Thomson and NXP to Combine Can Tuner Modules Activities

NXP Semiconductors and Thomson have agreed to combine their can tuner modules operations in a joint venture. Thomson will appoint the CFO of this new venture, while NXP will appoint the CEO. NXP and Thomson expect that the definitive joint venture agreements will be finalized and the transaction will close in Q2, subject to closing conditions, including social and regulatory approvals.


"Digital can tuners remain strategic components at a time when broadcast and broadband distribution infrastructures look to advanced delivery technologies such as DVB-S2, DVB-T, DVB-H and new cable modulation technologies," said Thomson CTO Jean-Charles Hourcade. "This combination will benefit our customers as the digital terrestrial roll-out accelerates in the U.S. and in Europe."http://www.nxp.comhttp://www.thomson.net

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STMicroelectronics Announces Near Field Communication (NFC) Chip

STMicroelectronics announced a System-on-Chip (SoC) solution for the fast emerging NFC (Near Field Communication) market.


ST said its new device, which is implemented in 0.13-micron embedded non-volatile EEPROM memory, integrates all the necessary hardware and software for a complete NFC system, including support for all the NFC proximity and vicinity standards.


NFC technology provides advanced wireless or ‘contactless' services for users, such as electronic payment via mobile phone. The device also integrates the necessary Host Controller Interface (HCI) functions, in addition to interfaces for both the I2Cbus and SPIbus, and is compliant with the ETSI specification for Single Wire Protocol (SWP), which describes the connection between a mobile phone's UICC (Universal Integrated Circuit Card) and the NFC controller.http://www.st.com

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Harmonic Delivers 1310 DWDM Forward Path Transmitters for HFC

Harmonic introduced a 1310 nm dense wave division multiplexing (DWDM) forward path transmitter for existing hybrid fiber-coaxial (HFC) cable networks. Harmonic's new scalable DWDM transmitters combine up to eight wavelengths to deliver traffic to segmented nodes over distances of up to 30km.


Harmonic's full range of flexible fiber-based transmission solutions includes analog/digital return path, commercial services, and scalable 1310 nm and 1550 nm CWDM/DWDM digital transport systems.http://www.harmonicinc.com

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Accedian Networks Raises C$7.5 Million for Packet Performance Assurance

Accedian Networks, a start-up based in Montreal, raised $CAD 7.5 million in second round venture funding for its "Packet Performance Assurance" solutions for telecom, cable and wireless operators.


Accedian Networks' Ethernet Service Assurance Platform (ESAP) provides in-service monitoring, loopback testing, remote troubleshooting, service management and network demarcation for high-performance wireless backhaul, business services and carrier hand-off applications. Accedian also supplies a line of "EtherNID" packet assurance demarcation units. Service providers can use the system to provision, manage and maintain packet-based services over Ethernet, IP/MPLS and 3G, 4G/WiMAX networks.


The new venture funds were provided by RHO Canada Ventures in addition to follow-on investments from Skypoint Capital and Solidarity Fund QFL.http://www.Accedian.com

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European Commission Approves Proposal to De-regulate part of UK Broadband Market

The European Commission approved a proposal from Ofcom, the UK's official telecom regulator, to de-regulate the wholesale broadband market in some parts of the UK, covering around 65% of all UK homes and businesses The proposal, which is based on detailed economic evidence, wouold deregulate local exchanges with four or more actual or potential providers serving areas with more than 10,000 homes and businesses.


This is the first time that a national telecoms regulator in the EU has identified different broadband markets in different geographic areas within a country and proposed lifting regulation in those geographic areas now characterized by effective competition.
The European Commission said Ofcom's proposal represents "a reasonable move towards better targeted regulation, concentrating on those geographic areas where structural competition problems persist. "


The Commission's decision concerns the UK market for wholesale broadband access. Wholesale broadband access (or bitstream access) is, together with access to the local loop (local loop unbundling; LLU), a key input enabling alternative operators to enter the retail market and to offer broadband services to consumers.

http://www.europa.eu

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Mexico's Telcel Selects Ericsson for 3G Network

Ericsson will supply a complete 3G network, including base stations, network controllers and extensive software functionality, to upgrade part of Telcel's existing GSM/GPRS/EDGE network in Mexico. The contract also covers a wide range of services such as deployment and integration, network design, tuning, optimization, consulting and support. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Telcel , which is a subsidiary of América Móvil, uses both the 800 megahertz and 1900 megahertz radio spectrum bands to offer TDMA, GSM/GPRS/EDGE and UMTS/HSPA services. As of December 31, 2007, Telcel had approximately 50 million cellular subscribers.http://www.ericsson.comhttp://www.telcel.com/

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AT&T Selects Alcatel-Lucent's UMTS/HSDPA

Alcatel-Lucent announced an agreement to support the expansion of AT&T's UMTS/HSPA (Universal Mobile Telecommunications Service/High Speed Packet Access) wireless network. The expansion includes the deployment of Alcatel-Lucent's UMTS/HSDPA Distributed NodeB solution, which provides operators with the flexibility to deploy 3G radio network elements in a wide array of locations including the sides of buildings, existing cell sites, remote locations and more, helping operators build out their networks more quickly and cost-effectively. Financial terms were not disclosed.


As part of the agreement - , Alcatel-Lucent has expanded the end-to-end, turnkey UMTS/HSPA solution, including messaging, voice switching and network applications and services. Alcatel-Lucent also has previously supplied AT&T with an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) service delivery solution - TDM, ATM and MPLS networking solutions, as well as ADSL/VDSL broadband access and optical advanced platforms.http://www.alcatel-lucent.com

• In November 2004, Cingular Wireless announced agreements with Ericsson , Lucent Technologies and Siemens to develop and deliver the infrastructure required for a broad-scale deployment of an expanded 3G UMTS/HSDPA network. Simultaneously, Lucent Technologies unveiled its high-speed downlink packet access (HSDPA) solution, a software upgrade to Lucent base stations for enabling 3G UMTS services.

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Comcast Revenue Increased 24% in 2007 to $30.9 billion

Comcast's revenue increased 24% in 2007 to $30.9 billion, thanks to cable acquisitions in the year, in particular the Adelphia/Time Warner transactions. For Q4 2007, Comcast reported consolidated revenue of $8.0 billion, an increase of 14%, and an increase in consolidated Operating Cash Flow of 19% to $3.1 billion compared to the fourth quarter of 2006. Net income increased to $602 million, or $0.20 per share, for the fourth quarter of 2007 compared to $390 million, or $0.13 per share, in the prior year.


"In 2007 we delivered very healthy growth in revenue and operating cash flow, added substantial revenue generating units and generated significant earnings growth - despite a weak economy and intensified competition in the second half of the year. Our goal continues to be to deliver consistent, profitable growth that builds long-term shareholder value. For 2008, we are confident about our competitive position and our ability to further grow our business, as illustrated by our outlook for 2008 free cash flow growth of at least 20%, " stated Brian L. Roberts, Chairman and CEO of Comcast.


Some highlights from the company's financial report:

• Revenue increased 11% to $29.4 billion for the year reflecting strong demand for Comcast's services. A decline in advertising revenue and a challenging economic and competitive environment in the second half of the year adversely impacted this revenue increase.



• Revenue generating units (RGUs) on a net basis increased 19%, or 6.0 million compared to net additions of 5.1 million last year. Comcast ended 2007 with 57.0 million RGUs.



• In video, Comcast added 2.5 million new digital cable subscribers in 2007.



• A total of 6.3 million, or 42%, of digital cable subscribers took advanced services such as digital video recorders (DVR) and high-definition television (HDTV) compared to 4.5 million, or 36%, a year ago.



• Video revenue increased 7% to $17.7 billion in 2007, reflecting growth in digital cable customers and increased demand for advanced digital features including ON DEMAND, DVR and HDTV, as well as higher basic cable pricing.



• Basic cable subscribers decreased by 180,000, or 0.7%, to 24.1 million during 2007 with 15.2 million or 63% of video customers taking digital cable services.



• Comcast added a record 2.5 million digital cable customers in 2007, an increase of 33% from the 1.9 million digital cable customers added in 2006. Digital cable customer additions in 2007 included 1.0 million full digital cable and 1.5 million digital starter subscribers.



• In Q4, Comcast Cable added 523,000 digital cable subscribers and lost 94,000 basic cable subscribers.



• During the year, 1.8 million additional digital cable customers subscribed to advanced services, like DVR and HDTV, either by upgrading their digital cable service or as new customers. As of December 31, 2007, 6.3 million, or 42% of digital cable customers received advanced services, 5.4 million, or 36% received full digital cable, and 3.5 million, or 23% were digital starter subscribers.



• Growth in video revenue also reflects increasing ON DEMAND movie purchases. Pay-per-view revenue increased 22% to $774 million in 2007.



• For High-Speed Internet, Comcast added 1.7 million high-speed Internet subscribers during 2007 compared to 1.9 million in the prior year.
  In Q4, hHigh-speed Internet revenue increased 14% in the quarter to $1.7 billion. The growth includes the addition of 331,000 high-speed Internet subscribers and stable monthly revenue per subscriber.



• High-speed Internet revenue increased 18% to $6.4 billion in 2007, reflecting a 1.7 million or 15% increase in subscribers from the prior year and relatively stable average monthly revenue per subscriber of approximately $43.



• Comcast ended 2007 with 13.2 million high-speed Internet subscribers, or 27% penetration of homes passed.



• For phone service, Comcast added over 2.5 million Comcast Digital Voice (CDV) customers compared to 1.6 million added in the prior year - an increase of 61%. The company increased CDV-ready homes passed by 9 million. CDV service is now marketed to 42 million homes representing 86% of Comcast's markets.



• Phone revenue increased 85% to $1.8 billion due to significant growth in CDV subscribers, offset by a $229 million, or 50% decline in circuit-switched phone revenues as Comcast transitions to marketing CDV in most areas.



• Comcast ended 2007 with a total of 4.4 million CDV customers or 10.4% of available homes. Entering 2008, Comcast has fewer than 200,000 circuit-switched customers, with the winding down of that business expected to be completed by the end of 2008.



• Advertising revenue decreased 3% to $1.5 billion in 2007, reflecting a significant decline in political advertising, softness in some discretionary categories and one less week in the broadcast advertising calendar compared to last year.



• Capital expenditures of $6.0 billion increased 29% in 2007, reflecting RGU growth, a 63% increase in the number of set-top boxes deployed (including over 2 million HD and/or DVR boxes), additional overhead and equipment necessary to support the higher level of RGU activity, network improvements, capital expenditures related to commercial services, as well as the integration of the acquired systems from Adelphia and Time Warner.

http://www.comcast.com

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One Minute Video: What is Deep Packet Capture?

One Minute Video presented by Steve Shillingsford, Solera Networks -- What is Deep Packet Capture?


Jargon Buster

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Novatel Wireless Introduces HSDPA/HSUPA USB Modem

Novatel Wireless introduced its "Ovation" MC930D USB Modem, a HSDPA/HSUPA device designed to provide peak download speeds of 7.2 Mbps and upload speeds of 2.1 Mbps on any worldwide HSDPA/HSUPA network supporting the 2100 MHz band. The device ships with Mobilink Lite Connection Manager Software preinstalled on the modem's on-board memory, eliminating the need for Mac and Windows users to download drivers from a CD. A Dual USB Y-cable is included to provide increased power when using the modem in weak signal areas. The integrated internal antenna offers both receiver diversity and equalizer support to improve performance in crowded environments.http://www.novatelwireless.com

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India's Tata Communications Makes Debut

Tata Communications launched as a commercial carrier with world-scale ambitions. The new company integrates the former VSNL, VSNL International, Teleglobe, Tata Indicom Enterprise Business Unit (TIEBU), and CIPRIS brands and represents the culmination of recent major international investments that expanded the company's global reach and ability to deliver IP-leveraged communications solutions to businesses and consumers worldwide.


Shares in Tata Communications are now being traded on the NYSE under the symbol TCL.


The Tata Communications portfolio includes transmission, IP, converged voice, mobility, managed network connectivity, hosted data center, communications solutions and business transformation services to global and Indian enterprises and service providers, as well as broadband and content services to Indian consumers.


Tata Communications will leverage a global network of submarine cables coupled with an advanced IP network. The company is in the process of completing additional submarine cable systems connecting emerging markets in Asia, the Middle East and Africa to Europe to meet the demands of consumer broadband and enterprise customers over the next five to eight years. Tata Communications plans to invest more than $2 billion over the next three years to further fuel its global expansion plans.


During the last year, Tata Communications has announced significant investments in enhancing network and services capabilities in India, intra-Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. The TGN-Intra Asia and TGN-Eurasia cables, complementing the company's existing multi-terabit capacities across the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, will ensure diverse and reliable intercontinental connectivity. Data center expansion and rollout of managed services will offer value-added, hosted and customized solutions.


Tata Communications also continues to expand its global MPLS and Ethernet networks to enable scalable and secure connectivity and advanced services. Tata Communications' Wimax network rollout in India will provide customers with high-speed and reliable connectivity to over 100 cities and towns. Additionally, Tata Communications' strategic investment in South African operator Neotel provides a strong anchor to build an African footprint.http://www.tatacommunications.com

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NextWave Wireless Announces 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) Roadmap

NextWave Wireless disclosed its product roadmap to deliver LTE network solutions to mobile operator customers beginning in 2009. The company's LTE solution will initially be based on NextWave's V5 multi-standard base station platform which currently supports 3GPP-based UMTS ER7 TD-CDMA, has been deployed by operators around the world and is field upgradeable to WAVE 2 compliant 802.16e-based WiMAX standard. NextWave expects to begin shipping its pre-commercial, LTE-enabled V5 base stations to support mobile operator trials in the second half of 2008.


NextWave's LTE roadmap also includes LTE-enabled Series 3000 Micro and Pico base stations which are based on the company's current Series 1000 and Series 2000 base station lines. Optimized to provide low-cost gap-filler and hot-spot coverage, the Series 3000 base stations, in combination with NextWave's LTE-enabled V5 macro base station platform, are designed to deliver world-class performance while significantly reducing upfront network deployment and ongoing operational costs.


NextWave said its ER-7 UMTS TD-CDMA V5 platform, which began shipping in 2007, has the digital capacity and interfaces needed to simultaneously support multiple WWAN technologies. In addition, NextWave's V5 platform supports MIMO, both TDD and FDD implementations, a broad range of channel bandwidths, and the most popular spectrum bands allocated around the globe for mobile broadband services. Utilizing a pair of optical interfaces, the V5 platform's digital chassis supports multiple, co-located RF shelves or remote RF radio heads, in multiple frequency bands, for a multi-antenna arrangement with MIMO and beamforming capabilities.http://www.nextwave.com

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Sprint Nextel Consolidates Corporate Headquarters at Overland Park, Kansas

Sprint Nextel will consolidate its operational headquarters and corporate headquarters, previously at Overland Park, Kansas, and Reston, Virginia respectively, to one location, the Sprint Nextel campus in Overland Park. Reston had served as the company's corporate headquarters since the merger of Sprint and Nextel in 2005.


The consolidation of the dual headquarters will require the relocation of only a small number of executives. The company said this move will improve operational performance by immersing senior leaders in the company's operations.


Sprint Nextel currently employs about 4,400 people in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area and about 13,300 associates in the Kansas City metropolitan area.http://www.sprint.com

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Equinix Posts Q4 Revenues of $138.7 million, up 34% Sequentially

Equinix reported revenues of $138.7 million for Q4 2007, a 34% increase over the previous quarter, and $419.4 million for the year-ended December 31, 2007, a 46% increase over 2006 revenues. Recurring revenues, consisting primarily of colocation, interconnection and managed services, were $131.6 million for the fourth quarter, a 33% increase over the previous quarter, and $399.6 million for the year-ended December 31, 2007, a 46% increase over 2006. Non-recurring revenues were $7.1 million in the quarter and $19.8 million for the year-ended December 31, 2007. http://www.equinix.com

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Telia-Sonera to test Alcatel-Lucent's In-Building Base Station Router Femto Solution

TeliaSonera has invited Alcatel-Lucent to participate in a trial of its Base Station Router (BSR) Femto in-building wireless access solution in Denmark. TeliaSonera's planned trial activities in Denmark are expected to start this spring.


The Femto Base Station Router integrates (3G) W-CDMA/HSPA radio access and core network elements into a compact unit. At the heart of the BSR-Femto is Alcatel-Lucent's "flat IP" architecture and auto-configuration approach. With an auto-configuration feature, the BSR-Femtos are able to register themselves automatically on the network, a feature that enables operators to deploy and more easily manage large numbers of smaller, stand-alone base stations without the deployment costs normally associated with network expansions.http://www.alcatel-lucent.com

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Alcatel-Lucent and Samsung Show WiMAX-GSM/EDGE Dual-mode Services

Alcatel-Lucent and Samsung unveiled an optimized device-plus-infrastructure solution for providing seamless voice/data access when switching between GSM/EDGE and WiMAX networks. The companies demonstrated Samsung's dual-mode PDA running over network equipment from Alcatel-Lucent.


The companies said their joint solution will enable operators to blend GSM/EDGE and WiMAX networks. When their subscribers move out of WiMAX range, an existing GSM/EDGE network will immediately pick up the connection without disruption in the subscriber's session or call. This includes international roaming as well as movement from WiMAX-rich urban/suburban settings into rural areas -- with the standardized end-to-end solution supporting seamless connections for both voice and data.


Samsung was already a partner in Alcatel-Lucent's Open CPE Program, established to stimulate the ecosystem to ensure that WiMAX operators and their subscribers have access to the widest possible variety of terminal devices at affordable prices.http://www.alcatel-lucent.comhttp://www.samsung.com

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Telecom Italia Picks Microsoft PlayReady technology

Microsoft announced a collaboration with Telecom Italia focused on Microsoft PlayReady technology as the content access solution for use in mobile entertainment value-added services (VAS) spanning the delivery of music, video and gaming content.


The major objective of the collaboration is around the evaluation of PlayReady technology and its capabilities to support a compelling user experience for Telecom Italia's mobile customers in Italy. Microsoft said the ultimate goal is to enable delivery of a range of entertainment content types, in a very easy-to-use way, to one of the most advanced mobile markets in the world.


Microsoft PlayReady is designed for digital entertainment services, devices and applications, with a focus on meeting the needs of mobile operators, service providers and device manufacturers. The technology supports a range of business models that can be applied to almost any type of digital content (music, video, games, ringtones, images and more) and a wide range of audio and video formats (including AAC, AAC+, Enhanced AAC+, H.264, Windows Media Audio (WMA) and Windows Media Video (WMV)). PlayReady also provides features, such as service domains and embedded licenses.


Telecom Italia will also take advantage of the ability of PlayReady to efficiently protect and deliver content both over the air to mobile handsets and through the Internet, to enable content from these services to be delivered and played back on other devices including Windows-based PCs.http://www.microsoft.com

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Neuf Cegetel Selects Italtel's VoIP Platform

Neuf Cegetel has selected Italtel's SIP VoIP solution to expand its VoIP network and extend its range of services.


Neuf Cegetel first deployed Italtel VoIP platform in 2004. The new Italtel VoIP solution will allow Neuf Cegetel to speed-up the launch of advanced SIP VoIP Residential and Corporate services in France and, at the same time, to rationalize and improve the technologies and cost effectiveness of the VoIP network following the operator's latest acquisition.


Italtel said its solution will provide Neuf Cegetel with an "IMS Service-Ready" platform to provide users with innovative services, while reducing the overall costs and time to market.http://www.italtel.com

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China Mobile to Join LTE FDD/TDD Trials with Verizon Wireless and Vodafone

China Mobile is set to join LTE (Long Term Evolution) trials already being carried out by Vodafone and Verizon Wireless, a joint venture of Verizon Communications and Vodafone. The resultant three-way operator trials will focus on LTE FDD (the Frequency Division Duplex version of LTE) for use with paired spectrum allocations and TD-LTE (the Time Division Duplex version of LTE) as an evolution of current TD-SCDMA technology to enable the exploitation of unpaired spectrum globally.


The three carriers said their trials are designed to explore the performance of LTE with different spectrum types as a potential next generation mobile technology. They will provide an opportunity to adopt a harmonized access platform with global scale and high performance inter-working with the existing technologies of all three companies.http://www.chinamobile.comhttp://www.vodafone.com

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NETGEAR Posts Q4 Revenue of $198.3 million, 21%

NETGEAR reported net revenue for Q4 2007 of $198.3 million, a 21% increase as compared to $164.0 million a year earlier, and an increase of 3% as compared to $191.7 million in Q3 2007. Net income (GAAP) was $12.5 million, or $0.35 per diluted share.


Patrick Lo, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NETGEAR, commented, "We had a solid revenue quarter and we believe we made market share gains in all three regions. We continued to see steady growth in the adoption of broadband Internet services in our target customer base. Coupled with our differentiated product offerings and focused channel programs, we believe we continued to outgrow the market in Q4 and the entire year of 2007. We continued to make progress in expanding our channel reach. We increased our retail footprint by 20% in Q4 2007 to over 22,000 retail outlets worldwide, and increased the number of active Value Added Resellers by almost 10% to close to 40,000. In the fourth quarter our net revenue from service providers was approximately 23% of total net revenue, as compared to 22% in the third quarter of 2007, and 28% in the fourth quarter of 2006. We experienced unexpected higher costs of air freight in the fourth quarter, which contributed to the underperformance against our operating margin target. We are in the process of rebidding the air freight service and expect to bring the costs in line in coming quarters."http://www.netgear.com

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