Insight system is a transport switch used for carrying video from the satellite-fed headend to IGMP-enabled DSLAMs. Net Insight uses DTM (Dynamic synchronous Transfer Mode) multiplexing technology to guarantee QoS and no jitter or packet loss for the video streams. Matanuska's network uses Allied Telesyn's DSLAMs.

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