Deutsche Telekom adds 526,000 Retail DSL, 116,000 IPTV Subscribers in Q4

Deutsche Telekom released key operational metric for 2007 underlining its enhanced competitiveness in its home market of Germany and gains in mobile and broadband services. Some highlights:

• In broadband, T-Home almost tripled its share of new customers in the DSL market and realized a market share of more than 40 percent for five quarters in a row. T-Home expects to equip 13 additional cities with VDSL. By the end of the year, approximately 1,000 cities should have ADSL2+.



• The number of retail DSL broadband customers rose by 526,000 in the fourth quarter. As a result, more than 9 million customers in Germany now have a broadband line direct from T-Home. This represents an increase of almost 2 million customers in 2007.



• As of the end of 2007, 150,000 Entertain IPTV packages have been sold, including 116,000 in Q4. The company aims to sell 500,000 Entertain IPTV packages by the end of the year. To make that happen, T-Home will present new content and functions at CeBIT.



• In mobile, T-Mobile has expanded its customer base by a good 10 percent to roughly 120 million customers. The company added seven million customers abroad.



• T-Mobile also continued to increase its customer base in Germany and reported almost 36 million customers as of the year-end. Almost 1 million of these customers opted for fixed-term contracts in 2007, of which 385,000 in the fourth quarter alone. The national companies in Eastern Europe and the USA were drivers of this growth. In addition to organic growth, the acquisition of Orange in the Netherlands contributed to the positive subscriber development with 2.2 million users.



• T-Mobile USA had 28.7 million customers as of the end of the financial year. In the fourth quarter of 2007, T-Mobile gained 951,000 net additions in the USA, 733,000 of which were contract customers.

Additional metrics are posted online.


http://www.telekom.com/dtag/cms/content/dt/en/498760

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Ericsson Supplies Greece's hellas with the IMS + Softswitch

Ericsson has provided supplied Greece's hellas online (hol) with a next-generation network incorporating its Telephony Softswitch Solution and IMS solutions. Ericsson also provided the network deployment, systems integration, multivendor verification, customer support and training programs. Financial terms were not disclosed.

http://www.ericsson.comhttp://www.hol.gr/

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Ericsson Demos LTE in Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) and Time Division Duplex (TDD)

Ericsson has demonstrated for the first time Long Term Evolution (LTE) in both Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) and Time Division Duplex (TDD) mode on the same base station platform. Ericsson said LTE is the only technology that can use the same platform for both paired and unpaired spectrum, thereby enabling large economies of scale for operators.


Ericsson's LTE TDD mode demonstration encompassed a variety of applications and showcased speeds over 90 Mbps in the downlink with 2x2 MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output). Ericsson has previously demonstrated LTE in FDD mode several times with speeds of up to 160 Mbps.


LTE enables efficient spectrum utilization for both legacy and future wireless frequency bands. Channel bandwidths of 1.4-20MHz are supported.


"We have now demonstrated that LTE can be used in both paired (FDD) and unpaired spectrum (TDD) on the same base station platform. This means that operators with only unpaired spectrum also can plan for LTE and benefit from the optimal global LTE solutions" stated Ulf Ewaldsson, Vice President and Head of Product Area Radio at Ericsson.http://www.ericsson.com

• On January 17, 2008, 3GPP confirmed that the LTE Terrestrial Radio Access Network technology specifications have been approved and are now under change control, leading to their inclusion in the forthcoming 3GPP Release 8

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Nokia Siemens Networks Publishes Connectivity Scorecard for Global Economies

Businesses and governments must make better use of their communications and computing infrastructure if they are to benefit from the full economic and social benefits of ICT, according to a breakthrough study by Professor Leonard Waverman of the London Business School and global economic consulting firm LECG. The study, which was commissioned by Nokia Siemens Networks, includes a "Connectivity Scorecard" that analyzes not only a nation's ICT infrastructure but the effectiveness of its use.


The Connectivity Scorecard ranks the United States first in a group of 16 innovation driven economies [as defined by the World Economic Forum], although its score is only 6.97 out of a possible 10.0. The differentiated nature of the Scorecard compared to other rankings is illustrated by the fact that Korea, typically a high scorer on other indexes, is ranked 10th on the list, with a rating of just 4.78.


The Connectivity Scorecard measures the extent to which governments, businesses and consumers make use of connectivity technologies - the copper wires, fiber-optic lines, mobile phones and PCs that underpin today's information economy - to enhance social and economic prosperity. For each component of the Scorecard, countries are benchmarked against the best in class in their tier; thus if a country was best in all dimensions, it would score a maximum of 10.0 Countries typically considered to be highly connected achieved only modest scores on the Scorecard -- the average score for a group of 16 countries that include the U.S., Sweden and Korea was 5.05.


Nokia Siemens Networks said these results indicate an opportunity for countries to add hundreds of billions of dollars in economic benefit by rethinking how they measure and enable connectivity, according to the study authors.


Further details on the study are posted online.

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The Femto Forum Launches Integration Program, Expands Membership

The Femto Forum, the independent industry association that supports femtocell deployment worldwide

, has launched a programme to help harmonise the integration of femtocells into mobile core networks. Operator demand to launch femtocells quickly has led to the development of many different methods for integrating potentially millions of femtocells into the network core. Although this is not holding up the commercial deployment of femtocells, The Femto Forum said it seeks to unite these different approaches in the longer term and set the stage for the development of future standards.


The Femto Forum's next plenary will be held in March 2008.


In other news the forum also welcomes new members who are already active in the working groups, these include: Acme Packet, AudioCodes, BT, Cellcom Israel Ltd, Cisco, Ericsson, GENBAND, Huawei, KTL, mobilkom austria AG, NewStep Networks, NXP Semiconductors, Samsung, SaskTel, SOFTBANK MOBILE, Telecom Italia and Vodafone. This brings the forum's membership to 58 companies. http://www.femtoforum.org

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Siemens to Sell HP ProCurve network products

HP announced a worldwide sales agreement under which Siemens Enterprise Communications will sell voice and data solutions incorporating ProCurve network products and Siemens VoIP technology. The initial phase of the agreement is now being rolled out in Germany with subsequent implementation planned for the United Kingdom, Austria and Spain. The companies' combined offerings will provide high levels of IP communications performance and open standards-based networking to customers.http://www.hp.comhttp://www.siemens.com

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Veraz Migrates Two billion minutes of Legacy Nortel TDM Switch Traffic

Veraz Networks announced a significant milestone -- the company's customers have migrated two billion minutes of legacy Nortel TDM switch traffic to the Veraz ControlSwitch Interconnect Solution by replacing their Nortel legacy DMS switches and/or other TDM switches.


Veraz said its next-generation ControlSwitch can deliver a total return on investment (ROI) in as little as six months, with ongoing operational expense savings. With the Veraz ControlSwitch, operators realize significant savings due to centralized management, routing flexibility, ease of maintenance and enhanced revenue opportunity due to application continuity and enhanced service creation.


The Veraz ControlSwitch enables service providers to replace a network of monolithic switches with a single distributed softswitch. This distributed softswitch enables a single point of service creation and control across the network, whether TDM or IP. Network operators can configure, provision and monitor the network from a single, central point thereby reducing floor space requirements and simplifying upgrades and maintenance. Additional capacity and enhanced services can be added in specific geographic areas on an as-needed basis in order to increase revenue per subscriber.
http://www.veraznetworks.com

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FCC 700 MHz Auction Tops $11.7 Billion

After sixteen rounds, bids for various licenses in the 700 MHz band have reached $11,573,702,900, including over $4.7 billion for the package of licenses across all 50 states. Round 17 continues on Thursday. Updated bidding results are posted online.


http://wireless.fcc.gov/auctions/default.htm?job=auction_summary&id=73

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Harris Stratex Networks Posts Quarterly Revenue of $181 Million

Harris Stratex Networks reported quarterly revenues for the period ended December 28, 2007 of $181.1 million and a GAAP net loss of $1.0 million or $0.02 per share, which includes $17.6 million in pre- tax charges associated with the merger transaction, integration, asset impairment and stock compensation expense.


North America microwave had record second quarter revenue of $63.8 million, realizing 13 percent growth compared to the prior quarter and an increase over the year ago quarter. Network Operations also had a strong revenue quarter at $6.5 million, comparable to the prior quarter and 30 percent higher than the year ago quarter.


International revenue of $110.8 million was comparable to the prior quarter and increased 7 percent compared with the year-ago period. Combined revenues for Latin America and Asia Pacific were $37.8 million, an increase of 54 percent compared to the prior year, as the company's focus on capturing new customers in these regions gained traction. Africa revenue at $41.0 million increased 4 percent compared to the year-ago quarter. Revenue in Europe, Middle East and Russia was $32.0 million, a decrease of 20 percent compared with the year ago period, as a result of operator consolidations and slower implementation of 3G networks.http://www.HarrisStratex.com

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March Networks to Acquire Cieffe for IP Video Surveillance

March Networks agreed to cquire Cieffe S.p.A. and its related company Insignis Technologies for EUR 20 million plus an earn-out component of up to EUR 10.0 million in cash.


Cieffe, based in Milan, Italy, develops high performance IP video surveillance solutions used by enterprise-class organizations across Europe, the Middle East and Asia Pacific. The product line includes interoperable encoders, IP and megapixel cameras, video analytics and advanced video management software. Cieffe's products are used by European financial institutions and a number of high profile airport, government and commercial industrial clients for mission-critical security applications. Cieffe's calendar 2007 revenue is estimated at EUR 10 million.


"This is a strategic acquisition for March Networks that significantly strengthens our presence in the EMEA region as well as in the high-growth commercial industrial segment," said Peter Strom, President and CEO, March Networks. "Cieffe's innovative product portfolio complements March Networks' existing solutions and enhances our position as a global supplier of comprehensive, open IP video management solutions."http://www.marchnetworks.comhttp://www.cieffe.com/

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ShoreTel Delivers Six-Line Color IP Phone with GigE, Bluetooth

ShoreTel introduced its ShorePhone IP 565g, a six-line IP telephone equipped with a high-resolution color display, Gigabit Ethernet connectivity and new Bluetooth headset integration. The built-in Gigabit Ethernet switch eliminates the need for multiple network drops to workspaces by extending full Gigabit speeds to the PC connected to the IP telephone's Ethernet switch. The ShorePhone IP 565g features a wideband audio codec that supports seven full octaves of human sound. It also offers a high fidelity, full-duplex speakerphone.


Like other IP telephones in the ShoreTel line, the IP 565g offers plug-and-play installation, with automatic discovery and centralized management via ShoreWare Director. The ShorePhone IP 565g is priced at US $599.


http://www.shoretel.com

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Ditech' Voice Quality Assessment Employed by Mobile Operators

Ditech Networks' Experience Intelligence (EXi) solution has been used by 16 mobile service providers around the world to assess voice quality.


Ditech's solution quantifies voice quality problems caused by the caller's environment and by mobile devices. The software unobtrusively assesses voice quality on live mobile calls to derive an R-Factor and a Mean Opinion Score (MOS), which are commonly used standards in the telecommunications industry. When combined with existing voice quality tests, EXi completes the picture of voice quality as it is actually experienced by subscribers, by adding to the partial view already provided from network-induced impairments.
http://www.ditechnetworks.com/

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Cedar Point Names Interim CEO

Cedar Point Communications announced that Curt Hockemeier, a member of the company's board of directors and a veteran telecommunications executive, has been named interim CEO following the departure of Andy Paff as President and CEO. The board of directors will be retaining an executive search firm to find a permanent replacement. Hockemeier has been a member of the Cedar Point Communications board of directors for the past five years. He is the former President and CEO of Arbinet-thexchange, the world's largest electronic exchange for telecommunications services.http://www.cedarpointcom.com/

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AT&T and Yahoo! Refocus Alliance on Wireless and PC Screens

AT&T and Yahoo! announced a new multi-year strategic alliance that revises the previous revenue sharing arrangement under which AT&T paid Yahoo! a fee for each broadband user it served. The new agreement focuses instead on advertising-based revenue opportunities for both companies from search and display capabilities from either a mobile handset or a PC. Financial terms were not disclosed.


The companies said the new alliance includes the following features:

• A new look and feel for the att.net portal, "powered by Yahoo!," beginning in the second quarter, for new customers. Later in the year, the att.net portal, which will run on the My Yahoo! and Yahoo! Mail platforms, will be available to existing AT&T Yahoo! customers as well as those AT&T Internet customers in the former BellSouth service area and those with the legacy AT&T WorldNet service.
  
  
• Yahoo! provides search and display advertising for AT&T consumers on mobile devices and the PC.
  
  
• Once the new att.net portal launches later this year, any AT&T customer -- even those without AT&T Internet service -- can access the new Web portal and e-mail services at no additional charge. For example, an AT&T wireless customer in Seattle could establish an att.net e-mail address and access e-mail via a mobile smart device or a PC.
  
  
• Access to co-branded versions of Yahoo!'s mobile Web properties and the Yahoo! Go application for AT&T's 14.2 million broadband customers.
  
  
• AT&T's YELLOWPAGES.COM becomes the lead local search experience on both the wireless and PC screens for AT&T customers, bringing easy-to-use local search capabilities to customers at home or on-the-go.
  
  
• AT&T U-verse TV customers continue to have access to Yahoo! content through the service's interactive AT&T U-bar feature, where available.

http://www.yahoo.comhttp://www.att.com

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Equinix Selects Infinera for Metro Networks in North America and Asia

Equinix has selected Infinera for its metro networks linking its Internet Business Exchange (IBX) centers in major cities in North America and Asia. Equinix currently has 37 IBX centers located in 17 strategic markets across North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific. Financial terms were not disclosed.


Equinix plans to leverage Infinera's Bandwidth Virtualization to deploy large bandwidth quickly, and reconfigure it easily, rapidly, and cost-effectively.


The Infinera DTN is a Digital ROADM for long-haul and metro core networks, combining high-capacity DWDM transport, integrated digital bandwidth management, and GMPLS-powered service intelligence in a single platform.http://www.equinix.com

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Infinera Offer Bandwidth Virtualization over Optical Transport

Infinera is promoting the concept of "Bandwidth Virtualization" over optical transport networks based on its digital circuit technology as a means to meet the needs for a faster, more responsive Internet.


In a traditional optical network using Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM), each service that a service provider sells is typically linked to a specific wavelength, which is installed and turned up after a customer commits to purchase that service. Each service to be sold typically requires pre-planning, engineering activities and testing at time of installation, and there is often a significant delay between customer commitment to purchase and turn-up of the corresponding service. Service providers introducing new services, such as 40 Gbps and 100 Gbps services, must frequently re-engineer or overbuild their WDM networks to support the new services, creating long cycles between end-user service requests and service delivery, as well as inefficient network utilization, operational complexity, and the need for additional capital outlays.


Infinera said Bandwidth Virtualization overcomes these challenges and accelerates operators' speed of service provisioning by decoupling the service layer in the network from the underlying optical transmission layer.


Bandwidth Virtualization is enabled by an Infinera Digital Optical Network using high-capacity photonic integrated circuit technology on every route in the optical network, and integrates sub-wavelength digital switching with end-to-end software intelligence. This provides operators with a readily available pool of WDM bandwidth to meet immediate service requests, and allows new services to be deployed over the same infrastructure. The transmission layer can be configured to support any service simply by installing a service interface module at each of the two service endpoints and activating new end-to-end services using software rather than via hardware-based re-engineering of network resources.


Bandwidth Virtualization also yields significant operational benefits for service providers. By deploying hundreds of Gigabits of capacity at initial installation and being able to turn up additional services with digital plug-and-play ease, service providers can operate their network with smaller skilled engineering teams and at lower cost than on traditional WDM networks.


Infinera has released a video on its website in which Equinix and XO Communications (both customers) and Infinera CEO Jagdeep Singh explain the benefits of Bandwidth Virtualization.



http://www.infinera.com

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Juniper Debuts Enterprise Ethernet Switches Running JUNOS

Juniper Networks unveiled a new family of Ethernet switches running on its JUNOS software and designed to meet the technical, business and economic requirements of a service-enabling network infrastructure. The new EX-series, which includes three Ethernet switching families, the EX 3200, 4200 and 8200, are based on three key tenets -- operational simplicity, carrier-class reliability, and integration and consolidation.


Operational simplicity -- Legacy enterprise switch infrastructures are often inundated by multiple, inconsistent versions of network operating systems, resulting in unpredictable performance as new features are enabled on the network. Juniper said that deploying its JUNOS software across the enterprise would help to automate network operations while minimizing the complexity, cost and risk associated with implementing network features and upgrades. JUNOS is the same operating system used in its carrier-grade routers.


Carrier-Class Reliability: To mitigate the impact of security risks on network operations, Juniper Networks has integrated its Unified Access Control (UAC) solution with the new EX-series switches to provide businesses with the ability to control user access to mission critical applications and company assets through the enforcement of end-to-end policies.


Integration and Consolidation: Traditional enterprise networks are often built upon multiple layers of switches deployed in three general areas: access, aggregation and core. The new EX-series switches will offer scalable port densities and carrier-proven high availability features that consolidate legacy switch layers.


All of the Juniper EX-series switches will include ASIC-based flow capabilities that permit the hardware-based collection of network statistics combined with the integrated ability to identify applications.


The Juniper EX 3200


The EX 3200 series switches are fixed-configuration Ethernet platforms offering a simple, cost-effective, standalone solution for low-density regional and corporate office deployments. Installed in wiring closets to provide network access, the 24- and 48-port EX 3200 switches offer plug-and-play 10/100/1000BASE-T connectivity. Full and partial Power over Ethernet (PoE) options are available for supporting IP-enabled devices such as telephones, security cameras and WLAN access points. Optional four-port GbE and two-port 10GbE uplink modules with pluggable optics are also available for supporting high-speed connections to other switches or upstream devices such as routers.


The Juniper EX 4200 series


The EX 4200 series Ethernet switches with Virtual-Chassis technology combine modular systems capablities with the economics and flexibility of stackable platforms. Target applications include data center, corporate and regional office environments.


Like the EX 3200 switches, EX 4200 series switches offer 24- and 48-port 10/100/1000BASE-T configurations with full and partial PoE and optional GbE and 10GbE uplink modules, plus a 24-port fiber switch offering 100/1000BASE-X support.


The Virtual Chassis technology allows up to 10 EX 4200 series switches to be interconnected over a 128 Gbps backplane, creating a single virtual switch supporting up to 480 10/100/1000BASE-T ports and up to 40 GbE or 20 10GbE uplink ports. All EX 4200 series switches include HA features such as redundant, hot-swappable internal power supplies and field-replaceable, multi-blower fan trays to help deliver maximum uptime.


The Juniper EX 8200 series


The modular EX 8200 series Terabit Ethernet switches are aimed at high-density 10GbE enterprise core and aggregation deployments. Juniper will offer two EX 8200 series switches -- an eight-slot 1.6 Terabit Chassis and a 16-slot 3.2 terabit Chassis.


The EX 8200 switches will feature enterprise-class routing tables and deep, hardware-based packet buffers. Wire-speed 10GbE port densities will scale to 64 ports in the eight-slot chassis and 128 ports in the 16-slot chassis. Two fully-equipped 16-slot EX 8200 switches will fit in a single 42-unit rack, delivering 256 wire-speed 10GbE ports per rack.http://www.juniper.net/training/fasttrack/

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NewStep Raises $9.5 M for FMC, Appoints CEO

NewStep Networks, a spin-out from Bell Canada based in Toronto, closed a Series C round of $9.5 million from existing investors for its session management convergence solutions for carriers and enterprises.


NewStep's technology operates at the signaling layer, facilitating standards-based integration with legacy TDM/SS7 networks, IP/SIP networks and enterprise communication software and IP PBX implementations. The solution enables carriers to establish and retain control of calls across IP and TDM, wireless and wireline, service provider and enterprise networks. NewStep's platforms enable subscribers to have a single number, single voicemail, simultaneous ringing across multiple phones, and other features like corporate extension dialing, from existing mobile phones.


NewStep said widespread FMC adoption is being driven by business and consumers requiring a more personalized and mobile communications experience. Its technology permits this experience to be delivered through seamlessly managing the user's session independent from the underlying network.


NewStep also announced that Peter N. Vicars has joined the company as president and CEO. Vicars most recently served as president and CEO of Chantry Networks, a company in the WLAN space, which he subsequently sold to Siemens AG. Prior to Chantry, he held CEO positions with Cayman Systems (acquired by Netopia); Teloquent Communications (acquired by Syntellect); and Tekelec, where he directed all corporate activities . http://www.newstep.com

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Fujitsu Network Communications Files Patent Infringement Lawsuit against Tellabs

Fujitsu Limited and Fujitsu Network Communications announced a patent infringement lawsuit asserting that Tellabs' products infringe four of Fujitsu's U.S. patents covering optical communication technologies. The accused products include the Tellabs 7100 Optical Transport System, Tellabs 5500 series and Tellabs 6300 series. Fujitsu said its complaint follows numerous attempts by Fujitsu to engage in cooperative discussions with Tellabs.


"Fujitsu has been investing heavily for years in research and development and owns approximately 10,000 patents in the field of optical communications around the world," said Masanobu Katoh, corporate vice president and president of the Law & Intellectual Property Unit of Fujitsu Limited. "In this field, Fujitsu is a leader and has patents that are important to optical communication technologies such as Synchronous Optical Networking (SONET), Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH), and Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM)."http://us.fujitsu.com/telecom

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RadiSys Introduce Packet Processing Module Based on Cavium OCTEON

RadiSys ntroduced its Promentum ATCA-7220 Dual OCTEON PLUS Packet Processing Module, offering a high density of Gigabit Ethernet interfaces on a single blade for packet processing applications such as Radio Network Controllers, session border control (SBC), security gateways, edge routers and media gateways.


The ATCA-7220 is a single slot ATCA module that supports the Option 9 (10 GE) fabric interface. It incorporates an onboard 10GE switch to facilitate very flexible data flow models and enables powerful packet processing solutions needed for the next generation equipment. RadiSys said the combination of ATCA-7220 with fully validated IP data path software such as IPV4/V6 forwarding, load balancing, IPSec, etc., along with the award winning 10G ATCA Platform enables equipment manufacturers to accelerate their time to market. The ATCA-7220 also includes a local management processor to enable blade management functions and offers front or rear I/O.


The ATCA-7220 module is designed with a Cavium Networks' OCTEON Plus multi-core MIPS64 processor, which features a Smart FrontEnd with a 10 Gigabit Ethernet Switch and content aware capabilities. The Smart FrontEnd allows offloading preprocessing from the Cavium Processors, enhances manageability of the processors, and enables flexibility of data flow to and from the processors.


The ATCA-7220 Dual OCTEON PLUS Packet Processing Module will be available in early 2008.http://www.radisys.com

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