One Minute Video
What is a Pseudowire?.
Presented by Thomas Mock, Sr. VP, Strategic Planning, Ciena
Saturday, August 18, 2007
One Minute Video: What is a Pseudowire?
One Minute Video
What is a Pseudowire?.
Presented by Thomas Mock, Sr. VP, Strategic Planning, Ciena
Thursday, August 16, 2007
FCC Schedules 700 MHz Auction for 16-Jan-2008
The FCC will commence its auction of the 700 MHz band licenses on 16-January-2008. 
Specifically, the auction (designated as Auction 73) will include 1,099 licenses in the 698-806 MHz bands, including 176 licenses over Economic Areas (EAs) in the A Block, 734 licenses over Cellular Market Areas (CMAs) in the B Block, 176 licenses over EAs in the E Block, 12 licenses over Regional Economic Area Groupings (REAGs) in the C Block, and one nationwide license, to be used as part of the 700 MHz Public/Private Partnership, in the D Block.
The FCC is currently seeking public comment on a number of procedural issues including, among other things, procedures for anonymous bidding, to enhance competition by safeguarding against potential anti-competitive auction strategies; applicants trying to combine multiple C Block licenses to place bids on packages of those licenses; block-specific aggregate reserve prices, to help assure that the public recovers a portion of the licenses' value; and offering licenses for the relevant block (s) in a prompt subsequent auction in the event auction results do not satisfy applicable reserve prices.
http://www.fcc.gov
Specifically, the auction (designated as Auction 73) will include 1,099 licenses in the 698-806 MHz bands, including 176 licenses over Economic Areas (EAs) in the A Block, 734 licenses over Cellular Market Areas (CMAs) in the B Block, 176 licenses over EAs in the E Block, 12 licenses over Regional Economic Area Groupings (REAGs) in the C Block, and one nationwide license, to be used as part of the 700 MHz Public/Private Partnership, in the D Block. The FCC is currently seeking public comment on a number of procedural issues including, among other things, procedures for anonymous bidding, to enhance competition by safeguarding against potential anti-competitive auction strategies; applicants trying to combine multiple C Block licenses to place bids on packages of those licenses; block-specific aggregate reserve prices, to help assure that the public recovers a portion of the licenses' value; and offering licenses for the relevant block (s) in a prompt subsequent auction in the event auction results do not satisfy applicable reserve prices.
http://www.fcc.gov
- In July 2007, the FCC approved new rules for the 700 MHz band, which will become available for new services in 2009 as television broadcasters complete their DTV migration. In what is seen as a partial victory for Google and other Internet players, the FCC voted to require "open access" for devices and applications using services delivered in these bands, while not requiring carriers to sell wholesale capacity in the licensed spectrum. The FCC expects to commence an auction for this spectrum no later than January 2008.
The "open access" requirement would allow consumers to use the handset of their choice and download and use applications of their choice, subject to "reasonable network management requirements that allows the licensee to protect the network from harm."
The FCC also approved a framework for a 700 MHz Public Safety / Private Partnership between the licensee for one of the commercial spectrum blocks and the licensee for the public spectrum block. Under this arrangement, the Public Safety licensee will have priority access to the commercial spectrum in times of emergency, and the commercial licensee will have preemptible, secondary access to the public safety broadband spectrum.
Nortel Teams with Universities on 4G R&D
Nortel is conducting collaborative research on 4G technologies with several leading universities, including the University of Waterloo in Canada, The University of Texas at Austin, and National Taiwan University (NTU) in Taiwan. The R&D is aimed at improving spectral efficiency, and decreasing time to market for Nortel's 4G mobile broadband solutions, which include Mobile WiMAX (IEEE 802.16e), and the Long Term Evolution (LTE) and Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB) cellular standards.
Nortel has also formed new partnerships with Mera Networks in Russia and Technische Universitaet Ilmenau in Germany.
http://www.nortel.com
Nortel has also formed new partnerships with Mera Networks in Russia and Technische Universitaet Ilmenau in Germany.
http://www.nortel.com
National Grid Wireless Changes Name to Lightower
National Grid Wireless, a start-up based in Boxborough, MA, has changed its corporate name to Lightower. The name change comes after the completion of the purchase of the wireless assets, fiber optic infrastructure and wireless services organization by M/C Venture Partners and Wachovia Capital Partners, announced in May 2007.
Lightower's network infrastructure portfolio consisting of approximately 350 communications towers, access to over two million distribution poles, and an extensive dark fiber network in New England, with over 1,100 available route miles.
Lightower is also developing an outdoor distributed antenna systems (DAS). Its first, multi-carrier DAS in the US on Nantucket three years ago.
http://www.lightower.com
Lightower's network infrastructure portfolio consisting of approximately 350 communications towers, access to over two million distribution poles, and an extensive dark fiber network in New England, with over 1,100 available route miles.
Lightower is also developing an outdoor distributed antenna systems (DAS). Its first, multi-carrier DAS in the US on Nantucket three years ago.
http://www.lightower.com
- In May 2007, M/C Venture Partners and Wachovia Capital Partners agreed to purchase the US operations of National Grid plc. for approximately $290 million. National Grid Wireless US operates an extensive communications infrastructure portfolio consisting of approximately 350 communications towers and over 1,100 route miles of dark fiber.
Nokia Requests ITC Investigation Into QUALCOMM
Nokia filed a complaint with the United States International Trade Commission (ITC) alleging that Qualcomm has engaged in unfair trade practices through infringing 5 Nokia patents in its CDMA and WCDMA/GSM chipsets.
Nokia is requesting that the ITC initiate an investigation and issue an exclusion order to bar importation to the United States of infringing Qualcomm chipsets, and products such as handsets, containing the infringing chipsets.
http://www.nokia.com
Nokia is requesting that the ITC initiate an investigation and issue an exclusion order to bar importation to the United States of infringing Qualcomm chipsets, and products such as handsets, containing the infringing chipsets.
http://www.nokia.com
AT&T Outlines $100 Million Upgrades in Nevada
AT&T announced plans to invest approximately $100 million in Nevada throughout the next several years in fiber network upgrades, further broadband deployment and Internet-based technologies. The investments will be aimed at bringing new services, such as IPTV, to Nevada consumers. AT&T said the investment commitment is the result of the enactment of Nevada Assembly Bill 526, which reforms video-franchising regulations. http://www.att.com
Level 3 Adds to Board
Level 3 Communications appointed Douglas C. Eby and Michael J. Mahoney to its Board of Directors. Eby, 48, is chairman and CEO of TimePartners LLC, an investment advisory firm. He also serves as president of Torray LLC, an independent money management firm. Mahoney, 57, was most recently the president and CEO of Commonwealth Telephone Enterprises. He was also president and COO of RCN Corporation, president and COO of C-TEC Corporation, and executive vice president and general manager of C-TEC Cable Systems. http://www.level3.com
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Verizon Wholesale Offers Automated Optical Circuit Provisioning in NYC
Verizon launched a "Bandwidth on Demand" optical service in the New York City metropolitan region for wholesale customers. Offered through Verizon Partner Solutions, the new Bandwidth on Demand service promises to reduce the time it takes to establish DS-3 circuits as well as SONET and Ethernet circuits from weeks to hours and, in some cases, minutes. Verizon said it has modified its traditional ordering-and-billing processes to accommodate the flexibility of Bandwidth on Demand.
The new service leverages an intelligent control plane in the optical network. A request for a new circuit can be forwarded to a single control-plane- enabled network element, eliminating the need to perform a number of manual steps at multiple locations, as previously required. Instead, the request is routed to the appropriate end points of the proposed circuit, and intermediate control-plane network elements are queried for available bandwidth to establish the end-to-end circuit. Once the circuit path is successfully determined, cross-connects are automatically established in each network element, equipment options are provisioned, and service is generally established within a matter of hours, if not minutes.
Specifically, Verizon's Bandwidth on Demand is an implementation of an Optical Transport Network (OTN) architecture, which is an end-to-end all optical transport network including the loop and Interoffice Facility (IOF)) and Next Generation Add Drop Multiplexer (NGADM) network elements with control plane functionality. The implementation is based on ITU-T G.807 and G.8080 architectural guidelines.
Once an initial circuit for the wholesale customer is established, Verizon is allowing the customer to order and be billed for bandwidth that remains entirely on the Bandwidth on Demand network when they require it for as short a period as one day. Previously, customers had to purchase a dedicated, private-line facility over a longer period of time.
In the near future, Verizon Partner Solutions also plans to offer what is known as a dynamic reroute option. With this option, single-path designs would be used through the network, with the ability to automatically and dynamically reroute data and voice traffic around a problem in the circuit's path.
http://www.verizon.com/wholesale/bandwidth
The new service leverages an intelligent control plane in the optical network. A request for a new circuit can be forwarded to a single control-plane- enabled network element, eliminating the need to perform a number of manual steps at multiple locations, as previously required. Instead, the request is routed to the appropriate end points of the proposed circuit, and intermediate control-plane network elements are queried for available bandwidth to establish the end-to-end circuit. Once the circuit path is successfully determined, cross-connects are automatically established in each network element, equipment options are provisioned, and service is generally established within a matter of hours, if not minutes.
Specifically, Verizon's Bandwidth on Demand is an implementation of an Optical Transport Network (OTN) architecture, which is an end-to-end all optical transport network including the loop and Interoffice Facility (IOF)) and Next Generation Add Drop Multiplexer (NGADM) network elements with control plane functionality. The implementation is based on ITU-T G.807 and G.8080 architectural guidelines.
Once an initial circuit for the wholesale customer is established, Verizon is allowing the customer to order and be billed for bandwidth that remains entirely on the Bandwidth on Demand network when they require it for as short a period as one day. Previously, customers had to purchase a dedicated, private-line facility over a longer period of time.
In the near future, Verizon Partner Solutions also plans to offer what is known as a dynamic reroute option. With this option, single-path designs would be used through the network, with the ability to automatically and dynamically reroute data and voice traffic around a problem in the circuit's path.
http://www.verizon.com/wholesale/bandwidth
Thomson Presents New MPEG2 Decoding Chip for STBs
Thomson is introducing a new decoding chip for MPEG2 standard definition (SD) applications at IBC 2007. Equipped with five outputs and advanced security features, the IC is optimized for Personal Video Recording (PVR) and Digital Video Recording (DVR) applications including satellite, IP and cable set-top boxes. The chip offers dual USB 2.0 and Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA) interfaces. An Ethernet interface provides access to a home network or shared storage devices.
http://www.thomson.net
http://www.thomson.net
Covad Wireless Announces New 2.0 Mbps Service
Covad Wireless announced the availability of a "Super-T" 2.0 Mbps service that is competitively priced with traditional landline T-1 services while offering up to 33% more speed. Pricing for the Super-T 2.0 starts at $399 for a three-year contract term and goes up to $429 for a one-year contract.
Covad Wireless serves 3,600 small and medium-sized businesses in the San Francisco Bay Area, the greater Los Angeles area, the Chicago suburbs, and Las Vegas.
http://www.covadwireless.com
Covad Wireless serves 3,600 small and medium-sized businesses in the San Francisco Bay Area, the greater Los Angeles area, the Chicago suburbs, and Las Vegas.
http://www.covadwireless.com
NextWave Releases WiMAX Chipset
NextWave Broadband began shipping samples of its NW1000 Series WiMAX chipset, comprised of the NW1100 baseband system-on-a-chip (SOC), matched NW1200 multi-band RFIC, and associated system software, to consumer electronics and mobile device manufacturers. The chipset is based on the 802.16e standard and supports the major worldwide WiMAX spectrum allocations of 2.3 GHz (including the WCS band in the U.S.), 2.5 GHz (including the EBS/BRS band in the U.S.), and 3.4 -- 3.8 GHz.
http://www.nextwave.com
http://www.nextwave.com
Narus Elects Charles Picasso to Board
Narus elected Charles Picasso to its Board of Directors as non-executive Chairman. Picasso is the retired president and chief operating officer (COO) for Information Handling Services (IHS), a leader in developing and implementing engineering, technical and regulatory information solutions for customers in more than one-hundred countries. Prior to IHS, Picasso was COO of Digital Island Inc., where he introduced hosting services in key markets. Mr. Picasso has also served as the senior vice president for AT&T Global Information Solutions and president and chief executive officer for AT&T Istel, managing AT&T's professional services organization in Europe.
http://www.narus.com
http://www.narus.com
Riverbed Appoints Mark Floyd to Board
Riverbed Technology has appointed Mark Floyd to its board of directors. The addition of Floyd expands Riverbed's board to eight directors. Floyd, 51, served as the CEO of Entrisphere, a communications equipment company that was acquired by Ericsson in February 2007. Floyd also served as CEO of Efficient Networks, which he led for nearly seven years until its acquisition by Siemens in 2001. Floyd currently serves on the board of directors of Tekelec and Carrier Access. He also serves as a Venture Partner at El Dorado Ventures.
http://www.riverbed.com
http://www.riverbed.com
Zarlink Sells its Equity Interest in Mitel Networks for $12.9 Million
Zarlink Semiconductor has sold its equity interest in Mitel Networks for US$12.9 million, following the approval of the merger of Mitel and Inter-Tel. Zarlink obtained ownership of 10 million common shares of Mitel through the sale of its Systems Business in Fiscal 2001.
http://www.zarlink.com
http://www.zarlink.com
Sprint to Build "XOHM" WiMAX Brand
Sprint will market its upcoming WiMAX services under the "XOHM" 
(pronounced ZOAM) brand. A soft launch of the WiMAX network is expected by the end of 2007 in the Chicago and Baltimore/Washington markets. XOHM commercial services are expected to be available beginning in the first half of 2008. Sprint expects that its WiMAX services will deliver speeds up to five times faster than current third-generation wireless devices.
At a company sponsored Technology Summit, Sprint executives outlined plans for the coming WiMAX launch and demonstrated the "Pivot" Sprint wireless services that are now being marketed by joint venture partner cable companies. Pivot service is now available in 20 markets and the company plans to extend it to at least 40 markets by year-end.
Barry West, President of 4G Mobile Broadband and Sprint's Chief Technology Officer, said Sprint continues to seek a broad WiMAX ecosystem of chipsets, devices, networks, services/content and distribution partners. West said that ecosystem partners have committed to embed 50 million WiMAX chipsets in devices.
Under its planned network sharing agreement with Clearwire, which was announced last month, Sprint Nextel currently expects the network buildout to reach 100 million people by the end of 2008 with Sprint providing coverage to 70 million and Clearwire to 30 million people. Sprint's coverage is expected to grow to approximately 125 million people by the end of 2010.
Sprint Nextel also announced updated financial targets for its WiMAX business, reflecting final execution of the agreement with Clearwire:
(pronounced ZOAM) brand. A soft launch of the WiMAX network is expected by the end of 2007 in the Chicago and Baltimore/Washington markets. XOHM commercial services are expected to be available beginning in the first half of 2008. Sprint expects that its WiMAX services will deliver speeds up to five times faster than current third-generation wireless devices. At a company sponsored Technology Summit, Sprint executives outlined plans for the coming WiMAX launch and demonstrated the "Pivot" Sprint wireless services that are now being marketed by joint venture partner cable companies. Pivot service is now available in 20 markets and the company plans to extend it to at least 40 markets by year-end.
Barry West, President of 4G Mobile Broadband and Sprint's Chief Technology Officer, said Sprint continues to seek a broad WiMAX ecosystem of chipsets, devices, networks, services/content and distribution partners. West said that ecosystem partners have committed to embed 50 million WiMAX chipsets in devices.
Under its planned network sharing agreement with Clearwire, which was announced last month, Sprint Nextel currently expects the network buildout to reach 100 million people by the end of 2008 with Sprint providing coverage to 70 million and Clearwire to 30 million people. Sprint's coverage is expected to grow to approximately 125 million people by the end of 2010.
Sprint Nextel also announced updated financial targets for its WiMAX business, reflecting final execution of the agreement with Clearwire:
- The company expects to generate between $2B and $2.5B in revenues for the fiscal year 2010 with more than 80% generated from new lines of business.
- The company expects that the WiMAX initiative will be positive for Operating Income Before Depreciation and Amortization (OIBDA) in 2010.
- Sprint Nextel expects to invest approximately $2.5 billion in capital for WiMAX through year-end 2008. Beyond 2008, network build is expected to be increasingly success-based. The company currently expects that extending its coverage to approximately 125 million people by year-end 2010 would require an additional capital expenditure of approximately $2.5 billion.
- The WiMAX initiative is expected to generate positive Free Cash Flow beginning in 2011 as the annual OIBDA contribution is expected to exceed capital expenditures, working capital and other cash requirements.
- In July 2007, Sprint announced plans to work with Google to spur new mobility and location-assisted services over its forthcoming WiMAX network. Sprint's WiMAX network bandwidth, location detection and presence capabilities will be matched with Google's communications suite - Google Apps - that combines the Gmail, Google Calendar and Google Talk services. Sprint also confirmed plans to provide open standard APIs (application programming interfaces) to its go-to-market partners and the Internet developer community to create customized products for browsable devices, facilitating the delivery of personalized and interactive services to consumer, business, public safety and government customers. These services will be available in a variety of WiMAX embedded devices, including connection cards, stand-alone modems, laptop computers and consumer electronic devices such as personal media players, mobile Internet devices, gaming devices and phones. Eventually, the WiMAX service will be available in vehicles for navigation information, news and entertainment.
Skype Suffers Widespread Outage Attributed to Flaw in Client Software
Skype suffered a widespread outage on Thursday which the company 
attributed to a deficiency in an algorithm within its peer-to-peer networking software. The algorithm controls the interaction between the user's own Skype client and the rest of the Skype network.
Skype said its system had not crashed nor was it the victim of a cyber attack. Initial estimates were 12 to 24 hours to restore service.
http://www.skype.com
attributed to a deficiency in an algorithm within its peer-to-peer networking software. The algorithm controls the interaction between the user's own Skype client and the rest of the Skype network.Skype said its system had not crashed nor was it the victim of a cyber attack. Initial estimates were 12 to 24 hours to restore service.
http://www.skype.com
SingTel Reaches 438,000 Broadband Lines, 54% Local Share
Singapore Telecommunications Limited (SingTel) reported Q2 operating revenue for the quarter amounted to S$3.57 billion, up 11% compared with the corresponding period last year. This was achieved on the back of 10% revenue growth from the Singapore operations and a stronger Australian dollar. Some highlights:
- For SingTel, data and Internet revenue grew 13% to S$335 million, driven by higher corporate data spending and increased Internet revenues.
- Internet revenue for the quarter grew 14 percent to S$99 million as broadband subscription continued to increase.
- As at 30-June-2007, there were 438,000 broadband lines, an increase of 4.0 per cent or 17,000 lines from a quarter ago. Compared to a year ago, the increase was 66,000 lines or 18 per cent.
- Broadband market share in Singapore as of 30-June-2007 was 53.7 percent, up slightly from 53.4 per cent a quarter ago.
- SingTel's Wireless@SG service added 284,000 customers, of which 141,000 do not currently subscribe to SingNet's residential broadband service. To date, SingTel has expanded its wireless coverage to some 1,500 hotspots.
- Prepaid mobile share as at 30 June 2007 grew 2.8 percentage points to 31.7 per cent -- a significant increase in a highly competitive market.
- The number of 3G subscribers shot up by 78,000 or 17 per cent from a quarter ago to 544,000. This represented 42 per cent of SingTel's postpaid mobile base as at 30 June 2007 as compared to 37 per cent a quarter ago.
- The aggregate number of mobile subscriber for the SingTel Group reached 136.35 million as at 30 June 2007.
DIRECTV Partners With CURRENT for Broadband Over Powerline
DIRECTV announced a wholesale distribution agreement that enables it to offer its customers CURRENT's BPL (Broadband Over Powerline) high-speed Internet service and VoIP services. DIRECTV customers will be able to access the Internet by plugging a BPL modem into virtually any outlet in their home. 
Under the deal, DIRECTV will have access to CURRENT's BPL network, initially in the Dallas/Fort Worth BPL network that will cover approximately 1.8 million homes and businesses over the next several years. DIRECTV will be able to market a bundle that includes DIRECTV high-speed Internet and VoIP services to its residential customers. In addition, the agreement provides DIRECTV the ability to add other geographic markets as CURRENT builds out its network.
The companies said the access speeds would be comparable to today cable modem offerings.
http://www.directv.com
http://www.currentgroup.com
Under the deal, DIRECTV will have access to CURRENT's BPL network, initially in the Dallas/Fort Worth BPL network that will cover approximately 1.8 million homes and businesses over the next several years. DIRECTV will be able to market a bundle that includes DIRECTV high-speed Internet and VoIP services to its residential customers. In addition, the agreement provides DIRECTV the ability to add other geographic markets as CURRENT builds out its network.
The companies said the access speeds would be comparable to today cable modem offerings.
http://www.directv.com
http://www.currentgroup.com
- CURRENT's investors include Duke Energy Corporation, EarthLink, EnerTech Capital, Google, Goldman, Sachs & Co., General Electric Company, Hearst Corporation, Liberty Associated Partners (an investment partnership between Liberty Media Corporation and the Berkman family) and TXU Corp, among others.
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
TI Acquires Integrated Circuit Designs for Low-Power RF
Texas Instruments (TI) has acquired Integrated Circuit Designs (ICD), a privately-held company that specializes in the design of radio-frequency (RF) integrated circuits (ICs), for an undisclosed sum.
The deal combines ICD's design expertise with TI's extensive high-performance analog and low-power microcontroller product portfolio. TI described the acquisition as a strategic move to strengthen its low-power RF portfolio. The deal follows the acquisition of Chipcon, a leading provider of short-range, low-power RF transceivers for ZigBee-compliant and proprietary-based wireless systems.
ICD is based in Ellicott City, Maryland, and has 16 employees. http://www.ti.com
The deal combines ICD's design expertise with TI's extensive high-performance analog and low-power microcontroller product portfolio. TI described the acquisition as a strategic move to strengthen its low-power RF portfolio. The deal follows the acquisition of Chipcon, a leading provider of short-range, low-power RF transceivers for ZigBee-compliant and proprietary-based wireless systems.
ICD is based in Ellicott City, Maryland, and has 16 employees. http://www.ti.com
SPACEWAY 3 Satellite Features On-Board Routing/Switching for BB Services
Hughes Network Systems' next generation SPACEWAY 3 satellite was successfully launched and placed into geostationary transfer orbit by an Ariane 5 ECA rocket.
The Ka-band SPACEWAY 3 satellite is the world's first commercial satellite featuring an on-board traffic switching and routing capability. This ability to switch and route IP packets on board, enabling single-hop communications between any two satellite terminals and eliminating the need for the traffic to be routed through a central hub earth station.
Hughes said that combined with a 10 Gbps overall capacity, fast packet switching, and dynamic beam forming, its SPACEWAY 3 satellite will usher in a new world of bandwidth-on-demand satellite services with true site-to-site, single-hop networking of high-performance ground terminals.
As a full IP-based system, SPACEWAY supports a large variety of web, data, voice, and video services for both unicast and multicast applications in a standards-compliant fashion. SPACEWAY terminals also implement custom enhancement proxies for application acceleration using TCP and HTTP protocols.
SPACEWAY 3 was built by Boeing and is based on the company's 702 satellite platform.
http://www.hughes.com
http://www.arianespace.com
The Ka-band SPACEWAY 3 satellite is the world's first commercial satellite featuring an on-board traffic switching and routing capability. This ability to switch and route IP packets on board, enabling single-hop communications between any two satellite terminals and eliminating the need for the traffic to be routed through a central hub earth station.
Hughes said that combined with a 10 Gbps overall capacity, fast packet switching, and dynamic beam forming, its SPACEWAY 3 satellite will usher in a new world of bandwidth-on-demand satellite services with true site-to-site, single-hop networking of high-performance ground terminals.
As a full IP-based system, SPACEWAY supports a large variety of web, data, voice, and video services for both unicast and multicast applications in a standards-compliant fashion. SPACEWAY terminals also implement custom enhancement proxies for application acceleration using TCP and HTTP protocols.
SPACEWAY 3 was built by Boeing and is based on the company's 702 satellite platform.
http://www.hughes.com
http://www.arianespace.com
- Hughes has built a scalable Network Operations and Control Center (NOCC), installed at its Germantown Maryland headquarters, which anchors control functions for network addressing, registration, network security, admission control and multicasting. The NOCC also provides satellite payload management, capacity planning, terminal management, customer care and network management functions. The SPACEWAY architecture can scale up to two million terminals per satellite and will provide coverage with multiple spot beams across the U.S. including Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico, as well as in selected areas in Canada, Mexico, and major cities in South America.
- The SPACEWAY 3 satellite will operate in the globally assigned Ka-band spectrum at 95 degrees West Longitude and will support a range of new high-speed communications services for IP data and multimedia applications to North American enterprise, consumer, and government customers.
- In March 2007, Arianespace was selected to launch the SPACEWAY 3 communications satellite for Hughes from the Guiana Space Center in August 2007. The launch contract was originally awarded to Sea Launch. However, on January 30, 2007, Sea Launch suffered a failed launch of the NSS-8 spacecraft from its Odyssey Platform in the equatorial Pacific. The Odyssey Launch Platform sustained damage from the event.
