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Note: For Switching & Routing news after 10/01/06, please go to Optical Networking

Switching & Routing 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: WDM, Ethernet, Switching & Routing, Video, China

Swisscom picks Glimmerglass optical switch for network testing
Glimmerglass Networks announced that Swisscom, Switzerland's leading telecommunications company, purchased a second Glimmerglass intelligent optical switch for use in the core of the carrier's expanding network test operations. The Glimmerglass switches allow Swisscom engineers to "re-fiber" their network test infrastructure at the touch of a button and to automatically insert test equipment or incorporate new network elements in seconds. The result is more efficiency and flexibility in testing throughput and direct cost savings.
Swisscom uses the switches to validate new hardware and software releases before they are placed in their production network. Test engineers use Glimmerglass to automatically interconnect fibers among dozens of network elements and hundreds of line cards into various configurations. Their tests confirm proper network operation under every conceivable combination of protocols, interfaces, bandwidth, equipment and topology used in Swisscom's Optical Wavelength Network (OWNet), one of its core transport environments.
Related Channels: Test, Photonics, Switching & Routing

Cable & Wireless picks Sonus for VoIP
Sonus Networks, Inc., a leading supplier of service provider Voice over IP (VoIP) infrastructure solutions, and Cable & Wireless International, the world's pre-eminent full service telecommunications provider in small to medium sized markets, announced that Cable & Wireless International has selected Sonus Networks as the supplier of its next-generation IP-voice network. Cable & Wireless International plans to deploy one of the world's largest IP-voice networks delivering primary line local, long-distance and international telephony service. Operating in 34 countries around the world, including 14 islands in the Caribbean, Cable and Wireless will initially deploy its Sonus-based network to support the Caribbean Islands and Bermuda. In select markets, Cable and Wireless plans ultimately to replace its infrastructure with Sonus' award-winning IMS-ready access solution.
Cable & Wireless is deploying a complete suite of Sonus' IMS-ready solutions including both the GSX9000(TM) and GSX4000(TM) Open Services Switch, the PSX(TM) Call Routing Server, the ASX(TM) Access Server, the Network Border Switch(TM) for IP-to-IP peering and security, and the Sonus Insight(TM) Management System for advanced OSS and billing support.
Related Channels: VoIP, Switching & Routing, OSS/BSS

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.
Related Channels: Switching & Routing, Ethernet, VPN, xDSL

Zhejiang Telecom picks Redback's multiservice edge routers
Redback Networks Inc. announced another new customer in China. Zhejiang Telecom will use Redback's SmartEdge family of multi-service edge routers to deliver broadband Internet, IPTV and virtual private network (VPN) services to business and residential users. Zhejiang Telecom is a major subsidiary of China Telecom Corporation, the largest wire-line carrier in China. There are more than 3 million broadband subscribers in Zhejiang province and more than 30+ million broadband users in China.
"We want to thank Zhejiang Telecom for selecting Redback," said Simon Williams, vice president of sales and operations in Asia, Redback Networks. "China is Redback's second largest market outside the U.S. and we are pleased that Zhejiang Telecom leaders share Redback's vision of a single IP network for broadband data, voice and video services. Over time, we see a future where all communications services will be managed in harmony under a broadband infrastructure."
Related Channels: Switching & Routing, xDSL, Video, VPN, China

OneAccess acquires Telindus access products division
OneAccess, European leader of enterprise access routers and professional multiplay IP devices announced the acquisition of Telindus Access Products (TAP) division of Telindus Group. The TAP division will be transferred to OneAccess Belgium before the year end.
The TAP-division acquired by OneAccess consists of a team of 113 employees, mainly active in R&D, manufacturing, logistics and sales of niche-market access products and represented in 2005 3% of the total turnover of the Telindus Group. Nearly all these employees are active in Belgium. All current TAP employees will continue their activities with the same conditions in the Telindus' premises in Haasrode, Belgium.
"The consolidation on the European market is mandatory to compete with American and Chinese vendors", said Bertrand Meis, CEO of OneAccess. "With TAP, two of the most experienced European teams will work together to deliver state of the art solutions for the Telecom Operators, including innovative IP services for additional revenue streams. The strong support of Telindus and the TAP management team and a shared vision of the access market have been key in our decision to merge our teams."
Related Channels: Switching & Routing, Mergers & Acquisitions

Cavium intros Nitrox PX Security Processor family for IPsec, SSL, and Wireless security applications
California-based Cavium Networks, a world leader in security, network services and embedded processor solutions, announced the NITROX PX Security Processor family with 8 new products targeted at next-generation IP Security (IPsec), Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) and Wireless security applications. The NITROX PX Family addresses requirements for new and essential security algorithms and product interfaces by including hardware acceleration for SHA-2, AES-GCM and KASUMI algorithms, and PCI-Express interface in a single chip. The NITROX PX security processors feature the GigaCipher v2 cores with increased code store and enhanced hardware queuing, which enables richer protocol processing and multi-protocol performance. All products are fully software compatible with Cavium Networks market-leading NITROX family of security processors and are offered with either a PCI-X 64/133 interface that is NITROX family pin-compatible or PCI-Express x4 interface. The NITROX PX Family delivers the industry's most scalable symmetric encryption performance, ranging from 500 Mbps to 2.5 Gbps, and asymmetric performance from 4000 to 17,000 RSA operations per second. Existing customers of Cavium Networks' NITROX Lite products can seamlessly upgrade to the NITROX PX PCI-X version and get the benefits of new algorithms, higher performance and new features. The PCI Express version enables customers to upgrade to new generation motherboards with PCI-Express interfaces. The NITROX PX Security Processors are being adopted by Tier-1 vendors for security and networking appliances, routing, L3+ switching, storage and wireless products. Cavium Networks will present details on the NITROX PX security processor family on Sept 21st at the Linley Group's Embedded Network Security Design Seminar, being held in San Jose, California.
Related Channels: Security, Chipsets, Wireless, Storage, Switching & Routing

Top Story: Large-scale 10-Gigabit core router testing underway in China
The China Academy of Telecommunication Research (CATR) of China's Ministry of Information Industry (MII) is working with Spirent on large-scale testing of 10-Gigabit core routers.
Spirent test solutions will enable CATR to test the performance of core routers under high-capacity configurations and extreme networks conditions found in real-world operations.
The test systems provide wireline packet generation and analysis, along with sophisticated QoS models for simulation of real-world network scenarios. The CATR test environment consists of 16 ultra-high capacity 10 Gbps packet over SONET (PoS) interfaces.
As a part of the test series, Spirent will assess the performance of MPLS platforms, VPNs, multicast service and IPv6 networks. With these series of tests, CATR will be able to fully access the extreme forwarding capacity of core router devices and understand the technological trend of mainstream routers.
"Spirent is honored to be able to provide the China Academy of Telecommunication Research with test solutions for the large-scale 10-Gigabit core routers testing," said Gene Zhang, vice president and general manager for Spirent Communications Asia. "Spirent test systems along with professional services allow customers to validate complex products and services within a defined timeframe and budget."
The test series will also provide valuable data and experiences to telecom research organizations in China for research and explorations on router testing methodologies.
Related Channels: China, Test, Switching & Routing, VPN

Redback touts carrier wins in 22 of 32 provinces in China
San Jose-based Redback Networks Inc., a leading provider of next-generation broadband networking systems, announced several milestones in broadband service deployments with incumbent carriers in China, including carrier wins in 22 of 32 provinces in China.
Redback's SmartEdge® family of multi-service edge routers have now been deployed in 22 of China's 32 provinces, serving millions of business and residential broadband customers. There are about 30 million DSL users in China, about 20 percent of the estimated 150+ million DSL users worldwide, according to Point-Topic, a U.K.-based telecommunications research firm.
China is Redback's second largest market and third largest customer, if you combine China's public-owned telephone carriers into one group. Over the last 12 months, Redback has 22 carrier wins in China, focused on the independently operated, provincial subsidiaries of China Telecom and China Netcom, the two largest incumbent carriers in China. For China Telecom, this includes provincial carriers in Guangdong, Zhejiang, Fujian, Anhui, Hubei, Jiangxi, Yunnan, Shaanxi, Ningxia, Heilongjiang and Tibet. For China Netcom, this includes similar deployments in Shandong, Liaoning, Hebei, Heilongjiang, Jilin, Henan, Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, Zhejiang, Chongqing and Yunnan.
With these carriers in China, Redback is at the center of one of the largest IPTV deployments in the world. In China, five carriers are either using or plan to use in the future Redback's multi-service edge router to help deliver IPTV service in Guangdong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shaanxi and Heilongjiang provinces. Because China has little cable TV infrastructure, these five telephone carriers hope to sign up to 500,000 IPTV users as a competitive alternative to satellite and broadcast TV services.
"Our research shows compound annual growth rates of greater than 50% for many new business and residential broadband services in China," said Mark Bieberich, research director at Yankee Group., a major research firm in Boston, MA. "Redback's success in the China market demonstrates its ability to meet this demand with a proven multi-service edge router."
"China is a leader in broadband service delivery, delivering high-speed Internet, telephone and TV services over a single IP-infrastructure," said Simon Williams, vice president of sales and operations in Asia Pacific, Redback Networks. "Redback supports China's vision that next-generation broadband services will help to foster economic growth in the future."
Related Channels: China, Video, xDSL, Switching & Routing

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, Ethernet, Switching & Routing

Huawei-3Com provides routers and switches 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: Switching & Routing, Wireless, VPN, Security, Ethernet, China

Sprint evaluates Cisco's CRS-1 for 40 Gbps routing
Cisco announced an extension to its industry-leading CRS-1 Carrier Routing System, the core of the Internet Protocol Next-Generation Network (IP NGN) architecture. The new four-slot version of the CRS-1 provides 320 gigabits-per-second (Gbps) of total switching capacity in the industry’s most compact 40 Gbps-per-slot chassis, enabling deployment at regional Points of Presence (POPs), MSO hub locations and data center peering sites. This enables providers to deploy CRS-1s more broadly and at lower entry cost, allowing rapid deployment and continued expansion of IPTV, digital video and other advanced business and residential IP services. The four-slot CRS-1 joins the 16-slot platform (1.2 terabits-per-second (Tbps)) and the eight-slot platform (640 Gbps), all of which feature cross-slot-compatibility for continued investment protection.
The Cisco IP NGN enables the development and delivery of application- and subscriber-aware services to help providers increase revenue and enhance efficiencies for improved profitability and control of their networks and business.
Sprint has been evaluating the CRS-1 since 2004 and will deploy it beginning in CYQ4 2006. The new four-slot chassis will enable Sprint to deploy 40 Gbps routing more broadly and at a lower cost.
Related Channels: Switching & Routing

Huawei opens new facility in India
China's Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. ("Huawei"), a leader in providing next generation telecommunications network solutions for operators around the world, today announced that Huawei Technologies India, its largest overseas software R&D center has opened a new facility in Bangalore, to develop optical network products and wireless LAN solutions.
In particular, the new center will work on Huawei's new generation Optix series of intelligent optical network products based on cutting edge optical technologies. Huawei's optical solutions are widely deployed by major service providers for providing IPTV services, Triple Play (high speed Internet, television and voice) services, mobile services and leased line services to their customers.
"Huawei Technologies India has been involved in key technology development, and this expansion will broaden our portfolio with the addition of new domains such as optical solutions and wireless LAN," said Mr. Virendra Gupta, Vice President and Head of Embedded Solutions at Huawei Technologies India.
The new facility to accommodate 180 software engineers will also house team working on Wireless LAN domain related software development catering to the Wireless Switch and Wireless Access Points products.
Related Channels: Wireless, Video, WDM, OSS/BSS, Switching & Routing, China

Huawei-3Com picks Mindspeed's devices for routers
California-based Mindspeed Technologies, Inc., a leading supplier of semiconductor solutions for network infrastructure applications, announced that China-based Huawei-3Com has selected Mindspeed's high-level data link control (HDLC), broadband access multiplexer (BAM) and T3/E3 line interface unit (LIU) devices for use in the company's H3C AR series routers. Huawei-3Com is a joint venture between Huawei Investment and Holding Co., Ltd. and 3Com.
"By providing Layer 1 and Layer 2 solutions with accompanying software, we are able to offer complete solutions for Huawei-3Coms channelized and unchannelized T3, T1, and OC-3 cards enabling accelerated time-to-market and reduced system costs," said Taqi Mohiuddin, director of product marketing for Mindspeed.
Related Channels: Chipsets, Switching & Routing, China

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: Switching & Routing, Ethernet, Security, VoIP, Appointments

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.”
Related Channels: Ethernet, Switching & Routing, SDH/SONET

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.
Related Channels: Ethernet, Switching & Routing

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 Channels: Test, Switching & Routing, Ethernet

Huawei to supply network equipment for Vympelcom
China's Huawei has won the tender to supply fiber-optic network equipment to Ukrainian Radio Systems (URS), a wholly owned subsidiary of Vympelkom. The contract is worth up to about $20 million.
Huawei has been a major equipment supplier for URS. The operator's network was primarily built with Huawei equipment. Recently URS began to construct its own fiber-optic network.
URS' network provides coverage to 50% of Ukraine's population.
Related Channels: China, Wireless, Switching & Routing

Shanghai is Cisco's focus in China -- IPTV, a Potential Gold Mine in China -- Reaching the Decision Makers is the Key to Success
Cisco China's revenue grew 30% in 2Q06 year on year, surpassing Cisco's 20% annual growth in Asia Pacific.
East China, especially Shanghai, is Cisco's focus in the country. Shanghai's business is equal to that of Hong Kong or Singapore, according to Chai, who has moved his family from Taiwan to Shanghai.
Larry Chai, Cisco East China's general manager, plans to hire 400 engineers by the end of this year for Cisco's Shanghai-based R&D center, founded last year with 100 engineers.
IPTV, a Potential Gold Mine in China
"I am interested in every new application with potential market size over US$1 billion," said Chai. Chai mentioned IPTV, a Internet-based TV service, as a potential gold mine in China. 
In Shanghai, previous Internet traffic peaks were from 7am to 11am and about 3pm, but peaks have even expanded 11pm to 12am now. Therefore, Cisco provided Shanghai Telecom the biggest server in Asia Pacific for the 24/7 services, Chai said.
Reaching the Decision Makers is the Key to Sales Success
"The obvious change now is that sales teams are required to talk with CEOs instead of CIOs. They have to persuade CEOs, often not familiar with technologies, in a five-minute presentation," said Chai, who claimed even he needs further training.
Chai said sales team reforms were inspired by John Chambers, Cisco's legendary CEO. Chambers is also Chai's most admired business leader.
Cisco recruits students from universities and new technical graduates are often sent to the United States for 10 months of training. During the period, they are told how Cisco's equipment can help clients save money and improve efficiency.
Prior to his career on the Chinese mainland, Chai was named the general manager of Cisco Taiwan. Before that, he spent 17 years in marketing and sales in the IT field.
Before joining Cisco, Chai was the COO at Chief Telecom. In 1998, Chai was the general manager of Global One in Taiwan.
From 1991 to 1998, Chai served as vice general manager of Nortel Networks Taiwan.
Related Channels: China, Video, Switching & Routing

Edge router worldwide sales increases 30%
According to a newly published report by Dell'Oro Group, the trusted source for market information about the networking and telecommunications industries, worldwide sales of service provider edge routers increased 30 percent over the same period last year with Alcatel recording the largest revenue increase over the same period.
"Service Providers are driving strong demand for edge routers as they gear their networks for the next generation of broadband services such as IPTV and VoIP," said Shin Umeda, Principal Analyst of Router research at Dell'Oro Group. "Cisco and Juniper remain the market leaders, but Alcatel and Redback are gaining ground with strong product offerings optimized for these new services," added Umeda.
Related Channels: Switching & Routing, Video, VoIP

Cisco settles shareholder lawsuit for $91.8 million
Cisco Systems said Friday it would pay $91.8 million to settle a shareholder lawsuit filed in 2001 against the company and management in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
"Given the expense and disruption associated with prolonged litigation, and the fact that this resolution is achieved with no additional cost to Cisco and with the consent of our insurance carriers, we believe this settlement is in the best interest of Cisco and its shareholders," Cisco said.
The original suit, filed April 20, 2001, claimed that Cisco made misleading statements, or omitted statements of material fact, that were relied on by purchasers of Cisco stock, the company said. The suit also alleged that the individual defendants sold Cisco stock while in possession of material, non-public information. The company denied all allegations in the suit.
Related Channels: Switching & Routing

Juniper wins multiservice router deal in Japan
Juniper Networks, Inc. announced that the Yamanashi Prefecture region of Japan has deployed Juniper Networks M-series multiservice routers to help create the Yamanashi Information Highway, a next generation communications backbone which connects local government offices, cable television providers, banks and other businesses within the region. The Yamanashi Information Highway, deployed in July 2006, consolidates all data communications and broadcasting networks on a single, converged IP/MPLS network, and leverages the JUNOS operating system to create a customizable management interface for connected institutions.
"We have been working to respond to the local government requirements to build a local information network for the last few years. One of the objectives of the Yamanashi Information Highway is to provide a community of 1 million people with a network of local government offices. We chose to deploy MPLS-VPN technology as we think it is the best choice for a high speed network infrastructure because of its reliability, flexibility, and its ability to integrate disparate networks such as educational, banking, and other enterprises within a single infrastructure," said Mr. Hajime Kasai, Planning Manager, Yamanashi Prefecture. 'There are also many cable TV stations which cover the areas hard to reach with analogue broadcasting, and in the future, we expect to use this network not only for data communications but also for video distribution."
Related Channels: Switching & Routing, VPN, Video, Cable MSO

Optical Entertainment Network picks Raptor switches
California-based Raptor Networks Technology, Inc. has been selected by Optical Entertainment Network (OEN) as their core switching provider for OEN's new "triple-play" service FISION(TM). A purchase order for the commissioning stack of four ER-1010 network switches was received, with priced options for an additional 500 ER-1010s.
Mr. Allen Easty, Chief Technology Officer of Optical Entertainment Network, stated, "Raptor Networks' unique 'distributed core' switching technologies will play a key role in OEN's ability to provide the highest quality of service, reliability and HDTV channel count while affording our customers unprecedented cost savings."
Tom Wittenschlaeger, Chief Executive Officer of Raptor Networks, noted, "We are pleased to displace Extreme Networks, a competitor many times our size, in a high performance, HD video distribution application by one of the most innovative bundled digital services providers as their network switch of choice."
Related Channels: Switching & Routing, Video

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, Chipsets, Switching & Routing, Wireless, Ethernet

8x8 awarded VoIP patent
California-based 8x8, Inc., provider of Packet8 broadband Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and videophone communications services, announced that it has been awarded U.S. Patent No. 7,092,379 for technology used in routing telephony signals over the Internet and standard switched telephone communications networks.
"This is the second fundamental VoIP technology patent 8x8 has received this summer, reflective of the pioneering research and development advances 8x8 has produced dating back to the early days of VoIP," stated Bryan R. Martin, 8x8's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "8x8 has been inventing VoIP-specific technologies since before 1998 and communications technologies, in general, since 1990. 8x8 continues to pursue VoIP-related technological advances and new inventions today as embodied by the services offered under our Packet8 voice and video communications service brand," concluded Mr. Martin.
Related Channels: VoIP, Switching & Routing

Continuous Computing promotes Ron Pyles to President
San Diego-based Continuous Computing Corporation, global provider of Network Service-Ready Platforms(TM) that enable telecom equipment manufacturers to rapidly deploy converged communications, announced the promotion of Ron Pyles to company president. Through expert consultation, keen market insight, and strong customer relationships, Mr. Pyles will help the company continue to mature, grow, and evolve as a leader in telecommunications hardware, software, and professional services.
After joining the company in 2003 through the Trillium acquisition, Mr. Pyles started as vice president of worldwide sales and progressed to become executive vice president of sales and marketing. Under his leadership, Continuous Computing's revenues nearly tripled in three years, from $25 million in 2003 to over $70 million in 2005. In his new role, Mr. Pyles is responsible for driving the company's market strategy and delivering successful results for customers, employees, and shareholders.
Prior to joining Continuous Computing, Mr. Pyles built more than 20 years of marketing and sales experience at AT&T where, among other responsibilities, he was vice president of business sales for the central United States region. Mr. Pyles also directed the worldwide sales organization for the Trillium product line at Intel Corporation.
"The telecommunications market becomes increasingly competitive on a day-to-day basis," said Mr. Pyles. "As a result, it is my mission to lead the charge to transform Continuous Computing's business to the next level while, at the same time, to provide the best integrated solutions to our customers."
Related Channels: Wireless, VoIP, Chipsets, Ethernet, Switching & Routing, Appointments

Juniper faces delisting due to delayed filing of Form 10-Q
Juniper received a Nasdaq Staff Determination letter indicating that it is not in compliance with Nasdaq's listing requirements
Juniper Networks, Inc., announced that, as anticipated, on August 14, 2006 it received a Nasdaq Staff Determination letter indicating that the Company is not currently in compliance with Nasdaq's listing requirements as set forth in Marketplace Rule 4310(c)(14) due to the delayed filing of the Company's Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2006. The Company will initiate the appeal process by requesting a hearing before the Nasdaq Listing Qualifications Panel in response to the letter. Pending a decision by the panel, Juniper shares will remain listed on the Nasdaq Stock Market.
Related Channels: Switching & Routing, Security, VPN

CopperCom promotes COO Julian Thomson to CEO
Florida-based CopperCom Monday announced Mike Myers, president and CEO, is retiring after a career in telecommunications spanning some 30 years. Julian Thomson, CopperCom's chief operating officer, will assume the role of president and CEO, effective immediately.
Under Myers, CopperCom has grown from an early player in the voice over packet market to a leader in developing and deploying Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and Class 4/5 switching solutions for the IOC and CLEC markets.
Thomson joined CopperCom in 2001 as general manager, and has worked closely with Myers in growing the company to well over 160 customers. In preparation for his new post, Thomson has held several positions within CopperCom, including heading up business development, product management and R&D, along with his most recent role as COO.
"I am very pleased to hand the reins of CopperCom over to Julian," said Myers. "His knowledge of the business, focus on customer service and the key role he played in advancing CopperCom to the level it is today gives me full confidence that CopperCom's remarkable success will continue far into the future under his leadership."
Thomson has over twenty years of experience in telecommunications equipment companies including GTE Communications Systems, Lucent and several Silicon Valley startups covering technical and business executive responsibilities. He was awarded an Engineering Fellowship at Lucent and holds a Ph.D. in experimental physics and a B.Sc. Honors in physics with mathematics.
"Having been a part of CopperCom's growth, and now having the opportunity to lead such a great team is a privilege," said Thomson. "Our customers can be confident that CopperCom will continue to build on the foundation of service and leading edge solutions we have established since the Company's beginning."
Related Channels: VoIP, Switching & Routing, Appointments

Altera, Sarance, Cortina unveil FPGA-based Interlaken IP core for switches, routers and storage equipment
Altera Corporation, design services provider Sarance Technologies and communications semiconductor specialist Cortina Systems Monday announced the availability of the industry’s first FPGA-based Interlaken intellectual property core to speed design of network systems applying the Interlaken protocol.
The Interlaken protocol IP core, created by Sarance Technologies, lets communication and storage network equipment developers apply the new interconnect specification using Altera® Stratix® II GX FPGAs. Together, the IP and FPGAs enable more cost-effective solutions for 10-, 20-, and 40-Gbps interconnect designs in next-generation network switches, routers and storage equipment.
The Interlaken protocol is a royalty-free specification jointly developed by Cortina Systems and Cisco Systems for makers of high-performance network components and equipment. The specification builds upon the logical structure of SPI-4.2 interface technology, now widely used in networking equipment. It preserves the capabilities of SPI-4.2 with multiple logical channels and back-pressure information, while eliminating its bandwidth ceiling and curtailing associated pin-count cost. Interlaken’s 90 percent chip-to-chip signal trace improvement increases performance and reduces both board and chip design costs.
Interlaken allows greater integration in network system designs by providing a framework for channelized packet interfaces built upon a flexible and highly efficient serialization/de-serialization (SERDES) physical layer. Using the latest 6.375-Gbps SERDES technology enables interface designs that scale from 10 to 100 Gbps and beyond.
Related Channels: Chipsets, Switching & Routing, Storage

Ciena touts pseudowire and Ethernet enhancements for MSPP
Ciena Corporation announced availability of key enhancements to its pseudowire emulation edge-to-edge (PWE3) and advanced Ethernet interworking capabilities on the DN 7000 Series FlexSelect™ Multiservice Edge Switching and Aggregation Platform. Key application requirements addressed by the latest developments include migrating DSL aggregation from ATM to Ethernet, delivering access technology-agnostic Layer 2 MPLS VPNs and consolidating 2G/3G TDM, Ethernet, and ATM-based wireless backhaul onto a converged radio access network (RAN).
As the infrastructures utilised to deliver triple play, business data and 3G wireless services become increasingly Ethernet and MPLS-centric, service providers continue facing the challenge of maintaining a profitable mix of new and legacy networks and services. The latest enhancements to Ciena’s DN 7000 product family provide support for seamless interworking of TDM, Frame Relay and ATM with new advanced services delivered natively across Ethernet or over MPLS, while more efficiently supporting legacy customers and reducing capital and operational expenditures through network consolidation.
Related Channels: Ethernet, Switching & Routing

Vietnamese censors focusing on politics rather than porn
Looking at Internet filtering practices in Vietnam, one could conclude that the Vietnamese government is more concerned about politics than porn.
University researchers said in a report that the practices run counter to the government's own statements.
"Vietnam purports to prevent access to Internet sites primarily to safeguard against obscene or sexually explicit content," the report said. "However, the state's actual motives are far more pragmatic."
Vietnam's ISPs did not block any of the pornography sites tested but filtered most of the sites "with politically or religiously sensitive material that could undermine Vietnam's one-party system."
China and other regimes worried about political sites also turn their attention to blocking porn, said Derek Bambauer, a research fellow with OpenNet Initiative, a collaboration of Harvard University, the University of Toronto and the University of Cambridge.
Bambauer also said Vietnam's filtering got more sophisticated in just the six months studied.
The report found filtering the responsibility of government-owned or -licensed service providers, with the two main ones in Vietnam taking different approaches.
One uses traditional filtering, and attempts to access a banned site produce a message saying the site had been blocked.
The other took records of the banned sites out of its domain-name servers completely, producing "site not found" errors as if the sites had never existed, Bambauer said.
Related Channels: OSS/BSS, Switching & Routing

Nuova to become a majority-owned subsidiary of Cisco
Cisco Systems Inc. has made an investment in Nuova Systems Inc. to accelerate next-generation product development in its data center.
Cisco has committed certain technology and $50 million of funding to Nuova Systems with the possibility of up to $42 million in additional funding in the future.
Nuova Systems will become a majority-owned subsidiary of Cisco. It will be 80% owned by Cisco, with the remaining 20% held by employees of the subsidiary. Formed last summer, Nuova has 76 employees, including Mazzola, Cisco's former chief development officer, and three other former Cisco executives, Prem Jain, Luca Cafiero, and Soni Jiandani. All are expected to return to Cisco, working for the new subsidiary, if the transaction goes through as expected.
Cisco has the option to buy the remaining 20% and if Cisco exercises this option, the transaction would occur in late fiscal year 2008 or early fiscal year 2009.
The potential payouts made under the option are based on the success of Nuova Systems' products sold through Cisco, with a minimum potential payout of $10 million and a maximum of $578 million.
Related Channels: Switching & Routing, Mergers & Acquisitions, Funding

Juniper to restate historical financial statements
As previously announced by Juniper Networks, Inc., the Audit Committee of the Board of Directors has been conducting an investigation into the Company's stock option practices and has reached a preliminary conclusion that the actual measurement dates for financial accounting purposes of certain stock option grants issued in the past differ from the recorded grant dates of such awards.
Although the investigation is ongoing, upon the recommendation of management and the Audit Committee, the Juniper Board of Directors has concluded that the Company will need to restate historical financial statements to record additional non-cash charges for stock-based compensation expense related to past option grants. The Company has not determined the amount of such charges, the resulting tax and accounting impact, or which specific periods require restatement. Accordingly, the Company today filed a Form 8-K with the SEC stating that the financial statements and all earnings press releases and similar communications issued by the Company relating to periods beginning on or after January 1, 2003 should therefore not be relied upon.
In addition, the Company today filed a Notification of Late Filing on Form 12b-25 with the SEC indicating that the Company missed the prescribed deadline for its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the period ending June 30, 2006. As a result of this delinquency, the Company expects to receive a notice of delisting from Nasdaq in accordance with Nasdaq's standard process.
Juniper is committed to resolving these issues as expeditiously as possible and to file its Form 10-Q and restated financial statements as soon as practicable following completion of the independent investigation.
Related Channels: Switching & Routing, VoIP, VPN, Security

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, Switching & Routing, WDM, VoIP, VPN, xDSL, Video, FTTP, Ethernet, Wireless, OSS/BSS, Security, Cable MSO, SDH/SONET, Storage

3Com: "Can we have more?"
3Com announced that it will begin negotiations with Huawei with the intent to increase 3Com's ownership stake in Huawei-3Com (H-3C).
3Com currently owns 51% of H-3C and recently began consolidating H-3C's financial results.
Under the terms of existing agreements, each party has the right, commencing on November 15, 2006, to initiate a bid process to purchase the equity interest in H-3C held by the other. These negotiations are intended to result in an agreement outside of the bid process.
"Our joint venture in China is a growing and profitable enterprise that we believe can be an important cornerstone of 3Com's future," said 3Com Chairman, Eric Benhamou. "We intend to negotiate a mutually beneficial agreement that increases 3Com's stake in H-3C and promotes H-3C's continued success."
Related Channels: China, Switching & Routing, VoIP, VPN, Security, Storage

3Com appoints Edgar Masri as CEO and Bob Mao as EVP
3Com Corporation announced that the company's Board of Directors has appointed Edgar Masri as the new President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) to replace Scott Murray who submitted his resignation effective at the close of business on August 17, 2006. The company also announced that it has hired Bob Mao as Executive Vice President of Corporate Development to manage 3Com's interests in its China-based joint venture with Huawei Technologies, Huawei-3Com (H-3C).
Masri, who is currently the Chief Operating Officer for Redline Communications, a broadband technology company, and Mao will join the company on August 18, 2006. In addition to his role as President and CEO, Masri will assume Murray's position as Chairman of H-3C. In his new role, Mao, a widely recognized and highly regarded networking executive, based in China, will be a member of H-3C's Board of Directors and report directly to Masri. Mao currently is Vice Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Pacific Telecommunications Council. Consistent with its plan to further leverage H-3C to help increase shareholder value, 3Com also today announced that it will begin negotiations with Huawei with the intent to increase 3Com's ownership stake in H-3C. 3Com currently owns 51 percent of H-3C and recently began consolidating H-3C's financial results. Under the terms of existing agreements, each party has the right, commencing on November 15, 2006, to initiate a bid process to purchase the equity interest in H-3C held by the other. These negotiations are intended to result in an agreement outside of the bid process.
"Our joint venture in China is a growing and profitable enterprise that we believe can be an important cornerstone of 3Com's future," said 3Com Chairman, Eric Benhamou. "We intend to negotiate a mutually beneficial agreement that increases 3Com's stake in H-3C and promotes H-3C's continued success."
Benhamou added, "After gaining additional insight into the significant time commitment and attention necessary to successfully manage H-3C, Scott Murray advised the Board that, with his young family, he was not able to commit to the extended time in China the venture requires. He therefore believes it is in 3Com's best interest for him to resign at this time, before negotiations begin. The Board respects his decision and thanks Scott for taking steps to bring the company closer to profitability.
"We are very fortunate to be able to recruit Edgar Masri to lead the company. Edgar has extensive networking industry knowledge, broad international experience and a track record of success throughout his career. Edgar brings unique skills and experiences that we believe will be of great value to 3Com."
Related Channels: Appointments

Huawei lands switch deal with Ethiopian Telecommunication (ETC)
Ethiopian Telecommunication (ETC) has signed a USD 4.9 million agreement for the acquisition of some 260 switches from Huawei Technologies. The equipment will optimise ETC's fixed line network and will cover all of the company's zones and regions. Meanwhile the Ethiopian News Agency reports that ETC said it had brought phone services to 5,000 local communities in its last financial year. The company invested over ETB 5.2 billion in various project during that time. ETC said that the traditional phone network's capacity had been increased by 20 percent in one year, as subscribers rose by 21%. The company's expansion at 35 switches in Addis Ababa has been completed with Nokia and Ericsson. Mobile phone lines have been installed in 84 towns, with upgrades in six others. ETC added 460,000 mobile customers in the year, more than twice as many as a year earlier.
Related Channels: China

Qwest to provide ACS with MPLS-based services including VoIP
Qwest Communications International Inc. has signed a two-year agreement with Dallas-based Affiliated Computer Services (ACS), a premier provider of business process outsourcing and information technology solutions, to provide its state-of-the-art Qwest iQ Networking(TM) service.
ACS will connect domestic datacenters to the Qwest multi-protocol label switching (MPLS) network using iQ Networking's wide-area network platform. Qwest's iQ Networking service will be the underlying data infrastructure for all ACS locations and allow the company to directly control its network and quickly bring applications to clients while reducing costs.
"Qwest has gone above and beyond to accommodate ACS' business needs, and we are proud to be associated with a company that cares about its customers," said Chris Gruenewald, director of network business operations for ACS. "Qwest iQ Networking service allows us to better grow our business, increase revenue and better compete in the ever-aggressive global marketplace."
"Qwest is excited to extend its relationship with ACS, and to be a part of the process that brings applications to ACS clients quickly," said Tom Richards, executive vice president, Qwest business markets group. "Qwest iQ Networking service is an easy-to-manage solution making it easier for ACS to do business with customers."
Qwest launched iQ Networking in early 2004 as the company's convergence platform supporting any number of applications, such as voice over Internet protocol (VoIP), messaging and other IP communications. Qwest iQ Networking focuses on solving business problems, reducing total cost and delivering an unparalleled customer service experience.
Related Channels: VoIP, Switching & Routing

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.
"CN2 is a completely separate network from the legacy 'ChinaNet' infrastructure," said Eric Yu, vice president of Greater China for Juniper Networks. "While China Telecom continues to operate its older network, the vision for CN2 requires more advanced and innovative technologies. Boosting the Juniper core routers with upgraded capacity allows CN2 to continue meeting China's fast growing need for next-generation IP infrastructure."
China Telecom created CN2 in 2004, utilizing Multi-protocol Label Switching (MPLS) to offer a wide variety of advanced IP services including Virtual Private Networking (VPN), high-quality IP voice and video streaming. The Juniper core routers support IPv6 addressing, fine control over network traffic routing, quality of service and third-generation (3G) mobile applications for China Telecom's mobile subscriber base.
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

AT&T secures data services contract with First Financial Bank
AT&T Inc. Friday announced a new data services contract with First Financial Bank N.A., an Indiana-based banking and financial services provider with 47 full-service banking centers and 95 FirstPlus ATMs throughout the state. Under the terms of the three-year contract, AT&T Indiana will implement a managed data network solution at all branch locations, using Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) Private Network Transport (PNT). The services will deliver expanded bandwidth, as well as added redundancy and security to the bank's private network.
These services will also result in faster and more secure access to account information via the converged network infrastructure. Additionally, this solution will provide the bank with the increased bandwidth that is needed in order to merge its existing networks and to support private and public software applications. Through an MPLS-based Internet Protocol (IP) network, the enhanced solution will provide a unified and centralized wide area network (WAN) infrastructure, supporting the transport of data from the hub location to any bank branch. AT&T will manage the network, allowing the bank to consolidate its IT resources and deliver improved customer service.
"The solution provided by AT&T will help us increase the security of our data by delivering a unified network with expanded bandwidth and redundancy," said Mark Toebbe, chief technology officer, First Financial Bank. "Our customers will experience the highest levels of security, and our employees will experience greater levels of efficiency when accessing account information online and internally."
Related Channels: Switching & Routing, Security

Huawei-3Com builds core backbone routing switch for Henan province post office
The Henan Province Post Office began a core backbone routing upgrade project to cope with the rapid development and demand of 'Green Cards', and enabled ATM services through the post office. Huawei-3Com eagerly accepted the chance to work with the Henan Post Office again, having previously deployed high performance switches in the Post Office's network.
The Henan Post Office needed a network which is able to support 1+1 hot backup and offer strong MPLS VPN functionality and high performance. The network also had to be easily upgraded to IPv6 to cope with future expansions and demands.
Huawei-3Com deployed its fifth generation NE40 series universal switching router at the network's core to provide a high-end router at the backbone network edge. The NE40 features wire-speed IP/MPLS forwarding capability for 2.5G POS interface. This provides the Henan Post Office with business upgrade and expansion capabilities to safeguard their IT investment. It also supports multiple QoS techniques and meets the requirements for multi-service IP carrier networks. At the same time, its 1+1 hot backup technology guarantees the steadiness and speed of the entire network.
Related Channels: China, Switching & Routing, VPN

UNH-IOL completes testing on 'Moonv6' multi-vendor IPv6 network
The University of New Hampshire InterOperability Laboratory (UNH-IOL) has completed a weeklong round of testing on the "Moonv6" network, the world's largest multi-vendor IPv6 network. The event showcased the first successful public demonstration of the Network Time Protocol (NTP) running on a native IPv6-only connection.
During the week of tests, which began July 24 and concluded July 28, the UNH-IOL ran mixed applications traffic (voice, video and data) between its network testing lab in Durham, New Hampshire and the U.S. Army's data-communications interop testing facility, the Joint Interoperability Test Command, in Fort Huachuca, Arizona. Engineers at both locations passed data back and forth across firewalls systems via native IPv6 links as well as mixed v4 and v6 links using transition mechanisms such as domain name systems (DNS) mapping. DNS is key in dual-stack migration for knitting IPv4 and v6 networks together during the transition.
Participating vendors included: Agilent, Check Point Software Technologies, Extreme Networks, Fortinet Inc., IBM, Lucent, Nominum, QLogic and Spectracom Corp.
Spectracom used its NetClock application to synchronize network time between client PCs in New Hampshire and servers at the JITC facility. NTP allows computers to synchronize their time clocks via servers keyed to universal coordinated time (UTC). NTP is crucial in military networks for ensuring field operations are precisely synchronized. It's also important in anti-hacking and disaster recovery efforts, where understanding what happened to which computers when can make crucial differences in the ability to decipher otherwise contradictory data.
"IPv6 interoperability is on track, and we are seeing evidence that the applications for IPv6 are advancing," said Erica Williamsen, UNH-IOL senior manager of software and applications. "We're now in the planning stages for the next Moonv6 event in cooperation with JITC, possibly for sometime in the first or early second quarter or 2007."
Related Channels: Test, Switching & Routing

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.
Related Channels: Ethernet, VPN, Switching & Routing

Cable & Wireless Jamaica picks Veraz and Verso
Veraz Networks, Inc., a leading global provider of voice over IP (VoIP) softswitches, media gateways and digital compression products, and Verso Technologies, Inc., a global provider of next generation network solutions, announced Monday that they had been selected by Cable & Wireless Jamaica to provide an advanced NGN switching infrastructure and prepaid wireline solution. The deployment includes Veraz's ControlSwitch(TM) Softswitch and service delivery platform along with its I-Gate 4000 PRO media gateway and incorporates Verso's IP-based I-Master Application Server and Revenue Assurance Platform designed to deliver innovative prepaid features and services to subscribers. The turnkey solution was deployed and implemented within four weeks from the date of order.
Veraz's ControlSwitch provides Cable & Wireless with an advanced switching platform capable of integrating with and preserving legacy infrastructure. Verso's I-Master solution, via the convergence of calling card, prepaid wireline and Internet services, enables Cable & Wireless to aggressively target prepaid wireline, calling card and prepaid Internet services. Cable & Wireless recently embarked upon an aggressive plan to attract prepaid wireline subscribers with year-over-year growth of 100 percent. Additionally, Cable & Wireless plans to migrate all existing calling card traffic to the new platform.
Related Channels: VoIP

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.
Related Channels: Switching & Routing, Ethernet

Foundry lands metro router deal in Canada
Foundry Networks announced that three carriers in Quebec, Canada -- Maskatel, Telephone Drummond and Telephone Guevremont -- have chosen Foundry Networks' NetIron(R) MLX Series of metro routers for the delivery of triple-play services.
As part of the deployment, Maskatel, Telephone Drummond and Telephone Guevremont will collaborate to build a next-generation aggregation network that uses Foundry's IPv4/IPv6/MPLS enabled NetIron MLX Series routers for the delivery of triple-play services over a converged infrastructure. The ability to provide such next-generation services as Voice-over-IP (VoIP), broadband Internet access, IPTV and Video on Demand will allow these providers to offer new revenue generating value-added services to their existing customer base of both residential and business users. While offering the convenience of a single bill to end-users, the services will allow the three providers to realize increased Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) while potentially reducing churn by establishing a stickier end-customer.
High-performance aggregation networks are critical to ensure a high-quality experience to users of next-generation services. By using an MPLS infrastructure for these services, providers can ensure better Quality of Service (QoS) and build higher resiliency into the network. In addition, a common infrastructure can be used for the delivery of multiple services, thus lowering operational and capital costs. The ability to do sub-50 millisecond failure recovery with MPLS Fast Re-Route (FRR) on the NetIron MLX Series allows minimal disruption to traffic being transported through the network.
Related Channels: VoIP, Video, Switching & Routing

Vitesse unveils crosspoint switches
Vitesse Semiconductor Corporation Wednesday unveiled its latest high-speed crosspoint switches featuring breakthrough capacity and advanced Signal Integrity technology. Featuring a per-port speed of up to 6.5 Gbps and low-latency switching capabilities, the 72x72 VSC3172 and 144x144 VSC3144 asynchronous crosspoints deliver near-terabit aggregate bandwidth capacity. These crosspoints enable new cost and performance breakpoints for blade server, video and network equipment designs used in core, metro and enterprise environments. The new product additions underscore Vitesse’s leadership and continued investment in Signal Integrity and Crosspoint solutions along with record product line business growth.
Vitesse Crosspoint Switch Products and World Class Signal Integrity Vitesse has been at the forefront of high performance crosspoint and signal integrity development for nearly ten years. Featuring 11 Gbps-per-port and 2 through 144 sized matrix selection, Vitesse's crosspoint portfolio offers the highest port capacity, broadest offering and best signal integrity performance in the business. Vitesse's integrated PixEQ™ Technology improves signal performance and reduces jitter associated with driving multi-Gigabit signals across PCBs, backplanes, and cables. Real-world results show that Vitesse PixEQ™ technology eliminates deterministic jitter over backplane channels up to 1 meter long and low cost, short-reach copper cabling. Vitesse components are used in a wide array of products from industry-leading OEMs.
Related Channels: Chipsets, Switching & Routing

Brazil's GlobalCall deploys national VoIP network using Quintum VoIP switches
N.J.-based Quintum Technologies, a leading innovator in VoIP technologies, is pleased to announce that GlobalCall, a nationwide telecom carrier in Brazil, has deployed a national VoIP network based on the Quintum Tenor VoIP Switches. Tenor VoIP MultiPath Switches are deployed in its headquarters in Rio de Janeiro, as well as in several POPs throughout the country.
PL Tecnologia was the systems integrator who designed and implemented the VoIP system at GlobeCall. PL Tecnologia has a business unit exclusively focused in IP telephony.
Related Channels: VoIP, Switching & Routing

BT's 21CN is gathering momentum with equipment from Huawei, Fujitsu, Cisco, Ericsson, Siemens and Juniper
BT's transformation of its network to deliver the next generation of communications services took a major step forward with more than 23 million customer calls successfully carried over the IP based trial network.
In this latest trial stage of the 21st Century Network (21CN) programme, more than 625,000 live customer calls are currently being handled every day.
The trial involves the use of an IP link to carry voice calls between two major network nodes at Cambridge and Woolwich. Calls are carried using IP packet technology rather than the circuit switched technology used on the traditional analogue telephone network.
The success of the trial represents a significant step towards the creation of BT’s next generation network. It builds on the previous trial which ran from October to December 2005 where fourteen million calls were successfully carried on the IP network and voice quality monitoring carried out.
Equipment upgrades are bringing the trial network closer to the ultimate 21CN design that will be rolled out across the UK. Multi service access nodes or MSANs from Huawei and Fujitsu are already in use, carrying voice services onto the core network from trial customer lines. This equipment is being installed at 18 exchanges in South East London, Kent and East Anglia.
For this stage of the trial, BT has also newly introduced Cisco’s media gateway; Ericsson’s call server and a Cisco Catalyst Switch. Other key technology components are Alcatel’s LAN switch and Siemens/Juniper routers used in a previous 21CN voice trial.
Deb Covey, managing director, BT Wholesale Networks said: “21CN is gathering momentum as we head towards the start of customer lines being switched to the new network in South Wales in November. We are working with the rest of the industry to finalise the UK rollout plan. It’s full steam ahead as we prepare sites across the country for equipment to be installed this summer.”
Related Channels: VoIP, Video, Switching & Routing

China Telecom Jiangsu picks Alcatel's IP routers
Alcatel Tuesday announced that Jiangsu Telecom, a subsidiary of China Telecom, has selected Alcatel's IP service routing solution to expand and optimize its metropolitan area network and broaden its IP-based data service portfolio. The Alcatel solution will enable Jiangsu Telecom to offer faster, highly reliable, and premium data services for consumers and enterprises across Jiangsu Province. The contract was won through Alcatel Shanghai Bell, Alcatel's flagship Chinese company.
Jiangsu Telecom will deploy the Alcatel 7750 Service Router (SR) in the province's four major cities, Nanjing, Wuxi, Yangzhou and Zhenjiang, where they anticipate fast-paced growth in demand from the consumer and business markets for advanced user-centric broadband services.
Upon completion of the project by the end of this year, Jiangsu Telecom will be able to deliver multiple services from a single IP network infrastructure, and with the Quality of Service (QoS) required to meet strict Service Level Agreements. Services include high speed Internet access for residential users as well as Layer 2 and 3 virtual private network (VPN) services for enterprises.
"This contract establishes Alcatel as the leading IP supplier to Jiangsu Telecom," said Gerard Dega, President of Alcatel Shanghai Bell. "The Alcatel IP solution has the capability to ensure non-stop service delivery which is critical to meet today's stringent market expectations. It also accelerates time to market through rapid service provisioning, ensuring service providers can move quickly to capture new market opportunities."
Related Channels: Switching & Routing, xDSL, VPN, China

Video switching software and equipment developer SteelBox grabs $10 M
SteelBox Networks, Inc., an Atlanta-based developer of video switching software and equipment has received $10,000,000 in venture funding from Sierra Ventures of Menlo Park, California and existing investors. SteelBox's initial market focus centers on intelligent switching, storage and high speed access for large scale video surveillance applications and networks.
"We have high hopes for SteelBox Networks," said Sierra Venture Partner, Mike Scanlin. "The SteelBox team has developed a superior product that enables hundreds of video streams per system, compared to the tens of streams that competing products offer. Plus, the SteelBox solution can expand to support thousands of streams with storage capacity into the petabytes. Such high density gives SteelBox unmatched price/performance in the network video switching and recording space for large-scale video surveillance projects."
"Sierra's investment will help us in several ways," said SteelBox founder and CEO, Richard Howes. "First, we will be able to expand our operations to help meet product development and manufacturing goals for the strong demand we are already seeing in the surveillance market. More importantly, Sierra brings with it the business contacts and corporate relationships that will facilitate rapid growth in the surveillance market, as well as expansion into follow-on markets to capitalize on the broader video revolution.
Related Channels: Video, Switching & Routing, Storage, Security, Funding

China TieTong deploys Caspian Media Controllers
Caspian, the leading provider of multimedia traffic control solutions for IP and multi-protocol label switching (MPLS) networks, today 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, Switching & Routing, Ethernet

Broadwing picks Infinera
Broadwing Corporation has selected Infinera's DTN optical system to enhance its leading-edge optical network. The Infinera DTN optical platform is the first telecommunications system based on photonic integrated circuits (PICs). It combines the scalability of Dense Wave Division Multiplexing (DWDM) with the flexibility of digital switching and power of GMPLS service intelligence.
The Infinera DTN will enable Broadwing to deploy a robust platform to meet customers' current and future service needs without requiring costly or operationally disruptive upgrades. Infinera's Digital Optical Networking will enable Broadwing to offer managed wavelength services to more cities in their nationwide network while benefiting from the economics of an architecture that combines transport and flexible switching in a single platform. It also will facilitate many new service capabilities, including:
-- Path to future 40Gb/s OC-768/STM-256 services
-- Gigabit Ethernet Private line Service without a separate SONET layer
-- Future protected wavelength services up to 50ms plus full bit-transparency
-- 10 Gigabit Ethernet LAN PHY
In addition, Infinera is licensing key Corvis intellectual property including Raman amplification.
Related Channels: WDM, Photonics, Switching & Routing, Ethernet

SEKO Worldwide picks Broadwing's MPLS VPN
SEKO Worldwide, a global freight transportation and logistics provider, has chosen Broadwing to provide a comprehensive suite of business-critical communications services that include a corporate MPLS virtual private network (VPN) with Internet access, collocation facilities and remote data protection for disaster recovery.
"By using the latest technology to make information easy to access, SEKO will continue to serve its customers with the best possible solutions," said Scott Widham, co-CEO of Broadwing. "We are proud to enable SEKO in their continued efforts to provide innovative, first-class transportation services."
Related Channels: Switching & Routing, VPN

Huawei has broad product portfolio to meet needs for convergence
Recently, global telecom companies have been increasingly merging their businesses to meet the needs for convergence, such as the recent Nokia-Siemens deal, the Alcatel-Lucent deal, the Cisco-Scientific Atlantic deal and the earlier Ericsson-Marconi deal.
However, Huawei is not worried because it had anticipated the convergence trend early and already prepared with a very broad product portfolio. Huawei, established 18 years ago, is offering a broad product portfolio including wireless, fixed-line, IP, optical and data networks, applications and software for value-added services and handsets and wireless terminals.
Huawei's telecoms equipment have already been sold in more than a 100 countries and serve 28 of the world's top 50 operators.
Related Channels: China, Wireless, VoIP, Video, FTTP, Ethernet, OSS/BSS, Security, VPN,  Switching & Routing, WDM, xDSL, Cable MSO, SDH/SONET

etisalat picks Juniper routers for triple play
Juniper Networks, Inc. announced that etisalat in the United Arab Emirates has deployed Juniper Networks E- and M-series routers for its next generation, multiservice network. The Juniper routers will enable etisalat to reliably and efficiently support current and next-generation voice, video and data communications services for over five million customers in the United Arab Emirates.
etisalat is one of the UAE's leading telecommunications providers, and previously installed Juniper M-series routers to support its Internet backbone and international exchange points. With the addition of Juniper's E-series Broadband Services Routers and M320 routers, etisalat has created one of the first true multiservice network cores in the Middle East. The converged IP/MPLS architecture provides a scalable, intelligent network, enabling etisalat to deliver new Triple Play services such as IPTV, while supporting existing Internet, ATM, Frame Relay and mobile IP services.
The Juniper routers support a wide range of advanced service offerings, including video on demand, MPLS VPNs and Virtual Private LAN Services (VPLS).
Related Channels: Switching & Routing, Video, VPN

Juniper launches mid-range multiservice edge router
California-based Juniper Networks announced its next-generation, mid-range, 10 Gigabit-enabled multiservice edge router. With advanced applications driving a more comprehensive set of sophisticated requirements at the edge, Juniper is delivering the M120, the industry's most feature-rich and scalable multiservice edge routing platform. As the newest addition to Juniper's M-series product family, which has contributed over $2.5B to date in revenue with over 25,000 units deployed worldwide, the M120 offers unique architectural innovations and superior redundancy, interface scalability and performance.
The M120 Multiservice Edge Router offers 10 Gigabit density with a flexible and cost-effective service configuration that enables traditional and mobile telecommunications providers, cable operators and large enterprises to more efficiently migrate to next-generation, converged IP business and residential services. The M120 utilizes the same JUNOS software that is deployed today in the world's leading service provider networks.
Related Channels: Switching & Routing

Alcatel reinforces IP leadership with high-availability extensions for IPv6
Alcatel announced that its industry-leading IP portfolio has extended its rich highly-available feature set to include support for non-stop IPv6 routing. Alcatel is unique in the industry in offering non-stop IPv4 and non-stop IPv6 routing, supported on both the Alcatel 7750 Service Router (SR) and the Alcatel 7670 Routing Switch Platform (RSP). As a result, fixed and mobile service providers who deploy an Alcatel IP solution are able to future-proof their networks to meet the continued growth in demand for IP-based applications and services.
"We have seen very positive feedback from service providers for our high-availability solutions for IPv4," said Basil Alwan, president of Alcatel's IP activities. "By extending these capabilities and integrated network and service management tools to support IPv6 on both the Alcatel 7750 SR and Alcatel 7670 RSP, we are continuing to set the pace for IP innovation. As service providers begin the migration from IPv4 to IPv6, Alcatel provides industry-leading solutions that allow them to grow their networks with enhanced reliability."
Additionally, the Alcatel 7750 SR and Alcatel 7670 RSP have achieved IPv6 certification following independent testing by the University of New Hampshire Interoperability Laboratory (UNH-IOL). Both products are "IPv6 Ready" as defined by the IPv6 Forum. As service providers begin to roll out new services that require IPv6, it is essential that the implementation not only conforms to industry specifications but also delivers the highest levels of network availability.
"Service providers are preparing and testing their IP infrastructures to deliver new services," said Erica Williamsen, IP Manager, UNH-IOL. "The infrastructure installed today will be in place for many years to come, so service providers want to ensure an optimized lifespan for their capital expenditures. Certification of the Alcatel 7750 SR and 7670 RSP, and the assignation of the IPv6 Ready logo, shows that both products include IPv6 mandatory core protocols and can interoperate with other IPv6 equipment."
Worldwide, Alcatel's IP portfolio has been selected by more than 130 service providers in 55 countries, including massive, multi-year IP network and service transformation projects at AT&T, BT, Telstra and China Telecom. According to Synergy Research Group, Alcatel is #2 in the Services Edge Router category in Q1 2006, with 18% market share, following four consecutive quarters of market share gain.
Related Channels: Switching & Routing

Chunghwa Telecom tests Caspian Media Controllers
Caspian, the leading provider of multimedia traffic control solutions for IP and multi-protocol label switching (MPLS) networks, announced that Chunghwa Telecom Co. Ltd., the largest integrated telecommunications operator in Taiwan, is testing Caspian Media Controllers for deployment in its new all-IP network. Applications currently running over the Media Controllers at Chunghwa's Telecommunications Lab include video, voice over IP (VoIP), gaming, MPLS integration and IP virtual private networks (VPNs). The Caspian solution will provide IP flow control in the aggregation layer of Chunghwa's network for guaranteeing quality of service (QoS) levels and ensuring a rich multimedia experience for its large subscriber base.
Chunghwa Telecom offers a full suite of telecommunications services, with fixed, GSM and data networks throughout Taiwan and offshore islands. Chunghwa recently announced its intention to invest up to $4 billion dollars to upgrade its current network to an all-IP network infrastructure for its 20-plus million subscribers. With an emphasis on IP multimedia entertainment, Chunghwa selected Caspian Media Controllers to optimize its IP services while minimizing the cost associated with the additional demands for guaranteed bandwidth.
"Chunghwa Telecom has taken a major step in accelerating the evolution of IP networking with its goal to invest in an all-IP network," said Brad Wurtz, Caspian president and chief executive officer. "We look forward to participating in Chunghwa's innovative process as it raises the bar for multimedia Internet communications."
Related Channels: Video, VoIP, VPN, Switching & Routing

Tony Scarfo joins ECI from Juniper
ECI Telecom announced the appointment of Tony Scarfo as Executive Vice President and General Manager of its Data Networking Division, formerly Laurel Networks. Scarfo will be reporting directly to ECI's President and CEO, Rafi Maor.
Scarfo brings to ECI over 24 years of experience in the access, optical and data telecommunications industry. Prior to joining ECI, he served as Vice President, Global Alliances and Partnerships, at Juniper Networks. Scarfo joined Juniper through its acquisition of Unisphere Networks, where he was Vice President of Marketing. Scarfo also spent a significant portion of his career at Lucent Technologies, as Vice President of several divisions including 3G Wireless, Strategic Marketing and Solutions Development. He holds a Masters of Business Administration from Seton Hall University and a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science from Manhattan College.
Related Channels: Video, xDSL, Switching & Routing

China Netcom selects Alcatel's service router for triple play in Shanxi and Shandong
Alcatel announced that Shandong and Shanxi Netcom, two subsidiaries of China Netcom, have selected Alcatel's IP solution to expand and optimize their metropolitan networks across the Shandong and Shanxi provinces and broaden their IP-based data service portfolio. The Alcatel solution will enable the two service providers to offer triple play services, including voice, data and video, as well as faster, highly reliable Internet access services for consumers and enterprises. The two contracts were won through Alcatel Shanghai Bell, Alcatel's flagship Chinese company.
Under the terms of the contracts, Alcatel will deploy its industry-leading 7750 Service Router (SR) in Qingdao, the major city in Shandong Province, and in Changzhi and Jincheng in Shanxi province. Upon completion of the projects in August 2006, residential customers of Shandong Netcom and Shanxi Netcom can enjoy high quality triple play and advanced Internet access services. Enterprise users will also have access to Service Level Agreement (SLA)-based networking services like Layer 2 Virtual Private LAN service (VPLS) and Layer 3 virtual private networks (VPN), which are provided with IP/MPLS Quality of Service.
Related Channels: China, Switching & Routing, VoIP, Video, VPN

Switch chipset maker Immenstar touts dual mode GPON/EPON
The world's first dual mode GPON/EPON solution will follow hard on the heels of ImmenStar's May launch of the industry's first fully integrated high density EPON switch chipset. The Turandot dual G/EPON solution, announced for planned roll-out early in Q1 2007, will offer system developers significant time and cost savings by permitting unified design and development processes across both EPON and GPON implementations - while exploiting the full benefits of ImmenStar's breakthrough switching technology, programmable traffic engineering and highly integrated software.
"The cost saving to be made using Turandot G/EPON solutions is obvious" according to John Wuu, Immenstar President and CEO. "Using the same basic hardware and software API will dramatically reduce system vendors' development time and cost for both markets. The Turandot G/EPON switch chip set will also allow system vendors to migrate their deployed EPON system to new GPON deployment in far shorter timescales if their carrier customers plan to migrate or use both technologies eventually."
Related Channels: FTTP, Chipsets, Switching & Routing

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: Ethernet, Switching & Routing, VoIP, China

Cantata appoints Andy Bezaitis as Business Development SVP
Cantata Technology announced the appointment of Andrew "Andy" Bezaitis to the position of senior vice president, business development.
Effective immediately, Mr. Bezaitis will lead all Cantata business development and strategic partner initiatives, with an emphasis on establishing mutually beneficial relationships with industry-leading organizations in the carrier and enterprise markets.
Cantata Technology was established in 2006 through the combination of Excel Switching Corporation and Brooktrout Technology.
Prior to joining Cantata, Mr. Bezaitis served as founder and chief executive officer of Apopleo, Inc., a Chicago-based consultancy that specializes in simplifying the deployment and management of IP networks and services for enterprise customers and service providers. Mr. Bezaitis also served as founder and chief executive officer of Cambia Networks, a firm that developed business- critical wireless infrastructure products for the CDMA and GSM marketplace. In addition, Mr. Bezaitis has held senior management positions at 3COM Corporation, Motorola, Inc., RovingIP.net, Inc., and IIT Research Institute.
Mr. Bezaitis has authored several wireless data networking white papers, is a frequent speaker at industry trade events, and regularly provides expert commentary to influential industry publications and journals. A prolific innovator, Mr. Bezaitis has been awarded nine United States patents for various technologies including, but not limited to, mobile Internet protocol (IP), point-to-point protocol (PPP) connection, wireless networking authentication, and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP).
Related Channels: VoIP, Switching & Routing, Appointments

Enigma samples packet switching chipset
Enigma Semiconductor, an emerging technology leader in next-generation switching silicon, is sampling the world's first linearly scalable packet switching chipset. The chipset family, which features both packet switches and a range of fabric managers, sets new benchmarks for density, efficiency and flexibility. Based on Enigma's HybriCore architecture, the chipset streamlines time-to-market for OEMs designing next-generation metro access switches and routers, multi-service provisioning platforms (MSPPs), enterprise routers and storage platforms.
Traditional shared-memory architectures offer limited system scalability, while existing cell-based architectures are inherently inefficient. The HybriCore memoryless crossbar switches announced today uniquely address both of these challenges, scaling to support multiple-terabit configurations and switching complete packets across the backplane to eliminate segmentation and reassembly. This scalability and efficiency allows system architects to future-proof their network and communications systems by ensuring that next-generation line cards can be deployed within existing hardware infrastructure platforms.
Related Channels: Chipsets, Switching & Routing, Storage

GoIP picks Centile's IMS VoIP Applications Platform
France-based Centile, the leading global Application Software vendor for VoIP, fixed-mobile and multimedia networks, announced that GoIP International, a global Danish provider of advanced communications solutions, has selected Centile IntraSwitch, the world’s richest pre IMS VoIP Applications Platform, to deliver Private Label hosted and non hosted VoIP services to its customers worldwide.
Centile IntraSwitch houses both IP Centrex and Residential VoIP solutions on the same platform, enabling GoIP Intern