Thales and Alcatel Partner on R&D

Thales and Alcatel announced the creation of a joint research laboratory dedicated to semiconductor technologies, targeting applications in telecommunications, defense, space and security. The laboratory, known as the Alcatel-Thales III-V Lab, will re-enforce both companies' world-class expertise in the field of optoelectronic and microelectronic components based on III-V technologies III-V materials have respectively three and five electrons in their last atomic layer. The association of these materials allow considerable transmission power. A consortium (Groupement d'Interêt Economique) equally held by Thales and Alcatel will manage the Alcatel-Thales III-V Lab. http://www.alcatel.comhttp://www.thalesgroup.com

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Murata Selects Philips WiFi Chips for Mobile/WLAN Phones

Murata Manufacturing Co., a supplier of integrated electronics components for mobile handsets and other portable devices, has selected Philips' low-power 802.11b wireless local area network (LAN) chipset for its newest module. The companies said mobile phone manufacturers continue to add features and functionality to mobile phones. Wireless LAN capabilities will give mobile phone users access to high-speed information transfer at hotspots and other wireless-LAN-served environments. The Philips low-power WLAN chipset consumes less than 2 mW in stand-by mode. It is also a "zero host-load" 802.11b solution, which means it has the ability to listen for and process incoming traffic even when the host processor is powered down. The host processor only wakes up when a valid data packet arrives, saving more battery power. In addition, when used in a handheld device with Bluetooth wireless connectivity, the 802.11b chipset supports coexistence features, which eliminate interference between the two signals. http://www.semiconductors.philips.com

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Cirpack Names Executive Advisor

CIRPACK, developer of next generation voice switches for operators' infrastructures, today announced that Alain Bravo has been appointed Special Advisor to Cirpack CEO. Alain Bravo joined the company's Board of Directors one year ago. He formerly served as France Telecom's Executive Vice President-Operations from 1980 to 1985, after which he joined Vivendi where he founded SFR, the first French private mobile operator. As of 1995, he joined Alcatel as President of Mobile Networks Division and then Director of Research & Technology. He graduated from the prestigious Ecole Polytechnique and Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Télécommunications de Paris. He is Chairman of the Board of Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Télécommunications de Bretagne and President of the Advisory board of the French National Network of Research in Telecommunications. http://www.cirpack.com

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Big Bear Unveils Electronic Dispersion Compensation Technology

Big Bear Networks, a start-up based in Sunnyvale, California, introduced its patented electronic dispersion compensation (EDC) technology for addressing optical impairments in high-speed networks. The company said its EDC technology significantly improves receive sensitivity over fiber, providing additional margin at 80 km, and it increases the tolerance to transmitter variation, which improves interoperability with other vendor's transponders -- an ongoing problem with long-reach applications. Big Bear Networks has integrated its EDC technology, called Photronic Signal Processing (PSP), with optical components to deliver high performance, cost-optimized modules for high speed network applications.



Big Bear Networks is currently shipping for revenue into three markets, with additional products planned for market introduction later this year. All of the products are based on Big Bear Networks' PSP technology:

• Big Bear Networks is announcing 10GBASE-ZR XENPAK modules targeted at long-reach, single-mode (80-120 km) 10G Ethernet metro applications.



• Big Bear Networks has successfully had its EDC-based ICs designed into 10G Telecom line cards, which resolve optical impairment issues over single-mode fiber transmission links.



• Big Bear Networks has also developed its 40/43G transponders, which have been shipping for more than one year. The company supplies most of the early adopter 40G transponder business, primarily with test equipment manufacturers and Tier-1 system OEMs.

Big Bear Networks intends to deliver the first 10G Ethernet multi-mode fiber module, aligned to the IEEE draft standard -- targeting the high-volume enterprise switch-to-switch market applications. The bulk of fiber installed in the enterprise market is legacy-grade multi-mode, and the only current 10G solution is Coarse WDM interfaces (LX4), which has proven to be too expensive for enterprise applications. http://www.bigbearnetworks.com

• In November 2003, Big Bear Networks raised $18 million in a third round of private venture funding for its next-generation 10 and 40 Gbps optical system products. Big Bear said its electronic dispersion compensation technology automatically corrects for the fiber impairments (e.g., modal dispersion, chromatic dispersion, polarization mode dispersion) that become more severe as systems move toward greater speeds and transmission distances. Its Photonic Signal Processor (PSP) could be used in electrical-optical interfaces in equipment such as Ethernet switches, DWDM transmission systems, IP/MPLS routers and SONET/SDH cross-connects. The new funding was led by Menlo Ventures. Other participants include previous investors Accel Partners, Austin Ventures, Oak Investment Partners, and Sequoia Capital.

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MERA Networks Launches Next Gen Session Border Controller

MERA Networks, a start-up based in Moscow, announced the forthcoming release of a next generation session border controller designed for the interworking of IP PBXs with the networks of service providers. The new MERA VoIPal can be deployed either on the carrier's or customer's side. It performs protocol repair providing vendor specific telephony features and services support, fixes inconsistencies between protocol dialects and converts media codecs to guarantee ready compatibility of carrier/enterprise equipment and correct processing of vendor specific telephony features. The two-way SIP/H.323 translation capabilities provide interworking of multivendor equipment and enable direct IP-to-IP interconnection of service provider networks with SIP and/or H.323-based IP PBX and IP Centrex systems. It also hides network topology and has a built-in firewall functionality .



MERA said its VoIPal is compatible with carrier-grade and enterprise solutions from Alcatel, Cisco Systems, Nortel Networks, Siemens, VocalTec and a number of others. http://www.mera-voip.com

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WilTel Adds New Vice President of Enterprise Markets

WilTel Communications has named Terrence J. Connell as its vice president of enterprise markets. In this new position, Connell is responsible for leading the sales of WilTel's portfolio of data and IP services to Fortune 2000 customers and in its four key enterprise verticals: Finance, Insurance, Systems Integrators, and Healthcare. Prior to his new position at WilTel, Connell was vice president of business markets at Broadwing, where he was responsible for launching Broadwing's enterprise sales efforts for the Eastern division. In addition to his time at Broadwing, Connell spent more than 16 years at MCI. http://www.wiltel.com

• In May 2004, WilTel Communications, which provides extensive wholesale carrier services, unveiled a strategy for enterprise networking services. New services include Managed Security, which consists of managed firewalls and intrusion detection and Managed Router, which provides pre-configured hardware and software that reduce deployment timeframes on routers. The company also announced the re-launch of several existing products that have been upgraded to serve the Enterprise market, including MPLS IP VPN and Ethernet WAN.

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BCE Agrees to Settlement with Manitoba Telecom

Bell Canada Enterprises (BCE) agreed to settle its lawsuits for a permanent injunction and damages against Manitoba Telecom Services Inc. (MTS) and for damages against Allstream Inc. The terms of the settlement include a p payment of C$75 million by MTS to Bell Canada in consideration of the early termination of commercial agreements existing between the two companies; a premium payment by MTS to Bell in the event a change of control of MTS occurs prior t January 2006; and the naming of Bell as the preferred supplier of wholesale services to MTS/Allstream.
Also, MTS/Allstream has extended wholesale services to Bell on a preferred supplier basis. Bell and MTS will compete freely with each other in Canada. Existing cellular agreements between Bell and MTS will remain in effect until the end of 2006. http://www.bce.ca

• In June 2004, Manitoba Telecom Services completed its acquisition of Allstream (formerly AT&T Canada). Allstream operates a nationwide network spanning 18,000 km and is focused on the business market.



• In March 2004, Manitoba Telecom Services (MTS) first announced plans to acquire Allstream (formerly AT&T Canada) in a transaction valued at $1.7 billion. BCE (the parent company of Bell Canada) had commenced a legal proceeding against Allstream Inc. claiming damages of $150 million from Allstream for conspiracy and inducing MTS to breach certain obligations to Bell Canada.

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Siemens and Bharti Sign US$50 Million Mobile Contract

Bharti Tele-Ventures, India's largest mobile operator with over 7 million customers, selected Siemens Mobile to optimize its mobile network. Siemens mobile will not only expand the GSM/GPRS network, but also operate and maintain it. The contract is worth around US$50 million and will run for three years. Siemens mobile will expand Bharti's network in the circles of Kolkata, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal. The contract includes the supply of GSM core and radio network infrastructure as well as GPRS technology for providing seamless coverage in over 150 towns across the 3 circles.



Siemens also noted that the contract marks the first time it has been chosen to operate a mobile network in Asia. http://www.siemens.com

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Ericsson's EDGE Delivers 235.6 kbps in Live Test

Ericsson reported a record peak data speed of 235.6 kbps across an EDGE (Enhanced Data Rates for Global Evolution) radio interface - on T-Mobile's network in Hungary. T-Mobile Hungary and Ericsson successfully demonstrated the high-speed mobile data possibilities with EDGE technology over a 2 week period. The aim of the application level measurements was to assess the robustness and performance in a live radio environment. The measurements were performed according to the Ericsson test description for active GPRS/EDGE end-to-end performance testing at pre-selected measurement locations. http://www.ericsson.com

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Cogent Names Former AT&T Exec as President

Cogent Communications named Reed Harrison will become its President and Chief Operating Officer. Harrison most recently served as AT&T's Senior Vice President - Network Engineering & Operations. He will be responsible for Cogent's day-to-day operations and will work closely with Dave Schaeffer, the company's CEO. http://www.cogentco.com

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Bell Labs to establish R&D Center in Ireland

Lucent Technologies' Bell Labs will establish an R&D center in Ireland in partnership with IDA Ireland and Science Foundation Ireland. The center will be a global headquarters for research into telecommunications and supply chain technologies and will be located at Lucent's facility in Blanchardstown, Dublin. Plans also call for the establishment of a Centre for Telecommunications Value-Chain-Driven Research (CTVR) to be headquartered at Trinity College, Dublin. Opportunities for up to 120 researchers will be created between the two centers. http://www.lucent.com/press/0604/040630.bla.html

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India's Bharti Infotel SelectsTellabs

Bharti Infotel is deploying the Tellabs 6300 managed transport system to enhance and expand its bandwidth capacity. The Tellabs solution includes the Tellabs 6370 WDM node, the Tellabs 6350 switch node, a high-density 4/4/3/1 digital cross-connect, and the Tellabs 6300 network manager, a single platform that manages the entire network. The new 14,500 km network provides Bharti with an initial 10 Gbps capacity and the option to scale and grow the network to 32 channels, each with 10 Gbps capacity. http://www.tellabs.comhttp://www.bhartiteleventures.com

• Bharti Tele-Ventures currently serves over 7 million mobile users in India. It offers mobile services in 15 out of 23 circles in India. The Company also provides fixed-line services in 6 circles. The company complements its mobile and fixed-line services with national and international long distance services. The company also has a submarine cable landing station at Chennai, which connects the submarine cable connecting Chennai and Singapore.

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Energis Deploys Marconi Multiservice Optical Core

Energis is deploying Marconi's OMS1664 optical multiservice platform in its optical core network. The Energis national core network also uses Marconi's PMA32 DWDM platforms. Financial terms were not disclosed.



The Marconi OMS1664 platform is a high-density, full-connectivity service delivery platform as well as a compact, high-capacity traffic aggregation and switching device. The platform integrates with Marconi's optical core and metro WDM solutions and offers new ITU-approved data enabling capabilities -- fully standardized Generic Framing Procedure (GFP), Link Capacity Adjustment Scheme (LCAS) and Virtual Concatenation (VCAT) solutions. http://www.marconi.com

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Tacit Networks Offers Windows Wide Area File Services

Tacit Networks began shipping its Wide Area File Services (WAFS) solution based on Windows Storage Server 2003. The company already offered a UNIX implementation of the file sharing solution, which provides transparent availability to data for remote office users regardless of the physical location of enterprise storage systems.



Tacit Networks' WAN-optimized protocol connects directly to industry-standard CIFS and NFS file systems and layers six simultaneous software technologies including differencing, data streaming, compression, data aggregation, I/O clustering and read-ahead. http://www.tacitnetworks.com

• Tacit Networks has developed an enterprise storage caching appliance designed to enable low-latency file sharing among geographically dispersed locations. The platform leverages a unique Storage Caching/ Internet Protocol (SC/IP) developed by Tacit Networks that is interoperable with existing storage, network and hardware infrastructure. The Tacit Storage Cache attaches directly to the LAN at a remote site and connects back to a Tacit Cache Server in the data center through a gateway using a standard VPN. From the LAN user's perspective, the Storage Cache appears to be a Network Attached Storage (NAS) device, providing access to shared files using standard file sharing protocols like CIFS (for Windows) and NFS (for Unix). The Tacit Cache Server is a thin appliance that sits in front of a network attached storage (NAS) system at the data center and coordinates access by multiple remote Storage Caches to the consolidated storage resources. Tacit's SC/IP protocol, which is run between the Tacit Storage Caches and the Tacit Cache Server, uses compression and file differencing to minimize the amount of data transferred over the network. The storage caching system is aimed at enterprises that need to share data in real time.

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Lucent and Novatel Supply 3G Cards to Orange, TMN

Lucent Technologies and Novatel Wireless announced an agreement with Orange to supply 3G UMTS PC card modems for network rollouts in the UK and France. The Merlin U530 Wireless PC Modem Cards -- jointly developed by Lucent and Novatel Wireless -- enable connection speeds up to 384 kbps. Financial terms were not disclosed.



Lucent Technologies and Novatel Wireless also announced a contract to supply the same 3G PC card modems to TMN, the leading mobile operator in Portugal. http://www.lucent.comhttp://www.novatelwireless.com

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TransDimension Closes $18 Million for Peripheral Connectivity

TransDimension, a start-up based in Irvine, California, raising a total of $18.35 million in new funding for its peripheral connectivity solutions. TransDimension's product lines include the integrated circuits, IP cores and USB software stacks that enable direct connectivity for a wide range of PC peripheral applications and mobile devices. Proceeds from the financing were used in part to acquire the assets of the ARC International Peripheral Connectivity business including the ARC USB and Ethernet IP cores, CertiPHY capability and USB system support and development tools. The acquisition will enable TransDimension to expand its wired USB product base by leveraging the ARC USB IP cores and to further develop the company's peripheral connectivity focus into wireless USB used in high-volume consumer electronic devices.



TransDimension recently shipped its five millionth embedded USB host controller and has secured customer wins with NEC Electronics Corporation and STMicroelectronics. TransDimension also recently announced that it has joined the WiMedia Alliance, an industry alliance focused on Ultra Wideband (UWB) wireless connectivity.



VantagePoint Venture Partners led the Series D financing, with participation by iSherpa Capital. Additional investors include GKM Ventures, Rolling Oaks Capital, and Shelter Capital Partners. http://www.transdimension.com

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Verizon Wireless to Buy Qwest's PCS Licenses for $418M

Verizon Wireless agreed to acquire Qwest's PCS licenses (1900 MHz) and related wireless network assets in 14 states for $418 million in cash. The deal includes relevant cell sites and wireless network infrastructure, site leases, and associated network equipment. The sale is contingent upon federal regulatory approval. JP Morgan acted as a financial advisor to Qwest. http://www.qwest.comhttp://www.verizonwireless.com

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Nokia and ST Propose Standard Mobile Imaging Architecture

Nokia and STMicroelectronics proposed a new specification for camera modules in mobile devices.
The specification, dubbed Standard Mobile Imaging Architecture, or SMIA, will cover all aspects of the modules, including their electrical, mechanical, and functional interfaces, and also address other key areas such as characterization, optical performance, and reliability.



The companies said the mobile-phone camera-module industry has developed rapidly in terms of technology, with dramatic increases in image quality and higher resolution. The SMIA would enable mobile handset vendors to work with multiple suppliers.



Nokia recently estimated that the camera phone market would exceed 200 million units this year.



While Nokia and ST hold key patents and other intellectual property in the SMIA specification, both companies have decided to open these up to any third party and will not assert those rights against anyone implementing a fully compliant SMIA module. No fee, nor royalty, will be levied. http://www.smia-forum.org

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Kasenna and SecureMedia Partner on Video Content Protection

Kasenna will integrate SecureMedia's Encryptonite System with its video network infrastructure. SecureMedia's Encryptonite System is an open platform DRM software solution optimized for the secure distribution of VOD, broadcast pay television, and multimedia services over IP networks. The system is entirely software-based (allowing for field upgrades), and runs on a variety of operating systems and hardware platforms. http://www.kasenna.com/http://www.securemedia.com

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Global Crossing Tunes its Converged IP Suite for Financial Firms

Global Crossing introduced an IP Convergence Solutions Suite designed for the data security and privacy requirements of the financial services industry. The company said its new IP services suite support mission-critical applications and transport IP data seamlessly throughout key financial centers worldwide.



Global Crossing's MPLS-based IP VPN provides three classes of service (CoS) with differentiated QoS, enabling financial firms to simultaneously run multiple applications, including IP turrets, instantaneous trading and multicast services with guaranteed performance.



In addition to the Converged IP Solutions announced today, Global Crossing has been serving the financial services industry with a set of customized applications for the investment trading community for more than eight years. Global Crossing's Hoot and Holler network carries real-time news and market commentary to trading floors and offices worldwide. The company's Trader Voice capability provides instant voice messaging for the trading community, while its Financial Extranet allows customers to connect, communicate and transact by linking global data providers and trading partners. http://www.globalcrossing.com/

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