Paul Allen Completes Acquisition of Comcast's Joint Venture Interest for $728M

Paul G. Allen, the Chairman of Charter Communications and one of the founders of Microsoft, completed his acquisition of Comcast's interest in CC VIII, LLC, a joint cable venture with Charter Communications, for approximately $728 million in cash, consistent with an original put agreement. Comcast said it will use the proceeds to pay down debt incurred in connection with the acquisition of AT&T Broadband in November 2002.
http://www.comcast.com

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U.S. Appeals Court Rules in Favor of Mobile Number Portability

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia upheld FCC rules allowing for number portability for mobile telephone subscribers. The ruling, which rejected the arguments of Verizon Wireless and the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association, would allow consumers to keep the mobile number when switching providers.http://pacer.cadc.uscourts.gov/docs/common/opinions/200306/02-1264a.pdf

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AT&T Ties WorldCom Fraud to Internet Traffic Myth

In comments filed with the U.S. District Court handling the WorldCom case, AT&T described the proposed settlement between the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and WorldCom as "a completely inadequate response to a level of corporate malfeasance never before witnessed in the history of America." AT&T is arguing that a $500 million payment is not commensurate with the scale and scope of the fraud.


In addition, AT&T argues that the ramifications of WorldCom's falsely reported Internet traffic numbers have had "a devastating impact on the telecommunications industry." AT&T said that for years WorldCom fraudulently reported that its Internet traffic doubled every quarter. In fact, the U.S. Department of Commerce and the Federal Communications Commission adopted the false Internet traffic figures, which then served as the benchmark for the industry. AT&T contends that while WorldCom reaped tremendous financial rewards from the investment community for its false reports of business growth, the entire industry and investing public were harmed as WorldCom's false traffic numbers led to irrational and unjustified investments and the current fiber glut.
http://www.att.com/news/item/0,1847,11767,00.html

• AT&T published a paper in July 2001 tracking growth on its IP backbone and assesing claims by other carriers.



• "Growth of the Internet,�? by K.G. Coffman and A.M. Odlyzko, AT&T Labs, July 2001
  http://www.dtc.umn.edu/~odlyzko/doc/oft.internet.growth.pdf
  (44 pages, Adobe Acrobat format)

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IPeria Names New CEO

IPeria, a developer of messaging applications, named Rob Scott as its new president and CEO. Scott joins IPeria from Octave Communications, Inc. where he was chairman and co-founder. He co-founded Octave in April 1998. Octave was acquired by Voyant Technologies in January 2003. Previously, Scott served as President of MultiLink, which was acquired by PictureTel. IPeria offers network-based voice messaging applications based upon SIP, VoiceXML, and other open standards. The company is headquartered in Burlington, Massachusetts.
http://www.iperia.com

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Nigeria's Operator Expands Deployment of Airspan's Wireless DSL

Mobitel, a Lagos, Nigeria-based private telephone operator (PTO), issued US$1.2 million in new orders for Airspan Networks AS4000 systems. Mobitel launched the wireless local loop service in Lagos in March 2003 using Airspan AS4000. It is now launching the same service in Port Harcourt, the largest oil operations city in Nigeria. A large proportion of deployed lines are utilized by Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited.
http://www.airspan.com

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Union Presses Federal Court on WorldCom Settlement Issue

The Communications Workers of America filed comments urging the U.S. District Court that is handling the WorldCom case to impose a civil penalty in the multi-billion-dollar range, instead of the prosposed $500 million partial settlement sought by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The CWA described the proposed settlement as "a slap on the wrist for a company that committed the largest case of corporate fraud in U.S. history by misstating its earnings by at least $11 billion."http://www.cwa-union.org

• On 19-May-2003, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced a proposed settlement requiring WorldCom to pay a civil penalty of $1.51 billion for its fraudulent conduct. As a result of the company's pending bankruptcy case, the proposed settlement would be reduced to $500 million.

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Thomson Rolls Out SPEEDTOUCH DSL Wireless Office Gateway

Thomson introduced a business office wireless gateway targeted at connecting branch and remote facilities as well as telecommuters with corporate headquarters. The rack-mounted, SpeedTouch 670 gateway allows enterprises to create and enhance their data network using IP VPN and firewall capabilities. The gateway ensures reliability with RIP, ISDN backup, supports Wireless LAN functionality and is VoIP capable. Thompson is also planning to offer a similar product targeted at hotspot deployments.
http://www.speedtouch.com/press.htm

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Larscom and VINA Technologies, Target Access Market

Larscom and VINA Technologies completed their previously announced merger. The company targets enterprise WAN access solutions. The merged company will retain the "Larscom" name and its NASDAQ symbol and will relocate from Milpitas, CA to VINA Technologies' headquarters in Newark, CA at some time in the future.

• In May 2003, Larscom introduced a next generation SONET multi-service access platform supporting the new Generic Framing Procedure (GFP)-based Ethernet over SONET (EoS) standards – including both Low- (VT 1.5) and High- (STS-1) order Virtual Concatenation (VCAT). Larscom's new Orion 7400 platform is designed to economize the extension of metro rings to customers located in lower density areas or multi-tenant buildings while remaining interoperable with the carrier's existing SONET infrastructure including optical add/drop multiplexers (OADM) and management systems (OSS). The Orion 7400, which serves as customer location equipment (CLE) or as an adjunct to a legacy SONET ADM, can deliver a range of services, including 10/100 Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet, T1 and T3. Initially, the network interface can be OC-3/OC-3c (OC-12/OC-12/c, or STS-1 will also be available before the end of the year) to SONET metro or regional rings. List pricing is expected to be under $5,000.

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Cogent Targets Promotion at Cable & Wireless Customers

Following Cable & Wireless' decision to exit the US market, Cogent Communications announced that it will offer service delivery guarantees of 5 business days or less to all Cable & Wireless ISP customers in danger of losing Internet connectivity. Cogent launched a similar promotion in February to stranded customers of Genuity.
http://www.cogentco.com

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AMC-9 Satellite Successfully Launched

The AMERICOM-9 (AMC-9) satellite of SES AMERICOM was successfully launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan by the U.S.-Russian joint venture International Launch Services (ILS) aboard a Proton rocket. The hybrid C/Ku-band satellite is based on Alcatel's Spacebus 3000B3 platform. The C-band payload features 24 - 36 MHz transponders, while the Ku-band payload features 24 - 36 MHz transponders. AMC-9 will become the sixteenth satellite in the AMERICOM fleet and is planned for operation from 85 degrees West orbital position, pending FCC approval.
http://www.ses-americom.com

• SES AMERICOM's key customers include ABC Radio Networks, AT&T Alascom, AOL TimeWarner, British Telecom, Deutsche Welle, Discovery, Fox, TV Guide/Gemstar, Gannett, HBO, Hughes Network Systems, Merlin, NBC, The New York Times, NHK, PaxNet, PBS, TELE Greenland, TV Europa, Verestar, and Viacom.

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Thuraya-2 Satellite Set for Launch this Week

An international Sea Launch team, now positioned on the Equator, is preparing to launch a Boeing GEM (GEO-mobile) satellite for Thuraya Satellite Telecommunications Company of Abu Dhabi on 10-June-2003. This will be the second satellite for the Thuraya network, which provides mobile voice and data communication services to a region of more than 100 countries in Europe, the Middle East, North and Central Africa, and Central and South Asia. Boeing said the new satellite carries a digital signal processor capable of trillions of operations per second, and a more than 40-foot-wide aperture antenna that lets it handle nearly 14,000 mobile-to-mobile calls simultaneously.
http://www.sea-launch.com

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New National Cyber Security Division Sets Charter

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has created a new National Cyber Security Division (NCSD) to provide 24 x7 national cyberspace analysis and emergency warnings. Specifically, the mission of the NCSD is to:

• identify risks and help reduce the vulnerabilities to government's cyber assets and coordinate with the private sector to identify and help protect America's critical cyber assets;




• oversee a consolidated Cyber Security Tracking, Analysis, & Response Center (CSTARC), which will detect and respond to Internet events; track potential threats and vulnerabilities to cyberspace; and coordinate cyber security and incident response with federal, state, local, private sector and international partners; and




• create, in coordination with other appropriate agencies, cyber security awareness and education programs and partnerships with consumers, businesses, governments, academia, and international communities.

The NCSD will have 60 employees. The division, which operates under the DHS' Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection Directorate, builds upon the existing capabilities transferred to DHS from the former Critical Infrastructure Assurance Office, the National Infrastructure Protection Center, the Federal Computer Incident Response Center, and the National Communications System.
http://www.dhs.gov/dhspublic/interapp/press_release/press_release_0173.xml

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Riverstone Issues Preliminary Quarterly Results

Riverstone Networks expects revenues for its fiscal quarter ended 31-May-2003 to be approximately $12 million to $13 million. Accordingly, the company expects to report a GAAP net loss for the quarter of approximately $0.15 per share to $0.17 per share. Riverstone noted increased sales in the first quarter in EMEA (Europe, the Middle East and Africa), but warned that North American sales remained flat relative to the previous quarter, and sales in Asia, particularly China, were weak due in part to regional disruption of business activity. Full results are scheduled to be released on 19-June-2003 after the close of market.http://ir.riverstonenet.com

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Bush Issues Presidential Memo on Spectrum Policy

President Bush ordered government agencies to undertake a detailed, one-year review of their spectrum use policies, with the goal of unlocking "the economic value and entrepreneurial potential of U.S. spectrum assets." The federal government makes extensive use of spectrum for radars, communications, geolocation/navigation, space operations, and other national and homeland security needs. The Secretary of Commerce will chair a Spectrum Policy Initiative" that shall prepare legislative and other recommendations to modernize the spectrum management system while encouraging the deployment of new and expanded services and technologies and preserving national security, homeland security, and public safety.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/06/20030605-4.html

• In May 2003, The FCC adopted new rules intended to make spectrum leasing more responsive to market forces. The FCC said its streamlined procedures would encourage licensees to freely lease their unused or unneeded spectrum capacity, thereby increasing the amount of spectrum available to prospective users and new wireless technologies. Similarly, the steps taken to streamline the license assignment and transfer process will also enhance access to spectrum by a variety of entities. The FCC is encouraging the development of secondary markets for spectrum by providing a streamlined approval process for transfers and assignments of licenses. The new policies affect both mobile and fixed services, including Cellular, Personal Communications Services (PCS), Specialized Mobile Radio (SMR), Local Multipoint Distribution Service (LMDS), fixed microwave, 24 GHz, and 39 GHz, among others.



• FCC Chairman Michael K. Powell described the action as "one of the most important spectrum reform decisions by this Commission in the last decade."



• The FCC will seek to make available for unlicensed use an additional 255 MHz of spectrum in the 5.470 to 5.725 GHz band. This would increase the spectrum available for use by unlicensed devices in the 5 GHz region by 80%.

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ITU and Consumer Electronics Association Formalize Ties

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) formalized its relationship with the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) and agreed to coordinate standards development activities. Among the areas of symmetry between CEA and ITU-T are wireless and mobile communications, cable systems, and multimedia technologies. The two groups aim to share resources and expertise in order to enhance international standards. The ITU has formal relationships with 32 fora and standards development organizations.
http://www.itu.int/newsroom/press_releases/2003/16.html

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Comcast Awards Customer Support Contract to Convergys

Convergys Corp. announced a multi-year customer care agreement for Comcast High-Speed Internet and Comcast Digital Phone operations. Services will include technical support, order management, and traditional customer care via telephone, e-mail and Web chat in English and Spanish. Financial terms were not disclosed. Convergys currently operates 45 contact centers and handles more than 1.7 million customer interactions over the phone or the Internet per day.
http://www.convergys.com

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Motorola Expands its Packet Telephony Chip Portfolio

Motorola introduced two new packet telephony solutions: the Smart Packet Telephony 8102 platform and its next- generation MSC8122 multi-core StarCore-based digital signal processor (DSP). Motorola's Smart Packet Telephony platforms comprises a single MPC8260 baseboard and two daughter cards--a PSTN card, and a StarCore DSP-based farm card. The 8102 Packet Telephony Farm Card is a PCI telecom mezzanine card that boosts the performance density of the Smart Packet Telephony platform to 672 high-density voice channels.
http://www.motorola.com

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SBC, BellSouth and Cingular Offer Shared Bucket of Wired/Wireless Minutes

SBC Communications, BellSouth and their joint venture Cingular Wireless residential consumers to share a single bucket of minutes for calls made from either their SBC or BellSouth wireline and Cingular wireless phones. A market trial is currently underway in Texas. The companies said the plan would further integrate wireline and wireless services.
http://www.sbc.com

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STMicroelectronics Releases PeakSHDSL Chipset

STMicroelectronics announced commercial availability of a PeakSHDSL chipset for multi-channel applications in central office equipment. ST has demonstrated the chips supporting symmetric rates of 2.3 Mbps over a distance of 5.1 km on ETSI .4mm loop. The chipset consists of a octal digital modem chip that supports multiple line codes and frame structures; and two quad analog transceivers to connect the digital modem chip with the line driver and hybrid balance circuit. The three-chip, 8-channel solution is targeted for high- density line cards used in DSLAMs and DLCs.
http://www.st.com/xDSL

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Munich Airport Uses Cisco APs for Multiple ISP Hotspot

Munich International Airport is using Cisco System's access points for what is billed as the world's first multiple ISP hotspot. Physical connectivity is through Cisco's Aironet Access Points, while Cisco's Building Broadband Service Managers ensure users do not need to change their network settings to gain access, and serve as a portal platform for free resources such as maps and flight timetables. A Cisco 7400 Series router with a Service Selection Gateway gives users access to their chosen service provider and Cisco Catalyst switches and content engines distribute requested Internet content. The project is implemented with help from Deutsche Telekom Network Projects & Services GmbH (formerly DeTeLine),http://www.cisco.com

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