Alcatel Launches Venture Capital Program in China

Alcatel is launching a Venture Capital Partnership Program in China aimed at accelerating the development of home-grown IT and telecom technologies. The program will be managed directly by Alcatel Shanghai Bell, Alcatel's Chinese flagship company. It will focus on innovative technologies, products, applications and services that address the demand of Chinese enterprises end users for a better, personalized telecom experience. The program supports start-ups using all technologies in the wireline and wireless arenas. In addition, Alcatel will provide start-ups with access to its research and development facilities in China for prototype testing and validation. Alcatel will also offer marketing support.
http://www.alcatel.com

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SBC Adds Intrusion Prevention to Managed Security Services

SBC Communications is adding an intrusion prevention service to its portfolio of SBC PremierSERV Managed Security Services. The new SBC PremierSERV Managed Intrusion Prevention Service (IPS) provides business customers with a professionally managed tool that can detect, contain and/or neutralize both known network threats as well as previously unidentified threats, also known as "zero day" threats. These malicious intrusions - in the form of viruses and worms on network clients such as servers, laptops, desktops or other endpoints - can sometimes bypass traditional network perimeter-based security solutions.


SBC PremierSERV Managed IPS uses a network security solution from Mirage Networks.
http://www.sbc.com

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picoChip Secures $20.5 Million for Wireless Silicon

picoChip, a start-up based in Bath, UK, secured $20.5 million in third round funding for its DSP tuned for high-performance wireless applications, including WiMax and HSPDA. picoChip said its technology is being used by Intel in its Glenfield board, which is sold for use in WiMAX basestations, and Airspan. Airspan has recently won WiMAX contracts from Marconi and Fujitsu. In addition, picoChip has a number of strategic customers and partners for both WiMAX and 3G, including Tier One manufacturers.


In the latest funding round, new lead investor Scottish Equity Partners was joined by Rothschild and Intel Capital, along with previous investors Pond Venture Partners and Atlas Venture. The company has raised $41.5 million to date. http://www.picoChip.com

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Freescale Expands AdvancedTCA Ecosystem

Freescale Semiconductor unveiled its Open AdvancedTCA Development Platform -- a series of modular, board-level components that initially includes an AdvancedTCA carrier blade and two Advanced Mezzanine Cards (AMCs). The carrier blade reference design features a PowerQUICC controller and support for both Ethernet and Serial RapidIO interconnect capabilities in the backplane. The AMC reference designs include Freescale's MPC8548E PowerQUICC III processor with RapidIO technology and a DSP farm module with eight MSC8122 multicore-DSPs based on StarCore technology.


Freescale said its AdvancedTCA platform would enable flexible prototyping for a wide range of carrier-grade applications, such as DSLAMs, IP-DSLAMs, IP-PBXs, media gateways, high-density VoIP systems, enterprise routers, host processing farms, and radio network controllers (RNCs) used in 3G wireless infrastructure.
http://www.freescale.com

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Edward Jones Selects 3Com's Convergence Solution

Edward Jones, a major financial-services firm with more than 9,000 branch offices in the U.S., Canada and the UK, will deploy 3Com's Convergence Applications Suite for IP Telephony, IP Conferencing, IP Messaging, IP Mobility, and IP Contact Center services. The first phase of the agreement includes the conversion of their corporate headquarters legacy voice system to an IP telephony solution based on 3Com products. The deal also includes 3Com routers, switches, and Enterprise Management Suite to complete the secure converged network. 3Com partner Verint will supply its ULTRA Call Recording Suite to the headquarters' call center. 3Com partner Aspect will provide IP Contact Center applications in a later phase of the project. Financial terms were not disclosed.
http://www.3com.com

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Lucent Trials HSDPA with China Netcom

Lucent Technologies completed a field trial of High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) technology in China, conducting a series of data calls - including demonstrations of live TV and video-on-demand services - on a 3G W-CDMA trial network deployed by China Netcom in Shanghai.


Lucent provided its Flexent OneBTS base stations -- which support HSDPA -- Flexent Radio Network Controller, as well as its W-CDMA packet core solution including Lucent's Flexent Serving GPRS Support Node (SGSN), and Gateway GPRS Support Node (GGSN). The HSDPA solution is currently capable of supporting peak data speeds of up to 7.6 Mbps, however the maximum speeds supported by the current generation of mobile devices is 1.8 Mbps. Future upgrades of HSDPA will provide theoretical maximum peak data speeds of up to 14.4 Mbps.
http://www.lucent.com

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XO Partners with Avaya

XO Communications will bundle Avaya solutions with its network services, providing a single point of contact for customers from the time of installation to ongoing customer service and billing. Multi-site customers will be able to benefit from the efficiency and convenience of having a single provider and bill for their entire communications services and systems across all locations.


Under the agreement, XO Communications will offer two suites of Avaya software and systems to small and medium-sized businesses:

• Avaya IP Office, an "all-in-one" office communication solution that brings together voice, data and communications applications for small and mid-sized businesses and includes applications such as mobility, customer contact centers, and conferencing features.



• Avaya PARTNER Advanced Communications System, a key system with advanced telephony features such as email and voice mail access and management from a single PC, and dedicated Internet access for connectivity.

http://www.xo.com
http://www.avaya.com

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Charter Deploys Moxi in California

Charter Communications has begun deploying Digeo's Moxi PowerKEY media centers to customers using its network in Turlock, California.


The Moxi media center integrates high-definition television with a dual-tuner digital video recorder, enabling the user to watch one channel while recording another. Subscribers can search for and select On Demand video content and access instant weather, sports and news via an interactive information ticker. Moxi PowerKEY also enables cable operators to offer subscribers other revenue-generating services including games, as well as display and management of digital photos.


Digeo said more than 130,000 Moxi Media Centers have been deployed nationwide by Charter, Adelphia, BendBroadband, NewWave Communications and Sunflower Broadband.
http://www.digeo.com/

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Lucent and Riverstone Selected by Kazakhtelecom

Lucent Technologies and Riverstone Networks were selected for a DSL and Ethernet services network upgrade by Kazakhtelecom, the national carrier in Kazakhstan. Equipment deployments include Lucent Stinger DSL access concentrators and Riverstone RS 8000 and 3000 series platforms. Financial terms were not disclosed.
http://www.lucent.com/

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National LambdaRail Selects MCNC

National LambdaRail (NLR), a consortium of leading U.S. research universities and private sector technology companies deploying a nationwide optical networking infrastructure, selected MCNC to operate NLR Experiment Support Services. NLR's Experiment Support Services will provide a number of services, including coordinating the deployment of experimental equipment, providing engineering support and other assistance to researchers, serving as a facilitator for the researchers and research collaboration, and establishing a set of tools that enables researchers to access the NLR infrastructure in ways not possible on other production research and education networks.


MCNC currently operates the North Carolina Research and Education Network (NCREN). http://www.nlr.net/ess/http://www.mcnc-gcns.org/

• National LambdaRail is using WilTel Communications' OC-192 Optical services to complete their nationwide network.

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Boingo Integrates with SBC's Wi-Fi Service

Boingo Wireless' Wi-Fi customers now have access to an additional 3,400 Wi-Fi hot spots in SBC Communications' FreedomLink network. Boingo customers now have access 18,000 Wi-Fi hot spots worldwide.
http://www.boingo.com/http://www.sbc.com

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QUALCOMM Marks 20th Anniversary

QUALCOMM celebrated the 20th anniversary of its founding and its pioneering work with Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) digital wireless technology. The company hosted an event at QUALCOMM Stadium in San Diego highlighting its role in the community.
http://www.qualcomm.com

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Cisco Exec Appointed President of Xten

Larry Timlick has been appointed as President and a Director of Xten Networks, which supplies VoIP, IM and Presence-enable SIP softphones. Timlick spent 13 years at Cisco Systems Canada in the Enterprise and Service Provider markets. He was responsible for developing a sales region for Telus.
http://www.xten.com/

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SK-EarthLink Names Executive Team

SK-EarthLink, a joint venture formed in March between Korea's SK Telecom and EarthLink, named its senior executive team and announced its headquarters in Westwood, California.


SK-EarthLink currently operates the EarthLink Wireless service and will announce a new 3G MVNO brand in the coming months. The company's executive line-up includes:

• CEO -- Sky Dayton, who previously was the founder, founding CEO and chairman of EarthLink and Boingo Wireless.



• COO -- Dr. Wonhee Sull, who most recently served as chief technology officer for SK Telecom's wireless data business.



• CFO -- Todd Tappin, who previously served as CFO of Overture, the pioneer of paid search on the Internet, which he took public in 1999 and co-led the sale of the company to Yahoo! in 2003 for $1.8 billion.



• EVP/Marketing -- Stuart Redsun, who previously served as head of worldwide brand marketing at Motorola, where he led the worldwide creative launch of the Moto RAZR as well as the development of Motorola's retail presentation programs.



• EVP/Sales & Distribution -- Ali Zanjani, who previously was vice president of sales and distribution for Cox Communications.

http://www.sk-earthlink.com/

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Digital Fountain's FEC Standardized by 3GPP

Digital Fountain's forward error correction (FEC) technology has been standardized by 3GPP, the 3rd Generation Partnership Project, as a mandatory component of the Multimedia Broadcast/Multicast Service (MBMS) for 3rd generation (3G) cellular networks. Digital Fountain's "DF Raptor" technology will be used as part of the MBMS standard for both streaming and file download services.


Digital Fountain's DF Raptor is an advanced and highly flexible FEC technology that ensures the efficient and error-free delivery of both multimedia streams and data files even in the presence of a wide range of network impairments. MBMS employs multicast and broadcast transmission for bandwidth-hungry multimedia services so that many mobile devices can efficiently share common radio and network resources.


Digital Fountain said that by protecting MBMS signals from packet loss, its technology enhances the overall user experience and assures the service provider that multimedia content will be delivered in its entirety without degradation. It noted that its FEC implementation was selected over competitors because it makes optimal use of transmission bandwidth and imposes a minimal processing burden on the receiving devices in order to protect against a wide range of packet loss.
http://www.digitalfountain.com

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KPN Selects Siemens for IPTV

Dutch operator KPN has selected Siemens as its partner for IPTV integration. KPN plans to introduce digital television over its DSL network during the course of this year. Financial terms were not disclosed.


Late last year, KPN also selected Siemens as the strategic IP partner for its entire fixed network and mobile phone business. KPN is already supplying TV services in the Netherlands using its
Digitenne wireless network.
http://www.siemens.com

• In May 2005, Siemens entered the FTTP market with a new family of standards-based broadband passive optical network (BPON) products, including optical network terminals (ONTs) and optical network units (ONUs).



• In April 2005, Siemens acquired Myrio, a supplier of IPTV middleware, for an undisclosed sum. Siemens Venture Capital made a strategic investment in the Seattle-based start-up in late 2003. Myrio specializes in middleware and applications for home entertainment solutions, which includes components to create a compelling consumer experience and provide network operators with the management systems for pricing, packaging and applications development.


• In June 2004, Siemens announced that Belgacom was the first carrier to begin testing its SURPASS Home Entertainment solution. The network trial used Myrio for the middleware, nCube for the Video on Demand server, Verimatrix for content protection system, and Tandberg Television for the video broadcast equipment.

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Redback Hires Sales Exec from Extreme Networks

Redback Networks named John Spiliotis to the position of vice president of sales and operations for the Americas. He joins Redback most recently from Extreme Networks, where he was the vice president for North America. Prior to Extreme, from 1997 to 2001, he was at Cisco Systems where he held various management positions including that of vice president of Service Provider Channels and vice president of ILEC sales. http://www.redback.com

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RF Code Secures $20 Million for RFID Software

RF Code, a start-up based in Mesa, Arizona raised $20 million in new funding for its RFID software solutions. RF Code's "hybrid RFID" enables device-independent data collection from a wide variety of devices including active RFID readers, passive RFID readers, remote sensors, mesh RF networks, barcode scanners, Wi-Fi access points and GPS receivers. Its solutions are being used in sectors as diverse as manufacturing, defense, transportation, homeland security, information technology, healthcare and entertainment.


The investment marks the first institutional round of funding in the company's eight-year history. The new financing was led by QuestMark Partners of Baltimore, MD and includes Intel Capital of Santa Clara, CA. Previous investors also participated in the round.
http://www.rfcode.com

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Enterasys Files Patent Lawsuit Against Foundry, Extreme

Enterasys Networks filed a patent infringement complaint against Extreme Networks and Foundry Networks alleging that both companies have been and are infringing six Enterasys patents. The patents at issue in the case relate to virtual local area networking, multiprotocol routing, and several other networking technologies.
http://www.enterasys.com

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Ryan Hankin Kent's Becomes 10th Street Advisors

The telecom consulting and M&A practice of Ryan Hankin Kent has been re-launched under the name 10th Street Advisors. The company said it will focus on strategy, market metrics and business planning intelligence to help executives intelligently face the challenges of the 21st century telecom markets including next generation networks, triple play, mobile, VoIP, convergence, Telecom Wholesale business, Broadband content strategies, and M&A advisory and due diligence support.


"Over the years, our international team has built strong relationships with key executives across our industry," said Dr. John Ryan, 10th Street co-founder. "We are excited as ever to be providing the high-level strategic perspective and analysis that Telcos need to run their business in today's complex environment."http://www.10thstreet.com

• Ovum, a global analyst and consulting company, has acquired RHK Research from Ryan Hankin Kent. Financial terms were not disclosed. Ovum-RHK will continue to provide research and advisory services covering the telecommunications industry. Its clients include the world's leading vendors and service providers. Ovum said its focus on the telecom services market would be complemented by RHK's expertise in telecom equipment and components.

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