GEF - The Ethernet Source for Executives, VCs, Procurement Managers and Engineers

Note: For Ethernet news after 10/01/06, please go to Optical Networking

Ethernet News (Before 10/01/06)

Top Story: China's Huawei leads in 2Q06 worldwide optical network hardware sales, up an amazing 83%
Worldwide optical network hardware revenue jumped 20% between the first and second quarter of 2006, reaching $3.1 billion in 2Q06, mainly due to big gains by China's Huawei and Alcatel, says Infonetics Research in its quarterly Optical Network Hardware report. The market is forecast to grow 14% between 2005 and 2009, when it will reach $12.3 billion.
"Huawei is the big story this quarter, with sales up an amazing 83% and a larger foothold in the EMEA region," said Michael Howard, principal analyst of Infonetics Research. "For the first time in optical network hardware market history, Alcatel is not in first place. Huawei jumped from 4th to 1st in one quarter, a rare feat."
2Q06 Optical Network Hardware Highlights
- On the leaderboard: #1 Huawei, #2 Alcatel, #3 Nortel
- WDM ROADM switch hardware sales are up 23%
- Metro equipment makes up 68% of all optical network hardware revenue, long haul 32%
"The service provider multiservice ATM switch segment continues its downward trend (down 24% since this time last year), while the IP and Carrier Ethernet switch and router segments continue to climb," commented Howard. "Carriers are outfitting their data networks to handle the coming IPTV traffic, and outfitting their mobile networks for the expected onslaught of mobile video and data traffic. Carrier Ethernet-grade equipment meets these needs."
Related Channels: Video, China

Siemens showcases IPTV, Ethernet, DWDM, ROADM, GPON and IP-DSLAMs
At this year's Broadband World Forum in Paris, Siemens Communications is showcasing IPTV alongside the associated infrastructure components for Carrier Ethernet and optical networks. Europe is one of the main markets for the Siemens Group. The exhibits can be seen at Booth 2000 in the CNIT La Defense Conference Center.
Lower costs for operating fiber-optic lines: Surpass hiT 7300 Paris will be the world premiere for Surpass hiT 7300's live performance, a completely new DWDM (Dense Wave Division Multiplexing) platform for optical networks. Surpass hiT 7300 addresses the metropolitan, regional and long-haul network segments and is therefore suitable for all applications from high-density areas to regional backbone networks. The special feature of the new transport platform from Siemens is its high level of automation, which enables Surpass hiT 7300 to significantly reduce the costs for installation and ongoing operation and to make the ROADM (Reconfigurable Optical Add-Drop Multiplexer) technology, which has been very successful for long-haul applications, cost-effective for shorter transmission distances as well. In connection with a GPON (Gigabit Passive Optical Network) system from the Surpass hiX 57xx series, Siemens will demonstrate an end-to-end optical transport line in Paris that achieves data rates of up to 2.5 Gbps.
Siemens presents IP-DSLAMs (Digital Subscriber Line Access Multiplexers) that feature the mixed use of voice (analog connections and ISDN) and data (xDSL and Ethernet connection versions) within a single device (shelf).
Controlled by a softswitch, the voice traffic is first converted from TDM to VoIP and then forwarded via the aggregation network (Carrier Ethernet) to the IP network.
MSANs transmit the voice data via the protocols H.248 or SIP, which are used by IP softswitches to control the connection setup and to monitor the voice transmission.
Related Channels: Video, FTTP

MEF announces awards at CEWC
Winners of the prestigious “Carrier Ethernet European Service Provider of the Year Awards - 2006” were announced at the second annual CEWC in Madrid, Spain.
Daniel Bar-Lev, MEF Marketing Co-Chair presented this year’s “Best in Business” award to Orange Business Services and the award for “Outstanding Innovation” to Colt. Daniel commented: “I’m delighted to present these awards to such worthy winners. Carrier Ethernet is really taking off around the globe and here are two fine examples from Service Providers leading the way with deployment of Carrier Ethernet services in Europe”.
With over 400 senior professionals from Ethernet Service Providers, vendors and end users attending these years CEWC, the event underlines the rapid acceptance of Carrier Ethernet services and technologies, especially within Europe.
Worldwide Ethernet services revenue grew to $5.9 billion in 2005, and is expected to jump another 280% between 2005 and 2009 to $22.5 billion, according to Infonetics Research.

Cisco enhances its carrier Ethernet gear
Cisco Systems has made enhancements to its Internet Protocol Next-Generation Network (IP NGN) architecture to ease deployment of a wide range of business-focused and consumer-based services. The enhancements are designed to help increase service providers' revenues and customer loyalty while making delivery of the services more cost-effective.
The Cisco IP NGN architecture now incorporates standards-based Carrier Ethernet operations, administration and management (OAM) capabilities from the core to the customer premise, and it includes the Cisco® 7600 Series Routers, Cisco Metro Ethernet (ME) 3400 Series Ethernet Access Switches, Cisco Catalyst® 3750 Metro Series Switches, and Cisco 1841, 2800 and 3800 Integrated Services Routers. The new OAM features also include IEEE 802.1ag for service verification, IEEE 802.3ah for link layer troubleshooting, and Ethernet link management interface (E-LMI) for auto provisioning of customer premise equipment.

Finisar demos 10-Gbit/s Ethernet SFP transceivers at ECOC 2006
Finisar Corporation will be demonstrating a low-power 10G Ethernet Small Form Factor Pluggable (SFP) optical transceiver at ECOC 2006. In addition, the company will provide a demonstration of its 40Gb/s short reach transponder and display its extensive portfolio of fully compliant RoHS (Restrictions of Hazardous Substances) lead-free products which meet all requirements for the new European Union environmental legislation. The demonstrations and display will take place in Finisar's booth #438 at ECOC 2006.
Finisar's 850nm 10G SFP transceiver is designed in accordance with the emerging SFP+ standard, currently being developed by the Small Form Factor Committee. It is similar in size to current 1.25Gb/s SFP transceivers while operating at 10.3Gb/s with a power dissipation of less than 1W. Finisar 10G SFP+ transceivers will enable very high 10G Ethernet port densities in datacom switches and other telecommunication products.

Ridgeville picks Wave7 Optics for FTTP
Wave7 Optics Inc., a leading supplier of fiber-to-the-home or -premises (FTTH/FTTP) equipment for residential and business services, and EMBARQ Logistics, the distribution and supply chain arm of EMBARQ CORPORATION, announced the companies are teaming to deliver next generation optical access equipment to Ridgeville Telephone Company in Ridgeville, Ohio.
EMBARQ Logistics will deploy the Wave7 Optics Trident7™ Optical Access Platform, configured for EPON (the IEEE 802.3ah Ethernet in the First Mile standard) based services, as part of a multi-year project. The first connections to Ridgeville customers are targeted for later this year.
EMBARQ Logistics emphasizes a comprehensive view of FTTx deployments including business case analysis, product selection, technical training, and logistics management. “This common sense, practical approach is designed to help service providers like Ridgeville Telephone achieve the over-riding business goals of their deployment efficiently and effectively,” said Brad Clark, vice president of Sales and Marketing for EMBARQ Logistics.
A typical residential package will comprise 150 channels of RF television, one or two traditional or VOIP telephone lines, and a data service up to 5 Mb/s. Ridgeville Telephone, whose CLEC operations have an addressable market of more than 50,000 residential and business access lines in northwest Ohio, also plans to incorporate IPTV and music channels at a later date. Enterprise customers will enjoy 10/100 Ethernet Base-T, multiple phone lines, VLAN and similar “business class” services.
Related Channels: FTTP

TI intros 26W power over Ethernet controller
Texas Instruments Incorporated Friday introduced a 26-watt Power over Ethernet (PoE) controller that allows Ethernet-powered devices, such as IP surveillance cameras, WiMAX access points and conference IP phones, to use twice as much power from a standard Ethernet cable -- without the need of an AC line. TI will demonstrate the new power management integrated circuit (IC) in a high- power PoE reference design at the ASIS International security conference in San Diego, September 25-28.
TI's 8-pin, TPS2376-H controller contains all of the features needed to develop an IEEE 802.3af-compliant powered device with innovative safety features including a programmable, 600-mA current limit with thermal shutdown, auto-retry and fault protection. The high-power device also allows a designer to implement a non-standard powered device that draws up to 26 watts of power from power source equipment (PSE) with a minimum of 52 volts of input and over 100 meters of CAT-5 Ethernet cable. The TPS2376-H supports voltage transients up to 100 V at 600-mA.

ADTRAN intros fixed-port IP access routers
ADTRAN, Inc., a leading global provider of networking and communications equipment, announced the introduction of the NetVanta 3100 Series of fixed-port IP access routers. These devices are designed to address the needs of SMBs for secure cost-effective Internet access and corporate connectivity using carrier-supplied broadband services such as DSL or cable.
The NetVanta 3100 Series consists of the NetVanta 3120 and NetVanta 3130. The NetVanta 3120 is a fixed-port Ethernet router with an integral four-port managed Ethernet switch, a single 10/100Base-T Ethernet WAN interface, and an analog modem for dial-backup or remote management. The NetVanta 3130 is a fixed-port ADSL access router with an integral four-port managed Ethernet switch, a single ADSL WAN interface, and an analog modem for dial-backup or remote management. In addition to ADSL and ADSL2, the NetVanta 3130 supports today's most advanced ADSL technology, ADSL2+, for applications with the ability to take advantage of its greater reach and higher bandwidth (up to 25Mbps).
Each of these devices offers a variety of standard features including: standards-based routing/switching protocols; stateful inspection firewall for network security; IPSec VPN for secure corporate connectivity across the Internet; a familiar Command Line Interface (CLI) that eliminates re-training of technical personnel; a user-friendly Web-based Graphical User Interface (GUI); NAT-compatible SIP ALG for VoIP applications; Quality of Service (QoS) for VoIP and other delay-sensitive applications; and an analog dial-backup interface for disaster recovery/mission critical applications or for remote management by the carrier.

Huawei optical network products get certification from IBM
After obtaining the certification of Sun and McDATA for interoperability, the optical network solutions of Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. ("Huawei") passed the strict interoperability test of IBM in late May, 2006 and were added into the Interoperability Matrix of the IBM ESS, the DS 8000 and the DS 6000 series in August, 2006. The IBM ESS series are IBM's most widely deployed storage products, while the DS 8000 and the DS 6000 are the latest prevailing storage series launched by IBM.
As a leading supplier of network storage products and solutions, IBM is mainly engaged in providing storage solutions for high-end customers, like multinational financial firms, telecommunication operators, governments, and electric power plants. After being proved interoperable with the IBM ESS series, DS 8000 and DS 6000, Huawei's OptiX Metro 6100, 6040 & OptiX OSN 7500, 3500, 2500, 1500 were officially listed into IBM DS 8000 and DS 6000 Interoperability Matrix in August, 2006.
In recent years, Huawei's optical network solutions had been included into the operability matrix of most of the global leading providers of network storage products and solutions, such as Brocade, EMC, HP, IBM, McDATA and SUN... It shows that Huawei's optical network solutions can satisfy the most critical requirements of global leading network storage solutions for long distance data replication, helping Huawei's partners to bring more competitive solutions to enterprises of all sizes.
China's Huawei is a global leading vendor of optical network products and solutions. Its OptiX Metro 6100/6040 is mainly used in transmitting big granule service (e.g. STM-16/64, GE, 10GE etc.) and special services (e.g. ESCON, FICON, Fiber Channel, etc.). It is widely used in metropolitan backbone networks, local area networks, wideband data networks and
storage area networks, and the GE-based access layer. The Huawei OptiX OSN7500/3500/2500/1500 are new generation equipments sharing the same platform with MAN. Integrating the technologies of SDH, WDM, Ethernet, ATM, PDH, ESCON, FC/FICON, DVB-ASI, it can transmit voice, data, SAN, and video services efficiently on the same platform.
The node distance of the Metro & OSN series products can cover several thousand kilometers for SAN service, and all these products have been successfully deployed as data and SAN transport platform for finance and telecommunication enterprises worldwide.
Related Channels: China

Corecess touts DWDM-PON
Seoul-based Corecess Inc., a pioneer and major provider of IP broadband access solutions for the advanced service market, announced next generation Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM) Passive Optical Network (PON) platform that delivers up to 16 Gigabit Ethernet and/or Gigabit Ethernet PON (GEPON) over a pair of feeder fibers.
Built on company’s market proven “S5” optical access platform, where included are advanced optical component and transmission technologies from Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI), this gigabit DWDM-PON improves service provider’s bandwidth offering in a scalable and cost effective way.
This new platform provides colorless operation by employing Reflective Semiconductor Optical Amplifier (RSOA) technology from ETRI, which is implemented in SFP and GBIC form factors. These plug-n-play optical transceivers provide smooth migration from legacy optical access platform, and carry 1.25Gbps data streams, which are muxed in the off-the-shelf unit. In addition, highly modular architecture and protocol transparency of WDM favors the new platform as a gradual approach for service provider to prepare future service demands for bandwidth and service.
“This launch is Corecess’ vision for next generation optical access platform. It combines packet’s economics and DWDM’s bandwidth capability and scalability, while eliminates installation and maintenance woes by utilizing modular platform, PON architecture and colorless optical transceivers to improve service provider’s capability of bandwidth provisioning economically. Colorless operation is required to make DWDM work for access. ETRI’s knowledge and technology of advanced optics inspires Corecess to implement new type of gigabit DWDM-PON.” said Yeong-bong Son, Executive VP of sales & marketing, Corecess. He also noted that scalability and versatility in gigabit provisioning makes this platform fit for not only optical access node but back-haul aggregation node for broadband.
Related Channels: FTTP

Time Warner Telecom completes redundant DWDM SONET protected fiber ring in Silicon Valley
Time Warner Telecom Inc., a provider of managed voice and data networking solutions for businesses, announced the completion of its 480-mile fiber ring in the Bay Area. The fully redundant DWDM SONET protected fiber ring extends service from San Francisco, the East Bay and Walnut Creek to the Silicon Valley cities of Palo Alto, San Jose, Santa Clara and Sunnyvale.
Time Warner Telecom operates and maintains a national fiber network infrastructure and a 10 Gbps IP backbone delivering state-of-the-art Ethernet-based communications services and converged voice and data solutions to enterprise and carrier customers across the U.S.
"This recent addition to our ring in the Bay Area creates the region's most robust and flexible conduit for delivering data and voice communications services," said Sonja Williams, sales director for Time Warner Telecom in San Francisco. "Our products and services, along with this 480-mile fiber ring, offer converged communications solutions to the most technically advanced and entrepreneurial businesses in the country."

EANTC and 16 vendors prepare for Carrier Ethernet World Congress 2006 interoperability showcase
The European Advanced Networking Test Center (EANTC) began hot-stage testing for a multi-vendor Carrier Ethernet interoperability showcase. The results will be presented live at the second Carrier Ethernet World Congress 2006 (CEWC); the official conference of the Metro Ethernet Forum (MEF) organized by IIR in Madrid, Spain, September 26-29, 2006.
Participants include: Actelis Networks, ADVA Optical Networking, Alcatel, Ciena, Circadiant Systems, Corrigent Systems, Huawei Technologies, Ixia, Juniper Networks, Lucent Technologies, Nortel, RAD Data Communications, Redback Networks, Stratex Networks, Telco Systems a BATM company, Tellabs, and T-Systems.
The CEWC 2006 interoperability event is designed to serve as a blueprint for multi-vendor infrastructures offering Carrier Ethernet business services, Triple Play IPTV and Voice over IP (VoIP) residential services. The test event will bring together equipment suppliers and European service providers to demonstrate practical implementations of Carrier Ethernet and to address key interoperability issues before actual network implementations.
"Interoperability is key to Carrier Ethernet services", said Carsten Rossenhoevel, Managing Director of EANTC. "Almost all service provider Triple Play and business Ethernet infrastructures are heterogeneous today. This event ensures that the MEF specifications are implemented consistently worldwide, for all participating vendors. Service providers will be more confident to deploy Carrier Ethernet once they can trust that multiple components will actually work together in realistic environments."
Related Channels: Test, Video, VoIP

Juniper enhances its Broadband Services Router
Juniper Networks announced a series of enhancements for its E320 Broadband Services Router that provide increased performance, flexibility and efficiency for IPTV and multiplay networks. Juniper is delivering new 10 Gigabit Ethernet and High Density Gigabit Ethernet interface cards with advanced multicasting optimization capabilities that can reduce the cost and complexity of deploying IPTV and other multiplay services and further extend the platform's leadership in next-generation multiplay networks.
With the new interface cards, Juniper is delivering industry-leading Gigabit and 10 Gigabit Ethernet density, enabling providers to support more subscribers, more services, and more network interfaces on a single platform. Available with a 320 Gpbs switch fabric and capable of scaling up to 128,000 subscribers per platform, the E320 Broadband Services Router has over 30 percent more processing capacity, and over 100 percent more subscriber management scalability than other competitive router, enabling dramatically reduced average costs per subscriber and increasing potential profitability. The E320 is deployed in over 28 networks spanning four continents, including some of the world's largest IPTV and multiplay networks.
Related Channels: Video

MRV partners with Spirent
MRV COMMUNICATIONS, INC., a leading provider of products and services for out-of-band networking, WDM and optical transport, metro Ethernet, fiber optic components, 10GE and other service aware networking products, announced a partnership with Spirent Communications to incorporate MRV's Media Cross Connect and LX 4000T console server into the Spirent Test Automation Lab.
The agreement comes at a time when Spirent is expanding its test automation capabilities to make testing more efficient by reducing lab configuration time, reducing testing time and offering automation proof-of-concept capabilities for employees, partners and customers around the world.
The Spirent Test Automation Lab integrates test lab inventory control, configuration management, scheduling, test planning, test execution, and reporting for local, distributed, or fully automated remote control. It allows for complex tests to be performed repeatedly -- using fully automated hardware setup and software configuration -- to deliver consistent results, quickly isolate problems, and ensure a successful product or service launch.
A key component of lab automation is fiber-optic connectivity that is configurable and scalable as well as console control over key pieces of hardware. The MRV Media Cross Connect provides the connectivity, supporting a wide range of network protocols, ranging from low-speed to 10 Gigabit Ethernet and 4 Gigabit Fibre Channel devices.
Related Channels: Test

Qwest completes acquisition of OnFiber
Qwest Communications International Inc. has completed the acquisition of privately held OnFiber Communications, Inc. for $107 million in cash. Qwest announced its intent to purchase OnFiber in May, 2006.
Qwest has a robust portfolio of data services, including metro optical Ethernet, and the OnFiber assets bring additional network facilities from which to deliver the services to businesses in 23 metropolitan areas outside the Qwest 14-state local service territory.
"This makes Qwest easier to do business with because OnFiber gives us an efficient method of delivering services to more business customers in dozens of markets throughout the U.S.," said Tom Richards, executive vice president, business markets group for Qwest. "Also, OnFiber allows us to introduce the Spirit of Service and our Qwest suite of services to OnFiber's existing customers. Ultimately, the acquisition was a smart and disciplined approach to enhancing our national presence and accelerating our growth of key products, including Ethernet."
"Throughout the closing period we focused on ensuring a smooth transition for OnFiber's customers -- most of whom are large businesses and government clients," continued Richards. "Our national sales organization and OnFiber's sales team integrate well, and we're excited about the opportunity to expand those relationships."

OIDA forum focuses on 100Gb Ethernet and Micropackaging
The Optoelectronics Industry Development Association (OIDA) held a 2-day forum on August 29 and 30 in San Jose. The topic of the first day was 100Gb Ethernet: The Next Challenge for Communications Systems followed on the second day by Micropackaging for the Next Generation of Optical and Electrical Components. Over 100 participants from industry, government and academia attended each forum.
The 100Gb Ethernet Forum provided perspectives on the next node for Ethernet transmission performance. It featured market context from Morgenthaler Ventures and talks representing the system and component perspectives. Cisco, Force 10, Equinix, Lucent, Infinera, and Telcordia represented the system requirements and issues, while component perspectives were addressed by companies such as Picolight, JDSU, and CyOptics. Against the backdrop of the new IEEE 802.3 HSSG meeting planned in September, the OIDA forum provided an early view for the direction of the industry for the next generation of Ethernet products.
The Forum addressed three key questions: 1) Can Ethernet become the dominant system for communications networks and how will it be implemented, 2) What are the technology constraints for the system and router companies to implement 100GbE and how will this play in the next generation of equipment development, and 3) How will optical and electrical transceivers need to evolve to address the 100GbE requirement? OIDA will publish a final report consolidating the input from the presenters and the breakout sessions with roadmaps shortly. OIDA will continue to support the IEEE efforts to develop standards in the area.
The Micropackaging Forum focused on the next generation of packaging technologies, especially those needed by the optoelectronics industry and continued many of the same themes from the first day. Key packaging advances need to occur to meet the performance and cost requirements of the Ethernet markets. Presentations from companies such as EM4, Xponent, Infinera, Digital Optics, and Tyco helped to address these industry issues.
The Forum addressed three key questions: 1) Which is the right approach and when: hybrid packaging or system on chip, 2) What are the technology roadblocks and how will integration play a role in the next generation of equipment development, and 3) What issues are going to drive micro-optic packaging: placement, thermal, EMI or signal integrity (optical and electrical)? OIDA will publish a final report on this forum.
“With these two forums, we continue to explore the key advances needed for business success in optoelectronics,” said Dr. Michael Lebby, President and CEO of OIDA. “Fundamental economic and technical changes in the way next-generation optoelectronics is developed are occurring as datacomm applications take the lead from telecom.”

Telstra and Alcatel announce $270 million IP works program for 2006/07
Telstra Corporation and Alcatel Thursday announced a works program for Telstra's fixed network transformation in 2006/07, with an expected value of Euro 270 million (AUD460 million).
This works program is part of Alcatel and Telstra's strategic supplier relationship announced in November 2005. It will see Telstra move to the next phase of its Internet Protocol (IP) network transformation that will deliver leading-edge services to 5.3 million Telstra customers over the next five years.
In 2006/07, Alcatel will establish an IP network footprint in five Australian cities - Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide - by supplying and deploying its leading portfolio of technology including IP-DSLAMs, Ethernet aggregation and optical networking solutions.
"Since announcing its transformation strategy in November 2005, Telstra has made solid progress in its move to a next generation fixed network - Telstra connected its first customer to Alcatel's IP-DSLAM technology early this year," said Telstra's Executive Managing Director of Network & Technology, Mr. Dan Burns.
"These upgrades are important for future-proofing our network over the next five to ten years, where we will be able to provide customers with access to offerings such as high speed internet, telecommuting, video conferencing and video delivery of services in general."
As part of the 2006/07 works program, Alcatel will test the first mated pair of softswitches in Australia, in the Telstra Integration Laboratory.
Frédéric Rose, President of Alcatel's Asia Pacific activities, said: "This confirms Alcatel's participation as a key strategic supplier to Telstra as it continues the transformation of its fixed network to a next-generation IP-based network. Alcatel's integrated and flexible architecture will provide Telstra with a scalable, future-proofed network that can simultaneously deliver new personalized multi-media services to residential customers and advanced VPN services to businesses."
Related Channels: VoIP

SingTel launches global Ethernet-VPN
Singapore Telecommunications Limited (SingTel) announced the availability of a new international Ethernet service for its global corporate customers.
Called ConnectPlus Ethernet-VPN, this cost effective and scalable solution offers customers any-to-any connectivity between two or more countries. It also comes with the assurance of Class of Service (CoS) and Service Level Guarantee (SLG).
This new service, which runs on SingTel's state-of-the-art MPLS network, is ideal for customers who are currently using international data wide-area networks (WANs) but wish to retain control over their network routing. It is also suitable for those -- especially from the banking and financial sectors - - who run applications with non-Internet Protocol (IP) traffic because such applications are difficult to be carried over an IP-VPN.
With the ubiquitous Ethernet interface, which typically costs a fraction of the price of other network interfaces, Ethernet-VPN customers can also expect cost savings.
Mr Bill Chang, SingTel's Executive Vice President for Business, said: "Customers have been looking forward to a service that helps to inject simplicity back into their networks. We can fulfill this demand with our new service which can deliver improved efficiency and help grow their business.
"Ethernet-VPN is the next-generation technology and is considered to be the next wave after IP. SingTel's market leadership position is further enhanced with the introduction of this next-generation network service to our customers. Building on our strong capabilities in the VPN market, our customers are assured of always being at the forefront of technology."
"We will continue to introduce new services that allow our customers to enjoy cost effective and superior network and application performance," added Mr Chang.

Mark Canepa joins Extreme Networks as CEO
California-based Extreme Networks, Inc. announced that Mark Canepa has joined the Company as president and chief executive officer. Canepa is a seasoned executive who brings more than 23 years of experience to the company.
Prior to joining Extreme Networks, Canepa was with Sun Microsystems where he served as executive vice president of the Network Storage Products Group. Before that, he served in multiple vice president and general manager roles at Sun, after joining the company in 1996. Canepa's previous experience also includes several general manager positions at Hewlett-Packard Company, including development and marketing of the firm's workstation products.
"I am pleased to be joining Extreme Networks, where I can lead an experienced team with a history of delivering innovative networking solutions," said Canepa.
"Mark brings a wealth of experience in delivering strong business results over many years in a global environment," said Gordon Stitt, outgoing president and CEO of Extreme Networks. "He is a great cultural fit with Extreme – he really understands how product and business innovation combined can deliver growth."
Related Channels: VoIP

RCN deploys Turin’s multiservice transport switch for carrier Ethernet services
California-based Turin Networks, a global provider of multiservice optical transport solutions for carrier, wireless and private networks, announced that RCN Business Solutions, a premiere transport, internet, bulk video and voice service provider to the carrier and enterprise business communities, is deploying Turin’s Traverse® Multiservice Transport Switch in key Metro areas to deliver flexible, high-bandwidth Carrier Ethernet services to business customers.
The deployed Carrier Ethernet applications include multipoint E-LAN, as well as point-to-point Ethernet Private Line (EPL) services at both 10/100 and 1,000 Mbps rates, with bandwidth flexibility in 1 Mbps increments. These services increase the business group’s versatility in delivering tailored service packages to enterprise customers. RCN Business Solutions is now able to accommodate an enterprise customer’s changing requirements without additional equipment or truck rolls.
RCN’s new Carrier Ethernet services are powered by Turin’s industry-leading Traverse® Multiservice Transport Switch. The Traverse platform, which recently received “Carrier Ethernet Certified” status from the Metro Ethernet Forum (MEF), unifies Carrier Ethernet/MPLS switching with next-generation SONET/SDH functionality in a single shelf optimized for metro and interoffice deployments.
“Turin Networks helps leading carriers like RCN Business Solutions optimize their networks and increase revenues,” said Henry Wasik, president and CEO, Turin Networks. “We are pleased to partner with RCN Business Solutions to improve their ability to deliver new Carrier Ethernet services and to migrate to a packet-optimized transport network.”

KPN selects Alcatel's Ethernet equipment
Alcatel has been selected by KPN, the incumbent operator in the Netherlands, to provide the network equipment to extend KPN's nationwide Ethernet Virtual Private Network (VPN) services for business customers and Ethernet aggregation for residential services. The contract is part of a substantial IP network transformation project that will give KPN one of the largest MPLS-enabled networks in the world, which in turn forms part of its All IP program, whereby most of the current (legacy) platforms and services will be migrated to Next Generation Network platforms and Next Generation based Services.
The contract was awarded by KPN following a highly competitive tendering process and is the second phase of an ambitious IP/Ethernet network transformation. Phase one was awarded to Alcatel in October 2005 for the delivery of triple play services from 28 main points of presence (POPs) and 172 medium PoPs located in 14 different regions. The second phase extension is expected to be completed by 2008 and will result in a network with an additional 1300 smaller POP locations − enabling KPN to deliver highly competitive Ethernet VPN services to businesses and consumers across the Netherlands from a single Ethernet/MPLS platform.

CBL intros smart Ethernet switch
US-based CBL Systems, a supplier of Ethernet and LonWork systems, introduces the IQ1000 Quasar Smart Switch System, designed to provide a low-cost, redundant, self-managed optical Gigabit switch for Ethernet applications. CBL’s IQ1000 Smart Switch System provides the ultimate plug-and-go, self-managed, Gigabit solution for reliable performance with sub-second recovery for mission critical applications.
The IQ1000 provides a redundant Gigabit optical backbone. Ethernet appliances such as video cameras, digital recorders, and control devices interface the network through one of three available RJ-45 ports.

Spirent tests 10GbE switches and routers
Spirent Communications, a global provider of performance analysis and service management solutions, announced Monday new test solutions to help network equipment manufacturers reduce the cost and accelerate their time to market for 10 Gigabit Ethernet (10GbE) switches and routers. Spirent is introducing the highest density 10GbE X2 interface for the enterprise switching market where vendors are particularly sensitive to price and accuracy. The solution is approximately 50 percent more affordable than the nearest competitor.
"We operate the world's largest and most sophisticated Blade Server Network Test Lab," said Vikram Mehta, President and CEO of Blade Network Technologies. "Our customers rely on stringent testing of our blade switch modules to meet the performance, reliability, and interoperability standards they demand. The new Spirent TestCenter 10GbE is a key part of our Network Test Lab, and our endeavor to become the industry's most trusted name in blade server networking."
"The Spirent TestCenter's 10GbE is both accurate and affordable," said Chris Bohrson, vice president of product marketing, Spirent Communications. "It's 10 times more precise than its nearest competitor for latency testing, a huge benefit to enterprise switch vendors who need to deliver very low latency switches to win market share in enterprise datacenters. Plus, our customers get it for the right price, demonstrating our commitment to being their preferred partner for testing."
Related Story: Large-scale 10-Gigabit core router testing underway in China (China)
Related Channels: Test

AMCC completes Quake acquisition
Applied Micro Circuits Corp. (AMCC) has completed the acquisition of Quake Technologies, Inc., the leading provider of 10 Gigabit Ethernet (10GE) PHY technology. As a pioneer in the 10GE PHY technologies, Quake was the first company to successfully deliver an entire production- worthy product line for a broad range of distances, from short to long reach.
"We are pleased to announce the successful completion of this acquisition. We look forward to integrating our technology and customer assets in order to develop 10G Ethernet solutions for the Enterprise and Service Provider markets," said Kambiz Hooshmand, president and CEO of AMCC. "Our strategy is focused on converged information and storage networks based on IP and Ethernet. As a result of this acquisition, AMCC is now a leader in the 10G Ethernet market."
Under the terms of the agreement, AMCC acquired all outstanding shares of Quake for approximately $69 million in cash (net of Quake's estimated cash and receivables that AMCC assumed in the deal). AMCC plans to consolidate its design groups in Ottawa into a single facility and continue to benefit from the experienced engineering talent of the Ottawa area.

Global Crossing UK makes $96.1M cash offer for Fibernet
Global Crossing announced Friday that its subsidiary, GC Acquisitions UK Limited ("GC Acquisitions UK") has made a cash offer to acquire all of the issued and to-be-issued shares of Fibernet Group Plc, a provider of specialist telecommunications networks to large enterprises and other telecommunications and Internet service companies.
The offer values the issued and to-be-issued shares of Fibernet at approximately $96.1 million (50.6 million British pounds sterling) and has been unanimously recommended by Fibernet's board of directors. If they accept the offer, Fibernet shareholders would receive 78 pence (approximately $1.48) per share in cash at closing of the transaction. The Fibernet directors have irrevocably undertaken to accept the offer with respect to all of their direct and beneficial holdings. In addition, certain institutions have also agreed to accept the offer, subject to conditions. The directors' shares combined with the institutional shares represent approximately 39 percent of Fibernet's outstanding shares.
"This is a great transaction for our company and for Fibernet," said John Legere, chief executive officer of Global Crossing. "Global Crossing and Fibernet have complementary businesses in the UK. The opportunity to combine and grow these businesses is compelling and exciting for us. I look forward to a quick and seamless integration upon closing and to better serving existing customers and welcoming new customers with the expanded range of products we will offer."

KVH, Microsoft and Verizon Wireless enable mobile high-speed Internet access
For consumers around the U.S. who have sought high-speed Internet service while on the go, the wait is now over! The new TracNet(TM) 100 mobile Internet system with MSN® TV service from KVH Industries and Microsoft Corp.'s MSN TV division is now available through retailers nationwide. TracNet 100 is the solution consumers and businesspeople have been asking for - an integrated product offering convenient mobile, high-speed access to the same Internet services they depend on in their home or office as they travel throughout the United States by car, boat, or RV.
Using high-speed Verizon Wireless EVDO (Evolution Data Optimized) cellular service, the TracNet 100 provides access to MSN TV Internet services, including MSN Mail, MSN Messenger, web browsing, Internet radio, online games, and more.
The TracNet 100 includes the mobile Internet receiver with a 3-port Ethernet router, infrared (IR) wireless remote, wireless keyboard, 12V DC power adapter, and Verizon Wireless EVDO data card. In addition, TracNet 100 also comes with a bundled 3W booster and a platform-specific external cellular antenna to ensure the best performance possible in marginal/low signal areas.
Related Channels: Wireless, Video

Huawei-3Com provides PoE for 2006 FIBA Championship in Japan
The Federation of International Basketball Association (FIBA) will hold its World Championship 2006 from 19 August to 3 September in five cities across Japan: Saitama, Sapporo, Sendai, Hamamatsu and Hiroshima. Huawei-3Com is proud to be an equipment sponsor to FIBA 2006, providing the data communication platform for all five stadiums.
Huawei-3Com’s high performance networking solutions, including AR28-09, S3928, S3100 and S2008 routers and switches, will allow spectators in any of the five arenas to view real-time score updates and each player’s career and current statistics and records. Attending reporters can also file their stories and photos in real-time to destinations all over the world.
In addition to hardware, Huawei-3Com also supplied FIBA 2006 with wireless VPN services, IPSec encryption and firewalls for data security and PoE technologies to provide power over the WLAN AP.
Related Channels: Wireless, China

CenturyTel expands its Metro Ethernet service for biz
US-based CenturyTel is expanding its Metro Ethernet service to provide solutions to businesses requiring cost-effective and reliable high-speed data transport.
Ethernet is a transport mechanism that supports multiple service offerings and products. With high-speed data transmission capabilities from 3 Mbps up to 1 Gbps, CenturyTel's Metro Ethernet product suite offers a broad range of speed and pricing options suitable for the entire business community.
"CenturyTel's Ethernet offering enables businesses to connect multiple locations, transmit data at high speeds, and simplify their networks," said Chad Winkle, director of enterprise markets. "Our Ethernet product helps customers gain efficiencies by giving them the ability to utilize centralized servers, email, imaging, database and file sharing, archiving and back-up and a variety of other applications among multiple locations."
The service is available in select CenturyTel markets in Alabama, Colorado, Missouri, Mississippi, Montana, Ohio and Wisconsin. CenturyTel expects to continue to add more markets throughout the year.

NetXen's 10-GigE NIC chip in volume production
California-based NetXen Inc. and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) announced that NetXen's 10-Gigabit Ethernet (10GbE) Intelligent NIC(TM) chip is now in volume production.
"The enterprise datacenter is on a verge of a major shift to 10GbE," said Govind Kizhepat, NetXen's founder and CEO. "Our relationship with TSMC enables NetXen to answer the growing demand for 10GbE NIC technology in the Agile Datacenter(TM). As the world's largest dedicated semiconductor foundry, TSMC has the process technology and manufacturing capability to address this demand."
The NetXen Intelligent NIC products are the industry's first dual-port 10GbE solutions with native PCI Express (PCIe) functionality. The products are software- and firmware-upgradeable, unlike existing hardwired solutions. This enables server systems equipped with Intelligent NIC technology to readily evolve with changing market needs and adapt to different datacenter workloads. The products provide IT managers flexibility and investment protection in an ever-changing technology environment. Top-tier system suppliers, such as HP and IBM, plan to incorporate NetXen's Intelligent NIC technology in products currently under development.

AT&T announces SONET and Ethernet services contract with Evanston
AT&T Inc. Friday announced a new optical services contract with Evanston Northwestern Healthcare (ENH), an academic health system comprising three hospitals and 65 medical offices and facilities. Evanston Northwestern Healthcare is located in Chicago's northern suburbs.
Under the terms of the five-year contract, AT&T will deliver a Synchronous Optical Network (SONET) ring, which is an optical-fiber network backbone; and GigaMAN(R) service, which is a dedicated fiber-optic Ethernet service. Together, these services will enable ENH to open a new data center, thereby converting the existing facility into a backup data location for added security and increased redundancy of the ENH network. This solution will protect ENH against possible service outages, which would be detrimental to this virtually paperless institution.
The expanded bandwidth and increased reliability, via the converged network infrastructure, will ensure constant access to the network's critical applications and directory of patient records. Additionally, the optical network will enable ENH to continue to provide highly available voice and data connectivity to hospitals and medical offices.
"We are virtually a paperless healthcare institution, so constant access to our voice and data communications is essential to our operations," said Tom Smith, CIO of Evanston Northwestern Healthcare. "The solution provided by AT&T safeguards against detrimental service outages by delivering increased uptime for our network and core applications, enabling our staff to focus on our number one priority -- delivery of excellent patient care."

Advantage Century Telecommunication picks PMC-Sierra chips for VoIP CPE
PMC-Sierra announced that Advantage Century Telecommunication Corp. (ACT) has selected the MSP4120 and MSP4200 Multi-Service Processor(R) (MSP) devices for its Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) Customer Premises Equipment (CPE) solutions.
ACT's VoIP solutions provide the full range of features that Service Providers demand for value-added and cost-effective IP telephony services. ACT's VoIP family includes Analog Telephone Adapters (ATA), VoIP Routers and Wi-Fi VoIP Ethernet Gateways. PMC-Sierra's MSP4120 and MSP4200 are at the heart of these ACT solutions, providing both voice and routing functions.
The MSP4120 and MSP4200 VoIP router-on-a-chip products have a highly integrated architecture that combines a DSP for processing up to four voice channels together with a MIPS32 4Kec core for high-performance routing and control functions. The MSP4200 offers the additional benefit of a PCI interface to enable the inclusion of 802.11 Wi-Fi subsystems to create Wi-Fi access points.
Related Channels: VoIP, Wireless

Korea's Dasan picks Phothena transceiver for optical Ethernet 
Alberta-based Phothena Optics, a provider of low cost bi-directional SFF optical transceiver using plastic Optical Sub-Assembly (OSA), and Dasan Networks, Inc., a subsidiary of Siemens, Korea's leading supplier of broadband access equipment announced that Phothena's 155Mbps bi-directional SFF optical transceivers are designed into Dasan's equipment for 100Mbps high speed internet. Korean Telecom has selected this solution for volume deployment in Korea's Optical LAN network rollout.
"This is an important milestone for us and we are delighted that Dasan Networks, Korea's leading supplier of broadband equipment, has selected Phothena's bi-directional SFF optical transceiver for its optical Ethernet solutions," said Dr. Yung Sung Son, President and CTO of Phothena Optics.
Mr. In Sik Choi, Deputy General Manager, Dasan Networks, Inc., said, "We are very pleased to be partnering with Phothena Optics in supplying a leading-edge optical Ethernet solution for the high speed internet applications."

COLT Telecom appoints Lakh Jemmett as UK MD and Henri van der Vaeren as Strategic Markets MD
London-based COLT Telecom Group Friday announced that Lakh Jemmett, managing director for Strategic Markets is to become the new managing director for the UK. The appointment is with immediate effect as Tim Wort leaves the company by mutual consent to pursue other interests.
Lakh has nearly 25 years telecoms experience and during his two years as its managing director has made Strategic Markets the best performing region of COLT’s business.
Henri van der Vaeren, COLT’s managing director for Benelux steps up to the role of managing director, Strategic Markets. Like Lakh, he will report to Jean-Yves Charlier, group chief executive.
Jean-Yves Charlier, group chief executive, commented:
“Lakh is a seasoned professional with extensive telecoms experience and industry knowledge which will be invaluable in helping to grow our business in the UK, given the strategic importance of this market.
“Henri has been very successful in growing COLT’s business in the Benelux region and is well equipped to take on this expanded role and build on Lakh’s success.
"I would like to thank Tim for the contribution he has made in developing our business in the UK as the organisation has gone through a period of major change. We wish him well for the future."

Huawei ranks No.3 among the top 100 Chinese non-state-owned enterprises listed by the Chinese version of Forbes
The Chinese version of Forbes, a magazine that tracks the world's wealthy, has officially released a list of top Chinese enterprises, the first survey conducted by it on Chinese non-state-owned enterprises with annual sales revenues of more than CNY 5 million.
Among a total of 100 firms on the list, Legend Holdings Limited and Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. rank among the top 3.
Legend Holdings heads the list with total assets of CNY 62.3 billion, sales revenues surging 107% to CNY 108.2 billion, and an above average profit of up to CNY 2.05 billion. The third one is Huawei, which has owned total assets of CNY 49 billion, sales revenues of CNY 40.5 billion with a growth of 39%, and a profit of CNY 4.07 billion coming to the fore.
Related Channels: China, VoIP, Video, FTTP, Wireless

Southern Cross Cables picks Nortel optical solution
Southern Cross Cables is significantly increasing the capability of its U.S. terrestrial optical network with a Nortel optical solution. Nortel will supply, deploy and maintain the optical solution on the U.S. mainland's west coast as part of Southern Cross' 30,500-kilometer submarine cable network that acts as the major link for broadband services and Internet traffic from Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and Hawaii to the U.S.
The deployment will use Nortel's adaptive all optical intelligent platforms, the Nortel Common Photonic Layer (CPL) and Nortel Optical Multiservice Edge (OME) 6500, to connect access points located in San Jose and Morro Bay, California, and Hillboro and Nedonna Beach, Oregon. Using Nortel's Optical Network Manager, the terrestrial network will be fully managed and operated remotely from Southern Cross' network operations center in Auckland, New Zealand.
"As one of the Pacific Rim's leading independent bandwidth wholesalers, Southern Cross provides our Australasian and Hawaiian customers with secure and reliable bandwidth for today, tomorrow and the next 15 years," said Fiona Beck, chief executive officer, Southern Cross Cables Limited. "Nortel's optical solutions and the experience of their global services business play an important role in helping Southern Cross to meet the current and future needs of our growing customer base." "At the heart of Nortel's success in building high-performance all optical networks is a continued commitment to innovation and making complex deployments simple for our customers," said Philippe Morin, president, Metro Ethernet Networks, Nortel. "Our intelligent optical platforms help enable service providers like Southern Cross to increase bandwidth capabilities and flexibility, as well as lower the costs associated with operating a world-class optical network."

BellSouth launches Virtual BellSouth Metro Ethernet Service
BellSouth announced the launch of Virtual BellSouth Metro Ethernet Service, the latest addition to the broadest Metro Ethernet portfolio available among U.S. service providers.
Metro Ethernet is the telecommunications industry designation for Ethernet transport service that moves data traffic between two or more customer Ethernet Local Area Networks (LANs). Virtual BellSouth Metro Ethernet Service provides four classes of service, committed information rate and service level agreements and can link locations using multipoint-to-multipoint, point-to- multipoint or point-to-point architecture.
"The latest enhancement to BellSouth Metro Ethernet Service takes the product portfolio to the next level," said Martin Chandler, vice president, product management - Business Markets, BellSouth. "BellSouth now offers the diversity of speed and premium features to support the entire range of data, video and voice over IP applications over Ethernet."
Related Channels: VoIP, Video

China Telecom expands core capacity
China Telecom, China's leading telecommunications provider, has expanded the core capacity of its ChinaNet Next Carrying Network (CN2), enabling CN2's Juniper Networks M- and T-series routers to support an increasing number of network edge devices and applications. Since November 2004, China Telecom has deployed Juniper routers as the only routing platforms in the national core of its CN2 project, continuing to build upon previous deployments as part of its CN2 expansion plan.
The high-performance routing platforms provide high density aggregation at the network core with support for Gigabit Ethernet, SONET/SDH and other high-speed interfaces.
Related Channels: China

VBrick Systems provides TEACH Act Compliance for digital video copyright protection
Wallingford, Conn.-based VBrick Systems, Inc., an industry leader in affordable video over IP network solutions, is providing compliance capabilities for the Technology, Education, and Copyright Harmonization (TEACH) Act. Signed by President George W. Bush during his second term, the TEACH Act provides government and academic institutions with guidelines to prevent illegal copying or viewing of copyrighted materials in distance learning, course management, and related digital environments.
The TEACH Act requires organizations to ensure that copyrighted material is only transmitted to its intended audience – such as students registered for a specific course. VBrick’s EtherneTV Media Distribution System features sophisticated access controls that enable administrators to ensure that copyrighted digital video content is only available to authorized users or classrooms. Specifically, EtherneTV enables system administrators to assign and limit access to an organization’s stored and live digital video content. Digital rights management is just one component of EtherneTV’s robust capabilities to record, distribute, and manage digital video across IP networks.
“Educators are using VBrick to incorporate digital video seamlessly into classroom and administrative activities, without the management complexities that stifle dynamic and immediate communications,” said Pat Cassella, senior director of marketing – education, VBrick Systems, Inc. “TEACH Act compliance is another example of VBrick’s powerful applications that reduce administrative requirements while providing engaging live and stored video for students, as well as staff training and collaboration.”
EtherneTV is a digital distribution system that empowers organizations to capitalize on new learning initiatives including engaging distance learning programs, streaming lectures and other content throughout campuses and districts, providing video on demand content libraries, and enabling organizations to create webcasts for classroom content and training. Powerful EtherneTV administration enables users to manage their enterprise-wide video networks without increasing staff size, which is a key consideration for educational institutions with limited resources.
Centralized management simplifies digital rights compliance by restricting digital content access by parameters including user, grade level, and subject. VBrick’s digital video capabilities enable multiple classrooms to view the same video segment concurrently, based on each title’s licensing agreement. Additional EtherneTV administration examples include making software updates and management changes from a single, central location to all set-top boxes deployed across campus.
Teachers and other users also easily access specific content using EtherneTV’s intuitive, menu-driven portal. Customizable EtherneTV portal menu options may include television streams from CNN; live school morning or afternoon announcements; and video-on-demand content that catalogued for users by segment name, grade, and subject.
Related Channels: Video

Teranetics appoints Matt Rhodes as CEO
California-based Teranetics Inc., a privately held company that provides next-generation, standards-based 10-gigabit Ethernet (10GbE) copper channel semiconductor solutions, Monday announced that Matt Rhodes has been appointed CEO. Company founder, Sanjay Kasturia, was named CTO.
Prior to joining Teranetics, Rhodes was president of Conexant Systems, Inc., a publicly traded worldwide leader in semiconductor solutions for broadband communications and the digital home.
"Teranetics is an outstanding company, and I'm excited about being the newest member of a world-class team," Rhodes said. "In a relatively short time, the company has firmly established itself as the pioneer and leader in 10-gigabit Ethernet, an emerging technology that enables a 10x increase in data rates over simple twisted pair copper. The Teranetics team played key roles in the committee that developed the IEEE 10GBASE-T Ethernet standard ratified in June, and is now demonstrating standards-based solutions to key customers worldwide."
"Under Matt's leadership, Teranetics will achieve the next level of success," said Sanjay Kasturia. "With Matt on board, we now have a team that has both the technical knowledge and business experience to take our state of the art technologies to market winning product positions."
Rhodes, 48, became president of Conexant in June 2003. Prior to that, he was president of the company's Broadband Communications business. He also served as senior vice president and general manager of the company's Personal Computing Division. Prior to joining Conexant, he was director of VLSI technology at Pacific Communication Sciences, Inc.
Rhodes received a master's degree in business administration from the Anderson School of Management at the University of California, Los Angeles. He also holds a master's degree in electrical engineering from Lehigh University, and a bachelor's degree in physics from Pennsylvania State University.

Verizon Wireless and AirLink intro rugged modems for Verizon Wireless' EV-DO network
Verizon Wireless, the nation's premier provider of wireless products and services, and AirLink Communications, Inc., a pioneer and leading provider of fixed and mobile wireless data solutions, announced that AirLink's line of rugged, intelligent modems are certified and immediately available for use with Verizon Wireless' BroadbandAccess service that runs on the company's Evolution-Data Optimized (EV-DO) network. The certification allows AirLink's Raven Ethernet(TM) (Raven-E) and PinPoint Ethernet(TM) (PinPoint-E) wireless modems to be marketed and sold to a vast corporate customer base that wants their wireless data to run on the most award-winning wireless broadband network in the United States.
"AirLink's rugged intelligent modems are the newest addition to our extensive line of devices for business customers and mobile professionals, providing greater options to stay competitive, connected and productive in today's fast-paced business environment," said Cindy Patterson, staff vice president of enterprise data sales at Verizon Wireless. "Coupled with our BroadbandAccess service, these robust solutions help meet the demands of a changing business workforce."
AirLink's Raven-E and PinPoint-E intelligent modems are powered by the AirLink embedded operating system, ALEOS(TM). The available Ethernet and digital interfaces enable a host of data-intensive, fixed and mobile broadband applications. AirLink solutions are also well-suited for a number of machine- level fixed applications in a number of vertical markets including financial and professional services, retail and distribution, industrial and utilities. Through Verizon Wireless' BroadbandAccess service, customers benefit from the higher data rates offered by EV-DO technology, with typical download speeds from 400 to 700 kbps.
Related Channels: Wireless

AMCC to acquire Quake Technologies
Applied Micro Circuits Corp. (AMCC) has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Quake Technologies, Inc. Quake is a privately-held fabless semiconductor company that is the leading vendor of 10 Gigabit Ethernet (10GE) PHY technology. Enterprise networks, including the Data Center are experiencing a rapid transition from 1GE to 10GE, and Quake’s technology is designed in and shipping to the leading vendors serving this high-performance networking space.
According to the Dell’Oro group, 10GE ports are predicted to grow from approximately 500 thousand ports shipped in 2006 to over 9 million ports shipped in 2010; a 17-fold increase in four years. 10GE is now one of the fastest growing networking technologies.
"Quake is the worldwide leading provider of 10GE PHY silicon. They have captured significant designs with the leading vendors in the Enterprise and Data Center markets," said Kambiz Hooshmand, president and CEO of AMCC. "This acquisition allows AMCC to obtain an early entrance and strong presence into this rapidly expanding, high volume market."
"AMCC’s expertise in packet processing complements Quake’s leading 10GE PHY technology," said Daniel Trépanier, president and CEO of Quake. "Integrating with AMCC will enable us to offer a unique and wide range of differentiated, value-added system-level solutions in the Enterprise market."

Nextgen deploys Alcatel IP solution for Ethernet VPLS
Alcatel has been selected by Nextgen Networks, a specialist provider of high performance data services, to provide Australia's first national Ethernet VPLS (Virtual Private LAN Service) network which will offer Australian businesses the benefits of advanced virtual private network (VPN) technology. The Alcatel-based VPLS network allows businesses to operate quality-controlled voice, video and data services across an IP/MPLS-based infrastructure.
Customer benefits of Nextgen's VPLS service include: the flexibility of a single service at any location, with any-to-any connectivity in a national, secure, multipoint VPN (Virtual Private Network); support for the widest range of IT applications because the Layer 2 Ethernet VPN is protocol transparent to any Layer 3 IP application; customer control of how the network connects to a VPN and how the IP network layer is configured; support for real time and mission critical applications with packaged and standard offering of Quality of Service (QoS) profiles; and the lowest cost of ownership and operational simplicity with Ethernet connectivity and bundled pricing which is inclusive of most features.
The new network incorporates Alcatel's industry leading IP/MPLS-based solutions, including the Alcatel 7750 Service Router, across the seven capital cities of Australia, and setting a new market standard for enabling the delivery of profitable national Ethernet services and high-density aggregation over IP/MPLS-based networks.

KT deploys ECI's service edge routers for metro Ethernet
ECI Telecom announced that KT Corporation (formerly Korea Telecom), Korea's leading telephone and Internet service provider, is deploying ECI's service edge routers on its metro Ethernet network. The routers are provided by ECI's Data Networking Division, formerly Laurel Networks. ECI plans to install additional ST(TM)200 routers in Q3 2006.
KT will now be able to offer its enterprise customers up to 1 Gigabit per second Ethernet connectivity and advanced services, creating new revenue generating opportunities and increasing KT's Average Revenue per User (ARPU). The deployment will gradually replace older switches, allowing KT to create highly efficient managed networks. For the metro Ethernet network (KORNET) bid process, KT developed a competitive benchmark test that included thorough testing of IP routing, forwarding performance, quality of service, security and denial of service prevention. KT chose ECI after the ST200 Service Edge Router won its extensive benchmark test.

Telco capex and revenue increase; Asia Pacific leads in mobile and broadband subscribers
For the third year in a row, telecom service providers worldwide increased their capital expenditures, albeit slightly, and will continue to do so for the next 3 years, says analyst firm Infonetics Research.
Worldwide, service provider capex topped $202 billion in 2005, and is expected to increase to over $236 billion in 2009, according to Infonetics. In that 5 year period, service providers will allocate a total of $1.1 trillion to capex.
"Collectively spending over a trillion dollars in 5 years sounds like a lot of money, but it's actually significantly less than it would be if there weren't so much consolidation going on," said Stéphane Téral, principal analyst at Infonetics Research. "The number of providers is decreasing due to mergers, which is increasing the economies of scale for the combined entities, resulting in considerable capex savings. This is why overall capex growth is slow now."
Service provider revenue is also expected to grow at a modest rate over the next 5 years: from $1.2 trillion to $1.4 trillion between 2005 and 2009, representing a 4% compound annual growth rate. Measured revenue growth like this is typical for a commoditized market.
"The incumbents' share of worldwide service provider revenue will increase over the next few years at the expense of the competitives, because mergers among incumbents are lowering price competition and customer churn," continued Téral. "At the same time, they're adding new IP-based services like IPTV, driving revenue up. Offering new media-rich bundled services like IPTV, video on demand, video telephony, and FMC is the only way to thrive in the highly competitive telecom environment. All these new services are software intensive and require only a minimum investment. Since incumbents have a large footprint, even minor revenue increases are driving up their share of the worldwide market."
Highlights
- North American service providers are expected to increase their capex by 4% between 2005 and 2006, EMEA providers 15%, Asia Pacific providers 2%, and CALA providers 22%
- Worldwide broadband subscribers (DSL, cable modem, PON, and Ethernet FTTH subscribers combined) hit 176 million in 2005, and will grow to 350 million by 2009
- DSL subscribers account for 71% of all broadband subscribers, cable for 26%, PON for 2%, and Ethernet FTTH for 1% in 2005
- Asia Pacific accounts for 37% of worldwide broadband subscribers, EMEA for 30%, North America for 27%, and CALA for 5% in 2005
- Worldwide mobile subscribers reached 1.7 billion in 2005, and will grow to 2.9 billion in 2009
- Asia Pacific is the leading region for mobile subscribers, accounting for 45% of the worldwide total In 2005, followed by EMEA with 39%, North America with 10%, and CALA with 6%
Related Channels: Wireless, Video, VoIP, FTTP

Time Warner Telecom to acquire Xspedius Communications for $531.5 million
Time Warner Telecom Inc., a leading provider of managed voice and data networking solutions for business customers, has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Xspedius Communications, LLC., a privately held company which provides telecommunications services to businesses across the U.S. Under the terms of the agreement, Time Warner Telecom will pay total consideration of $531.5 million, consisting of $212.5 million in cash and $319 million in shares of Time Warner Telecom's Class A Common Stock. The company will assume no debt in the acquisition.
Xspedius is a metro fiber-based provider of integrated communications services primarily to enterprise businesses as well as carrier customers. Xspedius provides a comprehensive suite of high quality services, including metro Ethernet, local and long distance voice, data and dedicated Internet access services, in 43 markets across 18 states and the District of Columbia. "This acquisition significantly broadens the already extensive nature of our local assets and national capabilities," said Larissa Herda, Chairman, CEO and President of Time Warner Telecom. "The marketplace continues to validate our long-held view of the value of last mile connectivity to enterprise customers. This strategic acquisition further expands our network reach and market density for serving multi-location and multi-city enterprise customers, increasing the number of markets we serve from 44 to 75, and enhances our ability to further fuel our enterprise growth."

etEffect closes $25M Series B funding round
Texas-based NetEffect, the leader in next-generation Ethernet connectivity solutions, announced the closing of a $25 million Series B funding round. The financing was provided by a highly respected team of investors with proven track records in semiconductors and communications, including: Austin Ventures, Duchossois Technology Partners, Granite Ventures, Infinity Capital, JatoTech Ventures, TI Ventures and TL Ventures.
With strong support from investors, NetEffect is releasing its first wave of multi-gigabit Ethernet products. Until now, providing multi-gigabit connectivity has been an expensive proposition using non-Ethernet solutions. Alternate but proprietary technologies, such as Fibre Channel and InfiniBand, offer performance but require costly investments in training and specialized hardware and software. For those able to bear the initial cost, the ongoing support has been an undesirable burden, requiring the maintenance of multiple specialized data center fabrics for storage, server clustering and data networking traffic.
Now, iWARP is poised to change all that. The Internet Engineering Task Force and RDMA Consortium have collaborated to create iWARP, a series of extensions to Ethernet that virtually eliminate the CPU overhead associated with networking. Since iWARP is an extension to and fully compatible with today's Ethernet infrastructures, the resulting performance improvements come without disruption to the data center infrastructure or the cost premiums demanded by alternate technologies.

China TieTong deploys Caspian Media Controllers
Caspian, the leading provider of multimedia traffic control solutions for IP and multi-protocol label switching (MPLS) networks, announced that China TieTong Telecommunications Corporation, a major telecommunications operator in China, has deployed Caspian A120 Media Controllers in its high speed network backbone. With the Caspian solution, China TieTong will realize significant improvements with network efficiencies and Internet access, resulting in higher quality multimedia experiences for its subscriber base.
With increasing demand for its services, China TieTong is in the process of rebuilding, expanding and upgrading its backbone and transmission networks. As part of this rebuilding process, Caspian Media Controllers with OC-48 and Gigabit Ethernet connections were selected as a cost effective solution to improve the quality of China TieTong's IP service offerings and network operations.
Related Channels: China, VoIP

SingTel trials GPON and Metro Ethernet solutions with Alcatel
Alcatel announced that Singapore Telecommunications Limited (SingTel), Southeast Asia's largest telecommunications company, has selected Alcatel for the first ever Gigabit Passive Optical Networking (GPON) trial in the Asia Pacific region and the first residential Metro Ethernet trial in Singapore.
The SingTel GPON and Metro Ethernet trials, which begin this summer, will utilize a future-proof fiber access technology in the Singapore market.
In March 2006, Singapore announced plans to create a Next Generation National Infocomm Infrastructure (Next Gen NII), which aims to evolve to a nation-wide platform for information sharing and communication. The Next Gen NII will be capable of delivering ultra-high speeds of 100 Mbps to 1 Gbps as early as 2008, enabling advanced triple play services (voice, video, and data).
Related Channels: FTTP

Spirent partners with Anue
Spirent Communications has partnered with Anue Systems, a provider of network emulation solutions for Ethernet, SONET/SDH, and Fibre Channel environments. The partnership expands Spirent's capabilities to assist network equipment manufacturers and service providers with Quality of Service (QoS) and Quality of Experience (QoE) issues across converged networks.
Service providers have to ensure QoS and QoE prior to deploying triple play services, especially video services. When used with the Spirent TestCenter or Spirent Abacus test systems, Anue's network emulators address the unique challenges and scenarios of converged network services by simulating network delays, jitters, and other impairments.
"An integrated solution that introduces impairments such as delay, jitter, packet drop, fragmentation, and out of sequence enables equipment manufacturers and service providers to better ensure performance of the converged network and its associated applications in advance of the launch of triple play services," said Chris Bohrson, vice president of marketing, Spirent Communications.
The Spirent solution also enables large-scale emulation of IP Telephony systems; customer premise devices (CPE) such as set-top-boxes, cable/DSL modems, and passive optical network (PON) optical network units (ONUs)/optical network terminals (ONTs); and other devices.
"Data and voice are considered commodities but the ability to deliver video over the same network, be it IPTV, video conferencing, video telephony, or video-on-demand, is critical in terms of growing revenue and the subscriber base," said Kevin Przybocki, vice president, sales and marketing, Anue Systems.
Related Channels: Test, Video, VoIP, FTTP

NTT America rolls out 10GigE access service
NTT America, a wholly-owned U.S. subsidiary of NTT Communications Corporation, announced the immediate availability of a 10 gigabit per second Ethernet (10GigE) to the NTT Communications Global IP Network. The offering marks the first time that an exceptionally high-speed bandwidth connection has been made available to a wider service area. As the demand for increased high-speed bandwidth continues to grow, NTT America and its Global IP Network Business unit (GIN) are committed to offering its customers access to reliable and stable connections across locations throughout Asia, North America and Europe. The service, which is available for both IPv4 and IPv6 transport, offers GIN service provider customers guaranteed reliability and accountability through financially backed service level agreements.

Point to Point Broadband picks World Wide Packets
US-based World Wide Packets, a leading provider of Carrier Ethernet solutions, announced that Point to Point Broadband has selected its LightningEdge® technology to expand current service offerings to customers in Simcoe County, Ontario. The new solution allows Point to Point to provide customers with Ethernet Private Line services, a reliable and scalable method of providing Carrier Ethernet service to multiple office locations. Ethernet Private Line services form the basis for accommodating the communities’ increasing demand for higher speed business class internet, intranet, and VoIP business services.
Point to Point faced logistical issues in delivering services to its multi-office customers and sought a solution that would allow them to quickly, accurately and cost efficiently provide customers with the broadband services needed to manage dispersed office locations. World Wide Packets LE-17 and LE-46 allow Point to Point to provide VLAN delivery of services off a single trunk. VLANs, are less costly than VPNs, and offer lower latency and superior performance, allowing Point to Point to offer the services customers want at reasonable cost and performance points. With the LE-17 and LE-46, Point to Point now provides Ethernet Private Line services, including internet, intranet and VoIP directly to the businesses by branching off fiber and wireless, thus connecting all branch offices.
Related Channels: VoIP

Huawei wins IP DSLAM and Metro Ethernet bid in Greece
Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd (Huawei) announced that it is the sole winner of a bid to build an IP DSLAM broadband access and broadband bearer Metro Ethernet network for HELLENIC TELECOMMUNICATIONS ORGANIZATION SA (OTE). The announcement marks the beginning of a strategic collaboration between OTE and Huawei.
Up till now, this contract is the biggest in OTE’s IP DSLAM broadband access and Metro Ethernet network construction. According to this contract, Huawei will provide OTE with ADSL2+IP DSLAM access equipment of 200,000-line capacity and Metro Ethernet equipment to build approximately one hundred nodes in Greece’s two largest cities, Athens and Thesalonniki. Based on this new network, OTE can provide its residential users with high-speed internet access service now, and IPTV, Triple Play services in the future. It can also provide Ethernet private-line service to group customers, such as government, enterprises, banks, etc. Winning the bid makes Huawei the major vendor chosen by OTE to construct and expand its broadband IP DSLAM and bearer-layer Metro Ethernet network over the next three years.
Huawei beat several famous international vendors to obtain 100% share of this project, which demonstrates Huawei’s strength in the IP DSLAM broadband access and Metro Ethernet network field. Huawei has launched over 22 million IP DSLAM lines, and currently ranks No. 1 in the world. Huawei’s Metro Ethernet solution is also selected by many top operators and deployed all over the world.
Mr. Shen Surong, General Manager of Huawei Greece, said that meeting customer demands and focusing on customer development are Huawei’s driving forces in making breakthroughs in Greece and other markets worldwide. Huawei is committed to continuously enhancing cooperation with OTE, promoting the development of telecommunications in Greece, and enriching people’s lives through communication.
Related Channels: Video, China

Pandatel completes operations consolidation in Germany
Germany-based Pandatel AG, an Ethernet solution provider from optical transport to last mile connectivity since 1987, announced the completion of operations consolidation in Germany.
Pandatel was operating in 3 locations in Germany before the announced restructuring started in December 2005: Hamburg as the headquarters with the majority of employees in the production; Hanover as R&D center focusing on next generation Ethernet products, and Eisingen the former Lightmaze location for R&D of optical transport products. Multiple locations with small functional groups makes communication difficult, operating cost high, and confusion for customer support.
“I’m pleased to see the well-structured and centralized R&D, customer service, and finance being established and operational at our new Hanover headquarters within such a short time”, comments Dr. Dan Yang, CEO of Pandatel AG. “The completion of the shutdown of our Hamburg and Eisingen facilities means, from now on, we can really start to concentrate our effort and strength on increasing the productivity, improving the delivery, and meeting customers expectations”.

Sanef Telecoms deploys Atrica's carrier Ethernet system
Paris-based Sanef Telecoms, a business unit of motorway leader Sanef Group and an innovative regional telecommunications operator, has deployed California-based Atrica’s Carrier Ethernet Systems. Sanef Telecoms will leverage the solutions to deliver customized, high-speed and very high-speed communications services to local authorities, public institutions and businesses situated near its motorways in France, and to expand its wholesale services business. The new state-of-the-art communications infrastructure will allow the company to cost-effectively, rapidly and reliably fulfill the burgeoning demand for connectivity among businesses and other institutions that span multiple metros throughout France, and to provide an alternative to existing wholesale service providers. The network’s scalability, reliability and low cost structure will strengthen Sanef Telecom’s competitive position against incumbent European service providers.
With a 3855 km fiber optic network that connects the greater Paris region with the major cities of northern and eastern France, Sanef Telecoms delivers services such as high-speed Internet, Ethernet VPNs, video surveillance, video conferencing and IP telephone to business parks and industrial estates.
Related Channels: Video, VoIP

Korea Telecom picks Samsung FTTH solution using Teknovus' GEPON chipsets
Samsung, a global leader in the telecommunications industry, and Teknovus, the leading provider of Gigabit Ethernet Optical Network (GEPON) chipsets for deployment of triple-play services in broadband access networks, announced that Korea Telecom has selected the Samsung Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) solution, based on Teknovus' chips, for major deployment throughout Korea. Korea Telecom, Korea's largest service provider, is deploying Samsung's FTTH solution to build a nationwide broadband network that will deliver premium grade triple-play services.
Mr. Byunghwa Choi, VP of Technology Evaluation Department at Korea Telecom, stated, "We are meeting the growing bandwidth demands of our technologically-advanced Korea population with our FTTH network. Teknovus' chipsets fulfilled our requirements for enabling advanced video services while meeting strict performance and cost parameters."
Samsung's GEPON-FTTH solution enables service providers to cost-effectively deliver triple-play services over a passive FTTH network. Mr. Youngcheol Oh, VP of BcN Access Development/Telecommunication System Division of Samsung, remarked, "We are delighted to have been selected by Korea Telecom. Together with Teknovus, we are enabling Korea Telecom to transition from a copper-based, last-mile network to a fiber-based infrastructure."
Related Channels: FTTP

Alcatel extends RailTel India's optical network
Alcatel has successfully completed the 5,000 km extension of the existing optical multi-service telecommunications transport network of RAILTEL Corporation of India, a subsidiary of Indian Railways. This network enhancement further supports RAILTEL's operational and business communication requirements, such as secure voice, video and data traffic transmission. As a result, RAILTEL can leverage significant performance, efficiency and quality of service benefits for its customers, along with competitively providing wholesale bandwidth to other telecom operators and enterprises.
The extension project, which was awarded through Punjab Communications, India's premier telecom and IT equipment and solution provider, follows the successful implementation of the 11,000 km backbone network supporting multimedia communications among RAILTEL's sites throughout India. Existing and new mission-critical business applications, supported by Gigabit Ethernet-based connectivity, are delivered over a single, converged platform that enables reliable, real-time access to monitoring and control information.
Related Channels: VoIP, Video

Meriton wins contracts with Buckeye and Telepak
Ottawa-based Meriton Networks, specialists in Agile Optical Networking, announced that Buckeye TeleSystem has launched a new triple play network infrastructure based on the Meriton Networks 6400 OTP (Optical Transport Platform). A facilities-based provider of telecommunications services with 1,700 route miles of fiber, Buckeye TeleSystem offers a full array of solutions for voice, data, and video requirements, including local and long-distance phone service, Internet and intranet access, and video conferencing. As part of its overall network transformation to meet the growing demand for broadband multimedia services, Buckeye TeleSystem is leveraging its state-of-the art, multi-service infrastructure to deliver converged voice and Ethernet data services to the Toledo Public School district, and to supply compelling Triple Play services at competitive prices to the surrounding residential and business customers. A sister company, Buckeye CableSystem, for years has provided video services to Toledo schools via its hybrid fiber-coax network.
The new network is also supporting the delivery of FTTH voice, video, and data services allowing Buckeye to rapidly roll out new services based upon customer demand.
Related Channels: Video, VoIP, FTTP

Narad receives two US patents covering switched Ethernet over HFC
Narad Networks, Inc. announced that the United States Patent and Trademark Office has granted the company two key patents covering switched Ethernet over HFC. These patents pertain to Narad's FTTx products that leverage fiber and coaxial cable to combine standard Ethernet traffic with existing CATV services on the same wires.
"The premise of Narad's patents for Ethernet over HFC is that cable operators will need to leverage their existing infrastructure to add new services and new customers," said Michael Collette, CEO of Narad Networks. "During the past year HDTV and IPTV have emerged as central drivers in the battle to maintain dominance as video service providers, while the commercial services market is now recognized to be the largest growth engine for cable. What both of these have in common is heavy use of dedicated, constant-bit-rate, services. Narad's fiber-to-the-curb architecture provides the lowest cost, least disruptive, highest bandwidth solution for HFC."
Narad's recently announced FTTC products transport standard gigabit Ethernet over HFC while managing traffic flows using its service provisioning software system.
Related Channels: FTTP, Video

BellSouth expands Metro Ethernet Service
BellSouth is expanding BellSouth Metro Ethernet Service to include mid-band speed options for business customers.
Businesses now have access to additional BellSouth Mid-Band Metro Ethernet speed options of 2Mbps, 4Mbps and 8Mbps. BellSouth Metro Ethernet Service also offers previously available data transport speeds of 10Mbps, 20Mbps, 50Mbps, 100Mbps, 250Mbps, 500Mbps and 1000Mbps.
The introduction of BellSouth Mid-Band Metro Ethernet enables a greater number of customers to integrate a higher level of networking into their businesses. The new speeds can be offered over existing copper or fiber infrastructure, which helps drive broadband business applications deeper into corporate networks and reduces customer implementation costs.
"Metro Ethernet is the transport method of choice for both Layer 2 and converged IP networks," said Martin Chandler, vice president, product management - Business Markets, BellSouth. "BellSouth Mid-Band Ethernet speeds of 2Mbps, 4Mbps and 8Mbps directly address the bandwidth sweet spot for converged voice and data communications between corporate headquarters and branch locations and meet the expanding needs of small businesses."

Huawei launches new carrier-class metro Ethernet switches
China's Huawei has launched a new line of metro Ethernet switches for service providers.
“Huawei’s Quidway CX series switches are a new generation of convergence and access switches designed to address the carrier-class features of the metro Ethernet,” said Wang Jiading, vice president for Huawei Technologies, Middle East and North Africa region.
“Some of the key benefits include delivering increased protection, reliability, a high level of security, and easy management in addressing service requirements for next generation networks, 3G, and broadband access, among others.”
Huawei says its new Quidway CX switches are the first in their class to cover the core, convergence and access layers. The switches also contain high numbers of redundant components, giving lower failure rates for demanding situations.
The Metro Ethernet Forum has awarded the new Huawei switches Carrier Ethernet Certification. Huawei says this demonstrates the high level of reliability and capacity of its Quidway CX range.
“The launch of this new generation of switches reflects Huawei’s R&D effort in the integration of IP and telecom networks, and its focus on developing technologies to facilitate the transformation to internet protocol (IP) based networks,” said Wang.
“Comprehensive IP network solutions that can adequately meet key requirements of telecom users for reliability, security and manageability is the need of the hour.
“As an industry leader in IP technology, Huawei has answered the call with the carrier-class metro Ethernet switches which address issues of service operation, network planning, network protocol and equipment capability to help operators move up the telecom industry value chain.”
Related Channels: VoIP, China

Huawei to provide Quidway s8500 core routing Ethernet switch for TDC Song
On the 28th of June 2006, Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. (“Huawei”) signed a purchase order for supply in TDC Song Sweden’s Data Distribution Network. According to the contract, China's Huawei will provide their Quidway s8500 core routing Ethernet switch utilizing RPR technology for TDC Song’s broadband operations in Sweden. This roll-out, starting already in July, marks the launch of substantial cooperation between these two companies.
TDC Song´s CTO, Per Ole Heltov, says: "We are very satisfied with the product solution we will implement from Huawei. We are looking forward to a rollout of Huawei equipment for our broadband network this year. This rollout will improve the capacity, performance and services we can offer to our customers."
Mr. William Xu, President for Huawei’s European Region, and one of the first executives to meet with TDC back in 2004, commented, "Huawei greatly values its cooperation with TDC Song. We hope that Huawei Ethernet solutions will help TDC Song to maintain and improve its leadership position in the data communications and broadband market in the Nordic’s."
Mr. Xu added, "Having extensive experience in the construction of commercial data communications and broadband networks around the world, TDC Song is assured of a high quality service provided by Huawei. The Sweden project is the first step in the cooperation between Huawei and TDC Song and Huawei hopes that more announcements with TDC Song are forthcoming."
Related Channels: China

Exponential-e ready for VoIP
Exponential-e, a specialist provider of bespoke network solutions to the corporate market, has launched a range of voice services which enable its customers to run voice over their existing private networks without them having to invest in new infrastructure or appoint new suppliers. Exponential-e’s high bandwidth next generation network (NGN) will host the PowerVoice portfolio, enabling companies to access the services over their existing connection. In addition, since the NGN combines intelligent quality of service (QoS) voice traffic will automatically take priority over non-critical traffic.
The PowerVoice portfolio consists of four services. It has been designed with consideration to the many practical and commercial issues that companies face, which is why two of the services developed are hybrid solutions which can leave existing PBXs in place.
Related Channels: VoIP

NTT Communications to expand Ethernet service
NTT Communications Corporation (NTT Com) will expand the service area for Global Super Link, a next-generation Ethernet service, to England, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Hong Kong in addition to the U.S. and Japan. The expanded service will be available on July 3, to be followed by more cities around the world in the future.
A more flexible fee structure will also begin on the same day. Currently, users can choose between two transmission speeds of 45Mbps, for a flat rate, or 100Mbps with a fee depending on data traffic. Under the new flexible fee, users can choose transmission speeds in increments of 10Mbps from 10Mbps to 100Mbps for a flat rate, although 100Mbps subscribers can also opt for a variable rate. Global Super Link, launched last July, was the world's first full-scale commercial service of its kind, providing enterprise users with high-speed, high-bandwidth, cost-effective global burstable data transmission that accommodates their usage patterns.
The service takes advantage of MPLS technology and NTT Com's Global IP backbone to offer secure virtual private Ethernet service with world-class network management. Enterprise users can create a global LAN environment using their existing equipment, which saves the cost of having to purchase special devices. NTT Com provides end-to-end services such as access lines for monitoring trouble on the Ethernet.
NTT Com demonstrated the possibilities of the service last February 5 when it succeeded in using an Internet-protocol (IP) transmission for a delayed high-definition broadcast in Japan of NFL Super Bowl XL, the championship game of American professional football, played in Detroit, Michigan. The trial broadcast was fed from the U.S. at a transmission rate of approximately 70Mbps (MPEG2-TS) through NTT Com's Global Super Link and was publicly broadcast at midnight, February 6 (Japan standard time).

Foundry Networks intros application switches
Foundry Networks, a performance and total solutions leader for end-to-end switching and routing, announced a new family of ultra-high-performance ServerIron application switches to meet the growing demand for secure and optimized delivery of Web and triple-play services. The new family of switches helps enterprises and service providers achieve unmatched availability, performance, and scalability for business-critical applications. The company also announced a new version of TrafficWorks(TM), the operating system software that powers the ServerIron family of switches, which now includes Web firewall features to protect Web-based applications against emerging attacks that impact service uptime and compromise of sensitive information.
The new family of ServerIron switches features Foundry's new generation application processor and ASIC technology to deliver scalable performance up to 350,000 connections per second and 12 Gbps of application level throughput. The switches are available in three modular chassis models, starting with a compact Two-Rack Unit (2RU) high 3-slot chassis to a highly scalable 8-slot chassis that supports up to 112 Gigabit Ethernet ports for large density server farms. Purpose-built with a network-centric architecture, the ServerIron 350, 450 and 850 PLUS series switches feature redundant power, hot swappable modules and fully interchangeable modules for investment protection and future expandability. A choice of 10/100, Gigabit copper and fiber, and 10 Gigabit interface modules provide connectivity options for the network and server farm.
Foundry's new version of TrafficWorks OS includes enhanced security features to protect Web applications from attacks that target sensitive data. Using a positive security enforcement model, these features provide protection for Web applications against key threats.

SingTel picks Ericsson's Ethernet Data Access VDSL2 equipment
Ericsson will deliver an ultra-high speed fixed broadband trial network to SingTel. Based on Ericsson's EDA VDSL2 (Ethernet DSL Access Very-High-Bit Rate Digital Subscriber Line 2) broadband technology, the trial network will enable SingTel to deliver ultra-high speed broadband services deployed over existing copper lines.
This will make SingTel the first operator in South East Asia to deploy VDSL2 broadband technology in its network, providing access speed of up to 100 Mbps on copper, powered by Ericsson's VDSL2 equipment and solutions.
VDSL2, the most advanced standard of xDSL broadband wireline communications, will benefit operators with large-scale deployment of triple play services (voice, video and data) as it has inherent features enabling optimal user experiences for broadband services. Ericsson's ADSL fallback functionality also enables the re-use of existing Customer Premises Equipment (CPE), resulting in cost savings.

SK Telecom picks Caspian Media Controllers
Caspian, the leading provider of multimedia traffic management solutions for IP and multi-protocol label switching (MPLS) networks, announced the availability of Flow-State QoS technology for 10 Gbps Ethernet, setting a new industry benchmark for provisioning Premium Internet services. Premium service provisioning has become the preferred practice for offering service level guarantees and delivering superior quality of service for real-time multimedia applications, including IPTV, video on demand, high-definition videoconferencing and online gaming. With Caspian Media Controllers providing Flow-State QoS at 10 Gbps data rates, network operators now have the means to pursue innovative, nondiscriminatory business models with tiered service levels for both consumers and providers of multimedia Internet content. Premium provisioning also enables Internet service and content providers to monetize their offerings in tiers or with options for personalization.
To implement premium multimedia services on an extensive e-Gov network in South Korea, SK Telecom is deploying a 10 Gbps MPLS mesh backbone designed exclusively with Caspian Media Controllers. By deploying Caspian Media Controllers that perform both Flow-State QoS and basic routing, SK Telecom is able to provision a wide range of e-Gov services that include high-quality VoIP, videoconferencing and other real-time multimedia applications, along with mission-critical virtual private networks and Internet access for government agencies and citizens alike.
The Caspian Media Controllers’ flow-state traffic management capabilities enable SK Telecom to deliver exceptional quality of service to its subscribers at broadband data rates without the cost and complexity involved in over-engineering the network. Leveraging flow-state technology, SK Telecom now has the means to provide always-on services with the speed, responsiveness and premium quality required to accommodate bandwidth-intensive multimedia applications – all at a fraction of the cost of alternative 10 Gbps IP solutions.
Related Channels: VoIP, Video

Scintera closes Series C funding of $12M
Scintera, Inc., the developer of industry leading Gigabit Signal Processor™ (GSP™) semiconductor solutions for 10 Gigabit Ethernet LRM and other high-speed communications markets, has closed its Series C financing; has appointed Scott Gibson as chief financial officer; and has added former Broadcom CEO, Alan E. “Lanny” Ross, to its board of directors. Together with Scintera’s technology and market opportunity, these key elements will help to propel Scintera into the next phase of growth and to enable the proliferation of low power, high-performance 10GBASE-LRM (10 Gigabit Ethernet over Multimode Fiber) into the enterprise market. LRM allows enterprise customers to seamlessly upgrade their existing fiber infrastructures from 1Gb/s to 10Gb/s without having to reinstall more expensive fiber.
The Series C funding of $12M was led by new investor Ridgewood Capital, and included all of its current investors August Capital, Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield and Byers, and Sevin Rosen Funds. Elton B. Sherwin, senior managing director of Ridgewood Capital will join Scintera’s board of directors. This round of financing will be used to ramp production of the 10GBASE-LRM EDC (Electronic Dispersion Compensation) solution and invest in other synergistic wireline and wireless markets for its unique high-speed, low-power signal processing platform.
“Ridgewood Capital is a great addition to our strong investor team,” said Art Reidel, chief executive officer of Scintera. “We look forward to utilizing their deep industry experience and we welcome Elton to our board.” “Scintera’s proven technology will enable enterprise networks to support 10GE,” said Elton B. Sherwin, senior managing director of Ridgewood Capital. “The 10 Gigabit Ethernet market will explode over the next few years and Scintera will be at the center of this growth.”

Corrigent releases TDM-to-Ethernet interfaces
Corrigent Systems has released TDM-to-Ethernet suite of interfaces for the CM-100 that enables carriers to easily aggregate Ethernet and other packet services from their existing TDM access networks. Using the CM-100, service providers can now offer popular Ethernet services over existing TDM access networks and aggregate these services efficiently on 10Gbps packet rings. This capability simplifies their networks, eliminates complicated interconnection equipment, lowers costs and creates the opportunity to quickly deliver Ethernet services using existing copper networks.
The following new interfaces are now available on the CM-100:
- 24-port DS3/E3 clear-channel user interface module with Ethernet-over-PDH termination, as well as PPP to Ethernet Layer-2 interworking
- PPP/MLPPP to Ethernet Layer-2 interworking on 6-port DS3/E3 channelized user interface module
Each of the modules also supports transport of native TDM channels, and the TDM-to-Ethernet interworking capability is configurable on a per-channel basis.
Service providers around the world deliver Ethernet and other data services over various access networks. TDM networks and circuits are used in most cases where fiber is not available to reach end customers. Ethernet E-Line, E-LAN, as well as access to Layer-3 VPN services are delivered in those cases over DS1/E1, bundled DS1/E1, or DS3/E3 circuits.

Huawei showcases carrier-class metro Ethernet switches at CommunicAsia2006
China's Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. , a leader in providing next generation telecommunications network solutions for operators around the world, launched the industry's first carrier-class metro ethernet switches — Huawei Quidway CX series switches – at the CommunicAsia Expo 2006 in Singapore to help operators better serve their customers.
With the global launch of the Quidway CX suite, Huawei is now the first vendor to provide carrier-class end-to-end solutions covering the core layer, the convergence layer and the access layer in the industry. Huawei expects the Quidway CX to become a key infrastructure product for the metro Ethernet market, which is expected to grow 27% annually reaching hit USD 7.7 billion by 2008 (Infonetics 2005Q3).
Huawei's Quidway CX series switches are a new generation of convergence and access switches designed to address the carrier-class features of the metro Ethernet. Some of the key benefits include delivering increased protection, reliablity, a high-level of security and easy management in addressing service requirements for NGN, 3G, broadband access, triple play and large account private line access over IP networks.
The Quidway CX series switches are the first to adopt carrier-class high availability (HA) design with redundancy of key components (including main control boards, switch boards, power modules and fan units), hot swapability of all modules, and passive backplanes. These functionalities ensure real carrier-class protection at each layer and node on the metro Ethernet so that failure of any single node will not affect the service operation of the system.
The Quidway CX series switches also assure carrier-class reliability on the whole metro Ethernet through Ethernet over Resilient Packet Ring (EoRPR), MPLS, OAM, and Ethernet OAM technologies. These technologies assure protection of switching within 50ms so that services are not interrupted but restored quickly in time of a network failure. The switches also provide features such as Selective QinQ, VLAN Translation, TDMoPSN, and ATM emulation, which facilitate flexibility in networking and service deployment on a metro Ethernet.
The launch of this new generation of switches fully reflects Huawei's R&D effort in the integration of IP and telecom networks, and its focus on developing technologies designed for the access layer at a time when traditional PSTN systems are in the transformation to IP networks and operators are faced up with unprecedented challenges. The need for comprehensive IP network solutions that can adequately meet key requirements of telecom users for reliability, security and manageability is becoming ever pressing. As an industry leader in IP technology, Huawei has answered the call with the carrier-class metro Ethernet switches which address issues of service operation, network planning, network protocol and equipment capability to help operators move up the top of the future value chain of the communications industry.
Quidway CX series switches have now successfully passed field trials by multiple operators and won the Carrier Ethernet Certification of Metro Ethernet Forum (MEF). This clearly demonstrates that data communication products of Huawei meet all operator requirements for constructing and developing carrier Ethernets. To date, Huawei has built carrier Ethernets for many global top telecom operators, including True of Thailand, JAZZTEL of Spain, Telefonica of Latin America, and Fibernet of UK. The networks characterized by high availability, high scalability and fast service deployment capability enable operators to reduce their Capex and Opex and ensure their the time to the market to roll out services that will best meet the needs of their customers.
Related Channels: China

THUS launches IP Exchange Lines
As from today, businesses can benefit from increased IP telephony performance and cost savings, following the launch of THUS' IP Exchange Lines, a service that will deliver IP connectivity from a company's internal voice over IP (VoIP) system to the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN). The service will provide new enhanced external communications capabilities to businesses, as well as greater network scalability and a reduction in expenditure on hardware and calls.
Connectivity to the PSTN from a company's voice network has traditionally been through analogue or ISDN channels. However, as more and more businesses move to converged IP networks, demand for connections through IP to the PSTN has increased. By integrating THUS's IP Exchange Lines with a VoIP solution, external voice calls can be delivered across IP to the PSTN, reducing the amount of hardware an organisation has to deploy. The service is available to businesses which already have, or are looking to deploy, a VoIP solution over THUS' next generation network MPLS IP VPN, National Ethernet or High Speed Internet over Ethernet service.
Related Channels: VoIP

BATM to acquire Metrobility
BATM Advanced Communications Ltd ("BATM") has agreed to acquire the business and assets of Metrobility Optical Systems Inc ("Metrobility") for a total consideration of $6.85 million payable in cash over the next two years. $3.15 million will be paid upon closing, which is expected by 15 July 2006, an additional $1.9 million will be paid 12 months after closing and $1.8 million at the end of the second year after closing.
Metrobility, headquartered in Merrimack, New Hampshire, is a privately held company that develops, manufactures and markets optical Ethernet equipment focused on accelerating the deployment of carrier-class Ethernet services to business users. The acquisition of Metrobility will strengthen BATM's sales and distribution channels within the US and South American markets. In addition, the products offered by Metrobility are complementary with the existing BATM's Ethernet access product range.
Commenting on the acquisition, Dr. Zvi Marom, CEO of BATM, said: "We are delighted to welcome the Metrobility team to BATM. Their products and customer base complements Telco Systems' offerings in the US. We look forward to completing the integration as soon as possible."

Harmonic intros wireless backhaul solution
Harmonic Inc. introduced an ultra high capacity FLXLink™ wireless backhaul solution that allows operators to efficiently and securely transport digital voice, data and video content to/from the wireless edge. FLXLink addresses the need for increased wireless bandwidth as consumers around the world increasingly rely on mobile multimedia applications to support an always connected, on-the-go lifestyle. The new FLXLink solution provides up to 10 times the service carrying capacity of the FLXLink T1/E1 system, offering more choice and flexibility in backhauling GSM, GPRS, 3G, WiFi and other wireless services.
In addition to carrying today's wireless traffic, the ability to incrementally scale capacity in order to carry emerging high-speed interactive and video-based services is essential. Services are now being deployed that require more bandwidth, such as metropolitan WiFi networks providing wireless Internet access for an entire city. The new FLXLink with eight T1/E1 connections and a gigabit Ethernet port is an ideal solution to carry these advanced mobile applications. As with the other FLXLink CWDM-based products—a family which includes 100-Mbps and 1-Gbps systems as well as a version offering four T1/E1 connections and a Fast Ethernet (100-Mbps) port—the new FLXLink system is a flexible, modular and reliable solution. The FLXLink products are used to provide a variety of services including backhaul, VPN,