Nitronex Raises $6 Million for Gallium Nitride RF Devices

Nitronex, a start-up based in Raleigh, North Carolina raised $6 million in new funding for its development of gallium nitride (GaN) based radio frequency (RF) power transistors. The company claims its GaN on silicon technology provides significant performance and cost advantages for a number of important markets, including next generation wireless and LED applications, military communications, and automotive electronics. Nitronex expects to introduce new power transistor products for power amplifier and base station equipment manufacturers later this year.



Investors include Alliance Technology Ventures, TPG Ventures, and VantagePoint Venture Partners. Nitronex has raised $50 million to date.



Nitronex also named Charles E. Shalvoy as its Executive Chairman and acting CEO. Shalvoy was most recently President and CEO of Conductus Inc., a manufacturer of superconducting products for wireless networks. Prior to Conductus, he was President and COO of Therma-Wave. http://www.nitronex.com

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NTT DoCoMo to Separate Voice / Data During Disasters

NTT DoCoMo announced plans that would separately manage voice calls and data packet transmissions for some handsets in order to avoid network congestion during major natural disasters. The move is expected to increase the ability to successfully transmit text messages to DoCoMo's i-mode Disaster Message Board service, even if network traffic should rise sharply during a major disaster. DoCoMo users making calls during major disasters would also hear an announcement encouraging them to use the i-mode Disaster Message Board service or NTT's disaster message service instead of calling individuals directly, which will also help to reduce network traffic.



Presently, if network traffic were to become exceedingly heavy during a disaster, DoCoMo could be forced to block traffic in selected areas on a temporary basis to prevent serious degradation of network performance. In some instances, urgent messages sent to the Disaster Message Board could be blocked inadvertently. http://www.nttdocomo.com

• In January 2004, NTT DoCoMo launched an i-mode Disaster Message Board service that allows subscribers in Japan to post personal messages for friends and relatives who might not otherwise be able to contact them in the immediate aftermath of a national disaster, such as a high-magnitude earthquake. NTT DoCoMo said that should a major disaster occur, its network will undoubtedly be extremely busy as — in addition to the heavy traffic among administrative and relief agencies, ordinary users in the affected locale typically attempt outside contact to worried relatives and friends. In the event of severe network congestion, the new packet-based i-mode Disaster Message Board will be given sufficient priority to ensure that it continues to function. Each i-mode user in the disaster area would be able to click an on-screen menu enabling him or her to post up to 10 messages of 100 Japanese characters each. Someone wishing to check for a message left by a person in the disaster area would connect to the Disaster Message Board site, and input that person's cell phone number to display any registered messages.



• There are currently more than 45 million DoCoMo cellular phone users in Japan.

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Gemfire Acquires NovaCrystals for Photo Diode Technology

Gemfire Corporation has acquired NovaCrystals, a start-up in San Jose, California, for its Avalanche Photo Diode (APD) technology that can be manufactured using planar silicon processes.. Gemfire said the acquisition enhances its ability to provide integrated planar WDM solutions to the optical networking systems market in addition to supporting several immediate space and defense related opportunities. The NovaCrystals wafer bonding technology combines the speed and low noise advantages of silicon with the high detection sensitivity of InGaAs to achieve PIN and APD detectors at telecom wavelengths. The APD technology can also be designed to operate in Geiger Mode, with state-of-the-art noise and sensitivity performance for single photon counting applications.



Financial terms were not disclosed. http://www.gemfire.com

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Union Threatens Strike at SBC, Cites Call Center Off shoring to India

The Communications Workers of America issued a 30-day notice that its union members working at SBC Communications may go on strike if a new contract is not reached. CWA's local unions at SBC will begin the strike authorization vote among their members, with the results to be announced on April 29. If members vote to strike, the next step would be for CWA's executive board to authorize CWA's president to set the strike date.



The union alleges that SBC is not addressing workers' concerns about employment security, noting that CWA members are seeking limits on excessive subcontracting as well as gaining access for workers to jobs in growth areas of the company. SBC is outsourcing thousands of jobs in such areas as call centers, DSL tech support and others. Much of this work is being sent by contractors offshore to India and other countries. Health care is another issue.



CWA President Morton Bahr said the union has a two-prong strategy. Having given notice to SBC, CWA will be in a position to strike at the end of the 30-day period. In the meantime, the union will prepare for other tactics that potentially could affect the company's revenue but which don't rely on a strike. This would include gathering pledges from unions and union families in SBC territory to switch local and long distance service if CWA determined that it was necessary. CWA has used this strategy successfully in the past, Bahr said. http://www.cwa-union.org

• CWA represents 100,000 workers at SBC West (formerly Pacific Bell), SBC Midwest (Ameritech), SBC Southwest (Southwestern Bell) and SBC East (Southern New England Telephone.)

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Adesso Secures $8 Million for Enterprise Mobile

Adesso Systems, a start-up based in Boston, secured $8 million in funding for its enterprise mobile application solutions. Adesso's product family, announced in 2003, lets Pocket PCs, Tablet PCs, laptops and smartphones perform a variety of mobile applications even without always-on network connections. The product employs client and server application development and implementation software, and can works with either an Adesso-hosted or enterprise-resident server.



Carlyle Venture Partners led this investment round, with participation from Adesso's existing investors. http://www.adessosystems.com

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Verizon Wireless Prepared to Bid $5 Billion for Spectrum

Verizon Wireless announced that it is prepared to open bidding at $5 billion for 10 MHz of nationwide PCS spectrum in the 1.9 GHz band should the FCC determine to make spectrum in that band available for auction to the highest bidder.



Nextel has been petitioning the FCC to let it exchange some of its existing 800-megahertz spectrum for potentially more valuable spectrum in the 1.9 GHz band. Nextel argues that the FCC has full legal authority to approve the radio spectrum realignment.



Verizon Wireless argues that any such swap would violate FCC rules, federal law and more than a decade of U.S. spectrum policy. The company said Nextel's "interference with public safety channels can be resolved within the 800 MHz band, without grabbing at valuable spectrum that should be put to best public use in an auction."http://www.verizonwireless.comhttp://www.nextel.com

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Telstra Tests Alcatel's FTTP

Telstra selected Alcatel for a commercial Fibre-to-the-Premise (FTTP) pilot in Queensland, Australia. Alcatel said it has been involved in several operator FTTP field trials in the Asia Pacific region and has multiple FTTP deployments in North America as well.



Last December, SBC Communications, signed a four-year primary supplier agreement with Alcatel for its FTTP network. http://www.alcatel.com

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Cingular Wireless and NextWave Telecom Close Transaction

Cingular Wireless closed its transaction of 34 PCS licenses from NextWave Telecom. The licenses, covering approximately 83 million potential customers, are for spectrum primarily in markets where Cingular currently has voice and data operations.



Under terms of the deal, Cingular paid $1.4 billion in cash, and obtained FCC licenses to operate on 10 MHz of broadband PCS (1900 MHz) spectrum in 32 of the markets and of spectrum of 20 MHz in the 1900 MHz band in Tampa and El Paso (Texas).



All claims of the FCC and third parties related to these 34 licenses have been satisfied, including $714 million owed by NextWave to the FCC for these licenses, which was paid directly to the FCC out of the $1.4 billion total. http://www.cingular.com

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Aurora Appoints Gary Testa Vice President, Worldwide Sales

Aurora Networks named Gary Testa as Vice President, Worldwide Sales. Testa was most recently Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing for Gluon Networks, a start-up that developed next-generation CLASS 5 switching and access products. He previously held VP sales positions with venture-backed technology startups including Quintessent Communications and ObjectStream.



Founded in November 1999, Aurora Networks designs, develops, and markets advanced optical communications systems for traditional hybrid fiber/coax (HFC) networks and advanced, fiber-deep broadband networks. http://www.aurora.com

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ADC Ships DOCSIS 2.0 CMTS

ADC began shipping a DOCSIS 2.0 CMTS module for its Cuda 12000 Next-Generation cable modem termination system (CMTS). This new CMTS module, based on Broadcom's DOCSIS 2.0 chipset, is capable of providing throughput of nearly 500 Mbps. ADC said the increased data rates would enable multiple system operators (MSOs) to compete more effectively with existing providers to deliver symmetrical broadband applications such as voice, business grade high-speed data services and peer-to-peer functionality.



ADC said there are now more than 1,000 units of its Cuda CMTS platform deployed. http://www.adc.com

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U.S. Trade Office Lists Telecom Market Barriers Worldwide

The
Office of U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) issued a report
citing three key barriers that impede access and open
competition in global telecommunications markets:



(1) the proposed exclusionary standards for wireless equipment
and services in China and Korea,



(2) high interconnection rates for mobile and wireline networks
in Europe and Asia, and



(3) restrictions on accessing wholesale transmission capacity,
especially in Germany, India, Switzerland and Singapore. In
addition, the USTR lists at least two countries (Mexico and
South Africa) that have been slow in implementing commitments to
permit U.S. suppliers to resell basic telecom services in their
markets.



In particular, the USTR expressed serious concerns about the
impending Wireless LAN Authentication and Privacy Infrastructure
(WAPI) mandate in China, Korea's Wireless Internet Protocol for
Interoperability (WIPI) and its market for 2.3 GHz services, and
Japan's new 3G services.



The global market for telecommunications services and equipment
is now valued at about $1.3 trillion per year, according to the
newly issued 13-page report from the USTR.



The USTR report argues that the absence of fully independent
telecom regulators in many countries continues to weaken the
prospects for open competition. Key "countries of
concern" include China, Japan, France, Mexico and South
Africa.



The USTR said all of its recently negotiated Free Trade
Agreements (FTAs) contain specific prohibitions against the use
of exclusionary standards in the telecom sector, seek to ensure
reasonable and non-discriminatory access and interconnection
among network operators, and provide strong provisions for
independent regulators, including powers to enforce rules in a
transparent and meaningful way. Over the past year, FTAs have
come into effect between the U.S. and Chile and Singapore. New
FTAs have also been completed with six countries in Central
America, Australia and Morocco.



The USTR also noted that the United States recently won a
victory in the first ever telecommunications dispute in the WTO,
prevailing in a case against Mexico involving overcharges to
U.S. companies and consumers for phone calls to Mexico of over
$1 billion since 2000.
http://www.ustr.gov

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Canada's Allstream Offers Outsourced LANs based on Cisco

Allstream (formerly AT&T Canada) has launched a managed LAN service based on the Cisco AVVID (Architecture for Voice, Video and Integrated Data) architecture for enterprises interested in outsourcing their LAN infrastructure. The service will support Wi-Fi access capabilities, in addition to IP telephony and security / VPNs. Customers also have the option to combine Managed LAN with Allstream's Managed WAN services. http://www.allstream.com

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U.S. Robotics Offers 802.11g Wireless USB Adapter

U.S. Robotics introduced an 802.11g Wireless USB Adapter that plugs into any available 1.1 or 2.0 USB port. A power adapter is not necessary. The unit has a suggested retail price of $79.



U.S. Robotics is also introducing a new Wireless Gaming Adapter and Ethernet Bridge that plugs into an Ethernet enabled gaming console and automatically finds and connects to the nearest access point. It has a suggested retail price of $109. http://www.usr.com

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Isocore Tests GMPLS Control Plane Interoperability

Isocore Internetworking Lab recently completed its latest phase of IP-Optical Integration testing using next-generation control plane protocols.



The testing encompassed the Generalized Multi-Protocol Label Switching (GMPLS) suite of control plane protocols, including dynamic signaling and routing demonstrating the GMPLS Peer-to-Peer model. In addition, the OIF's User-to Network Interface (UNI) was also demonstrated.



During the testing event, which was held last month at the Isocore facility in McLean, Virginia, all participating companies successfully requested and established dynamic Label Switched Paths (LSPs) using dynamic routing databases, including next-hop route calculation at the optical layer. IP applications such as Layer 3 VPNs (including Carrier's Carrier and Inter-provider scenarios), IP v6 over MPLS, and MPLS OAM were deployed over a dynamic, self-managing optical core.



The intelligent optical core used GMPLS control plane protocols and also supported UNI access. Dynamic constraint-based shortest path first (CSPF) routing was demonstrated for the first time for GMPLS networks. Participating companies were able to support routing using OSPF-TE extensions for GMPLS and setup lowest cost GMPLS dynamic label switched paths (LSP).



The optical network consisted of equipment from Avici Systems, Ciena, Cisco Systems, Juniper Networks, Fujitsu Laboratories LTD, Furukawa Electric, Mitsubishi Electric, Navtel Communications, NEC, NTT, Sycamore Networks and Tellabs.



The testing event will be replicated in a live public demonstration at SUPERCOMM in Chicago in June. http://www.isocore.com

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Cisco Supplies Long Reach Ethernet for Parisian Apartments

Erenis, a start-up carrier backed by the French National Agency for Innovation and the European investment fund Net Partners, and will use Cisco Systems' Catalyst 2950 Long-Reach Ethernet (LRE) Series switches as one of the cornerstones of a network delivering low-cost service based on Very High-Bit Rate DSL (VDSL). Erenis already provides broadband access and traditional telephony services to its tenants over the same infrastructure. The LRE deployment will enable broadband services at speeds ranging from 15 Mbps up to 100 Mbps.



Besides Catalyst 2950 LRE Series switches and Cisco 500 Series LRE Customer Premise Equipment (CPE) devices, Erenis has deployed Cisco 7300 Series routers with Service Selection Gateways for broadband aggregation within its core network.



Erenis has a partnership with SAGI (Societe Anonyme de Gestion Immobiliere), which is one of the three largest landlords in Paris, owning around 35,000 households. To date, Erenis has already rolled out services to 5,000 households in the 12th, 15th, 17th and 20th districts of Paris and the suburb of Asnieres. http://www.cisco.com

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Net Insight to Acquire Q2 Labs for CWDM and Next Gen SDH/SONET

Net Insight agreed to acquire privately held Q2 Labs AB, a start-up based in Sweden, for 2.5 million of its shares (SX: NETI B). Q2 Labs, which was founded in 2003 by a team comprised of former Qeyton Systems engineers (acquired by Cisco in 2000) and Cisco Photonics Sweden, will add integrated CWDM (Course Wave Division Multiplexing) transport functionality and Next Generation SDH/SONET (GFP to Net Insight's product portfolio.



Net Insight's Nimbra platform combines NG SDH/Sonet transport, efficient Ethernet access and specific video and legacy interfaces for multi-service networks. Its products are used in telco triple play deployments and professional media networks to link geographically dispersed production facilities. http://www.netinsight.net

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ntl to Consolidate 13 Call Centers to 3

ntl, the UK's largest cable company with over 1 million broadband customers and 2.9 million residential TV customers, will consolidate its 13 call centers, which support ntl's UK home division, to three state-of-the-art call centers equipped for growth. Newer technology and streamlined processes will result in the elimination of up to 1,500 jobs. Ntl said it hopes to achieve much of this reduction through natural turnover. http://www.ntl.com

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picoChip Develops WiMax Building Blocks

picoChip, a start-up based in Bath, England is developing a WiMAX PHY library to run on its "picoArray" processor. The company said greater software flexibility is needed to implement rapidly evolving WiMax standards, including IEEE 802.16d (next generation fixed), 802.16e (mobility) or HPI, the Korean broadband wireless standard. It picoArray offers support for TDD or FDD, increased channel bandwidths, larger FFT sizes, sub-channelization or new FEC-modes (convolutional turbo-code). It also enables efficient use of multiple antennas at high sample rates, critically important for advanced algorithms such as adaptive antennas, space-time-coding (STC) and MIMO. The system is suited to both basestations and high-end subscriber stations. http://www.picoChip.com

• picoChip was founded in September 2000 and is backed by both Pond Venture Partners and Atlas Venture.

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Mobileway Secures $23 Million for Mobile Messaging

Mobileway, a start-up based in San Mateo, California and London raised $23 million in Series D funding to support its mobile messaging solutions. Mobileway facilitates the delivery of content to consumers with wireless devices. It operates carrier-grade data centers in Paris, Silicon Valley, and Singapore providing more than 150 direct connections and access to more than 600 operators.



In the Series D round, a new U.S.-based investment partner, Institutional Venture Partners (IVP), joins with existing investors 3i, CDP, Intel, Investcorp, Mayfield, Nexit Ventures, and Visa. The company has raised $77 million to date. http://www.mobileway.com.

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Optical Internetworking Forum to Host Global Interoperability Event

The Optical Internetworking Forum (OIF) is planning a global joint carrier, multi-vendor optical network interoperability demonstration to be conducted simultaneously in China, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States and showcased at SUPERCOMM in Chicago. Carriers participating in the OIF World Interoperability Demonstration will include AT&T, China Telecom, Deutsche Telekom, KDDI R&D Laboratories, NTT, Telecom Italia, and Verizon.



Participating supplier and carrier companies will conduct interoperability testing of Ethernet over SONET/SDH services and dynamic optical networking services. Based on ITU-T standards for Ethernet service adaptation, the Ethernet over SONET/SDH services testing will include the Generic Framing Procedure (GFP), Virtual Concatenation (VCAT), and the Link Capacity Adjustment Scheme (LCAS). The dynamic optical networking interoperability testing will be based on OIF implementation agreements for UNI 1.0 release 2 and E-NNI, and will include testing of both the control and data plane. These implementation agreements are based on the ITU's requirements for automatically switched optical networks. The carriers will also be coordinating the overall network interoperability requirements between the multiple carrier lab locations.



The World Interoperability Demonstration will be available for public observation during SUPERCOMM 2004 from June 22-24, in Chicago at the OIF booth #2006, Hall B2. http://www.oiforum.com

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