Ascent Media Chooses Net Insight For Real-Time Video Transport

Ascent Media Network Services (AMNS), which specializes in network origination, video distribution and post-production services, has deployed Net Insight's SONET/SDH based Nimbra platform for its real-time video and data transfers. AMNS is using Broadwing Communications' Media Services Network to connect its facilities in New York, Minneapolis Los Angeles, and London. The Net Insight equipment installed at these locations as well as on the Broadwing network. http://www.netinsight.nethttp://www.ascentmedia.com

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Rogers Wireless Chooses Azaire for Hotspots across Canada

Rogers Wireless selected Azaire Networks as its core system provider for Wi-Fi services at its HOTSPOT locations across Canada. Azaire's platform provides Rogers Wireless customers with secure authentication and authorization of Wi-Fi services. Financial terms were not disclosed. http://www.azairenet.com/

• In March 2004, Rogers Wireless, Bell Mobility, TELUS Mobility, and Microcell Solutions, signed an inter-carrier agreement that establishes common standards for roaming and interoperability of the public Wi-Fi HOTSPOT locations they each operate. Once fully operational, customers of each of the carriers who visit any of the HOTSPOT locations across the country will find an identical browser-based login area and will be able to access Wi-Fi services and have the charges applied directly to their existing wireless carrier's account.

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Swisscom/Bluewin Readies Launch of Microsoft IPTV over ADSL

Swisscom's Bluewin subsidiary is preparing to launch a trial IPTV over ADSL service next month in collaboration with Microsoft. Bluewin will initially provide 600 homes with 25 TV channels. IP video will be streamed from the Bluewin computing centre via ADSL to the customer's set-top box, where the IP signal is converted for viewing on any TV. The service require between 1.2 and 1.5 Mbps of bandwidth.



Bluewin is the first operator in Europe to trial pay-TV services powered by the Microsoft TV IPTV platform.



The offering also includes 5 pay-TV channels, video-on-demand and an integrated video recorder, which also features a live pause function for TV broadcasts. Bluewin plans to price a standard subscription at CHF 23.90 (21 channels from all categories plus 4 Swiss SRG channels) per month. The basic subscription tier can be supplemented with additional channels for CHF 1.00 each.



The trial will last for around four months, after which work will begin on the market launch of Bluewin TV in 2005. http://www.microsoft.com/tv/http://www.bluewin.ch

• In June 2004, Lucent Technologies and Microsoft announced a non-exclusive partnership to integrate the Microsoft IPTV software platform with Lucent's network access solutions. This integration enables the delivery of standard-definition, high-definition and on-demand programming to the Microsoft TV IPTV-based set-top box via the Lucent Stinger IP-Enabled DSLAM and Lucent ADSL2+ modem. At SuperComm, the companies demonstrated high-definition content delivered over a single ADSL2+ connection.

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Verizon Vice Chairman Calls for Market-Based Broadband Policies

Verizon plans to invest at least $3 billion in transformative technologies, such as FTTP, Evolution-Data Optimized (EV-DO) broadband wireless, and residential VoIP, through 2005, said company president Lawrence Babbio, speaking at the Progress & Freedom Foundation's Aspen Summit.



However, Babbio said current regulatory policy "acts a brake on such investment." Babbio called on regulators to "stop making policy by looking in the rear-view mirror." He offered four principles on which an updated policy should be built:

• "Do not apply unbundling obligations to new broadband networks. Unbundling and pricing policies applied in the past to stimulate competition in voice telephony are unnecessary in the highly
  competitive broadband data world."



• "Allow the market to work, free of extensive and unnecessary regulation that stifles innovation."



• "Eliminate economic regulation of high-speed services. Remove price regulation and tariffs, and otherwise treat broadband with the light regulatory touch accorded to information services (Title I). Wireline telephone companies that offer video as part of broadband services should not have to obtain cable franchises in every local jurisdiction, since they already have the right of way to deploy networks. Revenue needs of local governments can be met without the delay and red tape inherent in the franchising process."



• "Adopt a national policy that pre-empts other levels of government. Local jurisdictional borders do not apply to the realm of the Internet. Current policy subjects investments to the conflicting agendas and interpretations of regulatory agencies at every level of government."

http://www.verizon.com

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USTA, Verizon and Qwest Seek to Block FCC's Six Month Freeze

The United States Telecom Association (USTA), Verizon Communications and Qwest Communications filed papers with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia seeking to block the six month freeze in local access rules announced by the FCC last week.



The two RBOCs contend that the FCC exceeded its legal authority and has no power to extend the requirement for leasing lines beyond the court's recent ruling.



"For nearly a decade, we have waited for the FCC to put lawful rules in place for the telecom industry. Unfortunately, after four attempts, missed deadlines, instability and delay, we are again forced to ask the court to intervene to bring certainty and clarity to the industry. The Commission must put lawful, permanent rules in place by the end of this year so that all providers can move forward on a competitive basis," said Walter B. McCormick, Jr., President and CEO of the United States Telecom Association. http://www.usta.org

• Late last week, the FCC issued a long awaited order freezing any changes in the current local access competition rules for six months. During this period, the Commission intends to develop and then vote on a new set of alternative unbundling rules, hopefully overcoming the legal pitfalls that led to the previous Triennial Review Order being vacated by the courts. Under the temporary rules, incumbent local exchange carriers (LECs) are required to continue providing unbundled access to switching, enterprise market loops, and dedicated transport under the same rates, terms and conditions that applied under their interconnection agreements as of June 15, 2004.

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Ikanos Cites Korean Traction for its 100 Mbps Chipsets

Ikanos Communications cited two South Korean manufacturers that are using its VDSL chipsets in a range of high-speed access platforms.



Dasan Networks is employing Ikanos' 100 Mbps programmable Fx and FxS chipsets in its new high-speed Internet access solution. Aimed mainly at the worldwide broadband markets, the Dasan Networks solution will enable carriers to offer their Multi-Tenant and Multi-Dwelling Unit (MxU) customers Internet access at speeds of up to 100 Mbps downstream and 50 Mbps upstream over ordinary copper telephone lines.



Millinet Co., another supplier of broadband equipment based in South Korea, is also using Ikanos Communications' 100 Mbps programmable Fx and FxS chipsets in its latest high-speed product line. The companies said carriers purchasing the new Ikanos-based Millinet solutions can offer their subscribers up to 100 Mbps downstream and 50 Mbps upstream. http://www.ikanos.com

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DSL Forum Issues Technical Reports for DSLHome Next Gen Architecture

The DSL Forum issued two newly approved Technical Report (TR) specifications (TR-092 and TR-094) aimed at enabling multiservice DSL applications such as home security and entertainment.

• TR-094 "Multi-Service Delivery Framework for Home Networks" defines the Forum's "DSLHome" home networking architecture and sets requirements that optimize a home network to take advantage of the full capabilities of manifold broadband access services. The architecture permits multiple users within the home to simultaneously run numerous applications and devices with differing connectivity requirements and QoS. With the focus on home networking and distribution of applications throughout the home, the DSL Forum is engaging with other associations such as the Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) and Universal Plug'n'Play Forum (UPnP) to initiate collaborative efforts to deliver the infrastructure for emerging triple and quad play applications for consumers.



• TR-092 "Broadband Remote Access Server (B-RAS) Requirements" provides specific guidance on all the technical aspects of broadband remote access server equipment that is a key element of the globally accepted TR-059 architecture. Of the list of hundreds of requirements, the B-RAS associates specific QoS appropriate for a particular application, so video and voice services, in addition to data, can be delivered in a sharper and clearer manner. The document defines the platform for integration of various access technologies covering functionality, size and scaling for the number of customers and interfaces, features and services to support emerging mass-market and business applications. This new TR has been submitted to the ITU-T Next Generation Network (NGN) focus group as a basis for contribution to its forthcoming recommendations for next generation networks.

The DSL Forum said equipment interoperability would continue to be one of its focus areas. The Forum's current series of 'plugfests' at the University of New Hampshire (UNH) testing laboratories provides the opportunity to verify interoperability between multiple chipsets and systems supporting ADSL2 and ADSL2plus. Overall, 17 CPE and 14 DSLAM vendors have participated, with testing including diagnostics mode, online reconfiguration and power management mode. Three further plugfests will be held in 2004: one in conjunction with ETSI, and two for ADSL2 and ADSL2plus at UNH.

The DSL Forum's 10th anniversary meeting was held last week in Prague. The next quarterly meeting of the DSL Forum will be held in Orlando, Florida from December 6th-9th, 2004. http://www.dslforum.org/http://dslforum.org/aboutdsl/tr_table.html

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Paradyne Ships Line-Powered Mini-DSLAMS with ADSL2+

Paradyne announced shipments of its Remote Broadband Access Concentrator (BAC) featuring ADSL2+ . The Remote BAC is features a modular design, in a compact, weather-resistant cabinet that can be mounted on a pole or a wall. In addition to ADSL2+, the Remote BAC can be configured with Paradyne's ReachDSL as well as standards-based SHDSL.. Other features include:

• Three power options: Line-powered, AC or -48VDC



• 24, 48 or 72 port configurations



• GigE Fiber, T1 and E1 uplinks



• Optional GigE switching



• Environmentally hardened and sealed architecture

http://www.paradyne.com

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Kentucky's Paducah Power Combines Alcatel's OmniSwitch and FTTU

Paducah Power System, a municipally owned electric distribution utility service in Kentucky, has selected Alcatel's fiber-to-the-user (FTTU) and OmniSwitch enterprise data infrastructure range to expand its network. This is Alcatel's second FTTU deployment in Kentucky. Financial terms were not disclosed.



Paducah will deploy the Alcatel OmniSwitch product family to deliver next generation Gigabit Ethernet services to its power substations. All substations, connected via redundant GigE links, will also be used to transport voice, video, data, and multimedia services for Paducah's FTTU network. http://www.alcatel.com

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Fujitsu Microelectronics Targets WiMAX Opportunity

Fujitsu Microelectronics America, Inc. (FMA) is set to introduce a chipset targeting the WiMAX broadband wireless access market. The company said it is working with leading equipment and infrastructure vendors to design a single-chip solution for deployment in base stations and subscriber stations. FMA is targeting an early 2005 for the launch of the single-chip solution, which will integrate both PHY and MAC functionality.



WiMAX-compliant silicon is expected by the beginning of 2005. Its adoption in infrastructure and subscriber equipment is expected to accelerate in the second half of 2005 and throughout 2006. FMA said early implementations will begin in base station configurations designed for single standalone units, as well as for much more complex rack-mounted systems and blade servers that work alongside wireline network systems. Device technology also will be deployed in WiMAX-certified subscriber stations that are anticipated to cost much less than the custom stations currently used in the relatively small number of broadband wireless deployments in the U.S. http://www.fma.fujitsu.com/ASIC

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WilTel Collaborates with VeriSign on Managed Security Service

VeriSign and WilTel Communications announced a collaborative relationship to deliver a suite of preconfigured Managed Security Services (MSS) designed to address common enterprise security challenges. Specifically, WilTel selected VeriSign as its preferred provider to develop and deploy a prepackaged MSS suite that allows business customers to expedite and simplify the deployment of firewall and Intrusion Detection Services (IDS), as well as ease the management of these security devices. Through bundling VeriSign's MSS solutions, WilTel will strengthen its suite of Internet services to provide customers of all sizes with a secure solution that protects critical business traffic.
. http://www.wiltel.comhttp://www.verisign.com

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AboveNet Opens Network Mgt Center in Herndon

AboveNet is opening a new Network Management Center (NMC) located in Herndon, Virginia. The new facility is structured as a consolidated services center for the AboveNet network with the capability to monitor and manage traffic, as well as networked applications performance for clients on a worldwide basis. The new NMC is a 15,000 square feet facility that will serve as a hub for the surveillance monitoring of the company's metro fiber networks, IP network and managed network services. In addition, the NMC orchestrates the installation and maintenance activities for AboveNet's IP backbone and private wavelength services.



AboveNet operates two data centers in Virginia, as well as others in New York and San Jose, maintains a high-capacity IP network throughout the U.S, undersea capacity to Europe and city networks in key metropolitan areas. http://www.above.net/

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Level 3 to Provide Services to Taiwan's Chunghwa Telecom

Level 3 Communications signed a network services contract with Chunghwa Telecom Global, the U.S.-based subsidiary of Chunghwa Telecom, the incumbent carrier in Taiwan. Chunghwa Telecom will be using (3)Link Private Line services to connect its Asian network to key points in the U.S. Multiple private lines will be used to extend the Taiwan-based carrier's Asian network from the Morro Bay transpacific cable station in Los Osos, California to the Peering and Internet Exchange (PAIX) facility in Palo Alto, California and a Level 3 facility in Los Angeles.



Using (3)Link Private Line or (3)Link Wavelength services for backhaul, undersea cable system capacity owners can directly connect to major U.S. and European networks. Financial terms were not disclosed. http://www.level3.com

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TelCove Finalizes Transfer of CLEC Markets in Virginia and New York

TelCove, a provider of business telecommunications services, finalized the transfer of ownership of network assets and customers from Adelphia Communications Corporation ("ACC") in ten markets in Virginia and New York. The deal covers network assets in Charlottesville, Richmond, Lynchburg, Danville, Roanoke, Harrisonburg, Winchester, and Staunton, Virginia, along with Albany and Buffalo, New York.



TelCove now operates in 50 markets in the eastern half of the United States. http://www.telcove.com

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Vonage and Linksys Collaborate on Consumer VoIP Devices

Vonage will begin offering two different VoIP devices Linksys (a division of Cisco Systems), under a new relationship announced by the firms. Vonage subscribers will be offered a choice of the Linksys (PAP2) Phone Adapter with 2 Phone Ports or the (RT31P2) Broadband Router with 2 Phone Ports. In a few weeks, Linksys will also make available a Wireless-G Router with 2 phone ports.



Both the Phone adapter and Voice Routers include the following features:

• Support for Session Initiation Protocol (SIP)


• Web based configuration through a build-in web server


• Support for DTMF tone detection and generation


• Support for multiple voice compression methods G.711, G.726 G.729 and G.723.1


• Supports FSK Caller ID, DTMF Caller ID and FSK VMWI


• Support for echo cancellation and Voice Activity Detection (VAD)


• Password protected access and configuration


• Supports for auto-provisioning with remote firmware upgrade

Separately, Vonage announced that Staples will begin selling its broadband phone service in all of its approximately 1,200 office supply stores throughout the U.S. http://www.vonage.comhttp://www.linksys.com

• Separately, Vonage has also announced that it is teaming with NETGEAR to develop a line of broadband telephony devices that are expected to enter the retail channel in time for the Holiday season. The first device will be a voice-enabled 802.11g wireless router followed by a wired two-port telephone adapter/router. The products incorporate the latest version of Texas Instruments' VoIP and WLAN chipsets.

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Vonage Teams with Netgear for Consumer VoIP/Wi-Fi Products

Vonage is teaming with NETGEAR to develop a line of broadband telephony devices that are expected to enter the retail channel in time for the Holiday season. The first device will be a voice-enabled 802.11g wireless router followed by a wired two-port telephone adapter/router. The products incorporate the latest version of Texas Instruments' VoIP and WLAN chipsets.



Vonage said it is currently adding more than 25,000 lines per month. http://www.vonage.comhttp://www.netgear.com

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Germany Sets Geographic Conditions for VoIP Local Call Numbers

Germany's official Regulatory Authority for Telecommunications and Post (RegTP) ruled that local network call numbers for Internet telephony services may only be allocated to customers within their relevant local networks. RegTP issued orders providing locality-based local network call numbers to two VoIP service providers, Sipgate and Nikotalk.



RegTP noted that other Internet telephony providers have started offering their customers local network call numbers independently of their place of residence. However, RegTP said this procedure "distorts the geographic information of the local network call number. Furthermore, it depletes the scarce quotas of call numbers of the relevant local networks and as such endangers the overall national numbering plan. This would put those competitors at a disadvantage who adhere to legal stipulations."



RegTP is providing (0)700 numbers for use as locality-independent personal call numbers. RegTP is also examining the provision of a separate subrange for national subscriber numbers for VoIP services. http://www.regtp.de

• In April 2004, Germany's Regulatory Authority for Telecommunications and Post (RegTP) opened a public consultation on VoIP, seeking public input on a whole range of issues – business models, the classification of VoIP under regulatory aspects, numbering, access and interconnection, market definition and possible market entry barriers. The subjects of universal service, customer protection, telecommunications privacy, data protection, emergency services, technical safeguards, the implementation of intercepts and directory enquiry procedures, which may entail obligations for VoIP service providers, were also to be addressed on behalf of consumer protection and the public interest.

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AT&T, AT&T Wireless, and Cingular Resolve Branding Issue

AT&T, AT&T Wireless, and Cingular Wireless resolved issues relating to the use of the AT&T brand in connection with Cingular's acquisition of AT&T Wireless. During a six-month transition following the merger, Cingular will have certain licensee rights to the AT&T brand for wireless services.



Cingular intends to use its own brand for the new combined company following its acquisition of AT&T Wireless, and it will cease using the AT&T brand at the end of the transition period.



Also, AT&T will provide the combined Cingular/AT&T Wireless with international long distance, private line services, and corporate telecommunications services for up to 17 months. This represents a commitment of $100 million to AT&T, the companies noted. http://www.att.com

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AT&T Moves its Consumer VoIP into Retail Channels

AT&T will begin marketing its residential VoIP service through Best Buy's 628 retail stores across the U.S. The companies will promote AT&T CallVantage Service through in-store marketing as well as print, broadcast and online advertising.



AT&T said it will announced additional retail agreements soon. http://www.att.com

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Axiowave and Path 1 Team on Video over IP SLAs

Path 1 Network Technologies and Axiowave Networks have formed a strategic partnership to enable service providers to offer ATM-Grade, point-to-point and extremely low worst-case latency and jitter guarantees to their customers under all network traffic conditions. The companies will collaborate on marketing and sales activities.



Path 1 offers a Video over IP gateways featuring the ability to seamlessly switch between transmission and reception of video using the same unit. This reduces the equipment needed to implement two-way compressed or uncompressed video movement by a factor of two, while ensuring very low latency.



Axiowave Networks supplies core/metro network routers designed for services such as Toll-Quality VoIP, ATM-Grade IP-VPNs and ATM-Grade transit. http://www.axiowave.comhttp://www.path1.com

• Path 1's Cx1000 Video Gateway uses embedded processors and patent-pending algorithms to shield the video signals from severe network impairments and preserve the broadcast-quality video at standard definition, High Definition and uncompressed video at speeds up to 270 Mbps. The gateway handles issues like significant delay, jitter, packet loss, out-of-order packets and error recovery.



• Axiowave's core/metro routing platform leverages a unique switching and queuing architecture designed for carving out bandwidth among four classes of service (ATM-CBR, VBR-rt, VBR-nRT, and best effort). The platform uses ASICs and FPGAs. The company claims it can increase the utilization of IP egress trunks to 90%, including a high percentage (90+%) in the presence of oversubscribed best-effort traffic. As with ATM, unused bandwidth from any service running on the platform can be dynamically distributed to other services with burstable options. Examples of premium IP services could include, too-grade VoIP, ATM-grade IP VPNs, wireless voice, broadcast video, etc.

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