Veraz Launches New Subsidiary in India

Veraz Networks has opened a subsidiary in New Delhi, India to handle sales, marketing, and support of local partners. Yogesh S. Bijlani has been appointed country manager. Mr. Bijlani was the Vice President Sales & Marketing (Indian Subcontinent) at UTStarcom Inc. Before that, he was the Director of Business Development for Wireless Infrastructure (Indian Subcontinent) with Lucent Technologies.



Veraz also operates a facility in Pune, India that focuses on R&D and customer support. Veraz is one of the few next-generation network vendors to receive certification from the Indian government's Telecommunication Engineering Centre (TEC) for its highly scaleable softswitch and media gateway solution. http://www.veraznetworks.com

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McLeodUSA Announces Resignation of President

Stephen C. Gray is stepping down from his posts as president of McLeodUSA and a member of the company's Board of Directors, effective December 31, 2004. Gray has worked 21 years in the telecom industry and over 12 years with McLeodUSA .



Chris A. Davis remains as McLeodUSA's Chairman and CEO. http://www.mcleodusa.com

• As of September 30, 2004, McLeodUSA had 38 ATM switches, 39 voice switches, 696 collocations, 435 DSLAMs and 2,474 employees for its network serving 25 Midwest, Southwest, Northwest and Rocky Mountain states.

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Hollywood Studios File Suit Against P2P Server Operators

The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), which represents the major Hollywood studios, filed law suits in U.S. and U.K. courts against individuals operating servers that index millions of illegal copies of movies and TV programs used on computer networks such as BitTorrent. The MPAA said it is working with law enforcement and civil authorities around the world to shut down illegal servers on eDonkey and DirectConnect networks.



The MPAA is targeting "peer-to-peer" file-trading networks, such as BitTorrent, Direct Connect and eDonkey, which index files available for downloading elsewhere online. In addition to the legal actions in the U.S. and the U.K., the MPAA and local rights-holder organizations are also sending cease-and- desist letters to Internet service providers worldwide that host eDonkey servers and DirectConnect hubs. http://www.mpaa.org

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Nortel Provides Estimated Unaudited Results

Nortel Networks announced limited estimated unaudited financial results for the third quarter of 2004, and updated limited estimated unaudited results for the first and second quarters of 2004 and for the years 2001, 2002 and 2003. The company expects to file final reports on 10-January-2005.



Estimated unaudited revenues in Q3 2004 were approximately US$2.3 billion and the Company estimates an unaudited net loss per share in the quarter of US$0.06. The net loss per share in the quarter included approximately US$0.03 per share for the majority of the investment costs associated with a wireless contract in India and approximately US$0.02 per share in special charges associated with restructuring activities in the quarter, primarily related to the work plan announced in August 2004 and updated in September 2004, which were partially offset by a gain of approximately US$0.01 per share on the transfer in the quarter of certain assets of the directory and operator services business to a joint venture in return for a minority equity interest in such venture.



While customer support remains strong, the ongoing restatement activities and the internal restructuring and realignment programs initiated in August have impacted business performance in the third quarter but this impact is temporary. I expect Q4 2004 revenues in the range of US$2.8 billion to US$2.9 billion," said Bill Owens, president and CEO of the company.

Some highlights for Q3:



Sales by Product category:

Wireless Networks 46%

Enterprise Networks 26%

Wireline Networks 17%

Optical Networks 11%


Sales by Geography:


United States 49%

EMEA 26%

Asia Pacific 14%

Caribbean and Latin America 6%

Canada 5%


Gross Margin 37%http://www.nortelnetworks.com

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India's BSNL Selects Nortel to Expand GSM/GPRS

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), the largest telecommunications company in India, awarded a contract valued at approximately US$500 million to Nortel Networks to expand its GSM/GPRS digital wireless network in the eastern and southern areas of the country. Under the contract, Nortel will deploy an end-to-end GSMand GPRS solution -- including GSM radio base stations, mobile switching centres (MSCs), intelligent networks (IN) and other related equipment.



Commitments to date against the contract represent the majority of the investment and are expected to result in an approximately $0.03 per share cost impact to Nortel's third quarter in 2004. http://www.nortel.com

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First Avenue Raises $93 Million in Equity

First Avenue Networks raised $93.3 million through 12,870,000 shares of common stock priced at $7.25 per share. Over 20 institutional investors participated in the sale.



First Avenue intends to use the net proceeds for its mobile backhaul network initiatives and to develop fiber extension facilities for targeted metropolitan markets. The funds also will be used for debt repayment and general corporate purposes.



First Avenue also announced that all conditions for closing the acquisition of Teligent's assets and operations were met. The FCC has approved the request to transfer 24 GHz licenses to be purchased by First Avenue from Teligent in connection with the acquisition. First Avenue believes the deal will close by December 31st. http://www.firstavenet.com

• In November, First Avenue Networks agreed to acquire substantially all of Teligent's assets and fixed broadband wireless operations in a stock swap deal valued at approximately $133 million.

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Road Runner Deploys Vibe's Video Mail Application

Time Warner Cable has deployed Vibe Solutions Group's video mail application for the more than three million cable modem customers using the Road Runner service. The Vibe Video Mail service enables users to record and send high-quality video mail, create and send customized greeting cards and text, and record video and digital photos.

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Juniper Networks Appoints Flextronics Exec as New CFO

Juniper Networks named Robert R. B. Dykes to the position of CFO and executive vice president, Business Operations. He previously served at Flextronics as CFO and president of the Systems Group. Prior to that, Dykes spent 9 years as executive vice president, Worldwide Operations and CFO of Symantec Corporation where, having guided the company through its IPO. Starting on January 1st 2005, Dykes will oversee all business systems functions at Juniper Networks, and will have responsibility for finance, legal, information technology, human resources, investor relations and manufacturing operations.



Dykes will succeed Marcel Gani, who will remain with the company in the role of chief of staff. Gani will assist chairman and CEO, Scott Kriens, in driving some of the internal and external tasks involving overall strategy and direction. http://www.juniper.net

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Danish Utility Selects Nortel for Triple Play Network

EnergiMidt, a Danish utility company, selected Nortel to provide a turnkey solution for delivering Triple Play residential services over a new PON network. EnergiMidt Broadband plans to deliver the services to all of its 162,000 customers. Nortel is also providing EnergiMidt with a carrier-grade optical transport network. Financial terms were not disclosed.



The network will use Nortel's Broadband Access Services Gateway (BASG) product line, Nortel's optical Ethernet portfolio and a host of leading video and in-home networking partners -- all brought together, tested and approved by Nortel to form a triple-play solution. The technologies behind Nortel's BASG portfolio are supplied by ECI Telecom.



EnergiMidt will be adopting a phased rollout of its service to its current energy customers, aiming for approximately 2000 subscribers by the end of 2005. As part of the deployment strategy, EnergiMidt will connect each of the homes passed by their FTTH deployment, thus greatly reducing the time to turn up service for new customers.



EnergiMidt also plans to offer enterprise services, including VPNs. http://www.nortelnetworks.com

• In February 2004, Nortel Networks announced a strategic relationship to resell ECI Telecom's access and aggregation platforms for central office DSLAM, Optical Line Termination (OLT), and remote terminal applications.

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IP Unity and Atreus Partner on Automated VoIP Provisioning

IP Unity and Atreus Systems announced a marketing partnership aimed at automating the provisioning of advanced IP features for top-tier carriers worldwide.



TELUS, the largest telecommunications company in Western Canada, has deployed IP Unity's unified messaging features and will soon implement the joint solution of IP Unity features with Atreus' service fulfillment solution in its production network. http://www.atreus-systems.comhttp://www.ipunity.com

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MCI Leverages Oracle Grid Control for Managing Hosting Services

MCI is working with Oracle to enhance service delivery of its Enterprise Hosting application management services and optimize its managed hosting infrastructure.



MCI Enterprise Hosting is now using the Grid Control functionality of Oracle Enterprise Manager 10g to help reduce the cost and complexity of managing its advanced IP applications and systems via a single integrated console. MCI monitors and measures the performance availability of hundreds of database servers. The Oracle Grid Control is used to track changes in hardware and software configurations. In addition, MCI administrators receive a consolidated view for end-user, service and system performance to manage and monitor their systems from anywhere at anytime via Oracle Grid Control. http://www.oracle.com

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Atheros Launches Single-Chip 802.11g Access Point Device

Atheros Communications introduced the first 802.11g wireless access point on a chip. The new AR5006AP-G integrates the wireless network processor, media access controller (MAC), baseband and radio functions into a single silicon chip. Atheros has also integrated many of the discrete components required by previous 802.11g access point designs.



Atheros said the transition from a two-chip design to a single-chip implementation produces substantial cost benefits. In addition, Atheros has reduced the rest of BOM (bill-of-materials) by almost 20 %. Applications include 802.11g-based consumer residential gateways at mass-market price points. The chip's design also enables it to be embedded into emerging wireless networking devices including media and print servers, external hard-drive storage devices, and home media gateways.


It includes full support for the IEEE 802.11i security standard using an AES encryption engine built into the hardware, and support for Atheros XR (eXtended Range) and Super G performance enhancements. Atheros also supports the draft 802.11e QoS specification, providing advanced features for delivering wired-quality video and audio content via a wireless connection.



List price for the AR5006AP-G is below $13 in 10,000-unit quantities. http://www.atheros.com

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Comcast Completes $350-Million Network Upgrade in Chicago

Comcast announced the completion of its $350 million broadband network upgrade in the Chicago region. The upgrade provides its cable customers with access to ON DEMAND and Digital Video Recorders and High Speed Internet with download speeds of up to 4Mbps.


Digital Video Recorders (DVRs) will be available in the Greater Chicago Region in early 2005 for only $9.95 a month with no fee for the box. All Comcast Digital Cable customers in the region will automatically have access to VOD.


Comcast Cable serves more than 1.7 million customers in the Greater Chicago region. http://www.comcast.com

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deltathree Enhances VoIP Reseller Program

deltathree, a provider of SIP-based VoIP, launched new features and services for its Reseller Program, including expanded inbound calling numbers, call forwarding, voicemail, web call and Web and SMS callback features. In addition, deltathree has expanded the broad range of devices that it has certified are interoperable with its services, and recently launched new pricing plans and an enhanced look and feel for its VoIP services.


The expanded choice of Inbound local phone numbers gives customers a choice of receiving calls via these local phone numbers from a variety of countries, including the U.S., Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Israel and the U.K. These numbers are available to end users without regard to where they are physically located around the world.


deltathree's new customizable web-based and SMS-based callback features allow the end user to decide if the call should occur immediately or at a later time.


deltathree said it is targeting its Reseller Program at calling centers/shops, Internet Cafes, local hardware and software distributors, local ISPs, calling card and callback companies, telecom consultants, Web portal and entrepreneurs. http://www.deltathree.com/

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Terayon Offers Distributed Digital Video Processing for MSOs

Terayon Communication Systems has added significant new capabilities to its flagship Terayon 6400 Network CherryPicker digital video processing platform that enable cable television and other network operators to accelerate their transition to all-digital, next-generation networks and to deliver new digital video applications. New features and capabilities include:

• Distributed Chassis design that enables operators to acquire, manage and distribute digital video services from any point in the network to any other point in the network. Regardless of the physical or geographic locations of CherryPickers in the network, Distributed Chassis delivers the flexibility to distribute the ingest, processing and distribution of digital video services instead of having to replicate those operations in each physical location such as a head-end or distribution hub. The distributed chassis also increases the input capacity up to 400% without the use of an external switch.



• Master Control Management Console (MC2) -- a point-and-click environment that simplifies the configuration, monitoring and management of multiple networked CherryPickers.



• Program redundancy substantially improves the reliability of service delivery by automatically switching to an alternate or back-up program source -- either local or remote -- should the primary source fail.



• Expanded IP video networking capabilities, including new Gigabit Ethernet (GigE) output replication capability that enables operators transitioning from ASI to GigE to process each digital video service feed only once, eliminating the cost and complexity of processing both feeds simultaneously and providing a cost-effective accelerator to an end-to-end IP video network.

Terayon expects the annual market value for Gigabit Ethernet video delivery equipment to top $900 million by 2008. http://www.terayon.com/

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Spirent Offers MPLS and Security Testing Services

Spirent Communications introduced new MPLS Flow Monitoring and Firewall Assessment Services as well as a new level of advanced network technology certification training.


Spirent's Flow Monitoring Service is designed for network operators deploying MPLS-based IP VPN networks. The on-site, five-day service combines Spirent's AX/4000 Broadband Test System and its test experts to assess the performance, interworking and stability of demanding multiple protocols associated with MPLS-VPNs. The AX/4000 monitors and analyses an operator's network in the predeployment phase by emulating its unique topology, helping customers to diagnose, isolate and correct faults among a million or more MPLS-VPN flows.


Spirent's Firewall Assessment Service helps enterprise network engineers to validate the performance and reliability of their security and network infrastructures. Spirent test professionals use the Spirent Avalanche platform for firewall and network testing. Within two weeks, customers receive reports of system performance, behavior under load and attack, user handling capacity and bandwidth capability. This report provides the insight necessary to resolve performance, scalability or security issues.


Finally, Spirent's new certification service provides an ongoing learning experience to customers, enabling them to train and certify in-house staff in testing and network performance analysis. The service leverages Spirent's extensive work with leading network equipment manufacturers to provide customers testing training designed around state-of-the-art hardware, testing applications and network architectures. Students may engage in online, self-paced training or in scheduled on-site, instructor-led courses focused on a "how-to-test" curriculum. Both online and on-site training culminates in the award of SCPA (Spirent Certified Professional Associate) or SCPE (Spirent Certified Professional Expert) certifications. http://www.spirentcom.com

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Passavé Adds Dynamic Bandwidth Allocation to EPON Chips

Passavé has introduced a programmable dynamic bandwidth allocation (DBA) engine along with a new algorithm aimed at optimizing traffic over FTTH networks. Passavé said its "Plato" algorithm improves upstream utilization, reduces upstream delay and delivers quality of service supporting triple-play applications as well as legacy TDM traffic emulation over advanced Gigabit EPON systems. The programmable DBA engine comes with all Passavé devices enabling carriers who already have Passavé -based EPONs to utilize the Plato algorithm immediately.



Passavé s programmable DBA engine is already in field deployments, including in Japan. http://www.passave.com

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Pulse~LINK Shows 667 Mbps Wireless UWB

Pulse~LINK, a start-up based near San Diego, demonstrated 667 Mbps data rates transmitted and received over an Ultra Wideband (UWB) wireless connection using forward error correction. The company said its new high-speed chipset architecture is capable of surpassing one Gigabit rates.



"Our actual over-the-air data rate is at present 1.3 Gbps per second, with the data throughput presently at 667Mbps," states John Santhoff, Founder and CTO. "Over the next thirty to sixty days, optimization will bring the throughput to Gigabit data rates."



Pulse~LINK plans to launch Gigabit wireless UWB evaluation kits to partners in February 2005. The company's Gigabit RFIC is presently in fabrication and evaluation kits based on the sample RFIC are planned for release in April 2005. In addition to its high speed UWB technology, Pulse~LINK is introducing a new forward error correction technology for wireless communications that it claims is far more efficient at extremely high data rates than the Viterbi forward error correction technology commonly used in other wireless communications.



Pulse~LINK said applications for its chipset could include wireless solutions for DVI (Digital Visual Interface), HDMI (High Definition Multimedia Interface) and 1394b (Firewire) cabled devices.



Along with providing higher data rate solutions, Pulse~LINK is developing longer-range UWB transmissions for Wireless LANs. In recent demonstrations, Pulse~LINK transmitted two simultaneous HDTV signals for "picture-in-picture" television through a combined seven inch thick concrete wall and an additional steel-frame drywall at ten meters and has demonstrated the same two streams at distances of 25 meters through one steel-frame drywall. http://www.pulselink.net/

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TelCove Launches OC-192 and 10G Wavelength Services

TelCove announced the launch of its OC-192 and 10G wavelength services. The carrier already offered OC-48 and 2.5G Intercity Private Line (IcPL) and Local Private Line (LPL) services. In addition, TelCove is offering a variety of storage networking connections, including Fibre Channel, Enterprise Systems Connectivity (ESCON), Fiber Connectivity (FICON), and Geographically Dispersed Parallel Sysplex (GDPS).



TelCove operates throughout 50 markets in the eastern half of the United States. http://www.telcove.com/

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FiberNet to Acquire Con Edison Communications

FiberNet Telecom Group agreed to acquire Con Edison Communications (CEC), a subsidiary of Consolidated Edison, for approximately $37 million in cash. Both FiberNet and Con Edison Communications provide managed network services in the New York metropolitan area. In acquiring CEC, FiberNet gains access to the Con Edison Company of New York (CECONY) electric conduit system, positioning FiberNet as the only company to extensively use both the electric utility and conventional telecommunications rights-of-way. FiberNet said it will therefore be able to offer customers true physical diversity to support their business continuity and disaster recovery needs.



Together, FiberNet and CEC currently serve more than 400 customers, comprising global telecommunications carriers and Fortune 500 corporations, including major financial institutions, the world's leading trading exchanges and other sophisticated data networking users. Combined network assets will include almost 80,000 fiber miles and access to 190 buildings in New York and Los Angeles, including 18 central offices, 22 carrier hotels and 150 commercial buildings.



The companies said that based upon current results, approximately 63% of the combined company's revenues will be from telecommunications carriers, and 37% will be from enterprise customers. In the first nine months of 2004, FiberNet posted $23.7 million in revenues, excluding a non-recurring arbitration award. CEC recorded $23.9 million in revenues during the same period.



The acquisition is pending regulatory approval from federal, state and municipal authorities. http://www.ftgx.comhttp://www.conedcom.com

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