ECI Telecom Reports Revenue of $153 Million, up 26% YoY

ECI Telecom reported Q2 revenues of $153 million, a 26% increase from $121 million in the second quarter of 2004 and compared with $145 million in the first quarter of 2005. Net income was $15.6 million, or $0.13 per share on a fully diluted basis.


Some highlights:

• Revenues for the Broadband Access Division, at $63 million for the quarter, were up 24% from a year ago and unchanged from last quarter.



• Revenues for the Optical Networks Division increased 34% from a year ago and reached $82 million for the quarter, compared to $77 million in the first quarter of 2005.



• Following the $88 million all-cash acquisition of Laurel Networks, ECI's cash, including short and long term deposits and marketable securities, now totals $214 million, or $1.82 per share.

Commenting on the results, Doron Inbar, President and CEO said, "We are pleased to report yet another quarter of strong growth and solid profits, as ECI continues to demonstrate leadership in its markets, which remain among the fastest growing sectors in telecom.

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Telefónica Reaches 4.0 million Retail ADSL Lines

As of 30-June-2005, the Telefónica Group was serving 4.0 million retail ADSL lines in Spain, Latin America and the Czech Republic, an increase of +57.6% over last year. Telefónica's retail ADSL accesses in Spain rose to 2.3 million (+41.8% vs. June 2004), representing an estimated market share of 54.1% of the total broadband market. In Latin America, retail ADSL accesses stood at 1.7 million and grew by 70.9% over the same period last year, highlighting Telesp, with almost one million ADSL access lines (exceeded during July).


Telefónica Moviles reported strong growth across all its markets. Net adds were of 5.4 million for the quarter vs. more than 3 million in January-March of 2005, bringing its managed customer base to 86.5 million. Of the total customer base, 63.7 million corresponded to the Latin American operators, 19.4 million to Telefónica Moviles España and more than 3.4 million to Medi Telecom.


Revenues for the first half of 2005 amounted to EUR 17.359 billion , 20.0% higher than the same period in 2004. Revenues from Spain represented 55.4% of consolidated revenues, a decrease of a 6.8 percentage points over the same period in 2004. In turn, the contribution from Latin America increased to 40.6% (33.0% a year ago) due to the acquisition of the BellSouth Latin American operators. Brazil maintains its revenue contribution up to 17.4%.
http://www.telfonica.es

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Softbank BBTV Secures IPTV with NDS Content Protection

Softbank's newly launched BBTV service in Japan has deployed NDS' content protection system integrated with UTStarcom's IPTV headend system, set-top box and electronic program guide.


BBTV is using NDS's "Synamedia" software suite at the head-end and NDS smart cards in subscriber set-top boxes (STB).

BBTV will deliver more than 40 channels through STBs, offer a sophisticated electronic program guide, and provide access to more than 5,200 VOD titles.

NDS said this new contract further enhances its IPTV solution following deployments by Sistema in Russia, AUNA in Spain, CYTA in Cyprus, and recent announcements with Viasat in Sweden and SuperSun in Hong Kong. Financial terms were not disclosed.


Softbank BB's triple play service will be available in several service tiers, with pricing starting at 4540 Yen, approximately US$40.00 per month.
http://www.nds.com
http://www.bbtv.com/

• NDS is a majority-owned subsidiary of News Corporation.

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Portugals' Optimus Deploys Motorola's Push-To-Talk over Cellular (PoC)

Motorola announced the deployment of a Push-To-Talk over Cellular (PoC) network for Optimus in Portugal. Optimus' subscribers will initially have a choice of PoC handsets; the Motorola V400p and Symbian Series 60 devices with the Motorola PoC Client. Each Motorola handset delivers a distinct 'walkie-talkie' experience, including one-touch access to presence-enabled phone contacts, giving subscribers flexibility and speed in how they communicate.


The PoC deployment further develops Motorola's relationship with Optimus, following Motorola's successful 3G network deployment for the operator in 2004.

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WebEx Sees 23% Increase in Q2 Revenues over Last Year

WebEx Communications reported Q2 revenues of $75.3 million, a 23% increase from $61.1 million in the second quarter of 2004. Net income was $13.9 million, a 35% increase from $10.3 million in the second quarter of 2004. Diluted earnings per share, ("EPS") were $0.29, an increase of 32% from $0.22 in the second quarter of 2004.


"We had another good quarter, demonstrating the expanding market for collaborative application services," said Subrah Iyar, chief executive officer of WebEx. "As companies realize the huge cost advantages of on-demand solutions, we continue to see new customer requirements like the WebEx Retention Solution we announced during second quarter."http://www.webex.com/

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Alcatel Revenues Rise 8.5% YoY to EUR 3.145 Billion

Alcatel reported Q2 revenues of EUR 3.145 billion, an increase of 8.5% at a current EUR/US$ exchange rate (an increase of 10.7% at a constant EUR/US$ exchange rate). Net income (group share) amounted to EUR 196 million, or a diluted EPS of EUR 0.14 (US$ 0.17 per ADS).

Some highlights from the quarter:

• The gross margin was registered at 35.6%



• Operating profit amounted to EUR 263 million, representing an 8.4% operating margin.



• Fixed communications revenues in Q2 decreased by 6.2% to EUR 1.224 billion from EUR 1.305 billion in the same period last year. The company cited good momentum in optical transmission and IP routing driven by a ramp in Triple Play deployments. The decrease in the segment's revenues is primarily due to the continued drop in traditional TDM switching, as well as some decline in broadband access revenues compared to the particularly solid second quarter 2004 in North America.



• Volumes in DSL lines reached 5.9 million during the second quarter registering a market share gain and a return to the historical market position, with strength in Europe and China. The IP DSLAM continued to drive revenues with substantial volume deliveries during the quarter, while the market transitions to ADSL2plus technology.



• Mobile communications revenues in Q2 increased by 34.6% to EUR 958 million from EUR 712 million in the same period last year, with growth across all product lines. Alcatel said emerging markets continued to be dynamic and hybrid 2G/3G infrastructure revenues were driven by activity in Brazil, Nigeria, Russia, and China. A new radio WCDMA customer was registered in the Middle East, confirming that a number of emerging countries are moving to 3G technologies.



• Alcatel saw momentum continuing to build in next generation solutions, such as NGN-IMS core, where two flagship contracts were won in Western Europe and SE Asia. Over 20 trials with new customers have now been registered.



• Mobile applications recorded significant growth with strong volumes in payment applications where the market is shifting to full converged payment solutions. Market traction was registered in video/music services where Alcatel now has over 60 customers.



• Private communications revenues in Q2 increased by 6.5% to EUR 981 million compared with EUR 921 million in the same period last year. In the enterprise market, revenues bounced back more than expected after a slow start at the beginning of the year and voice services grew, especially in Eastern and Northern Europe.



• IP telephony continued to register a strong progression, representing more than a third of the total shipments. Genesys again turned in a solid performance.

Serge Tchuruk, Chairman and CEO, summarized the Board's observations:


"Second quarter results came in above expectations. Sales were higher than anticipated in all three business segments. In particular, the mobile communication business grew around 30% year over year for the second quarter in a row, with a return to double digit profitability, confirming the strength of our product offering and regional strategy. While the fixed communication business continued to shrink as expected during the quarter, our market dynamics clearly point towards the forecasted rebound in the second half. We are also pleased by the return to growth of our private communication business, despite the weakness associated with the low cycle in space activities."


"We continue to operate in a competitive environment leading to pricing pressure. With product cost improvements offsetting price trends, our gross margin has been stabilizing for the last three quarters. "

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Sprint to Support Comcast's Digital Voice

Sprint announced an arrangement with Comcast to provide connectivity between traditional phone providers and Comcast Digital Voice in select markets. This deal represents Sprint's continued expansion into the cable market. http://www.sprint.com

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BellSouth Adds Security Apps to DSL Service

BellSouth announced a number security applications designed to help keep residential and small business customers safe while online and their PCs free of spyware, viruses and tracking cookies.


BellSouth FastAccess DSL customers can add the following security applications: BellSouth Anti-Virus; BellSouth Anti-Spyware; and BellSouth Firewall.


BellSouth customers who wish to secure one computer can order individual software products for $2.99 per month, or the entire suite of three products for $6.99 per month. For customers with two to four computers, the cost to order individual products is $4.99 per month, or $11.99 per month for the entire suite. Business customers with up to 10 computers can purchase individual products for $12.99 per month, or the entire suite for $24.99 per month.

http://home.bellsouth.net/security

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Verizon Seeks Video Franchise in Fairfax County

Verizon has submitted a cable franchise application to the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, which is required before Verizon can begin to offer cable services in this county of Virginia. At its Aug. 1 meeting, the board will consider authorizing publication of the proposed franchise agreement and a Sept. 26 public hearing to consider adopting the franchise.


"We have negotiated a strong, fair agreement that paves the way for more competition in one of the nation's most technology-rich markets," said Robert W. Woltz Jr., Verizon Virginia president. "If you were impressed by the changes Verizon Fios Internet Service forced cable companies to make to their cable-modem offerings, wait until you see how Fios TV improves cable competition in the region."http://www.verizon.com

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TELUS Selects Alcatel's Ethernet-IP Service and Network Architecture

TELUS, the largest service provider in western Canada, will use key Alcatel technologies to support its build of a next generation Ethernet-IP service and network architecture.


TELUS plans to deploy Alcatel's Intelligent Services Access Manager (ISAM) solution to expand its broadband access coverage and to increase the subscriber bandwidth. The Alcatel 7302 ISAM and 7330 ISAM Fiber to the Node (FTTN) will enable 20 Mbps to the end customer, with speeds in excess of 40 Mbps where ADSL2+ bonding is employed, and over 50 Mbps using VDSL2. These access rates will enable TELUS to market new advanced broadband services to consumer and business markets.


TELUS will also deploy the Alcatel 7450 Ethernet Service Switch platform to deliver new Ethernet-IP services. Financial terms were not disclosed.
http://www.alcatel.com
http://www.telus.com

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NETGEAR Reports Revenue of $107.6 million, a 21.7% YoY

NETGEAR reported Q2 revenue was $107.6 million, a 21.7% increase as compared to $88.4 million for Q2 2004. Revenue for the first quarter of 2005 was $109.0 million. Net revenue in the second quarter of 2005 derived from North America was $55.2 million; the Europe, Middle East and Africa, or EMEA, region was $ 40.4 million; and, the Asia Pacific region was $12.0 million. Net income (GAAP) was $8.3 million or $0.26 per basic share and $0.25 per diluted share.


Patrick Lo, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NETGEAR, commented, "We had a strong second quarter driven by the success of some new products; such as, our RangeMax family of MIMO Wi-Fi products. NETGEAR introduced a record 17 new products in the second quarter."http://www.netgear.com

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Taiwan's Chunghwa Telecom Launches 3G with Nokia

Chunghwa Telecom launched its 3G service in Taiwan using a WCDMA 3G network deployed by Nokia. Among the 3G services that Chunghwa will offer are 3G video call, 3G movie/TV channel and "Music station" entertainment services. Nokia served as the sole 3G network supplier to Chunghwa. Nokia provided Chunghwa with both 3G core and radio-access network equipment, including RNC, UltraSite, and MetroSite base stations as well as operator and care services. Chunghwa is Nokia's one of the world's first customers to implement 3GPP Rel'4 architecture.


Nokia has been working with Chunghwa Telecom since 1999, having supplied the operator's GPRS core network, multimedia messaging solution (MMS) and ADSL in addition to the WCDMA system.
http://www.nokia.com

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New Whitepaper: Swimming Upstream -- The Case for Higher Speeds

by Ikanos Communications

Business and residential subscribers are constantly demanding more bandwidth. With the Internet, where a wealth of content resides on the World Wide Web, most of this demand has historically been in the downstream direction. And that will certainly continue. But what has changed is that users are now accumulating and generating copious amounts of content of their own.


Users, carriers and equipment vendors alike have a long history of underestimating the need for speed. The root cause is innocent enough: keeping costs under control. But the inevitable "forklift" upgrades are disruptive and costly, which is quite ironic considering the original impetus involved cost savings.


The leading technology for delivering higher bi-directional bandwidth is Very-high-bit-rate Digital Subscriber Line (VDSL). VDSL was designed to take full advantage of a carrier's broadband infrastructure with its increasing fiber optic capacity to the node, curb or building/basement. And unlike other technologies, VDSL has the ability to deliver 100 Mbps symmetrical broadband bandwidth, which puts carrier services on par with LAN switching to the desktop. Significantly, no mass-market local loop technology has ever done that before.
http://www.convergedigest.com/whitepapers/default.asp

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GigaBeam Raises $8.6 Million for its "Wireless Fiber"

GigaBeam Corporation closed $8.6 million in financing through an offering of the company's 10% Series A redeemable preferred stock and common stock purchase warrants and a placement of its common stock and common stock purchase warrants. Several senior officers and board members, including Louis Slaughter, Chairman and CEO, and Douglas Lockie, President and CTO, participated in the financing.


GigaBeam supplies a line of "WiFiber" equipment that operates in the 71-76 GHz and 81-86 GHz radio spectrum bands. This portion of the radio frequency spectrum has been authorized by the Federal Communications Commission for wireless point-to-point commercial use. Use of these frequency bands for commercial use was pioneered by GigaBeam's founders. GigaBeam's technology, utilizing these large blocks of authorized contiguous spectrum, enable multi Gigabit-per-second wireless communications using Gigabit Ethernet interfaces. The current speed achieved by GigaBeam's WiFiber 2 and anticipated WiFiber G Series product lines is 1 Gbps. Future GigaBeam products are expected to be capable of 10 Gbps.
http://www.gigabeam.com/

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Level 3 Expands Backbone Support of Comcast Digital Voice Rollout

Level 3 Communications announced that it is now providing Comcast with underlying backbone support for the rollout of its new Digital Voice service/ Level 3 said its backbone support will allow Comcast's IP-based calls to travel along a privately managed network. This will extend the capability of Comcast's existing private, advanced broadband network, allowing the IP-based voice service to enjoy quality that may not be available from non-facilities-based VoIP service providers.
http://www.Level3.com

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Comcast Extends Digital Voice Contract with AT&T

AT&T announced a new contract with Comcast that extends an existing agreement under which AT&T supports Comcast's new Digital Voice service. The new agreement establishes AT&T Global Wholesale Services as a key supplier of the nationwide transport and termination services for Comcast Digital Voice. Financial terms were not disclosed.
http://www.att.com

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Industry Reaction to Ensign Bill

Verizon: "We applaud Senator Ensign for introducing legislation to bring our communications laws into the 21st century. The Ensign bill puts consumers first by enabling people to choose from the expanding array of choices made possible by changes in technology and the marketplace. This bill recognizes that the world has changed and consumer driven markets work better than those managed by the government." Peter B. Davidson, Verizon senior vice president for federal government relations.


BellSouth: "The Ensign proposal would bring telecommunications law up to date so that consumers can make their own decisions in the marketplace free of the heavy hand of government. When enacted this bill will enhance the deployment of broadband, bring more jobs and investment. It will speed the deployment of competitive video services and provide, at last, vibrant competition in video. Technology will flourish and consumers will be the winners. This legislation will need a companion bill on universal service to complete the package." Herschel Abbott, BellSouth vice president Governmental Affairs.


NCTA: "We commend Sen. Ensign for crafting legislation that seeks to promote competition and innovation and treats like services alike. Consumers benefit when market forces are allowed to work and all providers, regardless of technology, can compete in the marketplace without government policies that pick winners and losers. While there are specific provisions we would want to work on with Senator Ensign, this is an important and constructive step forward." Kyle McSlarrow, National Cable and Telecommunications Association, President & CEO


TIA: "As the information and communications technology industry continues to rapidly evolve, TIA especially supports the goal of establishing a firm foundation that is forward-looking in encouraging competition, investment, innovation and the deployment of next-generation technologies across all segments of the industry. We look forward to examining the proposed legislation in detail and commit to working with Senator Ensign and all of his colleagues in both chambers of Congress to ensure any final telecom reform legislation that emerges is built on these principles and establishes a national framework of limited regulatory oversight of the competitive and converging broadband communications marketplace." Matthew J. Flanigan, President, Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA)


CEA: "The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) commends Senator Ensign for introducing the Broadband Consumer Choice Act of 2005. This bill stands as pro-technology legislation that will advance the deployment of innovative broadband communications services. This comprehensive legislation will remove regulatory barriers and encourage investment in new communication and IP-enabled services. We strongly believe that a free-market approach will spur a revolution of new and competitive voice, data and video services. Under this bill, society will benefit from more competition and real choices in broadband. CEA believes that with intense competition and standard interfaces consumers will see new services and devices similar to when manufacturers were freed to offer choices from the standard black rotary telephone. " Gary Shapiro, President and CEO of the Consumer Electronics Association.

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iBasis Carries 1.79 Billion VoIP Minutes in Q2

iBasis reported 1.79 billion minutes of use on its international VoIP network in Q2 , a 61% increase over the 1.11 billion minutes carried in the second quarter 2004, and a 2% increase over the 1.76 billion minutes in the first quarter 2005. Average revenue per minute increased to 5.3 cents per minute in the second quarter 2005, up from 5.0 cents per minutes in the first quarter 2005. Average revenue per minute is based on our reported net revenue divided by the minutes of traffic for the applicable period.


Overseas-originated calls accounted for 48% of revenue in the second quarter of 2005, compared to 47% in the first quarter 2005. iBasis ended the second quarter with 348 wholesale trading customers, up from 309 at the end of Q1 2005. New customers announced during the quarter included African carriers Globacom and Econet, Pakistani carrier Callmate Telips, and Australian carrier Telecorp.


Financially, iBasis reported Q2 revenue of $94.6 million, compared to $61.2 million for the second quarter of 2004. Net loss for the second quarter of 2005 was $0.8 million, or $(0.01) per share, compared to net loss for the second quarter of 2004 of $5.9 million, or $(0.13) per share. The company was cash flow positive for the quarter.
http://www.ibasis.net

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Verizon Sponsors VoIP Research at Columbia University

Verizon Laboratories is partnering with the Department of Computer Science at Columbia University to conduct two research projects on VoIP.


One project will be dedicated to exploring security technologies, while the other pertains to research in the area of Presence. Verizon said the results of both of these projects will have a large impact on future services offered by softswitches.


The research is being conducted under the direction of VoIP expert, Professor Henning Schulzrinne. A $120,000 Verizon grant has been presented to Schulzrinne by Stuart Elby, vice president of network architecture and enterprise services at Verizon Laboratories. Elby received his Ph.D. from Columbia in 1994.
http://www.verizon.nethttp://www.cs.columbia.edu/~hgs/

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Centillium Supports IMS in Entropia Chipset

Centillium Communications announced 3G-NGN, an advanced software suite for the company's pioneering Entropia III system-on-a-chip (SoC) processor. Entropia's advanced VoIP processor software adapts the IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) architecture to support multimedia convergence services aimed at wireline and wireless next generation networks (NGN). Entropia can now support IMS Media Gateway Functions (MGF) for CDMA/3GPP2 or GSM/3GPP applications, along with all wireline requirements. In addition, Entropia supports IMS Media Resource Function Processors (MRFP), delivering such features as tones, unlimited announcements, conferencing and gaming.


Centillium's Entropia III solution integrates six SigmaPlus DSPs, plus four RISC network processors, and other advanced hardware blocks in a highly optimized architecture tuned specifically for voice convergence processing.

http://www.centillium.com

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