Sumitomo Electric Develops Coaxial Laser Diode Module for Base Stations

Sumitomo Electric Industries has developed a new coaxial laser diode module capable of supporting high frequency bandwidth applications.




Sumitomo Electric said that with the addition of the newly-designed model, its family of coaxial laser diode modules will be capable of supporting a broader frequency range, from 2GHz to 5GHz. The modules are used in mobile base station systems.


WiMAX supports three frequency bands (2.5GHz, 3.5GHz and 5.8GHz), as is defined in the IEEE 802.16-2004 specifications. The new coaxial laser module can support both the 3.5GHz and 5.8GHz bands.


One of the key features of the new module is its capability to achieve a 5GHz bandwidth. The new coaxial laser diode module will be available for sampling in Q3 2008 and for sale by the end of CY2008.http://www.sei.co.jp/index.en.html

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OKI Develops Gigabit Network Processor

Oki Electric Industry Co. has developed a low power consumption gigabit high-speed network processor for the Home/SOHO router market. The ML7240 device includes a RISC-type CPU, IP protocol engine, QoS accelerator, IPsec accelerator, voice engine, Gigabit Ether MAC (2ch), and other peripherals. In addition to the LSI, OKI plans to offer the drivers necessary to configure network equipment, and other software. Sampling is underway and initial volume shipment is scheduled to start in March 2009. OKI said it is developing other products for this market too.

http://www.oki.com

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UTStarcom Announces Management Changes

UTStarcom's CFO and executive vice president, Fran Barton, is retiring and has also vacated his seat on the UTStarcom board of directors. Viraj Patel, UTStarcom's vice president, corporate controller and chief accounting officer, will serve as Interim CFO until the company appoints a permanent CFO.


Additionally, David King, senior vice president, international sales and marketing, has resigned from the company.


Also, Craig Samuel has joined UTStarcom in the newly-created position of senior vice president, business strategy and innovation. In this visionary role, Samuel will lead company-wide product portfolio alignment and business development strategy. Prior to joining UTStarcom, Craig was worldwide VP of business innovation at Unisys Corporation.
http://www.utstar.com

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Sprint Signs Partners for XOHM WiMAX Location-Based Services

Sprint announced a set of partners for launching location-based services (LBS) over its forthcoming XOHM WiMAX networks.


Sprint said its XOHM location-enabled mobile experience will span a range of devices such as laptops, mobile Internet devices, media players, cameras and car navigation. Specifically, XOHM is enabling web services application programming interfaces (APIs) so a broad collection of service developers and device partners can use location to offer increased utility for XOHM members. XOHM will offer these location capabilities with a corresponding privacy policy to make sure XOHM members are informed about how XOHM will handle their data. At launch, a XOHM portal will offer location-based content from leading brands including:

• uLocate Communications, which is the primary partner in building XOHM's location enabled mobile experience, is providing its WHERE platform and leading friend finding application Buddy Beacon to connect XOHM customers with their favorite people, places and things. Through WHERE, XOHM users will have access to local information including restaurant reviews, news, events, weather and much more. Select launch partners on the WHERE platform include Yelp, Eventful, Topix, NAVTEQ and Accuweather.



• Yelp, a Web site for local business reviews, will provide relevant user reviews and ratings for anything local, from restaurants to doctors and more. The reviews can be searched and sorted by category or shown in a map view, with access to Yelp.com for details on any of the three million local reviews.



• Eventful will provide users with listings of local events displayed in a map view. Customers can select sub-categories of interest, search for events and click through to Eventful.com to get more event information and purchase tickets.



• Topix will provide local news based on current location as a summary, with an option to read full stories and others at its site.



• NAVTEQ will offer XOHM customers NAVTEQ Traffic real-time local traffic and commuter updates with links to the Traffic.com Web site for additional detailed construction, incident and drive time information.



• AccuWeather will provide three-day forecasts based on users' current locations. An easy link to AccuWeather.com mobile Web site gives more forecast details, radar/satellite images, and more.



• Google will contribute Local Search capability along with additional features and functionality from Google Maps.



• Openwave Systems will provide the location platform that enables XOHM partners to use location to provide valuable services.



• Autodesk will provide a standards-based interface and geospatial services, such as addresses, ZIP code and city/state information, to enhance location within the XOHM network.

http://www.xohm.comhttp://www.sprint.com

• Sprint has selected Mformation Technologies' mobile device management (MDM) solution to provide seamless device management capabilities for new WiMAX-capable mobile devices as part of the XOHM WiMAX mobile broadband initiative.



• Sprint has selected DragonWave's IP backhaul solutions for its XOHM-branded WiMAX mobile-broadband services in North America. Specifically, DragonWave's Horizon Compact and Horizon Duo products will be deployed initially in the Baltimore/Washington and Chicago markets.



• Sprint has selected Bridgewater Systems as the network access control vendor for its forthcoming nationwide XOHM WiMAX Network. Bridgewater is the incumbent supplier of Authentication, Authorization and Accounting (AAA) services to Sprint's existing CDMA 3G network and will now extend its solution to support XOHM as well. Within Sprint, Bridgewater will provide concurrent support for 3G and 4G networks from a common infrastructure as Sprint begins to commercially deploy the XOHM WiMAX network in 2008.



• Nokia Siemens Networks is supplying its Subscriber Data Management (SDM) solution for deployment in Sprint's XOHM WiMAX Broadband Network. The solution, which includes the Apertio One-NDS (Network Directory Server), will enable Sprint to operate a Subscriber Profile System (SPS) based on a single, real-time common subscriber database, eliminating the inefficiencies of multiple databases and reducing administration and cost.

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EU Roaming Rates to Fall

As of the end of August, it will become cheaper to make or receive calls while travelling in the European Union.


The price ceiling for roaming calls (the Eurotariff) introduced by the EU in 2007 will fall from €0.49 to €0.46 per minute (excluding VAT) for making a call and from €0.24 to €0.22 per minute (excluding VAT) for receiving a call while in another EU country.


Under the present EU Roaming Regulation prices for roaming calls will go down a last time on 30 August 2009 to €0.43 per minute for making calls and to €0.19 per minute for receiving calls while in another EU country.



The European Commission noted that these price reductions are the result of the EU Roaming Regulation, proposed by the EC in 2006 to curb the excessive roaming charges consumers had to pay for roaming calls (on average €1.15 per minute at the time.


The EU Roaming Regulation which will expire in 2010, is currently under review.http://europa.eu

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Deutsche Telekom Reaches 10 Million DSL Customers

Deutsche Telekom T-Home division welcomed its ten millionth DSL retail customer. With resale customers included, the company now has a broadband customer base with over 13 million lines.


In its domestic broadband market, T-Home took a share of over 40 percent of the new broadband customer market for the seventh consecutive quarter -- winning around 340,000 net new retail DSL customers.


Deutsche Telekom also announced plans to expand domestic broadband network, including further rollouts of VDSL. Deutsche Telekom has already upgraded over forty cities to the VDSL network. During a second phase of rollouts, another ten cities will be joining them this year. The company said it will soon be able to provide broadband coverage across 96% of Germany, including rural areas.


"Deutsche Telekom is aware of its responsibility for Germany, and is equipping virtually the whole country with fast Internet lines. At the end of 2008, we will be supplying 96 percent of all households with DSL, in over eighty percent of them with lines featuring speeds in excess of 2 Mbit/s. In concrete figures, this means that 400,000 more households will be connected to the high-speed network in 2008 -- a good 140,000 of them in areas that were previously without the service," Timotheus Höttges, member of the Board of Management responsible for T-Home Sales & Service at Deutsche Telekom.http://www.telekom.com

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Marvell Posts Q2 Revenue of $843 Million, up 28% Year-on-Year

Marvell Technology Group reported record net revenue for the second quarter of fiscal 2009 (ending Aug 2) of $842.6 million, an increase of 28 percent over $656.7 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2008, ended July 28, 2007, and a 4.8 percent sequential increase from $804 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2009, ended May 3, 2008.


GAAP net income was $71.4 million, or $0.11 per share (diluted), for the second quarter of fiscal 2009, compared with a GAAP net loss of $56.5 million, or a loss of $0.10 per share for the second quarter of fiscal 2008. In the first quarter of fiscal 2009 GAAP net income was $69.9 million, or $0.11 per share (diluted).


"The results for our second quarter were better than we had anticipated. We demonstrated significant year over year revenue growth, sustained profitability and excellent free cash flow generation," said Dr. Sehat Sutardja, Marvell Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "We also continued to realize recurring benefits from our improved efficiency which combined with our revenue performance enabled us to achieve increased sequential growth in gross and operating margins."
http://www.marvell.com/

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Taiwan's Chunghwa Telecom Sees ADSL Decline as FTTB Takes Off

Chunghwa Telecom, the incumbent operator in Taiwan, reported a decline in Q2 of 126,000 ADSL subscribers to 3.5 million. This decline was offset by growth in FTTB subscriptions, with 148,000 net additions to around 0.8 million over the course of Q2, bringing the total number of broadband subscribers to 4.3 million on June 30, 2008, a 3.4% increase compared to the same period of last year.


As of the end of June 2008, the number of ADSL and FTTx subscriptions with a service speed of greater than 8 Mbps reached 1.38 million, representing 32.1% of total broadband subscribers. In addition, Chunghwa reached 508,000 MOD (IPTV) subscribers, with 73,000 new subscriptions added during the second quarter.


Some other highlights for Q2:

• As of June 30, 2008, Chunghwa had 8.8 million mobile subscribers, slightly up quarter-on-quarter by 0.63% compared to 8.7 million on March 31, 2008.



• Chunghwa remained the leading mobile operator in Taiwan. According to statistics published by the NCC, at the end of June 2008, the company's total subscriber market share (including 2G, 3G and PHS) was 35.6%, while its revenue share was 33.6%.



• Chunghwa had 306,000 net additions to its 3G subscriber base during the second quarter, recording a 11.8% rise in the total number of 3G subscribers to 2.9 million on June 30, 2008.



• Mobile VAS revenue for 1H 2008 was NT$3.4 billion, a 31.7% year-on-year increase, with SMS revenue up 24.9% and mobile Internet revenue up 58.2%.



• At the end of June 2008, Chunghwa's fixed-line subscribers totaled 12.9 million.



• Chunghwa's total consolidated revenue decreased by 0.6% to NT$50.0 billion in Q2



• Internet and data revenue grew by 0.8%; ADSL & FTTB revenue decreased by 0.7% in Q2



• Mobile revenue decreased by 2.7%; Mobile VAS revenue increased by 28.3% in Q2



• Net income totaled NT$12.5 billion, an increase of 0.1% in Q2.

http://www.cht.com.tw

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Broadcom Joins WirelessHD Consortium

Broadcom announced its support for the WirelessHD consortium as a promoter company with a mutual goal of helping to enable wireless connectivity for streaming high definition (HD) content between consumer electronics devices and displays.


WirelessHD is dedicated to the advancement and enhancement of the WirelessHD standard, which has specified the unlicensed, globally available 60 GHz frequency band to enable wireless uncompressed high definition, high-quality video and data transmission. WirelessHD provides a high-speed wireless digital interface that will enable customers to simply connect, play, transmit and port their HD content in a secure manner at speeds as high as 4 Gbps in real time.http://www.broadcom.comhttp://www.wirelesshd.org/

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Dasan Networks Buys Out NSN Share, Companies Sign OEM Deal

DASAN Networks, a leading network equipment supplier in Korea, will acquire all of Nokia Siemens Networks' shares in Dasan Networks which represent 56.13% of all the shares of the company. With the acquisition completed these Korean investors will hold 60.83% of the shares of the company. The remainder of the shares are held by various shareholders.


Dasan's product portfolio includes IP-DSLAMs, Ethernet switches and FTTx solutions.


The companies plan to continue close cooperation through an Original Equipment Manufacturer- and Original Design Manufacturer agreement. Dasan products will remain part of NSN's broadband access solution.http://www.nokiasiemensnetworks.comhttp://www.dasannetworks.com/

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Microsoft's Mobile Device Manager Available for AT&T Users

Microsoft System Center Mobile Device Manager 2008 (MDM) is now available to AT&T business customers who use smartphones running Windows Mobile 6.1. The solution provides security, mobile Virtual Private Network (VPN) and software distribution for Windows Mobile devices. AT&T customers using Windows Mobile 6.1 smartphones now have secured access to applications, files, corporate data and other information that is located on the corporate network and previously inaccessible without a secure VPN connection.


AT&T also announced the availability of the MDM Early Adopter QuickStart Program that was developed cooperatively by AT&T and Enterprise Mobile and is an exclusive offering designed to assist AT&T customers with deploying the Microsoft mobility solution. The MDM Early Adopter QuickStart Program enables enterprises to try Mobile Device Manager's abilities to manage mobile devices, define access rights, provide additional security features for data transmissions, coordinate over-the-air software updates and protect the corporate network from unauthorized access.

http://www.att.com

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Ericsson Wins Exclusive GPON + IPTV Deal for King Abdullah Economic City

Ericsson announced an exclusive contract to supply broadband solutions for the planned King Abdullah Economic City, a massive development along the coast of the Red Sea backed by over $26.6 billion in funding. The five-year sole-supplier partnership agreement with Emaar, developer of the smart-city project, is the first for an end-to-end fixed network in Saudi Arabia for Ericsson. The residential area in the city is planned to include 260,000 apartments and 56,000 villas housing a future population of 2 million. Financial terms were not disclosed.


Ericsson said the project represents its first GPON- enabled IPTV contract in Saudi Arabia, the first fiber optic contract and the first fixed-network IMS contract where Ericsson provides systems integration and network rollout services. The contract brings together products from Ericsson's major acquisitions - Entrisphere, Marconi, Redback and TANDBERG Television - and the company's telecom services portfolio.http://www.ericsson.comhttp://www.kingabdullahcity.com/en/

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Nominum Defends Against DNS Cache Poisoning

Nominum has released a security update to its Vantio caching DNS server platform, adding multi-layer intelligent defenses that defeat DNS cache poisoning and other attacks, including the recently publicized Kaminsky vulnerability. Vantio, which is an alternative to open-source DNS, enables broadband providers to deliver new services by leveraging DNS as a key control point in the network . Nominum's many ISP and carrier customers support an estimated 120 million broadband subscribers.


Key benefits of new Vantio DNS security features include:

• Resists and stops all forms of cache poisoning attacks


• Defends automatically against query response spoofing and takes attackers out of loop


• Prevents hijacking of subscriber traffic, or "pharming" attacks


• Identifies perpetrators and records attack attempts


• Provides protection in Enterprise and Service Provider networks that use network address translation (NAT), which can undermine UDP SPR (NAT devices include server load balancers and firewalls)


• Reduces the chance of poisoning answers for valuable domains (www.mybank.com) to zero.

In the recent cache poisoning threat, Nominum said its customers were instrumental in implementing and deploying UDP SPR. However, UDP source port randomization is only a first-step response to the new vulnerability, and network operators need additional deterministic defenses to address important exploits.


"Literally one day after details of the Kaminsky cache poisoning attack were revealed, UDP Source Port Randomization was defeated in 10 hours by security researchers using brute-force spoofed responses," said Dr. Paul Mockapetris, Chairman and Chief Scientist at Nominum and inventor of the DNS. "Nominum's multi-layered approach eliminates the risk of a successful attack."


Vantio features the following four security layers with key security features highlighted:

• Deterrence Layer: Includes Nominum's UDP Source Port Randomization implementation, the recommended industry response to the Kaminsky threat



• Defense Layer: Incorporates Nominum's "Detect and Defend" capability to detect spoofing attempts and automatically switch the resolution to a secure connection in response to an attack attempt.



• Resistance Layer: Employs Query Response Screening with a set of features that intelligently screen DNS answers to ensure malicious data in DNS responses is not used to answer valid user queries.



• Remediation Layer: Sends alerts when an attack is under way and incorporates a new feature that records the attack, allowing the attacker to be identified, and real-time remedial action to be taken by the network operator.

http://www.nominum.com

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SanDisk Boosts SD Card Speed by 50% to 30 Megabytes per Sec

SanDisk announced a new speed record of 30 megabytes per second for SD flash memory cards. This represents a 50-percent speed boost from previous 20MB/s cards.


The SanDisk Extreme III 30MB/s Edition line of SDHC Cards will be available in September in 4GB, 8GB and 16GB capacities.


The new Nikon D90 DSLR camera, which is the first to support the memory cards, is able to record 39 images in continuous shooting mode at 4.5 frames per second with a file size of 6.0 MB JPEG L Fine per image. The Nikon D90 camera captures 12.3 megapixel still images and also features movie recording capability.http://www.sandisk.com

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BT Enhances Security Monitoring Service Against Botnets

BT has enhanced its managed security service to further defend enterprise networks against the growing threat of malicious botnet attacks.


Botnets are a significant security risk to businesses because they are primarily used to execute criminal activity. Since most bots communicate only infrequently with their command and control hosts, the chances of detecting infected machines prior to a critical event, without significant technology and infrastructure investment, are slim. However, since bots do communicate and these communications generate firewall traffic, BT's Managed Security Solutions Group has created the ability to detect bots by monitoring and analyzing firewall traffic.


The new proprietary Botnet Detection Module, which is part of BT's Event Monitoring and Correlation Service, can identify which hosts within a customer's network are under the control of botnets and then assist the customer with quarantine and remediation efforts to restore the network's integrity. Firewall traffic is collected and analyzed at the BT Security Operations Centers for patterns of activity that bear the hallmarks of bot communications. BT said its customers also benefit from proprietary technology to correlate across multiple security technologies and its diverse customer base, significantly improving the accuracy of these alerts.http://www.bt.com

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Tektronix Extends IMS and TISPAN Core Network

Tektronix Communications released its Spectra2 6.3 Core Network Test Solution software for testing for IMS and TISPAN networks.


Tektronix said its enhanced Spectra2 6.3 software release introduces policy management testing for IMS and TISPAN networks, complementing a mature DIAMETER solution with support for the Gq/Gq' and Rq Interfaces. Spectra2 6.3 offers powerful element simulation capabilities of the next generation Policy Decision elements such as the PDF, SPDF, CSCF and A-RACF and further complements its capability to test IMS Core, VoIP, and PSTN networks.


The Spectra2 6.3 release also implements load testing support for the TISPAN (Megaco V3) la interface. Users are provided with the ability to test and monitor enforcement of local policies at border elements to control bandwidth and session based media traffic. The Spectra2 6.3 release introduces support for Enhanced Variable Rate Codec (EVRC) based media streams, an extension of the Spectra2 media solution set which includes functional and load testing coupled with Quality of Service reporting. This user-friendly feature provides comprehensive call control and media capabilities in a single system.

http://www.tek.com

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China Mobile Reaches 415 Million Mobile Users

China Mobile is now serving over 415 million subscribers, up by nearly 25% or 45 million users, over the past 12 months. The net increase of new subscribers per month topped 7.5 million.


For the six months ended 30 June 2008, the Group's total voice usage volume reached 1,160.47 billion minutes and the average minutes of usage (MOU) was 496 minutes. Average revenue per user per month (ARPU) was RMB 84. This compares to ARPU of RMB 88 a year earlier.


China Mobile said the combination of economic growth in China, rising consumer purchasing power, the continuous development of the rural economy and the acceleration of the information society throughout the country is driving a tremendous demand for telecommunications and information services.


Some other key operating trends:

• Nearly half of subscriber growth in 1H08 came from rural markets



• Color Ring revenue reached RMB 6.275 billion, up 25% over last year.



• WAP revenue reached RMB 5.92 billion, up 19.3% over last year.



• MMS revenue reached RMB 1.365 billion, up 91% over last year.



• For the six months ended 30 June 2008, China Mobile's operating revenue continued to grow, reaching RMB196,460 million, representing an increase of 17.9 per cent. over the same period of last year.



• Profit attributable to shareholders reached RMB54,849 million -- an increase of 44.7 per cent over the same period of last year due partly to change in PRC enterprise income tax rate.



• Margin of profit attributable to shareholders reached 27.9 per cent.. EBITDA reached RMB104,361 million, representing an increase of 16.2 per cent. over the same period of last year while basic earnings per share reached RMB2.74, an increase of 44.2 per cent. over the same period of last year.

http://www.chinamobileltd.com

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Nokia Siemens Networks Wins Major 3G Integration Project in UK

Mobile Broadband Network Ltd. (MBNL), the network collaboration joint-venture between T-Mobile UK and 3 UK, has selected Nokia Siemens Networks as technology partner for 3G network integration. The companies anticipate creating the UK's most extensive 3G network providing near complete population coverage by the end of 2009. Financial terms were not disclosed.


Nokia Siemens Networks has been selected as the 3G radio network infrastructure supplier for the consolidation of the two operators' 3G radio access network infrastructure under MBNL.


Under the contract, Nokia Siemens Networks will supervise the creation and operation of the joint network on behalf of both companies.
The first integrated cell site was commissioned in early February. Although masts and the 3G access networks are being combined, each company's core network and T-Mobile's 2G network will not be shared. Both parties will retain responsibility for the delivery of services to their respective customers and use their own frequency spectrum.


Nokia Siemens Networks said its radio access solution will replace most of the two operators' communications stations across the UK and equipment at the remaining sites is being upgraded and reconfigured for higher quality and capacity. The solution, featuring energy-efficient Flexi base stations from Nokia Siemens Networks, will allow a reduction the number of sites in the network by about 30 percent. As well as network infrastructure, Nokia Siemens Networks will deliver project management, network deployment and managed spare parts capability, as well as care services to maintain network performance and increase its efficiency.http://www.nokiasiemensnetworks.com

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Cisco to Acquire PostPath for Linux-based Exchange Alternative

Cisco agreed to acquire PostPath, a start-up based in Mountain View, California with additional development operations in Sofia, Bulgaria, for its email and calendaring software. Cisco will pay approximately $215 million in exchange for all shares of PostPath.


PostPath offers an enterprise email and collaboration server that is a drop-in alternative to Microsoft Exchange. The platform features support for Blackberry Enterprise Server (BES), Microsoft ActiveSync email push technologies, iPhone 3G and iPhone 2.0 software.
With the PostPath Server, enterprise customers -- including iPhone users -- have access to full-feature, enterprise-grade messaging and collaboration at a significantly lower cost than Microsoft Exchange. Organizations can take advantage of the operational efficiency and cost savings of the PostPath server to roll out large mailboxes and mobile messaging to their users much easier and cheaper than with Exchange 2007.


Cisco said it will leverage PostPath to enhance the existing email and calendaring capabilities of its WebEx Connect collaboration platform. . Specifically, Cisco plans to extend the e-mail and calendar functionality of its flexible software-as-a-service (SaaS)-based collaborative platform that includes instant messaging, voice, video, data, document management and Web 2.0 applications.


Upon completion of the acquisition, PostPath employees will become part of the Cisco Collaboration Software Group (CSG). CSG is part of the recently established Software Group, consisting of Cisco's major software businesses; including the IOS network operating system, network and service management, Unified Communications solutions, policy management, and SaaS offerings.http://www.cisco.comhttp://www.postpath.com

• PostPath is headed by Duncan Greatwood, who previously held executive positions at Virata/GlobespanVirata/Conexant. Before that he held a variety of engineering and product marketing positions at Madge Networks.

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BroadSoft Acquires GENBAND's M6 Communication App Server

BroadSoft has acquired GENBAND's M6 Communication Applications Server, formerly VocalData, product line and related customer base. Financial terms were not disclosed.


GENBAND is the leading supplier of IP gateways for a diverse set of service provider networks worldwide.


BroadSoft said its acquisition of the M6 product line will extend its market position in the VoIP applications market. The acquisition will also enable GENBAND to focus its efforts on further advancing their gateway product innovation.


The companies have also entered into an agreement to cooperate on Network Transformation projects, which will allow their customers to bundle core voice, data and web-based services across an IP network.
http://www.broadsoft.comhttp://www.genband.com

• In 2007, GENBAND acquired Tekelec's Switching Solutions Group (SSG). The deal was structured as a sale of Tekelec's equity interests in Santera Systems and Taqua, and the SSG business assets held by Tekelec in exchange for a 19.9% common equity interest in GENBAND, $1.0 million in cash and GENBAND's assumption of certain SSG liabilities. Tekelec's switching solutions business unit included the businesses Santera, VocalData and Taqua, all of which had been acquired by Tekelec between 2003 and 2004.



• In 2004, Tekelec acquired VocalData, a start-up that developed a hosted IP telephony platform for business and residential customers, for approximately $27.5 million, consisting of $14.5 million of cash and approximately 780,000 shares of Tekelec common stock.

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