Taiwan-based Alpha Networks Posts Q4 Revenue of $155 Million

Taiwan-based Alpha Networks, a leading OEM/ODM network equipment supplier, reported Q4 2009 consolidated revenue of NT$4,927 million (US$154.9 million), an increase of 1.6% QoQ. Net income was NT$316 million, an increase of 38% QoQ, and EPS after tax was NT$0.68.


Revenue by product categories was as follows: LAN/MAN accounts for 44%, Wireless at 32%, Broadband
plus VoIP at 12%, Digital Multimedia at 10%, and others at 2%.
http://www.alphanetworks.comhttp://

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Canada's National Capital Commission Deploys BridgeWave's Gigabit Wireless

Canada's National Capital Commission (NCC) has selected BridgeWave's AR60-AES links to deliver high-capacity, secure connectivity in Ottawa, Ontario, the nation's capital.


The NCC, which is a Canadian Crown corporation, administers federally owned lands and buildings in Ottawa. The NCC recently expanded and had to relocate some employees to a remote location which needed connectivity to support user's industrial and graphic design work. It was essential for the expansion to also effectively support Internet and corporate database access and HR and finance applications at the new office.


BridgeWave said its high-capacity links have saved taxpayer money by allowing the NCC to eliminate substantial upfront or monthly network connectivity expenses, yielding a return on investment (ROI) in 20 months. The NCC chose BridgeWave's AR60 with Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) instead of installing new fiber or supplementing the existing copper infrastructure. Two BridgeWave AR60 links with AES capacity were installed in only three days. The narrow beamwidth of the BridgeWave links create "virtual pipes" for mission critical applications, making signal interception near impossible. BridgeWave's AR60-AES gigabit wireless links contain built-in 256-bit AES encryption, the strongest encryption commercially available.


Another major consideration for using BridgeWave gigabit links was the ability to maintain server centralization. As full-rate gigabit connectivity was available between locations, the NCC did not have to procure additional servers and the associated backup infrastructure for the new office. Installing servers at the new office would have cost more than the entire BridgeWave solution and would have complicated the deployment and the ongoing support.
http://www.bridgewave.com

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Apparent Enhances Cloud Network Performance Management Service

Apparent Networks released a series of enhancements for PathView Cloud hosted network performance management service, including new features for VoIP assessments.


The subscription-based PathView Cloud service monitors and measures the performance of end-to-end network paths --- including portions that traverse third-party networks.

New features for Managed Service Providers (MSPs) and Network Assessment include:

• MSP Branding --- MSPs can custom-brand PathView Cloud's user interface and reports and deliver them as a service to their customers.



• MSP Organization --- New self-service multi-tenancy capabilities allow MSPs to manage all customers from a single PathView Cloud screen and perform drill-down analyses. The organizational structure allows MSPs to easily add new customers to PathView Cloud as their customer base grows.



• MSP Customer Deployment Analysis --- MSPs can track PathView Cloud services they deliver to their customers and export reports for efficient customer billing.



• VoIP Assessments --- Allow users to determine their networks' readiness for VoIP prior to deployment. Assessments can be performed on up to 2,500 network paths at a single time to ensure overall network readiness for VoIP. Graphical reports clearly show overall network readiness for VoIP and also identify potential problems.



• Expanded Data Assessment Capabilities --- Enable users to assess their entire network at once to identify whether networks can handle the additional traffic of new data applications. If trouble areas are detected, PathView Cloud performs full hop-by-hop analyses across network paths to identify issues and provide remediation information.



• Support for the New PathView microAppliance --- The PathView microAppliance is a zero-administration device that can be used as the source or target of PathView tests. It eliminates the need to provision computer resources for the PathView Cloud and is ideal for remote offices that may lack a suitable, always-on device.

http://www.apparentnetworks.comhttp://

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AboveNet -- Revenue for Lit Services Surpass Dark Fiber

AboveNet reported revenue of $94.3 million, an increase of $4.5 million, or 5.0%, compared to the fourth quarter of 2008. Excluding contract termination revenue from the 2008 and 2009 fourth quarters, revenue would have been $81.1 million and $93.4 million, respectively, an increase of $12.3 million, or 15.2%.


Domestic metro services revenue grew 27.6% to $25.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2009 from $19.9 million in the fourth quarter of 2008; domestic WAN services revenue increased 21.4% to $17.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2009 from $14.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2008.


"In 2009 we posted strong results that were in line with our expectations for revenue growth, Adjusted EBITDA margin and capital spending," said Bill LaPerch, AboveNet's President and CEO. "We executed well against our strategy to grow with our customers and enlarge our addressable market by focusing on lit services. In 2009, for the first time, lit services revenue surpassed dark fiber revenue. We also turned free cash flow positive, giving us additional capital for growth." http://www.above.nethttp://

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CA to Acquire Nimsoft for $350 Million

CA agreed to acquire privately-held Nimsoft, a provider of IT performance and availability monitoring solutions, in an all-cash transaction valued at $350 million.


Nimsoft has developed monitoring and reporting solutions for public cloud and on-demand offerings like Google Apps for Business, The Rackspace Cloud, Amazon Web Services and EC2, Salesforce.com, as well as internal applications, databases, and physical and virtual server environments.


The Nimsoft Unified Monitoring solution allows managed service providers (MSPs) to gain visibility into the performance and availability of their customers' business applications across both internal and external IT infrastructures.


CA said the Nimsoft acquisition significantly extends its ability to meet the unique IT management needs of emerging enterprises and MSPs, both of which are playing leading roles in the growth of cloud computing.


The deal follows CA's recent acquisitions of Cassatt, NetQoS and Oblicore and the planned acquisition of 3Tera.


Nimsoft is based in Redwood City, California.
http://www.ca.com
http://www.nimsoft.com

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Sprint Delivers M2M to Enable Usage-Based Insurance for Vehicles

Sprint is delivering an M2M service that monitors actual miles driven by a particular vehicle, and enabling insurance companies to set their coverage fee based on this data. This is known as Usage-based Insurance (UBI).


Specifically, Sprint and Walsh Wireless released a certified solution developed to meet this unique and growing market - the Walsh Wireless Data Logger, powered exclusively by Sprint 3G Mobile Broadband.


The companies said the UBI model helps insurance companies be more innovative and competitive in their approach by improving their risk assessment process, reducing customer churn and ultimately reducing the claims received. Drivers could see a reduction in their premiums by being rewarded for low mileage and/or safe driving habits. The Walsh Data Logger provides the ability to wirelessly monitor in real-time the performance of a vehicle, its location and the driver's driving pattern. It can also benefit government entities and businesses that need to better manage large fleets of vehicles.
http://www.sprint.com
http://www.walshwireless.com

• In October 2009, Sprint announced the formation of its Emerging Solutions Business group, which focuses exclusively on the rapid delivery of end-to-end M2M and mobile computing solutions to businesses and consumers.

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AT&T Adds First Electric Vehicles to Corporate Fleet

AT&T has added its first all-electric cargo truck, the Smith Newton, to its corporate fleet. AT&T operates more than 77,000 vehicles in its commercial fleet.


The vehicle - recognized as the world's largest electric battery-powered truck - is now servicing St. Louis, Missouri. The zero-tailpipe-emission Smith Newton runs free of normal engine noise and vibration, and it stores electric energy through regenerative braking.


In addition, AT&T has committed to be one of the first purchasers of the Ford Transit Connect Electric, the first fully-electric commercial vehicle to be widely sold in the United States.


"We are focused on driving down our dependence on imported sources of fuel and are open to alternative fuel resources that can reliably power our expanding fleet," said Jerome Webber, vice president, AT&T Fleet Operations.


The Smith Newton and - by the end of 2010 - the Ford Transit Connect Electric - are part of a $565 million planned investment announced in March 2009. AT&T expects to spend an estimated $350 million to purchase about 8,000 compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicles, and approximately $215 million to replace 7,100 fleet passenger cars with alternative-fuel models. http://www.att.com/csr

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FCC: Broadband Plan to Include Equal Access for People with Disabilities

The FCC's upcoming National Broadband Plan, which will be released next week, includes many recommendations on how to expand the reach and depth of broadband's benefits to people with disabilities.


With broadband technologies, "we have the opportunity to consider accessibility issues relatively early in the deployment process and enable people with disabilities to share fully in the benefits of broadband," FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said in a speech at a conference co-sponsored by Silicon Flatirons and the American Association of People with Disabilities and the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation.


Working recommendations in the Plan include:

• A government-wide Accessibility Initiative and establishment of a Broadband
  Accessibility Working Group



• An ongoing Accessibility and Innovation Forum at the FCC for stakeholders to share best
  practices and collaborate on accessibility solutions



• Action by the FCC, DOJ, and Congress to update accessibility laws and policies and
  make sure they are enforced.



• Authorization by Congress for limited use of Universal Service Fund for assistive
  technology users and developers



• Use of TRS funds for broadband services and assistive technology subsidies and for
  funding additional IP-based services.

http://www.fcc.govhttp://

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Dell'Oro: Packet Microwave Market Grew 40% in Q4 2010

Worldwide microwave transmission equipment revenues grew 9 percent in the fourth quarter 2009, with the packet microwave revenues growing 40 percent during the same period, according to a newly launched Microwave Transmission report from Dell'Oro Group. The new report tracks TDM, packet, and hybrid microwave equipment used primarily in mobile backhaul.


The report indicates that the top 3 packet microwave vendors during the fourth quarter were Dragonwave (37 percent), Alcatel-Lucent (30 percent), and Bridgewave (9 percent).


"Despite being the smallest segment of the market, packet microwave grew the fastest during 2009, as wireless service providers continued to gain comfort in a packet-only architecture," said Jimmy Yu, Director of Microwave Transmission research at Dell'Oro Group. "Although North America is the smallest overall market for microwave equipment, it was in fact, the largest region for packet microwave equipment deployments in the quarter. This is due to the demands placed by Clearwire's rapid deployment of 4G WiMAX service using microwave for cell site backhaul," Yu added.
http://www.DellOro.comhttp://

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comScore Counts 42.7 million SmartPhone Users in U.S.

In the 3 month average ending in January, 234 million Americans were mobile subscribers ages 13 and older, according to a new report on key trends in the U.S. mobile phone industry released by comScore.


The report ranked the leading mobile original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and smartphone operating system (OS) platforms in the U.S. according to their share of current mobile subscribers age 13 and older, as well as popular activities and content accessed via the subscriber's primary mobile phone. The January report found Motorola to be the top handset manufacturer overall with 22.9 percent market share, while RIM led among smartphone platforms with 43.0 percent market share.


42.7 million people in the U.S. owned smartphones in an average month during the November to January period, up 18 percent from the August through October period. RIM was the leading mobile smartphone platform in the U.S. with 43.0 percent share of U.S. smartphone subscribers, rising 1.7 percentage points versus three months earlier. Apple ranked second with 25.1 percent share (up 0.3 percentage points), followed by Microsoft at 15.7 percent, Google at 7.1 percent (up 4.3 percentage points), and Palm at 5.7 percent. Google's Android platform continues to see rapid gains in market share.


In addition, comScore said 63.5 percent of U.S. mobile subscribers used text messaging on their mobile device, up 1.5 percentage points versus three months prior.
http://www.comscore.comhttp://

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Dell'Oro: Packet Microwave Revenues Surge

http://www.delloro.com

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IP Infusion Adds Tunneling for Coexisting IPv4 and IPv6 Networks

IP Infusion has expanded its portfolio of IPv6 software with new tunneling technologies that enable the coexistence of IPv4 and IPv6 networks.


The IPv6 over IPv4 tunneling solution, which is being released as ZebOS Rapid Deployment, forwards IPv6 traffic though IPv4 networks and is based on 6rd (IPv6 rapid deployment) specifications which are published as a Request for Comments (RFC) by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF).


The proposed IETF 6rd solution utilizes stateless IPv6 in IPv4 encapsulation in order to transit IPv4-only network infrastructure, and can achieve high scalability by leveraging stateless tunneling technology. IP Infusion's ZebOS Rapid Deployment also provides an accounting function which manages user traffic for enabling Internet services, and a filtering function which differentiates users--both important functions in order for carriers to deploy a new IPv6 service by using 6rd.


BBIX Inc. currently provides an Internet exchange service in Japan and plans to launch an IPv6 roaming service for other Internet service providers based on IP Infusion's ZebOS Rapid Deployment.
http://www.ipinfusion.comhttp://

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Google Apps Marketplace Opens for Cloud Services

A new Google Apps Marketplace officially opened for business. The site allows Google Apps customers to discover, deploy and manage cloud applications that integrate with Google Apps.


Google currently has over 2 million companies using its Google Apps service. The new Marketplace initially has about 50 companies are selling applications across a range of businesses. These include:

Intuit Online Payroll: allows small business owners a new way to efficiently run payroll, pay taxes and let employees check paystubs all within one integrated online office environment.

Manymoon: a free work and project management application that helps teams to organize and share information including tasks, projects, documents, status updates and links with co-workers, customers and partners.

Professional Services Connect (PS Connect): a new cloud-based offering coming soon from Appirio that pulls contextually relevant information on people, projects, customers and transactions from a user's domain and surfaces it directly inside a Gmail message so services professionals can make more informed, real-time decisions.

JIRA Studio: a hosted software development suite from Atlassian that enables software developers to flow naturally between Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Docs and other design and development tools in order to better track and manage project issues and workflow.

myERP.com : a free online business suite for streamlining CRM, Sales, Projects, Purchasing, Inventory, Accounting. Fully integrated with Google Apps, Gmail and Calendar.http://googleblog.blogspot.com/http://www.google.com/enterprise/marketplace/home

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SiBEAM Raises $36.5 Million for 60 GHz Chips for WirelessHD

SiBEAM, a start-up based in Sunnyvale, California, raised $36.5 million in Series D funding for its 60 GHz CMOS chipsets for WirelessHD applications. The company's second generation 60 GHz wireless high definition chipsets are targeting the mainstream consumer electronics marketplace, as well as fund future projects for personal computing and mobile devices.


The second generation of SiBEAM's WirelessHD chipsets, which were brought into mass production earlier this year, support advanced features including 3D, HDCP and DTCP content protection that can be designed into A/V receivers, home theater-in-a-box systems, Blu-ray players, set-top boxes, media center PCs, and consumer laptops.


The new funding was led by Foundation Capital. All of SiBEAM's original investors contributed to this round including U.S. Ventures Partners (USVP) and New Enterprise Associates (NEA), joined by new partners in SiBEAM's success, Lux Capital and Hatteras Funds. Best Buy Inc, and Cisco have also contributed strategic equity investments to support SiBEAM's growth.
http://www.sibeam.comhttp://

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Dell'Oro: Mobile Infrastructure Market Continues Decline

Mobile infrastructure market revenues declined 13 percent in the fourth quarter of 2009 to $10 billion, according to a recently published report by Dell'Oro Group. The report indicates the market contraction was a result of steep declines in the GSM market, which more than offset a nearly 50 percent growth of the WCDMA market.


Although the WCDMA and WiMAX markets are forecast to realize double-digit growth during 2010 and initial LTE revenue is expected in the second half of this year, the steep declines in the GSM and CDMA markets will result in 2010 total market revenue being flat with 2009.


"Although 3G spending by China Mobile and China Unicom, which drove the market in the first half of the year, came to a halt in the second half of last year, the massive growth in data traffic resulted in operators worldwide heavily investing in their 3G networks," commented Scott Siegler, Senior Analyst of Mobile Infrastructure research at Dell'Oro Group. "To keep pace with the strong demand, mobile data traffic is putting on their networks, operators are investing in both the expansion of their network footprints with new Node B deployments, as well as adding additional capacity to their existing footprint. We expect that growth in mobile data traffic will double in 2010 and forecast operators to deploy over 40 percent more Node B's this year," continued Siegler.
http://www.delloro.comhttp://

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AT&T's 100GigE Field Trial Tests Cisco CSR-3

AT&T has completed a live network environment field trial of 100 Gbps backbone network technology using the newly-announced Cisco CRS-3 core router, Opnext's 100 Gigabit CFP client side modules, and Ixia's "K2" 100 Gigabit traffic generator and analyzer.


AT&T said its trial demonstrated a single-carrier 100-Gigabit transmission with real-time coherent processing on a 900-kilometer deployed ultra long-haul transport link between Louisiana and Florida using Opnext optical equipment.


Highlights of the trial include:

• Successful single-carrier 100-Gigabit transmission with real-time coherent processing.


• Demonstration of 100-Gigabit Ethernet single-flow router capacity.


• Field demonstration of 100-Gigabit technology with a standards-compliant 100GBASE-LR4 single-mode MSA interface.


• Field demonstration of a 100-Gigabit traffic generator.

"This successful field trial is a key milestone in our ongoing effort to deliver the industry's most advanced and capable IP backbone network," said John Donovan, AT&T's Chief Technology Officer. "The AT&T IP backbone network today carries nearly 19 petabytes of traffic on an average business day, supporting our wireless, wired and enterprise customers' ever-growing demand for wireless and wired broadband applications. Research and development milestones like our 100-Gigabit trials help to ensure that the AT&T network is always ready to meet our customers' needs."http://www.att.com

• In October 2008, AT&T completed the transition of IP traffic to its next-generation, consolidated IP/MPLS backbone network. At the time, AT&T described its new full-mesh optical platform as the world's largest deployment to date of 40 Gbps transport. The company's entire U.S. ultra-long haul network -- more than 80,000 fiber-optic wavelength miles -- was transitioned to 40 Gbps technology, also known as OC-768. AT&T began turning up 40-gigabit service in volume in its network in the second half of 2006 after completing multiple field trials.

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Global Crossing to Upgrade Undersea Cables

Global Crossing is significantly expanding capacity on its Mid-Atlantic Crossing (MAC), South American Crossing (SAC) and Pan American Crossing (PAC) undersea fiber-optic cable. These overbuilds will enhance connectivity between Latin America, North America and Europe and will be rolled out over the next six months, with some segments ready for service as early as May 2010.
http://www.globalcrossing.comhttp://

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Savvis Expands Cloud Services to Singapore

Savvis is expanding its Symphony Open cloud infrastructure services through its Singapore data center later this month. Savvis Symphony Open will be the second cloud solution available from its Singapore data center, complementing the portfolio of managed and virtualized hosting and network services that Savvis currently offers to enterprises and the public sector in Singapore. The new cloud service helps enterprise customer tackle underutilization of servers while providing the ability to scale up capacity on demand.
http://www.savvis.nethttp://

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Metaswitch to Acquire AppTrigger for its Service Broker

Metaswitch Networks agreed to acquire AppTrigger, which supplies Service Broker solutions for carriers, for an undisclosed sum. AppTrigger pioneered the Service Broker concept with its Ignite platform, which is today deployed in multiple tier one networks worldwide. Ignite can be rapidly deployed due to its unique support for a range of 17 pre-defined application interworking solutions from non-geographical number and local number portability (LNP) to wireless prepaid and network IVR.


AppTrigger's Service Broker will now be added to Metaswitch's VoIP/IMS infrastructure portfolio.


"Carriers are increasingly realizing that service brokers are key to their ability to safely and cost-effectively evolve their business models to IP," said Kevin DeNuccio, Metaswitch CEO. "AppTrigger has played an instrumental role in defining this market, delivering the most robust, feature rich solution, and demonstrating its ability to scale with deployments processing billions of calls per month. This technology not only expands the set of solutions we can deliver to our customers, but supports our global growth strategy particularly in the rapidly-evolving mobile application space."


Service Brokers, a network element that resides between the service layer and the converging network, are traditionally decoupled from the core switch and the service execution or service creation environment. Service Brokers efficiently manage service interaction and network orchestration with key features such as IM-SSF, SCIM, IN to IN Trigger Management, Protocol/Call Flow Management and Subscriber Data Management Interaction.


Bowen Advisors acted as financial advisors and Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati as legal advisors to AppTrigger. Metaswitch was advised by Shearman & Sterling LLP. Closure of the acquisition is subject to standard contractual conditions and expected by the end of the month.
http://www.metaswitch.com
http://www.apptrigger.comAppTrigger's Ignite Service Broker delivers this "Any to Any" interworking for existing services and future application connectivity. In addition, AppTrigger features an "Ignite" Universal XML Toolkit that allows operators to easily configure network connectivity for services.


The Ignite Service Broker Predefined Portfolio of Interworking Solutions:

• Non-Geographical Number (NGN)


• Universal Access Number (UAN)


• Universal Personal Number (UPN)


• Reverse Charging


• Blacklist with PrePaid


• 800 Service/Freephone


• Local Number Portability (LNP)


• Calling Name (CNAM)


• Premium Rate


• Virtual Private Network (VPN)


• Televoting (Mass Calling)


• Wireless Prepaid


• Calling Card (credit based)


• Color Ring Back Tone or Caller Ring Back Tone (CRBT)


• Find Me/Follow Me


• Privacy Service


• Network IVR

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Cisco CRS-3 Scales to 322 Tbps using QuatumFlow Processors

Cisco unveiled its next generation core router designed for handling the expected traffic growth of video transmission, mobile devices and new online services through this decade.


The Cisco CRS-3 triples the capacity of its predecessor, the Cisco CRS-1 Carrier Routing System, with up to 322 Terabits per second (Tbps) -- which is 12X of the capacity of its nearest competitor, according to the company. The CRS-3, which represents a $1 billion investment by Cisco, leverages the company's in-house developed QuatumFlow Processors. Several models of the CRS-3 will be offered, with commercial shipments expected later this year. Cisco will continue to offer the CRS-1 core router series.


The Cisco CRS-3 continues to feature the mid-plane design used in the Cisco CRS-1 with a three-stage switch fabric based on a Benes architecture.


Cisco said it is building tight linkages between the Cisco CRS-3, Cisco Nexus family and Cisco Unified Computing System (UCS) to enable unified service delivery of cloud services. Several key innovations behind the CRS-3 platform:

• Network Positioning System (NPS) -- provides Layers 3 to 7 application information for best path to content, improving consumer and business experiences while reducing costs.



• Cloud virtual private network (VPN) for Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) -- enables "pay-as-you-go" for compute, storage and network resources by automating Cisco CRS-3 and Cisco Nexus Inter-Data center connections for Cisco UCS.



• Cisco QuantumFlow Array Processor -- which unifies six chips to enable new levels of service capabilities and processing power.

AT&T recently tested the Cisco CRS-3 in a successful completion of a field trial of 100-Gbps backbone network technology, which took place in AT&T's live network between New Orleans and Miami.
http://www.cisco.com

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