Converge! Network Digest

Thursday, April 10, 2003

ITU TELECOM ASIA event Planned for Korea in 2004

Thursday, April 10, 2003 Financial

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) selected Busan, South Korea as the venue for the next regional Asia event - ITU TELECOM ASIA 2004 - to take place in the second half of 2004. Previous ITU TELECOM events for Asia all took place in Southern Asia (Singapore in 1985, 1989, 1993, 1997 and Hong Kong in 2000 and 2002).
http://www.itu.int

Marconi Supplies Web Payphones for Telefonica

Thursday, April 10, 2003 Last Mile

Telefonica Telecomunicaciones Publicas SA, the public payphone division of Telefonica Spain, will deploy Marconi's web payphones as public information kiosks. The Marconi web phones are interactive, next generation public payphones that allow users to send e-mails and text messages and surf the Internet, as well as make telephone calls. They will be installed across Spain in public sites.
http://www.marconi.com

Ericsson Outsources IT operations to HP

Thursday, April 10, 2003 Financial

Ericsson will outsource its entire IT operations worldwide to HP. Ericsson said the move will give it greater flexibility to adjust resources and expertise to meet fluctuations in its business and in the industry. The contract will include transfer of personnel at Ericsson Global IT Services (EGIS) to HP.
http://www.ericsson.com

Ericsson Reaches half million mark for MINI-LINK Microwave Radios

Thursday, April 10, 2003 Mobile

Ericsson has shipped over half a million of its MINI-LINK microwave radios for use in mobile, fixed and corporate networks globally. The MINI-LINK radios are used extensively in GSM networks. The latest addition for the Ericsson MINI-LINK portfolio is a 155 Mbps radio.
http://www.ericsson.com

DSL.net to Acquire TalkingNets' Assets

Thursday, April 10, 2003 Last Mile

DSL.net agreed to acquire substantially all of the assets and subscribers of mid-Atlantic-based TalkingNets, an integrated communications provider that offers softswitch-based voice and data services to businesses. TalkingNets offers its customers a dedicated T-1 line with unlimited local calling, caller ID, voice mail and long-distance services. TalkingNets currently has business customers in Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C. DSL.net said the acquisition would enable it to layer a voice component onto its existing service offerings. Financial terms were not disclosed.
http://www.dsl.nethttp://www.talkingnets.com

In January 2003, DSL.net acquired the network assets and associated subscriber lines of Network Access Solutions Corp. (NAS), which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in June 2002. NAS is based in Herndon, Virginia.
DSL.net ended Q4 2002 with 22,100 installed broadband subscriber lines.

TIA Publishes Fiber Testing Procedure Standard

Thursday, April 10, 2003 StandardsWatch

The Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) published a new test procedure (TIA-455-198) for measuring polarization dependence of insertion loss of single-mode fiberoptic components. The test procedure can be applied to any single-mode passive component, including connectors, splices, couplers, attenuators, isolators, switches, multiplexers and demultiplexers, optical amplifiers (non-operating), circulators and filters.
http://www.tiaonline.org

Swivel Develops a New Wireless Authentication Technology

Thursday, April 10, 2003 Mobile

Swivel Technologies, a start-up based in London, introduced a new authentication system that uses a mobile phone or PDA to confirm user identity. The Swivel M2F server protocol software provides a two-factor authentication on both second and third generation mobile networks as well as on the latest Java based cell phones. Two-factor authentication involves the use of something you know and something you have in order to confirm that "you are who you say you are." Swivel uses a 4-digit PIN as the "something" the user knows and a cellular mobile phone with a randomly generated, 10-digit security string as the "something" the user has.
http://www.swiveltechnologies.com

Hutchinson CAT (Thailand) Deploys Kabira/Motorola for Wireless Apps

Thursday, April 10, 2003 Mobile

Hutchison CAT Wireless MultiMedia, a joint venture between Hutchison Whampoa and The Communications Authority of Thailand (CAT), selected Motorola to implement a Network Enabling Services Platform for delivering high-speed wireless applications. Motorola's solution utilizes Kabira Technologies' Infrastructure Switch and OSA/Parlay Gateway. Wireless applications deliver messages to the Network Enabling Services Platform, which is responsible for delivering messages to the WAP Server, Short Message Service (SMS) Center, Multimedia Message Service (MMS) Center, and e-mail server. Financial terms were not disclosed.
http://www.motorola.com
http://www.kabira.com

Windows Server 2003 to Gain SIP Messaging and Presence Capabilities

Thursday, April 10, 2003 Packet Systems

Microsoft announced plans for a Real-Time Communications (RTC) Server, an instant messaging (IM) server that leverages Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) and SIP for Instant Messaging and Presence Leveraging Extensions (SIMPLE). The RTC Server and presence capability, which will be an add-on to Windows Server 2003, aims to provide corporations with better control over instant messaging. RTC Server will allow enterprises to log instant messages to help protect corporate privacy and intellectual property and help ensure regulatory compliance in certain industries. Availability is expected in Q3.
http://www.microsoft.com

WSJ: Microsoft and Lucent in Patent Battle

Thursday, April 10, 2003 Financial

Microsoft and Lucent Technologies are engaged in an increasing complex legal battle over patents related to audio/video encoding and video display technology, according to The Wall Street Journal. Lucent has filed patent infringement suits against two Microsoft customers (Dell and Gateway), while Microsoft is seeking to have 13 Lucent patents invalidated.
http://www.wsj.com
http://www.microsoft.com

Telecom Industry Association Predicts 10% International Growth in 2003

Thursday, April 10, 2003 Service Providers

The Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) is predicting the telecommunications market outside the U.S. will grow 10.1% in 2003 to $1.4 trillion, reversing declines during 2001 and 2002. The TIA's 2003 Telecommunications Market Review and Forecast, an annual publication, found that Internet traffic continues to grow rapidly; the need at the enterprise level for high-speed data transmission continues to grow; and the demand for mobile connectivity for both voice and data is expanding. In Asia/Pacific markets, total telecommunications revenue is expected to reach $421.6 billion in 2003, up from $380 billion in 2002. The Asia/Pacific market is projected to grow at a 9.1% clip through 2006, according to the study. TIA said Japan continues to exhibit only modest market growth while China and India are growing rapidly. For example, in recent years, growth in subscribers of mobile phones in both China and India has exceeded 80% CAGR. Western Europe is expected to see revenue of $362 billion in 2003 -- up 5.8% over 2002.
http://www.tiaonline.org

The Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) is predicting a 6.1% increase in spending in the United States on network transport services during 2003, achieving a total market size of $345.3 billion. Unlike 2002, TIA predicts growth will be positive across all transport services, and greatest in wireless services and specialized services such as high-speed Internet access. Local service revenues will expand by 5.8%, toll services will return to positive growth with a 1.7% increase, and wireless services will sustain 12% growth in 2003. Growth in high-speed Internet access will generate additional network traffic to sustain growth through 2006. TIA expects to see major infrastructure buildouts resume as service providers prepare for greater numbers of broadband subscribers. As a result, TIA expects the wireline network equipment and facilities market to expand by an 8.5% compound annual rate from 2003 to 2006, reaching $30.4 billion in 2006. The wireline network equipment market declined by 49% in 2002, according to TIA.