Looking Glass Networks Reports 2002 Progress

Looking Glass Networks, a privately-held carrier based in Oak Brook, Illinois, said its 2002 revenues exceeded its projections by 24% and that two of its 12 regional networks turned cash flow break even. Looking Glass currently has over 170 carrier and enterprise customers and provides connections to some 300 buildings.
http://www.lglass.net

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Fujitsu Selects AMCC's Network Processors

Fujitsu Limited has integrated AMCC's switching and networking processors into its GeoStream R900 Series carrier core and edge switches. The Fujitsu products can function as Broadband Remote Access Servers (BRAS), handling ADSL lines and fiber to the home (FTTH) connections.
http://www.amcc.com

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Avistar Adds SIP to its Video Server OS

Avistar Communications is adding support for SIP to its video server operating system. The AvistarVOS software is designed to integrate video and data applications in a transport-independent, scalable platform. The software also incorporates presence-based calling and "find-me/follow-me" user location information. Avistar's video suite is expected to, over time, utilize SIP to allow a broader and easier integration of voice, video, data and third-party applications. Hhttp://www.avistar.com

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SIP Forum Forms Service Provider Working Group

The SIP Forum, which promotes the inter-working of Session Initiation Protocol (SIP), announced the formation of a SIP Service Providers Work Group and a SIP Certification Work Group. The SIP Forum now has 25 member companies. The next SIPit event (SIPit 12) takes place in Stockholm, Sweden on the 24th - 28th February 2003, and is hosted by Hotsip AB.
http://www.sipforum.org

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Symantec Unveils Global Early Warning System for Internet Attacks

Symantec released version 4.0 of its DeepSight Threat Management System, promising enterprises a birds-eye view of global Internet attacks in a timely manner, quick analyses, and countermeasures to protect against or even avoid malicious threats. The DeepSight Threat Management System works by gathering data from firewalls and intrusion detection systems (IDS) of more than 19,000 partners in over 180 countries. The latest version of the software is capable of providing early warnings to impending threats by recognizing suspicious, unidentifiable activity targeting specific ports and devices. Symantec said its system discovered the Slammer worm hours before it began rapidly propagating.
http://www.symantec.com

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Broadcom Introduces 500 Mbps IPsec Processor Card

Broadcom introduced a PCI-based IPsec processor card designed specifically for Check Point Software Technologies. The security board provides up to 500 Mbps of IPsec performance for 3DES and HMAC-SHA-1 applications. It supports bulk cryptographic functions such as DES, 3DES and ARC4 symmetric encryption algorithms, and HMAC-SHA-1 and HMAC-MD5 authentication algorithms. The new security card also features concurrent public key acceleration and symmetric key processing, a true random number generator, a PCI interface and requires no external memory on board. Target applications include VPN appliances, edge and enterprise routers, and servers.
http://www.broadcom.com

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Nortel Networks Enhances IP Contact Center Solutions

Nortel Networks announced enhancements to its IP Contact Center solutions, including availability of VoiceXML, the validation of its Symposium Communications Driver for Siebel 7, and new capabilities for its Symposium Express Call Center 4.2. Nortel Networks IP Contact Center solutions are now compatible with Succession Communications Server for Enterprise (CSE) 1000. Additional enhancements include: peer IP networking for distribution of calls between nodes in Succession CSE1000-based networked contact center solutions; survivable branch office solutions, enabling greater distribution of agents and centralization of applications; "Private Zone," which enables reservation of voice gateway channels for resource-critical IP agent phones; Power over Ethernet; and an IP call recording applications programming interface.
http://www.nortelnetworks.com

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Cisco 7301 Router Targets Customer Network Edge

A new, single-rack-unit Cisco 7301 router has been introduced for IP/MPLS customer-edge applications such as the Internet/campus gateway or service provider managed services. List pricing starts at $18,000. Along with the Cisco 7301, Cisco announced a port adapter carrier card that allows the Cisco 7304 to accept existing Cisco 7000 Series port adapters.
http://www.cisco.com

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BT to Offer Yahoo! UK Plus to Broadband Subscribers

Yahoo! and BT signed a wide ranging distribution agreement under which BT will offers its broadband subscribers a package of premium content and services. Yahoo! and BT have committed to a multi-million-pound, cross-platform marketing campaign to promote the broadband service.
http://www.bt.com
http://www.yahoo.com

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IntroWeb Selects Navini for Broadband Wireless in Holland

IntroWeb, an ISP in The Netherlands, selected Navini Networks' non-line-of- site (NLOS) wireless broadband equipment. IntroWeb will initially offer high-speed data services to primarily residential customers who live in townships of 2,000-10,000 people and also to small-to-medium sized businesses in Holland. IntroWeb plans to deploy at least 70 of Navini's Ripwave base stations throughout eastern and northern Holland. Navini said the contract initially exceeds US$20 million in value.
http://www.navini.com

• Navini Networks' Ripwave 2.4 GHz (unlicensed) and 2.6 GHz (MMDS) broadband wireless access platform uses Multi-Carrier Synchronous Beamforming technology to provide non-line-of-sight access at broadband data rates for up to 1000 users per antenna face. The company claims up to 50% lower total-cost-of-ownership than DSL or cable networks, and up to 70% lower total-cost-of-ownership than previous fixed wireless systems.Navini Networks was founded in early 2000 by Wu-Fu Chen and Dr. Guanghan Xu, a former professor at the University of Texas at Austin, School of Electrical Engineering. The company has raised $66.5 million in funding and is based in Richardson, Texas.

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Centillium ADSL+ Chipset Delivers 20 Mbps

Centillium Communications introduced its latest Palladia 210 chipset for ADSL customer premises equipment (CPE) that delivers downstream data rates exceeding 20 Mbps. The chipset, which is based on the ADSL+ standard, is designed for modems supporting next generation services. The chipset is built using 0.13-micron technology and consumes 50% less power than Centillium's previous generation solution. It also features a MIPS processor core and USB and Ethernet interfaces.
http://www.centillium.com

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Alcatel Partners with Native Networks for Metro Ethernet over SDH

Alcatel is partnering with Native Networks for metro Ethernet over SDH capabilities for its Optical Multi-Service Nodes (OMSN) equipment. Alcatel's Optical Multi-Service Nodes aggregate multiprotocol traffic onto SDH. Although configurable as ADMs (Add-Drop-Multiplexers), OMSNs have cross-connect capability and already support point-to-point Ethernet connections. Under the new partnership, Alcatel is leveraging Native Networks' Metro Ethernet technology to introduce enhanced transport and aggregation of Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, and Gigabit Ethernet services, along with Packet Ring functionality. The companies said these new, managed Ethernet features could be introduced incrementally through an add-on card to existing OMSN networks, or equipped as needed in new installations.
http://www.alcatel.com
http://www.nativenetworks.com

• Native Networks is headquartered in London and has R&D offices in Petah Tikva, Israel. The company was founded in 1999 and has raised in excess of $28 million in venture funding.

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Congressmen Re-Introduce Broadband Tax Credit Bill

U.S. Representatives Phil English (R-Pennsylvania.) and Robert Matsui (D-California.) introduced a new broadband tax credit bill that would provide carriers with a 10% tax credit on current-generation broadband expenditures and a 20% credit on spending for next-generation equipment in qualifying locations. The credit would be available to any provider deploying high-speed Internet in 2003, regardless of the platform used. The Broadband Internet Access Act of 2003 is nearly identical to a similar measure introduced in the last Congress, which was supported by 267 members of the House of Representatives during the 107th Congress, but never made it to final passage.
http://www.house.gov

• The Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation estimates the cost of the Broadband Internet Access Act of 2003 at $2.2 billion. The bill's tax incentives terminate five years from enactment.The Broadband Internet Access Act of 2003 is supported by the Electronic Industries Alliance (EIA) and the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA).

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European Commission Adopts New Regulatory Framework

The European Commission officially adopted a New Regulatory Framework that requires national regulators in EU member states to review and/or adapt policies governing electronic communications by 24 July 2003. The European Commission said the new regulatory environment would ensure the sustainable development of the telecommunications sector, which recently has been characterized by postponement in investment and large-scale layoffs. Principle aims of the framework include:

• to provide legal certainty needed to create the conditions for long-term investment;



• to ensure access to existing networks as a transitional measure and facilities based competition as a medium-term objective;



• to provide timely implementation of the eEurope 2005 plan (see below);



• to ensure regulatory harmonization across the single market;



• and to strengthen current investment in R&D at the national and EU level, which it considers necessary to ensure Europe's long-term competitiveness.

The framework covers regulations for fixed and mobile wireless networks, cable television networks, satellite networks, and IP networks, whether used for voice, fax, data or video. Specific directives address unbundled access to the local loop, differentiating between existing metallic loops and new optical builds, while guaranteeing universal service and affordable access for all citizens. The Commission also defines a market for wholesale broadband access, covering "bit-stream" services and equivalent wholesale services provided over other infrastructures that permit the transmission of broadband data in both directions. In addition, the new framework defines a market for Voice call termination on individual mobile networks, enabling termination prices from fixed locations to mobile networks to be analyzed and regulated.Intervention in markets other than those identified in the Recommendation is possible, but only if the Commission agrees that the following three criteria are met: (a) the existence of high barriers to entry into the market concerned, (b) the absence of dynamic competition in spite of these barriers and (c) the fact that competition rules are not sufficient to address the perceived market failures.

Erkki Liikanen, European Commissioner Enterprise and Information Society, said the ultimate aim is that half of all Internet connections in Europe are broadband connections in 2005.


http://EURpa.eu.int/information_society/topics/telecoms/regulatory/new_rf/index_en.htm

• The eEurope 2005 Plan aims to stimulate secure services, applications and content on widely-available broadband infrastructure. The plan includes a number of measures for both the supply and demand sides of the equation. On the demand side, eEurope 2005 calls for new initiatives in eGovernment, e-health, e-learning and e-business. On the supply side, eEurope 2005 advocates policy measures to review and adapt legislation at the national and European level. The plan also calls for the creation of a CyberSecurity Task Force. The full text of the eEurope 2005 Plan can be found online:
  http://europa.eu.int/information_society/eeurope/
  news_library/eeurope2005/index_en.htm



• The European Competitive Telecommunications Association (ECTA) said the new framework “puts competition at the heart of the eEurope broadband agenda… with ISPs tailoring their packages to consumer needs not just in terms of content but also at various speeds and with various other services.�? ECTA's DSL scorecard shows that today incumbents still have around 80% of the DSL market directly through retail lines, rising to 95% of the market when re-sold connections are added back. As of the end of 2002, ECTA estimates there were 8.2 million DSL lines across the EU, of which 415,000 where unbundled local loop lines.  http://www.ectaportal.com  



• The European Telecommunications Network Operators Association (ETNO), which represents large telecom incumbents in Europe, expressed disappointment with the broadband wholesale provisions of the framework. http://www.etno.be

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Esrey, LeMay to Remain at Sprint for Now

William T. Esrey agreed to remain Sprint's chairman and CEO until his successor can assume the role of CEO. Sprint's independent directors intend to name Gary D. Forsee to succeed Esrey as soon as permitted by the Georgia courts. Ronald T. LeMay has agreed to remain as Sprint's president and chief operating officer during this same transition period.
http://www.sprint.com

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Cablevision Reports 770,100 Cable Modem Users, 20.8% Penetration

Cablevision, which serves 3 million households located in the New York metropolitan area, added 90,100 high-speed data (HSD) cable modem customers in Q4 2002, giving it a total of 770,100 customers. This represents a 20.8% penetration rate for its high-speed data service, compared to 17% in the same period a year earlier. HSD revenue per subscriber averaged $36.82 in December 2002, up 21% from $30.48 in the year-earlier period. Meanwhile, Cablevision recorded a loss of 5,300 cable subscribers in Q4. Cablevision also noted that its Lightpath telecommunications businesses throughout the New York metropolitan area achieved a 14% increase in net revenues to $41.9 million and a 65% increase in Adjusted EBITDA to $17.1 million, in each case compared to the prior year period.
http://www.cablevision.com

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Efficient Networks Ships One Million DSL Devices in Q4

Efficient Networks, a subsidiary of Siemens, shipped 1 million units of its SpeedStream DSL CPE in Q4 of 2002, marking a record for the company. Products shipped during Q4 included DSL modems and consumer/SOHO DSL routers from its SpeedStream 5x series of DSL CPE.
http://www.efficient.com

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CommWorks Logs 15 Billion Minutes of Voice Traffic on its IP Telephony System

IP telephony systems deployed by the service provider customers of CommWorks have now carried in excess of 15 billion minutes of cumulative voice traffic. CommWorks said the milestone was reached earlier this month, less than three years after the first commercial deployment of its IP telephony equipment in April 2000. CommWorks IP telephony equipment is now carrying an estimated 985 million minutes of voice traffic each month for service providers worldwide.
http://www.commworks.com

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Kagoor Secures $7.5 Million for its VoIP Border Control

Kagoor Networks, a start-up based in San Mateo, California with R&D facility in Herzeliya, Israel, raised $7.5 million in its third round of financing for its VoIP Border Control solution. Kagoor's VoiceFlow platform addresses VoIP security and firewall issues, network address translation (NAT), firewall traversal, call admission control, remote monitoring and management of VoIP endpoints, Quality of Service (QoS) features like packet marking, and bandwidth management and compression. The company has completed trials with major US and international carriers and service providers. The new funding was co-led by VantagePoint Venture Partners and ComVentures.
http://www.kagoor.com

• Kagoor Networks was co-founded in February 2000 by Opher Kahane, a key contributor to the H.323 standard and previously vice president, strategic planning and global alliances at VocalTec Communications; Itzik Parnafes, previously a co-founder and R&D manager of Class Data Systems (acquired by Cisco Systems); and Shai Mohaban, also a cofounder of Class Data Systems.

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Adjungo and Nomadix Offer WLAN Solution for Mobile Operators

Adjungo Networks and Nomadix entered into an alliance that combines Adjungo's authentication technology for mobile users with the Nomadix family of public-access Gateways. Nomadix also provides patented Dynamic Address Translation technology that resolves proxy-related issues within the browser. Adjungo Networks' MobileGate platform provides security and authentication, as well as the backend functions (OSS, billing and customer care) of mobile carriers. http://www.nomadix.com
http://www.adjungonet.com

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