Monday, November 24, 2003

Cramer Announces Wins with KPN, Japan Telecom

Cramer announced a three-year contract to supply its inventory management solution to KPN Telecom's fixed wireline division. KPN Telecom will use Cramer to replace legacy inventory systems currently in place for its fixed wireline network, which serves 7.8 million customers nationwide and handles some 40 billion call-minutes per year. Three legacy network systems in the transmission domain will be replaced by the Cramer platform. KPN Telecom is Cramer's fourth Tier 1 win this year, following similar strategic accords with BT, Bell Canada and others.


Separately, Cramer Systems announced a major contract with Japan Telecom, in partnership with IBM Japan and Agilent Technologies. Specifically, Japan Telecom will use Cramer to establish an automated, process-driven service provisioning solution, replacing an existing bespoke system and manual processes. The deal represents Cramer's first major contract in Asia-Pac.
http://www.cramer.com

Finnet Selects Ericsson/Juniper for Backbone Expansion

Finland's Finnet has expanded its IP backbone network with Ericsson's Packet Backbone Network (PBN) solution, equipped with Juniper Networks' routers. The upgrade enables 10 Gbps speed across the backbone. Construction began last spring, and the network has been in commercial service since summer 2003. Financial terms were not disclosed.
http://www.ericsson.com
http://www.juniper.net

Net2Phone Raises $63 million in Secondary Offering

Net2Phone raised $63 million through a secondary public offering. In addition to the public offering of 10.5 million shares, the underwriters exercised their option to purchase an additional 1 million shares of Net2Phone's common stock at $4.50 per share. Net2Phone intends to use the proceeds from the offerings for general corporate purposes, capital expenditures, and working capital, including funding its cable telephony business.
http://www.net2phone.com

AT&T Supplies Integrated Network for Enterprise Rent-A-Car

AT&T was awarded a three-year, $10.5 million contract from Enterprise Rent-A-Car to implement an integrated networking platform that will support advanced e-business applications for Enterprise's operations in Europe. The network will connect Enterprise's 300 locations in Germany, Ireland and the UK, with an initial rollout to 40 sites this year and the remainder migrating to AT&T from other suppliers in 2004 and 2005.
http://www.att.com

Acterna Expands its Optical Tester Line

Acterna introduced a new version of its MTS optical tester line designed for field use in both outside plant and central office applications. The new MTS-8000 serves as a fiber characterization and WDM analyzer with a full range of test capabilities, including optical time domain reflectometer (OTDR), polarization mode dispersion (PMD), spectral attenuation (SA), wavelength division multiplexing (WDM), optical spectrum analyzer (OSA), and channel isolation up to 10.7 Gbps.
http://www.acterna.com

FCC Sets Agenda for VoIP Proceedings Next Week

The FCC announced the agenda for its VoIP Forum, which will be held on 01-December-2003, beginning at 10:30 a.m. EST. After briefly discussing FCC precedents regarding VoIP, a number of industry insiders will have the chance to present their view. Invited speakers include:

  • Charles H. Giancarlo, SVP & General Manager, Cisco Systems


  • Jeff Pulver, President & CEO, Pulver.com


  • John Hodulik, Managing Director, Communications Group, UBS


  • John Billock, COO, Time Warner Cable


  • Michael Gallagher, Acting Assistant Secretary, Department of Commerce


  • Commissioner Carl Wood, California PUC


  • Commissioner Charles Davidson, Florida PSC


  • James Crowe, CEO, Level3


  • Tom Evslin, CEO, ITXC


  • Jeffrey Citron, CEO, Vonage


  • Dr. Gregg Vanderheiden, Rehabilitation Engineering Research Project on Telecommunications Access, University of Wisconsin


The VoIP Forum will be webcast live and also archived for later viewing. http://www.fcc.gov/realaudiohttp://www.fcc.gov/voip/

FCC's Wireless Bureau Announces Reorganization

The FCC has reorganized its Wireless Telecommunications Bureau into six divisions:


Auctions and Spectrum Access Division -- Promotes transparent, efficient and effective access to spectrum, through the development of policy initiatives and legal analysis, as well as procedures and administrative capability, to implement the FCC's competitive bidding authority and the transition of spectrum to new and innovative uses. Addresses issues relating to statutory authority and objectives, Commission rules and policies, and the planning, design, and conduct of spectrum auctions. Margaret Wiener, formerly Chief of the Auctions and Industry Analysis Division, will be the Division Chief.


Broadband Division -- Facilitates the rapid, widespread deployment of wireless broadband services to rural and metropolitan areas. Consolidates the policy, regulatory and licensing functions for wireless broadband services, excluding public safety and critical infrastructure services. Joel Taubenblatt, formerly Deputy Chief of the Policy Division, will be the Division Chief.


Mobility Division -- Promotes competitive and innovative mobile radio services and maximizes efficient use of the mobile radio spectrum. Consolidates the policy, regulatory and licensing functions for wireless mobile services, excluding public safety and critical infrastructure services. Roger Noel, formerly Deputy Chief of the Commercial Wireless Division, will be the Division Chief.


Public Safety and Critical Infrastructure Division -- Consolidates wireless homeland security and public safety issues and outreach within one Division, including E911 and interoperability issues, as well as policy, regulatory and licensing functions for both public safety entities and the nation's critical infrastructure industries. D'Wana Terry, formerly Chief of the Public Safety and Private Wireless Division, will be the Division Chief.


Spectrum and Competition Policy Division -- Formulates and implements innovative spectrum, competition, and infrastructure policies that promote access to and efficient use of radio spectrum for wireless telecommunications and encourage competition in the communications marketplace. Issues include Spectrum Policy Task Force implementation, wireless/wireline convergence, secondary markets, wireless consumer policy, competition reporting, facilities and tower siting, and broad policy guidance for future technological developments. William Kunze, formerly Chief of the Commercial Wireless Division, will be the Division Chief.


Spectrum Management Resources and Technologies Division -- Combines the bureau's information technology, licensing support, and auctions support and outreach functions (currently divided between two Divisions) in order to improve planning and implementation of the Bureau's unique and highly integrated system needs. John Chudovan, formerly Chief of the Data Management Division, will be the Division Chief.
http://www.fcc.gov

Russia's Combellga Selects the Alcatel 5020 Softswitch

Combellga, a Russian service provider, selected the Alcatel 5020 Softswitch for its next generation network interconnecting its local services areas. Combellga will also use the platform to initiate IP telephony and a range of multimedia services for home and business. The contract also covers the Alcatel Media and Signaling Gateways, which provide seamless interworking between the public switched telephone network (PSTN) and IP networks. Financial terms were not disclosed.
http://www.alcatel.com
http://www.combellga.ru

Oak Ridge National Laboratory to Build "UltraNet"

The Department of Energy's Office of Science has awarded Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) $4.5 million to design a high-speed, experimental network to be call the "Science UltraNet." The three-year project will support high-performance computing and other large facilities at the Department of Energy and at universities. The plan is to set up a testbed network operating at 10 Gbps to 40 Gbps and connecting ORNL to facilities in Atlanta, Chicago and Sunnyvale, California.
http://www.ornl.gov

SeaChange Ships 123,000 VOD Streams in Q3

SeaChange International reported record quarterly revenues of $37.6 million, up 11% compared to revenues of $33.9 million in the same period last year. Video-on-Demand (VOD) system revenues for the quarter were $22.5 million, up 47% compared to $15.3 million in the comparable period last year. During the quarter, SeaChange shipped its highest number of streams ever -- over 123,000 residential VOD streams - bringing its total shipped to date to over 750,000.
http://www.schange.com/

Sunday, November 23, 2003

Cable & Wireless to Stream Online Video Ads for MSN

Cable & Wireless America will deliver the online streaming video advertising for MSN Video, MSN's new high-quality broadband video player that will be broadly available this winter across the MSN network. Cable & Wireless is providing an end-to-end streaming media solution encompassing content encoding, content and campaign management and streaming media delivery services. Encoding services will be provided for advertisers, enabling advertisers to put advertisements in Windows Media 9 Format. All video advertisements will be streamed over the global content delivery network of Cable & Wireless America, which consists of numerous streaming servers at the edge of the Internet.
http://www.cwusa.com
  • In October, Microsoft announced that its MSN Network will offer a wide variety of high-resolution, on-demand broadband video content for free. Special programming from NBC News and MSNBC.com is available now in a Beta version of MSN Video. Additional content from multiple providers and custom programming choices will be added to the service for the full consumer launch this winter in the United States only. The free service will be supported by advertising. MSN Video will include 15-second video ads for every five to six minutes of content as well as contextual stationary ads displayed within the video player between motion ads. Microsoft said that “consumers are increasingly turning off their televisions to go online,�? making its MSN Video offering an ideal way for advertisers to reach the Internet demographic.


  • MSN Video is based on Windows Media 9 Series technology, and offers up to 300 Kbps playback speeds. MSN developed the new service with the brand communications firm Starcom MediaVest Group (SMG), which helped create the media-buying components of MSN Video.

Alloptic Signs Asia-Pac Distribution Deal with Ericsson

Ericsson agreed to market and resell Alloptic's optical access platform to telecommunications carriers throughout the Asia-Pacific region. Alloptic's EPON products provide a point-to-multipoint, passive fiber optic solution. Financial terms were not disclosed.
http://www.ericsson.com
http://www.alloptic.com

Marvell Introduces 10 GigE Switch Processor

Marvell introduced a 10 GigE silicon solution for enterprise aggregation switches. The new Prestera-98EX135 10 Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) packet processor integrates a 10 GbE MAC/PHY and a 10 Gbps uplink bus. The multi-layer switching features include line rate Layer-2 bridging, Layer-3 routing, Layer 1-4 filtering and QoS. On the line side, the device integrates 10GbE Attachment Unit Interface (XAUI) SerDes for interfacing with XENPAK, XFP and CX-4 modules.
http://www.marvell.com

Nortel Introduces Usage-Based Internet Access Solution

Nortel Networks introduced a Usage-Based Internet Access application that enables its Shasta 5000 Broadband Service Node (BSN) to be used to offer pre-paid Internet access. Service providers could use the solution to offer residential and business customers a choice between unlimited access at a fixed price and flexibly priced access based on time and bandwidth used. Customers would also be able to choose their own access bandwidth, view daily updates of service use and control Internet access in real time. Once pre-paid service is used, customers can automatically be directed to the service portal to select a new service package. Through IP traffic shaping and policing, service providers can guarantee the subscriber's selected Internet access bandwidth on a per-session basis.
http://www.nortelnetworks.com

Chile's VTR Leverages Nortel's Shasta for Broadband Flex

VTR, a broadband service provider in Chile, is using Nortel Networks' Shasta 5000 Broadband Service Node (BSN) platform for a new Broadband Flex service that allows customers to decide their connection speed (64, 300 or 600 kbps) every time they log on, and enable them to pay for only the time that they are connected. VTR is believed to be the first carrier offering such a broadband access speed choice. The Shasta cable solution VTR also supports additional, on-demand services like firewalls, VPNs (Virtual Private Networks), and content management.
http://www.nortelnetworks.com

Movielink Announces Partnership for SBC Yahoo! DSL Customers

Movielink, a broadband movie download service, signed an agreement with SBC Internet Services to offer a customized version of Movielink's movie rental website as part of a promotional trial of services to SBC Yahoo! DSL members. During the promotional trial, SBC Yahoo! DSL members can go to sbc.movielink.com to browse, rent, and download their favorite movies from the special, co-branded site. Movies on the service currently range between $1.99 and $4.99 for a 24-hour viewing period and can be stored on a member's hard drive for up to 30 days.
http://www.movielink.com
  • In August, Movielink announced a similar partnership with BellSouth.

Andrew Acquires Channel Master for Satellite Antennas

Andrew Corporation has acquired selected assets of Channel Master, privately held designer and manufacturer of high volume antenna and antenna related products for professional VSAT (Very Small Aperture Terminal), consumer DBS and television accessory markets, for $18 million in cash.
http://www.andrew.com

WildBlue Announces Appointment of New President

WildBlue Communications announced the appointment of Ken Carroll to the position of President and Chief Operating Officer. He previously served as president and CFO at Liberty Satellite & Technology and before that as CFO of PRIMESTAR, a satellite TV service purchased by DirecTV in 2000.


Separately, WildBlue named Jim Elliot as Vice President of Infrastructure, responsible for meeting WildBlue's system procurement and implementation goals through contractual and technical management of the space segment, ground segment gateways and customer premise equipment. Elliot comes to WildBlue from Ball Aerospace's Commercial Space Operations business unit.


WildBlue named Thad Mazurczyk as Vice President of Engineering. Mazurczyk was previously Senior Vice President of Technology for High Speed Access Corp. and before that spent more than nine years as the Vice President of Engineering at PRIMESTAR.


WildBlue also hired Randy Thompson as Vice President of Space Systems, responsible for WildBlue's satellites, satellite launch services and satellite management systems. Thompson comes to WildBlue from Liberty Satellite, where he held the position of Vice President of Advanced Technology.
http://www.wildblue.com
  • WildBlue is preparing to launch its two-way satellite broadband service in the continental United States in 2004.

BellSouth Increases Dividend For Third Time In 2003

BellSouth approved a dividend of $0.25 per common share, an 8.7% percent increase from the previous level of 23 cents per common share. Over the last seven quarters, BellSouth has increased its quarterly dividend 31.6% from $0.19 per common share to $0.25 per common share.
http://www.bellsouth.com

SIP Forum Names Pingtel Exec as Chairman

Jay Batson, chairman and founder of Pingtel, has been elected chairman of the board of directors of the SIP Forum. During 2004, the SIP Forum plans to conduct major interoperability activities, such as the SIPit events and its own SIP phone testing service. The SIP Forum also announced that Eric Burger, chief technology officer, SnowShore Networks Inc., has joined the organization's board of directors.
http://www.sipforum.org/