AT&T's Strategy Seeks Scale, New Services

The key to success in this industry is achieving scale, said
Randall Stephenson, AT&T's Chief Operating Officer, speaking at the Goldman Sachs' Communicopia conference. AT&T's plan is to achieve the No. 1 market position in all of the sectors it serves: enterprise, wireless, broadband and, soon, IP video. The large scale achieved through its mergers will help the company achieve the greatest efficiency and lowest cost structure. Providing the No.1 customer experience is the operational goal of the company.



AT&T's IPTV launch in multiple markets is still slated for later this year. The San Antonio launch has been positive in terms of achieving 10% market share penetration. Stephenson said the service has resonated very well with customers. Establishing a retail channel where customers can play with the service before purchasing will be key. Installation times have averaged about 5 hours, although the company is hoping to bring this down to 3 to 4 hour range. An HD version of the service is under development.



The BellSouth transaction is moving ahead in terms of regulatory approvals. AT&T is optimistic the deal will close this year.



Fixed-mobile convergence presents an exciting opportunity for AT&T to differentiate itself, said Stephenson, especially with such a huge calling footprint of AT&T wireline + Cingular Wireless. The company believes an IMS layer will make this a seamless experience, something that independent operators, such as a Vonage, will not be able to achieve.



Once the BellSouth deal is complete, the company will drop the Cingular brand and go with the AT&T brand.



An archived version of the presentation in on the AT&T Investor website.

http://www.att.com

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Emap to provide Music Videos for BT Visio

BT announced an exclusive deal with leading publisher and broadcaster Emap plc to provide Emap-branded music video services and programming for its next-generation TV-via-broadband service, BT Vision, launching in autumn 2006. The deal will enable BT Vision customers to enjoy thousands of music videos on-demand, as playlists, or individually on a one-off or subscription basis.



At launch, BT Vision customers will be able to enjoy a vast range of film, music and television programming all available on-demand, as well as all the Freeview channels, plus interactive and communications and all available on the TV, with no compulsory subscription.

http://www.btplc.com

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SoonR Raises $6 Million for Mobile-to-Desktop Application

SoonR, a start-up based in Campbell, California raised $6 million in Series A funding for its mobile-to-desktop applications.



SoonR lets mobile users tap into the power of their computers from any Internet-connected mobile handset. The SoonR service is built on a secure and extensible, open standards based mobile application platform, linking mobile phones to applications and data on any Internet connected Windows or Mac computer. People can use SoonR Desktop to search and access documents and images, SoonR Organizer for email, scheduling and contacts and SoonR Talk for mobile VoIP. SoonR integrates with a variety of Windows or Mac-based applications such as Google Desktop Search, MSN Desktop Search, Yahoo! Desktop Search, X1, Spotlight, Outlook and Skype. PC-based data is automatically rendered for an optimal mobile experience.



The investment was led by Clearstone Venture Partners, with participation by Intel Capital and private investors.

http://www.soonr.com

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Telco Systems Acquires Critical Telecom for IP-DSLAMs

Telco Systems has acquired the assets of Critical Telecom Corp., a developer of broadband enabling platforms for IP-based access networks. Financial terms were not disclosed.



Critical Telecom offers a remote, environmentally-hardened, DSLAM featuring an integrated two-port GigE backhaul. The compact unit, which is designed for deployment very close to the customer, offers non-blocking ADSL2+ capabilities. The unit can be installed without the need for local power or for building out a new cabinet or pedestal. A single units offers 24 ports of non-blocking ADSL2+ services. Multiple units can be combines inside a single, fiber-fed cabinet to offer up 192 ports of ADSL2+.



The GEmini product line, now part of Telco Systems will be supported from Telco Systems' existing facility in Ottawa, Canada.

http://www.telco.com

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Thomson Ships Wireless Handset for Skype

Thomson will begin shipping its GE DECT 6.0 (Digital Enhanced Cordless Technology) Wireless Handset, Thomson's first product with integrated Skype capabilities.



The Skype Certified DECT Wireless Handset for Skype, which will be available this fall at a suggested retail price of $149, offers a color LCD screen for viewing colorful Skype messaging as well as regular caller IDs. The handset comes with a 100 name capacity address book, including separate call logs for traditional and Internet contacts. Melody ring tones permit sonic identification of favorite incoming callers such as friends and relatives.

http://www.ge.com/phoneshttp://www.skype.com

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Qwest Boosts is Business VoIP Services

Qwest Communications has expanded its suite of Internet telephony products available to business customers with the launch of its Qwest OneFlex IP Long Distance and Qwest OneFlex IP Toll Free services. The products enable business customers to receive toll-free calls and make domestic and international calls with their IP service.



Qwest OneFlex IP Long Distance allows the termination of IP voice traffic to the PSTN. Qwest OneFlex IP Toll Free takes inbound 8XX PSTN-originated calls, routes them to the customer and hands them off in Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) format. Customers can access both products via the Qwest IP network or through the public Internet.



Qwest OneFlex IP Long Distance is offered wherever Qwest Domestic and International Voice is available; Qwest OneFlex IP Toll Free is offered wherever Qwest Domestic Voice is available. Both products are sold as part of the Qwest Total Advantage and Qwest Loyal Advantage programs.


http://www.qwest.com

• As of September 2006, Qwest is currently carrying more than 4 billion minutes of use per month across the Qwest IP backbone.

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Intel Supplies WiMAX in the Amazon

Intel has supplied a wireless, high-speed Internet network in Parintins, Brazil -- a town on an island in the Amazon River. The project is part of the Intel World Ahead Program, an initiative in which Intel plans to invest more than US$1 billion globally over the next 5 years.



Working with the Brazilian government and business and education officials, Intel and its collaborators installed a WiMAX network for a primary healthcare center, two public schools, a community center and Amazon University. Intel also donated and installed telemedicine equipment at the health center and computer labs at the two schools. Other participants in the project included Cisco, CPqD, Embratel, Proxim and the Bradesco Foundation, as well as Amazonas State University, Amazonas Federal University and Sao Paulo University.

http://www.intel.com

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Verizon Business Wins $100 Million Deal with Johnson Controls

Verizon Business was awarded a new five-year, $100 million agreement by Johnson Controls to provide a wide range of managed IP services. Verizon Business is extending its nine-year relationship with Johnson Controls to deliver and completely manage an integrated global IP networking solution comprising Private IP, IP VPN, Internet and voice services. To accommodate Johnson Controls' continued growth, Verizon Business will expand the company's Private IP network in the Asia-Pacific region.

http://www.verizon.com

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Comcast Reaches One Million VoIP, Ten Million Broadband Customers

Comcast has added more than one million Comcast Digital Voice customers in less than two years. Comcast also recently became the first broadband provider to cross the 10 million high-speed Internet customer threshold, following several high-growth quarters and the close of the Adelphia transaction, and is the nation's largest video provider with 23.3 million cable customers.



Comcast said the milestone underscores the record growth it continues to experience across all cable products as it aggressively rolls out its $33 per product first-year bundle of phone, high-speed and video services.



Comcast also announced that it now expects to add more than 4,000 jobs nationwide this year, a significant increase from its previously announced plans of 3,000 new customer-facing positions.

http://www.comcast.com

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CounterPath and Intrado to Develop Softphone Supporting E9-1-1

CounterPath Solutions and Intrado are working together to develop a new functionality within CounterPath's softphone to support automatic location identification on mobile VoIP 9-1-1 calls.



The technology will enable the softphone to integrate directly with Intrado's systems in order to detect and send location information automatically when a 9-1-1 call is made from a wireless VoIP end-user device.



This would allow calls made from a softphone on a laptop or smartphone to be directed to the appropriate public safety answering point (PSAP). Emergency operators would be able to link the caller's current physical location with the phone number used to dial for help.

http://www.counterpath.comhttp://www.intrado.com

• In August, CounterPath and Intrado's VoIP location technology was tested successfully in a joint E9-1-1 trial throughout New York City. The results proved the technology's consistent location identification ability.

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PCCW Launch Mobile TV Trial in Hong Kong

PCCW will conduct a six-month technical trial using Motorola's end-to-end Mobile TV system in Hong Kong. The trial will run from September 2006 to March 2007 within Hong Kong's Quarry Bay district and will include Motorola DVB-H enabled mobile devices, network solutions and interactive services platform. During the course of the trial, PCCW will evaluate the technical capabilities and the operational performance of DVB-H in Hong Kong.

http://www.motorola.com

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Motorola to Sell via Robo-Kiosks

Motorola will begin to offer its products to consumers through robotic retail stores in a pilot program providing automated, on-demand retail solutions in key markets. These robotic stores will be branded "INSTANTMOTO", and are expected to be deployed in approximately 20 locations nationwide from airports to malls by November 2006. The stores will house more than 25 Motorola products including carrier-ready MOTORAZR handsets, Bluetooth-enabled headsets, cordless phones, car chargers, etc.

http://www.motorola.com

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Sycamore to Restate 2003-05 Results due to Stock Option Grants

Following its internal investigation into its stock option grants, Sycamore Networks reached a preliminary conclusion that the appropriate measurement dates for financial accounting purposes of certain stock option grants differ from the recorded grant dates of such awards.



Sycamore now plans to restate historical financial statements for 2003 to 2005 to record additional non-cash charges for stock-based compensation expense related to past option grants. The company has not yet determined the aggregate amount of additional non-cash charges for stock-based compensation expense, nor has it determined the resulting tax impact, if any, or which specific periods require restatement.

http://www.sycamorenet.com

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IEEE-SA Adopts Plan to Move 802.20 Broadband Wireless Standard Forward

Following a suspension in June, IEEE Standards Association Standards Board (SASB) announced a plans to enable the IEEE 802.20 Working Group to move forward with its work to develop a mobile broadband wireless access standard. The work had been suspended due to concerns that the working group had become highly contentious, appeared to lack transparency and showed evidence of possible "dominance" and other potential irregularities.

The plan calls for the working group's reorganization including the appointment of new officers as well as new balloting and balloting resolution committees. Key points include:

• All of the IEEE 802.20 officers will be replaced in an effort to provide clearly neutral leadership and to eliminate perceptions of possible bias. The working group will remain suspended until at least a chair is approved by the SASB, which the SASB anticipates will take place on or before 12 November.



• Members of the IEEE 802 Executive Committee (EC) will work with the new officers to identify and address any efforts to dominate the IEEE 802.20 working group and to submit a plan to ensure dominance does not occur.



• All ballot and ballot resolution groups will be dissolved and reconstituted. The IEEE EC chair will determine when any balloting may begin. The plan preserves the right of the working group to move forward with the existing work product or consider alternative technology.



• IEEE 802.20 working group participants will be required to disclose their true affiliations at each meeting. They must identify any person or organization that, directly or indirectly, has requested, paid for or otherwise sponsored his/her participation.

http://www.ieee.org

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Cable and Wireless International Selects Sonus

Cable & Wireless International has selected Sonus Networks for its next-generation IP-voice network. Cable & Wireless International plans to deploy one of the world's largest IP-voice networks delivering primary line local, long-distance and international telephony service. Financial terms were not disclosed.



Operating in 34 countries around the world, including 14 islands in the Caribbean, Cable and Wireless will initially deploy its Sonus-based network to support the Caribbean Islands and Bermuda.



The deployment will include both the Sonus GSX9000 and GSX4000 Open Services Switch, the PSX Call Routing Server, the ASX Access Server, the Network Border Switch for IP-to-IP peering and security, and the Sonus Insight Management System for advanced OSS and billing support. http://www.sonusnet.com

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DSL Adds 46 million Subscribers Worldwide in 12 Months

Telecom operators worldwide added 46 million new DSL subscribers in the 12 months to 30-June-2006, pushing the total, global installed DSL base to 164 million, according to the latest data produced for the international DSL Forum by industry analyst Point Topic. This represents a growth of 38% in the 12 months.



Some key findings:

• European Union (EU) countries added 18 million DSL accounts, a growth of 45% that reinforces the region's global leadership. There are more than 56 million DSL subscribers in the EU, accounting for more than one-third of the global total.



• South and South East Asia increased its global market share of total DSL subscribers to 22%, adding more than 13 million new subscribers in the 12 months to 30 June 2006.



• China contributed the bulk of this growth (up 11.6 million), and India began to establish its broadband society, adding more than 1.3 million subscribers to DSL, the fastest growing market worldwide. Latin America added more than three million DSL subscribers, with Brazil (up 1.19 million) and Mexico (up 939,000) leading the way. In the Middle East and Africa, growth was dominated by Turkey (up 1.3 million) -- the second fastest moving DSL subscriber market worldwide.



• In North America, DSL is steadily increasing its share of the total broadband market and now accounts for more than 46% of the region's broadband subscribers. In the period, broadband DSL (up 6.36 million) added more subscribers than cable modem (up 5.45 million), with growth in Canada (DSL up 22.2%) and the USA (DSL up 32.7%) both far outstripping cable modem growth.



• At 30-June-2006, 16 countries had passed the two million DSL subscriber mark -- Australia, Turkey and Mexico achieving that number in the period.



• China extended its DSL population to 33 million, the largest of any country and more than 10 million subscribers ahead of the USA in second place. Of the emerging DSL nations, significant subscriber increases were seen in Vietnam (147% increase), the Czech Republic (143%), Morocco (141%) and Russia (130%).



• In eight countries, over 25% of telephone lines are now delivering broadband services over DSL, rising to a third in France and almost 40% in Finland.

http://www.dslforum.org

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Broadcom's CFO Steps Down

Broadcom announced that William J. Ruehle, its Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer (CFO), has decided to retire, effective immediately. He has held the post since June 1997 and decided to accelerate his retirement as a result of Broadcom's previously-announced equity award review.



Broadcom's Board of Directors has named Bruce E. Kiddoo to serve as Acting Chief Financial Officer on an interim basis. Mr. Kiddoo is Broadcom's Vice President and Corporate Controller.

http://www.broadcom.com

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Motorola to Acquire Symbol for Mobility+Scanning Integration

Motorola announced plans to acquire Symbol Technologies, a supplier of bar code and scanning technologies, for approximately $3.9 billion in cash.



Symbol designs, develops, manufactures and services products and systems used in end-to-end enterprise mobility solutions featuring rugged mobile computing, advanced data capture, radio frequency identification (RFID), wireless infrastructure and mobility management. The company holds 900+ patents in the areas of laser bar code scanning, imaging bar code scanning, RFID, laser projection displays, mobile computing technologies and wireless technologies, among others.



Symbol's product set also includes consumer memory scanners that might be used with all sorts of bar coded products, payments systems (POS) and wireless transaction terminals, mobile computers, handheld scanners, RFID readers and wireless access points.



Motorola said the acquisition of Symbol complements its vision to deliver seamless mobility solutions to the globe.



"Everything is going digital, and everything digital is going mobile -- this is especially evident in the way businesses are run today. Motorola and Symbol share the same vision of a digital, mobile world for enterprises that matches the world people enjoy at home and at play," said Motorola Chairman and CEO, Ed Zander.

http://www.motorola.comhttp://www.symbol.com

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Motorola Announces SIP-enabled Cable Modems

Motorola has expanded its family of voice-enabled cable modems with the introduction of its SIP-enabled SBV5100 series.



Motorola expects many cable operators will adopt SIP-based devices for their networks as a migration path toward PacketCable 2.0. SIP, along with Quality of Service (QoS) based on PacketCable Multimedia (PCMM), provides a foundation for the delivery of advanced services, including fixed-mobile convergence (FMC) -- allowing consumers to "hand off" a cellular call to a Wi-Fi network and landline phone, rich multimedia communications, such as interactive video sessions, secure signaling and encryption, and flexible Network Address Translation (NAT) and firewall traversal technologies like Simple Traversal of User Datagram Protocol (UDP) Through Network Address Translators (STUN).



The Motorola SBV5100 series, which is expected to be available by the end of 2006, supports full-featured primary VoIP telephone service for up to two telephone lines that are terminated in two RJ-11 connectors. In addition, its integrated cable modem connects to a computer through either a 10/100Base-T Ethernet or a USB data port.

http://www.motorola.com

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Motorola Debuts GSM fixed Phone for the Latin America

Motorola introduced a GSM fixed wireless phone for the Latin American market. Following in the footsteps of the highly successful Motorola FX1900xg phone, the Motorola FX2000xg is sleeker and smaller than its predecessor and adds key features such as polyphonic ring tones, speaker phone, and multi-caller functionality including call waiting and conference call capabilities. http://www.motorola.com

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