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Optical Networks Daily 29 January 2002
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Alcatel 'delivers on promise' with 16% leadership of $28bn 2001 optical transport market
Announced Date: 1/28/2002
Alcatel issued an announcement quoting an RHK study, which claimed that in 2001 Alcatel had achieved leading position in the global optical transport market with a 16% share of an estimated $28 billion market, including terrestrial and submarine applications and DWDM, optical networking, SDH/SONET and cross-connect technologies.
Alcatel commented that although its major strength was in the submarine sector, this achievement had been driven by success in the terrestrial sector. During 2001 Alcatel had served over 500 separate optical customers and had registered significant market share gains in SDH and DWDM technologies around the world. Alcatel also said that during 2001, it had strengthened a lead in Europe and Latin America, increased its presence in Asia-Pacific and made "a breakthrough in the U.S".
The announcement quoted Christian Reinaudo, president of Alcatel's optics activities, as saying that at the end of 2000, his group had announced that its optical networking business would be driven by terrestrial activities in 2001, and had now delivered on that promise.
COMMENT AND ANALYSIS
Today's theme appears to be the recovery of European telecommunications equipment suppliers, which for many years had been accustomed to global leadership, particularly in the third world, where U.S. suppliers were barely seen. However these suppliers were knocked off their perch by the explosion in data communications and optical systems within the U.S. market, and have for the last decade been scrambling to get back into contention.
Alcatel, a company that most Americans in the industry would probably have had difficulty recognising let alone characterising 10 years ago, is now, at least according to RHK's bean counting for 2001, the world leader in a $28 billion global optical transport market. The result was not as difficult to achieve as might have been thought, given Alcatel's extremely strong position in submarine, requiring only a moderate improvement in the terrestrial sector to take it clear. The company has continued to do exceptionally well in the third world, where Ericsson's problems and limited investment on the wireline side have left a substantial supplier gap in many countries in which for many years Ericsson's AXE system was a totally dominating factor.
In particular Alcatel has been courageous in China, where it would now appear to be by far the best politically placed supplier on the wireline side.
On the other hand, a sixth of the optical transport market is a strong but not unassailable position, and though the company may technically be the leader it is more a question of being "primus inter pares" than any question of dominance.
More interesting in a way, because of the rate of change, has been the case of Siemens' Unisphere spinoff, which has come from nowhere over 12-18 months to take what seems to be a leadership position in the edge router business with its ERX 700 and 1400 routers, whose market entry appears to have been perfectly timed. Siemens is already claiming over 150 customers, which for a young product seems a pretty remarkable achievement. Siemens clearly hopes to hammer home its already substantial lead in this emerging sector with the multiservice MRX.
Alcatel itself, which acquired substantial routing expertise when it acquired Newbridge Networks for what appeared a trivial sum at the time (though more reasonable following the general collapse of values) has not done badly either in the router business, though starting from a low level.
Following the collapse in sales levels at Lucent and Nortel, Alcatel can now once again claim to be the largest telecommunications equipment supplier in the world (excluding Nokia, still majorly dependent on its mobile handset sales), a position it held by a smaller margin over a decade ago.
Global Crossing in Chapter 11, selling for $750m to Hutchison Whampoa + S'pore Tech
Announced Date: 1/28/2002
Global operator Global Crossing, of Hamilton, Bermuda, announced that the company had started a reconstruction of its business involving the following: Filing by Global Crossing and certain of its affiliates of Chapter 11 cases in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, and coordinated proceedings in the Supreme Court of Bermuda. Signing of a letter of intent with Hutchison Whampoa Limited and Singapore Technologies Telemedia Pte. Ltd. for a $750 million cash investment for a joint majority stake in the company's equity, in connection with a restructuring of the company's balance sheet. Requirement for confirmation of a plan of reorganization by the courts before the end of August 2002. Sharing by creditors of a combination of cash, new debt, and new equity in the restructured company. Non-participation in the new capital structure by existing common equity and preferred shareholders.
The Global Crossing announcement noted that the $10 billion sales level Hong Kong conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa and Singapore Technologies Telemedia already had business relationships with Global Crossing and its affiliates via: Asia Global Crossing and Hutchison Whampoa each owning 50% of Hutchison Global Crossing, a telecommunications service provider in Hong Kong, providing fixed-line, Internet and data services. Asia Global Crossing and a subsidiary of Singapore Technologies Telemedia each owning 50% of StarHub Crossing, the owner and operator of a high capacity backhaul network in Singapore.
The Global Crossing announcement quoted John Legere, CEO of Global Crossing, as saying: The new equity investment from parties as strong as Hutchison Whampoa and Singapore Technologies Telemedia validated the company's confidence in its future and, in combination with other financial and operational restructuring, would strengthen its balance sheet and enable Global Crossing to build a sustainable business upon its existing global network. With the restructuring, Global Crossing still believed it could become the global leader providing networking services among the world's top 200 cities to global enterprises and carriers. Business would continue as usual during the restructuring process, and employees would continue to be paid their wages and other benefits without interruption. Worldwide operations would be unaffected by the filing and customers would not experience any changes in their service. This was a balance sheet issue, not an operational one. Despite the company's situation, customers had continued to choose the network over many others. Hutchison Whampoa and Singapore Technologies Telemedia would bring considerable financial resources and business acumen, adding significant value to Global Crossing's prospects.
NB: Singapore Technologies Telemedia is a subsidiary of the Singapore Technologies group, which provides fixed and mobile telecom services, wireless data communications services, Internet mobile services, global IP network services, managed hosting services, satellite services, broadband cable and e-business software development services.
COMMENT AND ANALYSIS
If one wanted a good definition of chutzpa, the impression given by John Legere, CEO of Global Crossing, that the restructuring of his company was only "a balance sheet issue and not an operational one" must be a fair candidate!
This collapse was after all reported by Reuters as being the fourth largest corporate failure in the U.S. - after Enron Corp, Texaco and the Financial Corp of America. The collapse will result in Hutchison Whampoa and Singapore Technologies Telemedia acquiring 70-80% of Global Crossing for $750 million, a company on whom many billions of real dollars have been spent.
The argument that capitalization is an irrelevancy can always be maintained in the short term and of course, in Global Crossing's case, where so much of its operational network has already been built, there is a small amount of meaningfulness in the statement.
Nonetheless, with the company having been perhaps given a second chance (providing the structure of the deal stays together until August 2002), Legere would do well to file that statement with his sandwich-wrappings and stay away from parties to which the company's existing common and preferred shareholders, including founder and Chairman Gary Winnick, have been invited - since they will get nothing out of the deal.
Indeed he might also do well to stay away from parties where any of the company's unsecured creditors, including Lucent Technologies, Alcatel, BellSouth and Verizon Communications - which together with several others are said to be owed $220 million - might also be invited. In fact we would suggest he leads a fairly private life for the next 18 months or so.
The $750 million itself is likely to be hotly contested over the next few months by all the interested parties, but what seems fairly unclear at the moment is how much actual spending money the CEO is likely to get out of his new investors, or indeed what their strategy is. Do they intend to proceed, as seems to be being suggested, to complete the original masterplan which will surely still cost quite a bit more to execute to profitability? Or, given the right moment, are they likely to sell off some of the assets to recoup part or all of their investment?
Given the uniqueness of the Global Crossing assets and relative cheapness, some analysts are believed to be expecting the possibility of one or more counterbids from any of several existing major regional telcos with global ambitions, such as WorldCom, SBC Communications or Deutsche Telekom. The world is overpopulated with such carriers, and maybe 50% of them will probably not be in existence in 10 years time. There is likely to be few chances for them to acquire another global network of this size and quality.
However both the current bidders have a degree of advantage in the bids, due to their existing relationship and familiarity with the company.
22-month old optical interconnection specialist Xanoptix gets round two $40m for cumulative $70m
Announced Date: 1/28/2002
March 2000 founded Xanoptix, of Merrimack, New Hampshire, a developer of high-speed optical connection products for data links and optical communication applications in datacomms, telecoms and computing, announced that it had closed its second round of funding, totalling $40 million in new equity financing.
The round was led by MMC Capital, together with additional key investors William Blair Capital Partners, EuclidSR Partners, Envest Entrepreneurial Investments, Optical Partners LLC, and Corning Innovation Ventures. The announcement said the round brought the company's cumulative funding to $70 million, and the funds would be used to expand Xanoptix's XTM series of optical interconnect products and further develop its innovative optically enabled integrated circuit technology.
The announcement quoted a research analyst as saying that optical interconnects were expected to become key enablers in high performance computing, data storage, and telecommunications equipment.
Unisphere Networks intros 'industry first' multi-service edge router aimed at incumbents
Announced Date: 1/28/2002
Siemens spinoff Unisphere Networks, of Westford, MA, a supplier of IP infrastructure to enable broadband data and voice services, and specialising in edge routing, announced the introduction and immediate availability of the MRX, which the Unisphere announcement described as "the industry's first multi-service edge router". The company said the MRX was designed to meet the multi-service requirements at the edge of service provider networks by integrating carrier-class IP routing, native ATM switching, MPLS and IP services, all in a single platform. Capacity can be scaled from 40 Gbit/s to 320 Gbit/s.
The Unisphere announcement claimed that with a wide range of optical interfaces from OC-3 to OC-48 and GBE, powered by a field-proven OS, the MRX provided the ability to mix and match port speeds, and for the first time, mix and match native ATM, POS and MPLS protocols on a single line module - a unique any service, any port, any channel capability which Unisphere said made the MRX a more cost-effective choice for incumbent service provider networks that require both ATM and IP functionality. Unisphere said the capacity and service delivery of the MRX could be used in a number of service provider edge applications, such as circuit aggregation and MANs, where GBE was the transport option of choice.
The Unisphere Networks announcement quoted James Dolce, president and CEO, as saying the company had designed the MRX to meet the evolving edge requirements of incumbent service providers around the world, and added that the MRX combined IP routing and ATM switching capabilities in a single, integrated product, which enabled service providers to expand their service portfolios across both ATM-based and IP-based networks with a platform that provided a migration path to a common IP-based network.
Velio + W. L. Gore extend reach of 2.5 Gbit/s copper backplanes for optical switches by 4X
Announced Date: 1/28/2002
$95 million funded Velio Communications, of Milpitas, California, a supplier of high bandwidth, low power semiconductors for intra-system communications in optical carrier equipment, announced that it has partnered with 43 year old, $1 billion sales level, W. L. Gore & Associates, of Delaware, to develop electrical backplane extensions for 2.5 Gbit/s traffic that exceeded 20 meters - a fourfold increase in the distance previously possible with copper cable.
The announcement said the distance increase would enable optical switch manufacturers to build lower cost switching systems, since electrical extensions were cheaper than optical extensions for shelf-to-shelf and cabinet-to-cabinet connections. The Velio announcement noted that as multi-terabit class OC-48, OC-192 and OC-768 switches required hundreds of 10 Gbit/s line cards to feed optical data, which was then transmitted across a system backplane as 2.5 Gbit/s traffic, a single chassis was no longer large enough to contain a single switching system, requiring either electrical or optical backplane interconnection between cabinets.
W.L.Gore describes itself as a provider of high technology solutions for electronic, industrial, medical and fabric applications, including high data rate cable assemblies.
Nortel's two new Optical Ethernet products + enhancements aim to reduce cost + simplify deployment
Announced Date: 1/28/2002
Nortel Networks announced several new products and software enhancements for its Optical Metro portfolio, which are designed, the announcement said, to reduce operating costs up to 60% and to speed Optical Ethernet deployments worldwide, including specifically enabling carriers to deploy and manage new revenue-generating metro services such as VoIP, VPNs, storage networking and streaming media, on a wide scale across all types of Ethernet networks.
As background to the announcement Nortel quoted from a study by McKinsey and Goldman Sachs, which argued that given the rapid expected growth of data traffic demand over the next few years, unless service providers were able to reduce operational expenses by 25-30% per bit carried for each year through 2005, no reasonable amount of capital expense reductions would allow them to meet targeted return on invested capital.
To help service providers meet this challenge and to encourage wide scale deployment of metro Ethernet services, Nortel said it was introducing two new products: OPTera Metro 1200 Ethernet Services Module (available in March 2002): described as a new class of Optical Ethernet edge device designed specifically to allow service providers to provision Ethernet services to multiple enterprises up to 10 times faster than previously available, while enabling end-to-end QoS guarantees and also reducing support requirements by reducing complexity. OPTera Metro 8000 Services Switch (available in second quarter 2002): to serve as an entry point into the service providers' core metro networks using standards-based Layer 2 MPLS software. Nortel said that it would provide all of the inherent benefits of MPLS, and would enable carriers to cost-effectively scale metro Ethernet networks to tens of thousands of enterprise customers per city.
The Nortel announcement also said that to increase the differentiation of its Optical Ethernet solution, it had enhanced the OPTera Metro 3500 Multiservice Platform, a new SONET device, to enable service providers to offer consistent services and end-to-end service guarantees over different, but fully interoperable, metro networks including Ethernet over Resilient Packet Ring (RPR), Ethernet over DWDM and Ethernet over fibre. Nortel said it had also increased the scalability of Ethernet over RPR solutions by 12 times.
Nortel additionally had enhanced its Preside Ethernet Provisioning platform to provide complete, fully automated provisioning of new services end-to-end, a capability which Nortel claimed was an "industry-first" and which it claimed would position service providers to reduce operational costs and improve time-to-revenue for new services.
In further support of its moves, the Nortel announcement also quoted Tom Hope, CTO of Bell Canada, which Nortel noted had been the first service provider to deploy an Optical Ethernet solution, supplied by Nortel, as saying that over 450 large business customers in Canada were using several thousand Ethernet circuits and that GBE, which offered more bandwidth, less complexity and better acceptance in the market, was "a key element of our data strategy".
StockerYale intros holographic recorded diffraction gratings for muxes, tunable lasers, etc
Announced Date: 1/28/2002
StockerYale, of Salem, New Hampshire, announced the availability of a new line of customer-designable holographically recorded diffraction gratings for the telecommunications industry, primarily designed for use in multiplexers, demultiplexers, optical spectrum analyzers, and tunable lasers. The announcement claimed the gratings provided extremely low stray light, low insertion loss and excellent channel-to-channel uniformity.
The StockerYale announcement noted that holographic technology permitted low stray light gratings of small periods and could manufacture relatively large diffraction gratings, (several inches long), as quickly and just as easily as smaller gratings (several millimetres long). Holographic technology was also perfectly suited for the simultaneous and rapid fabrication of many small gratings.
Alain Beauregard, president and CTO, said that StockerYale had been involved in holographic diffraction grating technology for telecom applications since 1985, when Lasiris Inc., now StockerYale Canada, was founded.
StockerYale is a $20 million sales level company that describes itself as an independent designer and manufacturer of phase masks, specialty optical fibre and related components.
NuVox places $7.8m IAD order with VINA for T1-based SME bundled services
Announced Date: 1/28/2002
1996-founded VINA Technologies, of Newark, California, describing itself as a supplier of protocol-independent multi-service metro access solutions, announced that facilities-based NuVox Communications, of Chesterfield, Missouri, an ICP with whom VINA said it had been doing business since February 2000, had placed a $7.8 million order for VINA's IADs to support the continued growth in demand for NuVox's T-1 based integrated communications services.
The VINA announcement quoted Gartner Group VP of telecommunications Kathie Hackler as saying that "despite the hype", DSL IADs had not lived up to their promise of delivering high bandwidth service at a low cost for the majority of small businesses, because many of the large carriers were reluctant to introduce more complexity into their networks and their operational support systems by implementing integrated voice over DSL. Hackler said that T1 was a tried and true serving strategy, and claimed that as prices continued to decline T1 was "becoming the preferred access mode for the small and medium business market".
The VINA announcement also quoted NuVox Communications chairman/CEO David Solomon as saying that his company's early recognition that the customer was better served through a T1-based integrated approach using VINA's IAD, because it allowed the bundling of core communications products as a single offering at a cost less than the sum of the parts, had directly resulted in the company's 133% increase in revenues during 2001, and the growth of on-net lines in service to 136,456 small businesses, a 294% increase for the year 2001.
VINA's solutions enable communications service providers to migrate from existing technologies, such as TDM, to emerging technologies, such as ATM or IP, on one open, scalable platform. By converging voice and data on existing network infrastructures, service providers are quickly able to implement new value-added services and cut operational costs. VINA claims its recently introduced MBX platform is among the first products in the industry to provide concurrent support for configurable voice and data concentration on a single platform at the metro edge.
NuVox offers SMEs, businesses and other end-users dedicated high-speed Internet access, web page design, development, and hosting, local and long distance telephone services and unified voice, e-mail, and fax messaging, as well as advanced data services.
Borough of Kutztown in PA to deploy Optical Solutions' FiberPath 400 all-optic network
Announced Date: 1/28/2002
Optical Solutions Inc, of Minneapolis, which supplies its patented FiberPath 400 FTTH solution, announced that the Borough of Kutztown in Pennsylvania, 40 km west of Allentown, the provider of electric, water, wastewater treatment, solid waste collection and recycling services, had elected to deploy an Optical Solutions' FiberPath 400 all-optic network to drive economic development by providing homes, businesses and off-campus university housing units with voice, video and data services.
The network will be installed by Atlantic Engineering, in conjunction with Optical Solutions, and will be able to deliver high-speed data services up to 100 Mbit/s. The network will provide voice services via an agreement with a local independent telco and also for delivery of data collected from a planned automated meter reading system. Other potential services include VoIP, home and business security monitoring, audio advertising, VOD, VPN, online customer service and smart home applications.
Optical Solutions quoted Keith Hill, Kutztown Borough Manager/Treasurer, as saying that the municipality expected the network to meet the growing broadband needs of its customers, to help attract new businesses that required advanced voice, video and data services, and, in particular, to help ensure proper planning and provide economic development incentives to attract commercial and industrial development along the Route 222 corridor, which he said would be able to supply more revenue, increase jobs and expand the community's tax base.
1-year old network processor co TERAGO claims sector lead via 10 Gbit/s NP
Announced Date: 1/28/2002
TERAGO, of Milpitas, California, announced its existence at the same time as the immediate delivery of the proNP 5010 network processor, which it said was already being designed onto customer line cards, and is a member of the proTERA NP family. The announcement described the device as the industry's first sampled merchant 10 Gbit/s network processor, which it said therefore gave TERAGO the leadership in a general network processor sector which the company noted had been forecast by some analysts to reach $2.1 billion by 2005.
The TERAGO announcement said the company's initial proTERA NP family products would focus on enabling high-growth IP/MPLS applications over 10 Gbit/s Ethernet and SONET, and noted that TERAGO's 10 Gbit/s full duplex traffic manager, the proTM 6020 (also formally announced) would be available in the second quarter of 2002.
TERAGO said the two products used together offered a full duplex traffic management solution with "compelling advantages" for system vendors developing advanced IP/MPLS routers and multi-service provisioning platforms for core metro and edge aggregation applications. The proNP 5010 and the TERA-SIS software toolkit provided customers the ability to implement their feature set at wire-speed while delivering significant reduction in development costs, size and power requirements.
TERAGO is a privately held company founded in January 2000 by Hemant Trivedi, Scott Sarkinen (Vice President of System Services), and Jerry Meyer (Vice President of Chip Development). It has received venture funding from Signal Lake Venture Fund and Charter Venture Capital.
Alacritech, Hitachi Data, Nishan achieve wire-speed iSCSI on a single GBE link, 'a year early'
Announced Date: 1/28/2002
Alacritech, of San Jose, Hitachi Data Systems, of Santa Clara, and Nishan Systems, of San Jose, collectively announced that they had achieved wire-speed iSCSI (Internet SCSI) throughput on a single GBE connection, claiming that they had beaten industry expectations (that high-speed iSCSI products would be released by the end of 2002), by a year, shipping in 2001 full wire-speed iSCSI products in proven SAN configurations.
The joint announcement said that the three companies had demonstrated iSCSI performance by connecting a server with an Alacritech Gigabit Ethernet server and storage accelerator via a single GBE link to a Nishan IP storage switch, itself connected, in turn, to a Hitachi Freedom storage system. The companies claimed that Alacritech's server and storage accelerator had maximized the sustained rate of iSCSI data at over 219 Megabytes per second with less than eight percent CPU utilization, whilst the Nishan IP storage switch provided wire-speed conversion from iSCSI to the Fibre Channel storage system.
The announcement noted that the most important business benefit of the iSCSI transport protocol was its ability to leverage existing IP infrastructures and IT staff knowledge when shifting from direct-attached storage to the more cost-effective and manageable SANs, since iSCSI instantly transformed a shared or dedicated IP network into a SAN, clearly demonstrating the convergence of storage and networking.
Alacritech, a voting member of the Storage Networking Industry Association (SNIA) and a founding member of the SNIA IP Storage Forum, describes itself as the innovator of accelerator solutions that enable fast and efficient servers and storage systems, based on the company's patented SLIC (session-layer interface card) technology. Optimization of the performance of servers, network-attached storage (NAS) and iSCSI storage devices is achieved by using SLIC technology to remove the burden of TCP/IP and iSCSI networking protocol processing from the host processor.
2,600 employee Hitachi Data Systems is a wholly owned subsidiary of Hitachi Ltd and a supplier of storage hardware, software, solutions and services, carrying out business in the public and private sectors in 170 countries. Hitachi Data Systems says its customers include more than 50% of Fortune 100 companies, and all of the major storage service providers. It describes its switch-based architecture as uniquely designed to meet the performance demands of high-speed storage networks and fundamental to the company's SAN solutions.
Nishan Systems describes itself as the world's first supplier of native IP storage solutions, building open storage networking products based on IP and Ethernet. Nishan's Multiprotocol Storage framework supports iSCSI, iFCP, FCIP, iSNS, Fibre Channel, SCSI, and all types of NAS interfaces. Its IP storage switches, Nishan says, support FC switching, GBE switching, and wire-speed conversion between the two, with each interface configurable to support iSCSI end systems, FC end systems, or FC SANs, whilst also able to support, via iSCSI or iFCP, remote storage links of any distance across high-speed IP networks. These could be used to connect existing FC SANs through a standard E-Port interface or to build an IP SAN fabric, integrating FC and iSCSI devices with data centre, metro-area or wide-area IP networks.
Teja Tech, developing 'first' NP software development platform, gets $12m for cumulative $21.2m
Announced Date: 1/28/2002
Teja Technologies, of San Jose, a privately held software company which says it is developing the industry's first advanced network processor software development platform, consisting of a Graphical Application Development Environment, Network Processing Operating System run-time, and a library of network application building blocks, announced it had raised $12 million in a second round of venture financing. The round was co-led by RRE Ventures and Viventures, with participation from Teja's previous investors including Blueprint Ventures, Intel Communications Fund, Mayfield and Tallwood Ventures. The new round brings total funding to date to $21.2 million.
Teja said the proceeds from the round would be used to help develop next-generation products and expand sales channel and customer support capabilities for Teja's development platform.
The Teja announcement quoted Ken Ross, general partner of RRE Ventures, who claimed that Teja was the only company to deliver an advanced software development platform for network processors.
Sanjay Rao of Viventures and Ken Ross of RRE Ventures have joined Teja's board of directors.
13-month old Octillion, supplying CMOS-based 10 Gbit/s transceiver, adds FPGA/MEMS/SC skills
Announced Date: 1/28/2002
Octillion Communications, of San Jose, a developer of CMOS-based transceivers for broadband communications systems, and founded in December 2000 with initial funding in January 2001, announced the following appointments to its board of directors: Dennis Segers: currently president/CEO of Matrix Semiconductor, which the Octillion announcement described as the first company to commercialize ultra low-cost and highly manufacturable three-dimensional semiconductor products. He was previously SVP/GM of the Advanced Products Group at Xilinx, where he was credited with growing a multi-billion dollar business including the development and introduction of the Virtex family of FPGAs. Dr. G.P. Li: currently a Professor of Electrical Engineering and Director of the Integrated Nanosystems Research Facility at the University of California at Irvine, and prior to that a senior researcher at the IBM T. J. Watson Research Centre. Claimed in the announcement to be the author of over 130 research papers covering semiconductor technologies, bio-MEMS systems and circuit systems.
The Octillion announcement quoted CEO T. J. Lin as saying the additions to the board would "add to the momentum" gained with the recent announcement of the company's CMOS-based 10 Gbit/s transceiver, and also quoted Dennis Segers as saying Octillion's CMOS-based product was "perfectly positioned" to meet the exploding demand for low-power, high-density and cost-effective transceivers.
Marconi using Metalink Hydra SHDSL chipset for Telecom Italia and in German trials
Announced Date: 1/28/2002
Metalink Ltd, of Yakum Business Park in Israel, a fabless semiconductor supplier of high performance broadband access chip sets used by telecommunications and networking equipment makers, announced that global communications solutions supplier Marconi was using Metalink's SHDSL Hydra chipset. Metalink described the product as an 8-port DSL engine, which along with Metalink's AFE (Analogue Front End), was able to provide an exceptionally high density, low power solution, giving a seamless integration of copper and fibre.
Marconi is using the Hydra chipset to accelerate the deployment of voice and data services over DSL, in the chipset's first network deployment, with the Italian incumbent Telecom Italia. The Metalink announcement quoted Richard Bayley, Marconi's VP of Global Marketing, Access Systems, as saying that Marconi's selection of the Hydra chipset was the result of its quest for a standards based technology to complement both Marconi's Access Hub High Density DSLAM and Marconi's Deep Fibre Distributed Multi-service Platform, while significantly reducing operating costs for global telecom carriers.
Marconi's Access Hub is described as a compact and highly flexible platform which provides operators with a wide variety of solutions based on common modular building blocks, with a single sub rack able to support as many as 576 broadband copper xDSL ports, and also able to act as a hub for wireless or fibre distribution - which Metalink claimed made it one of the highest density and most flexible access solutions on the market today.
Marconi's Deep Fibre Distributed Multi-service Platform is described as a highly integrated platform supporting narrowband residential subscribers, business leased lines and broadband xDSL services, and which provides fibre to the roadside cabinet, remote distribution centre or directly to the business. The addition of SHDSL technology gave the operator flexibility in the provision of high-speed data and voice services using the existing copper infrastructure, from the distributed fibre nodes to the customer.
Metalink claims particular strength in algorithm design and is currently focusing strategically on high growth video deployment and Voice over DSL applications by capitalizing on its claimed strength in VDSL and SHDSL. These technologies provide high-speed symmetric transmission at speeds up to 2.3 Mbit/s over existing twisted copper pairs, enabling data, voice and video to be transmitted over distances never before attained by other types of symmetric DSL technology.
Metalink also claims that in addition to offering excellent spectral compatibility with legacy and new services offered by worldwide telecom carriers across multiple data rates, SHDSL provides superb reach, lower power consumption and higher integration. Metalink claims that as a result of its superior performance, SHDSL is "quickly emerging as the most pragmatic and cutting-edge DSL solution for service providers".
The Metalink announcement also noted that other customer trials of the SHDSL functionality in Marconi's Deep Fibre DMP were currently underway with several operators in Germany.
Optibase names acting CEO Zvi Halperin as President and CFO, Chairman Tom Wyler to head operations for now
Announced Date: 1/29/2002
Optibase has announced changes to its senior management team. Zvi Halperin, who had been acting CEO, has been named president of Optibase and will remain as CFO. In this role, Halperin will be responsible for all financial activities and communications with the investment community and industry.
Tom Wyler, the chairman of the board, will assume operations of the company until it selects a new CEO.
The company also announced the appointment of Rene Montsma as vice president of international sales and the promotion of Adam Schadle to vice president of North and South America sales. Jay Plawner, formerly acting vice president of international sales and vice president of marketing, will retain his vice president of marketing title and focus on the company's marketing and strategic management.
Telcordia Technologies names former Nortel exec Ragui Kamel as Corporate VP and Group President - OSS
Announced Date: 1/29/2002
Telcordia Technologies has named Ragui Kamel as corporate vice president and group president - Operations Support Systems. Kamel will be responsible for the continued growth and development of the OSS Strategic Business Unit based in Piscataway, New Jersey.
In his previous position, Kamel was vice president and general manager of Integrated Network Management and Integrated Network Solutions for Nortel Networks. Prior to this position, he was vice president of Nortel's IP Networks and Applications division where he delivered Nortel's first IP QoS architecture, and the company's first IP telephony call control system.
Kamel has served in numerous leadership roles for several high technology initiatives, and was vice president for Nortel's Global System for Mobile communications product development in France.
Broadwing elects Rick Ellenberger as Chairman, succeeding retiring James Kiggen
Announced Date: 1/29/2002
Broadwing has elected Rick Ellenberger as chairman, succeeding James Kiggen, who has reached the company's mandatory retirement age. Ellenberger will continue to function as CEO. Prior to creating Broadwing from the merger of Cincinnati Bell and IXC Communications, Ellenberger served as president and CEO of Cincinnati Bell.
LINMOR reports Q3 revenue up 82% sequentially to $1.72m for net operating loss of $0.9m or LPS of 1c
Announced Date: 1/29/2002
LINMOR reported revenue for the third quarter was $1.72 million, an increase of 82% over second quarter revenue of $943,453, and similarly, an increase of 82% over third quarter fiscal 2001 revenue of $944,856. It marks the highest quarterly revenue in the company's seven-year history, as well as the third consecutive quarter of double-digit, quarter-over-quarter revenue growth.
Revenue for the first nine months of fiscal 2002 was $3.29 million, a 43% increase over fiscal 2001 nine-month revenue of $2.3 million.
Net operating loss for the quarter was $902,706, compared to $2.1 million for the second quarter, a decrease of 56%. Loss per share was 1 cent this quarter compared to 2 cents in the previous quarter.
Optibase reports Q4 revenues of $7.3m, vs $7.1m in Q3, for pro forma net loss of $1.2m or 10c per share
Announced Date: 1/29/2002
Optibase announced revenues for the fourth quarter of $7.3 million, compared with $7.1 million in the same quarter a year earlier and in the third quarter of 2001.
Pro forma net loss for the fourth quarter, excluding the effects of acquisition-related costs and stock option charges was $1.2 million, or 10 cents per basic and fully diluted share, based on 11.93 million weighted average shares outstanding, compared with pro forma net income of $617,000 or 5 cents per fully diluted share, based on 11.43 million weighted average shares outstanding for the same quarter in 2000.
Sequentially, pro forma net loss, excluding the effects of acquisition-related costs, stock option charges, restructuring costs and other than temporary impairment of financial instruments decreased 37% from $1.9 million, or 16 cents per basic and fully diluted share. This decrease resulted from a slight increase in revenues but mainly from a significant decrease of approximately $1.3 million in operating expenses. These savings are a result of the company's restructuring plan and costs cuts and controls.
Fujitsu reports Q3 sales down 13% to $8.0bn, telecom sales fall 20% to $961m, electronic devices fall 41% to $907m
Announced Date: 1/29/2002
Fujitsu Limited has reported consolidated net sales of $8,021 million for the third quarter of fiscal year 2001, a decline of 13% over the same period in fiscal 2000.
Fujitsu recorded a consolidated operating loss of 45.8 billion yen ($347 million) for the quarter, compared with an operating profit of 7.6 billion yen in third quarter of fiscal 2000.
Consolidated third quarter telecommunications sales were $961 million, a decrease of 20% from the same period in fiscal 2000. In Japan, sales of next-generation IMT-2000 switching and base station systems increased. Overseas, however, Fujitsu was impacted by tightening of investment by telecommunications carriers, particularly in North America. Accordingly, sales of optical transmission systems for North America-based carriers declined precipitously, reducing overall sales for the sector.
Consolidated third quarter sales of electronic devices fell 41% to $907 million. Fujitsu said unprecedented poor conditions in the semiconductor market continued, as a major decline in demand forced continued large-scale inventory and production adjustments. Sales of all key products, including flash memory, logic ICs, SAW filters, and compound semiconductors, were down significantly.
Qwest reports Q4 revenue down 6% to $4.7bn for net loss of $516m, EBITDA declines to $1.6bn from $1.9bn
Announced Date: 1/29/2002
Qwest Communications International reported fourth quarter revenue of $4.7 billion, a 6.3% decline from the same quarter last year. Qwest posted EBITDA of $1.61 billion in the fourth quarter, compared with its earlier forecast of $1.7 billion, and $1.9 billion last year. The company's net loss for the quarter of $516 million, including restructuring costs, amounted to 31 cents per share.
For 2001, Qwest posted revenue of $19.7 billion and net loss of $4 billion, or $2.41 per share. The $4 billion loss was mostly made up of a $3.3 billion write-down in the second quarter of Qwest's stake in KPNQwest.
For the quarter, capital expenditures were $752 million, down from $2.24 billion in the same period last year. For the year, capital expenditures were $8.54 billion compared with $8.99 billion (on a pro forma normalized basis) for 2000.
Qwest said it intends to act on any of several options to cut $1.5 billion to $2 billion from its $25 billion debt load. This could include issuing notes convertible to stock for preferred investors or selling business units such as Qwest Wireless, the QwestDex directory unit, the Qwest Cyber.Solutions on-demand software unit and blocks of phone lines.
Level 3 posts 24.5% fall in Q4 revenue to $326m, expects positive consolidated EBITDA of $10m in Q1
Announced Date: 1/29/2002
Level 3 Communications recorded fourth quarter revenue of $326 million, a decline of 24.5% from the same quarter a year ago but exceeding Level 3's forecast for the quarter.
The company posted a fourth-quarter net loss including write-downs and restructuring charges of $3.3 billion. This compares with last year's fourth quarter net loss of $552 million. Excluding restructuring and impairment charges, discontinued Asian operations, and extraordinary items, the net loss was $475 million or a $1.24 loss per share.
Level 3 reported 2001 revenue of $1.53 billion, an increase of 29.5% from 2000, and a net loss for 2001 of $5 billion compared with $1.5 billion in 2000.
Most of the fourth-quarter loss of $3.3 billion was attributed to a $3.2 billion write-down of the value of its network. Level 3 also posted a $539 million loss from selling its Asian network and a $981 million gain from an equity-for-debt exchange programme.
Level 3 also revealed that it may not hit the revenue target established under the terms of its $1.8 billion senior bank loan, which for this year stands at $2.3 billion in revenue from its telecom operations.
Consolidated EBITDA, excluding stock-based compensation expense, and the $3.2 billion write-down was negative $83 million for the fourth quarter. Excluding one-time charges of $58 million in cash restructuring and impairment charges, consolidated EBITDA was negative $25 million. Consolidated EBITDA was negative $10 million for the prior quarter, and negative $149 million for the same period last year.
Capital expenditures were $173 million for the quarter, declining from $292 million during the third quarter. Total capital expenditures for 2001 were approximately $2.3 billion, approximately $200 million lower than the previously issued projection of $2.7 billion. This reduction in capital expenditures reflects the company's successful implementation of previously announced cost management initiatives.
Level 3 said it expects consolidated EBITDA of positive $10 million for the first quarter. Capital expenditures for the first quarter are expected to be approximately $110 million. The company expects the net loss for the first quarter to be $1.10 per share.
Taiwan's GigaMedia reduces workforce by 22% or 80 staff for annual savings of $3.7m
Announced Date: 1/29/2002
GigaMedia a provider in Taiwan of broadband Internet access services and broadband content for Chinese markets, announced that in support of the company's goals to reduce costs and achieve profitability, it is significantly reducing its workforce. As of Feb. 1, GigaMedia is reducing headcount by approximately 22%, or 80 people, to a team of approximately 280. The reductions are across the board.
Management anticipates cost savings from this move of approximately $3.7 million on an annualized basis and expects minimal impact on service quality due to the company's continuous improvements in process and system automation.
ADTRAN enhances IQ 710 Frame Relay performance monitoring platform with traffic shaping capability
Announced Date: 1/29/2002
ADTRAN has announced traffic shaping capability in its IQ 710 Frame Relay performance monitoring/traffic management platform. Using the IQ 710, network managers can identify and monitor bandwidth abuse, then re-prioritize bandwidth consumption as necessary. The addition of traffic shaping puts even more control over critical network resources in the hands of the network manager, according to ADTRAN.
The IQ 710 is an intelligent Frame Relay-aware traffic management platform. It connects to a Frame Relay network, gathering important data regarding usage of the wide area circuit. Its modular design provides two expansion slots for network interface and dial backup modules. It can be equipped with a 56/64k, T1/FT1, or T1/FT1 with DSX-1 network interface option module, giving users the ability to migrate to higher speed networks as needs increase. The unit supports a variety of optional dial back-up modules such as ISDN and V.34.
Centillium unveils Palladia 300 SecureDSL network router combining ADSL, networking and security on single chipset
Announced Date: 1/29/2002
Centillium Communications has announced the newest member of its Palladia chipset family, the Palladia 300 SecureDSL Network Router. Centillium's Palladia 300 product combines ADSL, networking and security features into a single chipset, offering service providers business class security routers for small- to medium-size businesses.
The Palladia 300 chipset's design includes security features such as a firewall, denial of service attack prevention and a secure wirespeed VPN. The security processor and ATM Adaptation Layer 5 (AAL5) accelerator are hardwired into the chipset, ensuring consistent high data throughput and dependability.
Micrel Semiconductor adds 3 GHz to 4 GHz PECL and LVPECL devices to ECL Pro logic solutions
Announced Date: 1/29/2002
Micrel Semiconductor has added seventeen new 3 GHz to 4 GHz PECL and LVPECL devices to its portfolio of ECL Pro communications logic solutions. Micrel's ECL Pro family is designed to meet the demanding timing requirements of SONET OC-3 to OC-192 optical networking, Fiber Channel, Gigabit Ethernet communications systems and high-end server/networking systems.
The new PECL/LVPECL devices include clock fanout buffers and clock dividers, drivers/receivers and translators. They operate down to 2.5V single-supply and are guaranteed over the -40degC to +85degC temperature range. A new fanout buffer family (SY10/100EP11, EP111 and EP210) features a 30% to 50% improvement in critical AC-timing parameters compared to the previous ECLinPS Lite family: a guaranteed maximum frequency >3GHz, pin-to-pin skew of <20ps, and tr/tf time of <180ps over temperature, according to Micrel.
Israeli carrier Barak I.T.C. uses ITXC's global Internet network for international phone calls
Announced Date: 1/29/2002
Barak I.T.C., an Israeli telecommunications carrier owned by Sprint, Deutsche Telekom, France Telecom and the Israeli companies Clalcom and Matav, announced that it is now sending and receiving international phone calls over ITXC's global Internet-based telecommunications network. Barak is one of only three companies licensed by the Israeli Ministry of Communications to provide international telecommunications.
e.spire Communications launches Xpresslink VIP bundling local phone, Internet access and domestic long distance for flat rate
Announced Date: 1/29/2002
e.spire Communications has launched e.spire Xpresslink VIP, which bundles local phone service, dedicated Internet access, and domestic long distance for a flat monthly rate. VIP expands and further simplifies e.spire's original integrated offering, introduced in 1998, by including long distance minutes and flat rate pricing. e.spire builds a customized communications network for each VIP customer.
Level 3 to provide dial-up Internet access to SBC following acquisition of McLeodUSA's business
Announced Date: 1/29/2002
Level 3 Communications has signed a new agreement to provide dial-up Internet access service to SBC Internet Services. The minimum value of the three-year contract exceeds $100 million. The new agreement was enabled by the closing of Level 3's acquisition of McLeodUSA’s wholesale dial-up access business assets (formerly Splitrock Services). Under the terms of the new contract, SBC Internet Services is buying (3)Connect Modem dial-up port capacity from Level 3 to serve its dial and roaming DSL Internet customers.
Taiwan's China Network Systems selects NDS to upgrade digital cable TV network
Announced Date: 1/29/2002
NDS Group has announced that China Network Systems (CNS) has selected NDS to provide systems integration consulting and end-to-end digital broadcasting solutions to power its digital cable TV network upgrade. CNS will commence the digital upgrade of cable networks in the second quarter of 2002, with services delivered to more than one million viewers within three years.
F5 Networks' BIG-IP Internet traffic management solution is first with FIPS-certified SSL accelerator
Announced Date: 1/29/2002
F5 Networks has announced that its BIG-IP product is the first Internet traffic management solution with a FIPS (Federal Information Processing Standard)-certified SSL accelerator. F5 claim its FIPS products meet higher levels of security standards, required by government agencies, financial services, and healthcare organizations, by integrating a tamper-resistant, key protection module and key management capabilities with the BIG-IP products.
Lynch Corp intros 800 MHz surface-mount LVDS output oscillators and VCXOs for fibre optic and wireless systems
Announced Date: 1/29/2002
Lynch Corp has introduced two frequency-control components for high-speed fibre optic and wireless communications systems. The new products are surface-mount LVDS (low voltage differential sequencing) output oscillators and VCXOs (voltage controlled crystal oscillators). Both were developed and are manufactured by a Lynch subsidiary, M-tron Industries.
The new components operate at frequencies up to 800 MHz and are available in the industry-standard 9 mm x 14 mm ceramic package, and in a smaller 5 mm x 7 mm package for applications requiring high frequency performance in a miniature size.
Crossroads Systems' 8000 storage router qualified interoperable with Brocade-based SAN infrastructure
Announced Date: 1/29/2002
Crossroads Systems has announced that the Crossroads 8000 storage router has been qualified by Brocade Communications Systems as interoperable with Brocade-based SAN infrastructure in testing conducted through the Brocade Fabric Aware Program, an end-to-end interoperability initiative for enterprise SANs.
The programme is a comprehensive testing and configuration initiative designed to foster end-to-end SAN interoperability in heterogeneous Brocade-based SAN environments.
Equinix opens seventh and largest IBX centre in New York metropolitan area
Announced Date: 1/29/2002
Equinix has opened its seventh and largest Internet Business Exchange centre, located in the New York metropolitan area. AT&T, WorldCom and Verizon are among the first networks available to customers of the new IBX centre.
The new 200,000 square-foot centre brings Equinix's total footprint to over 800,000 square feet nationwide, and completes the company's fully-funded IBX build-out plan. In addition to its two IBX centres in the greater New York area, Equinix operates IBX centres in the Washington D.C., Silicon Valley, Chicago, Los Angeles and Dallas areas.
Cisco extends Catalyst 4000 switch with Supervisor Engine III control module
Announced Date: 1/29/2002
Cisco has announced the Supervisor Engine III for the Catalyst 4006 series of switches, which offers enhanced control over converged voice, video and data networks. As a result, Cisco claims enterprise and metro Ethernet customers with the Catalyst 4000 can quickly and cost-effectively roll out converged networks that deliver IP data, streaming video, telephony, and other Internet-based business applications to boost productivity and organizational flexibility.
The Supervisor Engine III is the control module that defines and delivers all operational capabilities of the Catalyst 4000 platform. A key component of Cisco's Architecture for Voice Video and Integrated Data (AVVID), the Catalyst 4000 is a family of scalable modular switches that extend network control from the backbone to the network edge. The Supervisor Engine III integrates multi-layer switching capabilities to deliver control in the form of intelligent network services including QoS, non-blocking Layer 2/3/4 switching, security and comprehensive management.
PMC-Sierra's PM8355 QuadPHY-II SERDES and Alvesta's 3200 optical transceiver show reliable 10GBE interoperability
Announced Date: 1/29/2002
PMC-Sierra and Alvesta have announced the demonstrated reliability of 10 GBE interoperability between PMC-Sierra's PM8355 QuadPHY-II SERDES device and Alvesta's 3200 optical transceiver.
This interoperability is expected to enable customers to speed up the deployment of 10 GBE, Fibre Channel, InfiniBand optical module interfaces, and multi-gigabit serial backplanes in next generation networking equipment.
In verifying interoperability, PMC-Sierra's QuadPHY-II interfaced with Alvesta's 3200 optical transceiver and successfully transmitted and received data over 100 meters of standard 50/125 um multimode fibre error free. A data pattern at 3.125 Gbit/s was generated in the QuadPHY-II and transmitted over the 10 Gigabit Attachment Unit Interface (XAUI) to the Alvesta optical transceiver.
Sunrise Telecom announces availability of portable SunSet 10G optical test set
Announced Date: 1/29/2002
Sunrise Telecom is now accepting orders for its latest test set, the SunSet 10G, initial shipments having begun in December 2001. The SunSet 10G offers a comprehensive set of features in a compact, handheld, portable test set. Weighing approximately 4 pounds with a rechargeable battery pack, the SunSet 10G is the lightest and smallest 10 Gbps optical test set on the market today, according to Sunrise Telecom.
The test set has interfaces for 10 Gbit/s, 2.5 Gbit/s, 622 Mbit/s, and 155 Mbit/s optical, SONET/SDH signals and is available in a variety of configurations supporting multiple rates at both 1310 nm and 1550 nm wavelength transmission.
Features of the SunSet 10G include: First true handheld test set at 10G Complete BERT and performance monitoring in accordance with ANSI, Telcordia and ITU-T standards Overhead analysis Pointer stress testing Large, easy-to-see color display SONET and SDH in the same test set Economical for wide deployment Core network payloads from STS-192c/STM-64c to STS-1/VC3 bulk.
Teradyne releases GbX Ethernet interconnect designed for 10 Gbit/s XAUI data rates
Announced Date: 1/29/2002
Teradyne’s Connection Systems Division has announced the release of its GbX platform connector for general availability. Teradyne's GbX connector offers an upgrade path beyond existing 2mm platforms and balances mechanical robustness and higher signal integrity to deliver an effective 10 GBE interconnect, especially where high-density is required, with less than 2 % crosstalk.
The GbX connector is ideal for 10 Gbit/s (4 x 3.125 Gbit/s) XAUI data rates, with four high-speed pairs per wafer, ease of routability, reduced capacitance via structure, low cross talk and high performance. The GbX 4-pair platform offers 55 differential pairs per linear inch, while the 5-pair configuration offers 69 differential pairs per linear inch. With 55 pairs per linear inch, GbX allows for most XAUI links.
fSONA releases new SONAbeam optical wireless systems for links up to 2 miles
Announced Date: 1/29/2002
fSONA Communications has announced the commercial release of its latest optical wireless systems - the SONAbeam 622-S and the SONAbeam 622-M.
The SONAbeam 622-S is optimized for high-availability links under 1.4 miles, providing a solution for enterprise applications. The SONAbeam 622-M is engineered for longer links up to 2 miles, and contains four redundant laser transmitters and an environmentally-sealed cast aluminum housing.
Ixia and Tyco Electronics to provide XAUI interoperability and performance testing platform
Announced Date: 1/29/2002
Ixia and Tyco Electronics have joined to provide a platform for both XAUI interoperability and performance testing. Utilizing Tyco Electronics' XAUI HM-Zd interoperability backplane, Ixia provides a flexible traffic generation and analysis solution, which includes support for IEEE 802.3ae Continuous Jitter Pattern and Continuous Random Pattern. Developers of XAUI devices will be able to conduct interoperability testing as well as performance testing all within a single platform.
Tyco Electronics, chair of the 10 Gigabit Ethernet Alliance XAUI interoperability group, developed the XAUI HM-Zd backplane as a common platform for XAUI interoperability testing.
Ixia's XAUI testers are compliant to the latest draft of the IEEE 802.3ae standards and provide additional support for BERT. The Ixia XAUI BERT tester is programmable to be concatenated for single pattern and statistics over all four channels or channelized for independent patterns and statistics on each of the four channels. Ixia's XAUI performance analysis solutions are designed to assist developers of Quad SerDes, LAN and WAN PHYs with a XAUI interface, XENPAK transceiver modules and switch and router line cards being developed for XENPAK.
Hungary's Matav implements Granite Systems' Xpercom suite for DWDM network management
Announced Date: 1/29/2002
Granite Systems has announced the successful implementation of its Xpercom suite into Matav, a Hungarian telecom service provider. Matav has partnered with Budapest-based NETVisor to implement the Xpercom project and to integrate it into its current operational support systems. These include TeMIP from Compaq for fault management, NetExpert from Agilent for service management and Clearview from Clear Communications for performance management.
Xpercom has already been rolled out for the management of the Cisco-based DWDM network. This installation is being expanded to handle higher-level transport protocols of ATM and IP.
Granite’s Xpercom service resource management solution was chosen because of its ability to manage all the resources needed to deploy new services, from low-level fibre optic circuits to high-level IP based configurations.
Tektronix intros optical sampling modules targeting 10 GBE and optical transport network markets
Announced Date: 1/29/2002
Tektronix has announced an upgrade to its communications signal analyzer and introduced two new optical sampling modules aimed at the 10 GBE and optical transport network markets.
Tektronix said the new CSA8000B Series Communications Signal Analyzer coupled with the new 80C08 Optical Sampling Module creates an integrated solution that offers the measurement sensitivity and throughput required for 10 GBE manufacturing production requirements.
The 80C08 Optical Sampling Module uses an amplified optical-to-electrical converter to deliver low noise level (2 microwatts RMS typical) and high optical sensitivity (minus 13 dBm). As a result, the 80C08 delivers the sensitivity required for the lower-power transmitters used in low-cost 10 GBE network elements. The 80C08 also uses dedicated per-channel signal acquisition processing to speed test throughput. This reduces test time by up to five times or more, to support the demand for 10 GBE elements.
The 80C08 supports testing of components, modules and systems based on the Draft IEEE P802.3AE 10 GBE standard utilizing 10GBase-W (10.3125 Gbit/s) and 10GBase-R (9.95328 Gbit/s) data rates. Compatible with optical wavelengths ranging from 700 nm to 1650 nm, the 80C08 can be connected to either single-mode or multi-mode fibre. The module also offers optional integrated clock recovery supporting both data rates.
The new 80C09 Optical Sampling Module, which is also being introduced, supports 10 Gbit/s OTN applications as specified by ITU-T G.709 standard and provides complete optical test solutions for OC-192/STM 64, as well as general purpose optical component testing. The receiver accepts single-mode fibre input for 1100 nm to 1650 nm wavelengths and also offers optional integrated clock recovery supporting both data rates (9.953 and 10.71 Gbit/s).
C-COR.net wins $50m deal to provide Adelphia Communications with fibre optic and RF equipment for network upgrades in 10 states
Announced Date: 1/29/2002
C-COR.net is to provide Adelphia Communications with fibre optic and RF equipment for network upgrades in ten U.S. states. The approximate value of incremental new business for C-COR of these upgrade projects is $50 million.
Specific C-COR products selected by Adelphia for the projects are the FlexNet 900 Series RF amplifiers and nodes, naviCOR line extenders, and Optiworx headend fibre equipment. The Optiworx products include racks, power supplies, transmitters, and reverse receivers. All C-COR equipment supplied to Adelphia is 862 MHz, supporting both standard cable and advanced Internet and video service applications.
Enterasys Networks announces NetSight Atlas software suite to deliver system-level control to enterprise networks
Announced Date: 1/29/2002
Enterasys Networks has announced NetSight Atlas, a set of system-level management tools that provides advanced control in network administration and operation, enabling enterprise networks to align more closely with business needs. In addition, NetSight Atlas further enables the delivery of the company's user personalized network.
Designed around customer workflows, the NetSight Atlas suite includes several plug-in applications that can be integrated to provide specific, value-added capabilities to the NetSight Atlas management system. Plug-in applications utilize shared capabilities that exist in the Atlas application, including discovery, event management, event and alarm logging, device tree, maps, graphing and VLAN management.
Plug-in applications include the NetSight Atlas Inventory Manager, NetSight Atlas Policy Manager and NetSight Atlas Access Control List Manager. The plug-in modules allow network managers to customize a NetSight solution to meet their needs and unlock the advanced capabilities of Enterasys Networks hardware. NetSight Atlas is the command and control centre from which NetSight Management applications are launched.
The NetSight Atlas advanced control and administration features allow Enterasys to further the delivery of the User Personalized Network, an architecture that maps technological capabilities to individual user requirements, customizing the network experience for each end-user.
France Telecom reports FY2001 revenues up 27.8% to $37bn, international business increases 77.3%
Announced Date: 1/29/2002
France Telecom's consolidated revenues were $37 billion in 2001, representing annual growth of 27.8%. France Telecom noted its customer base also rose sharply. At Dec. 31, 2001, the group had 91.7 million customers, a 19.1% increase over the end of 2000.
This second consecutive year of revenue growth reflects the group's rapid international expansion. International businesses posted a 77.3% increase in revenues in 2001, following a rise of 149.7% in 2000. Revenues from activities outside of France have more than quadrupled in two years and now account for 35.8% of France Telecom's consolidated revenues. This compares with 25.8% in 2000 and 12.8 percent in 1999.
Excluding the effects of changes in consolidation and exchange rates during 2001, revenues grew 7.1%. On a comparable basis, using France Telecom Group's scope of consolidation in 2001 to calculate 2000 revenues, revenues increased 8.5% (on a pro forma, unaudited basis).
IBM elects President and COO Samuel Palmisano as CEO, replacing Louis Gerstner who remains Chairman
Announced Date: 1/29/2002
IBM has elected Samuel J. Palmisano as CEO. Palmisano, who currently is IBM president and COO, will remain president. As CEO, Palmisano succeeds Louis V. Gerstner, Jr., who will remain IBM chairman through the end of 2002.
Also, IBM announced that John M. Thompson, IBM vice chairman, will retire from the company and board on September 1.
Palmisano became president and chief operating officer of IBM in September 2000 after holding leadership positions in virtually all of IBM's operating units. During his tenure as head of IBM Global Services, the business unit's revenues grew nearly 30% to $32.2 billion.
Verizon selects Alcatel’s 3624 MainStreet Intelligent Channel Bank for new FlexGrow integrated voice/data service
Announced Date: 1/29/2002
Alcatel been selected by Verizon to provide the network infrastructure for Verizon's new FlexGrow service. As a result of the contract, Alcatel's 3624 MainStreet Intelligent Channel Bank will be deployed across the Eastern seaboard to support service delivery from Maine to Virginia.
The 3624 MainStreet is a T1 multiplexer offering a wide range of voice and data interfaces and able to combine voice and data traffic from virtually any combination of analogue or digital devices onto a T1 link.
Verizon’s new FlexGrow service offers small and medium sized businesses a simple way to simplify their communications networks by eliminating the need for separate voice and data connections.
Digital Lightwave promotes EVP of Operations Jim Green to COO
Announced Date: 1/29/2002
Digital Lightwave has promoted Jim Green to COO. Green joined the company in 1999 and most recently held the position of executive vice president of operations. Previously, he had been chief executive officer of Trillium Industries, a provider of repair, technical support and supply management services, and vice president, operations, for the MATCO Electronics Group. Green's earlier career included a broad range of operations, sales, marketing, and supply chain management positions at Memorex Telex, Sensory, Atari, Datapoint, and Recognition Equipment.
Foundry Networks appoints Craig Baily, formerly of Quarry Technologies, as VP Service Provider Sales
Announced Date: 1/29/2002
Foundry Networks has appointed Craig Baily as vice president of service provider sales. Baily will manage all aspects of Foundry's sales and field operations focusing on the service provider and carrier markets.
Prior to joining Foundry, Baily was the vice president of worldwide sales for Quarry Technologies. Prior to Quarry, Baily worked at Marconi Communications/Fore Systems as the vice president of service provider sales responsible for driving worldwide sales to the service provider market including tier one IXCs, ILECs, RBOCs, CLECs, ISPs, MSOs and IP carriers. During this time, he won major service provider and carrier accounts including UUNET, Cable & Wireless, Sprint, GTE, Level 3, Infonet, Time Warner, Qwest, Deutsche Telecom, Telefonica, China PTAs and Comcast. Baily has also held sales management positions at UB Networks and Proteon, Inc.
General Cable reports Q4 net sales of $360.3m, vs $425.3m, for net income of $3.4m or 10c per share
Announced Date: 1/29/2002
General Cable reported net income for the fourth quarter of 2001, of $3.4 million or 10 cents per fully diluted share compared to net income of $11.2 million or 34 cents per fully diluted share in the fourth quarter of 2000.
The company's discontinued operations operated at breakeven in the fourth quarter of 2001, compared to an after-tax loss of $1.2 million or 4 cents per share in the fourth quarter of 2000. At 10 cents per share, the company met the consensus earnings estimate for the quarter.
Reported net sales for the continuing businesses were off 15% in the fourth quarter, at $360.3 million, compared to the year-earlier level. Adjusting for changes in metals prices and for the sale of the Pyrotenax business in 2001, net sales were off 9% in the fourth quarter versus 2000.
EBITDA for continuing operations for the fourth quarter of 2001 were $22.1 million versus EBITDA of $39.4 million recorded in the 2000 fourth quarter for the continuing businesses excluding the results of the Pyrotenax business unit.
OSI Systems posts Q2 revenues up 7% to $30.0m for net income of $1.3m or EPS of 12c
Announced Date: 1/29/2002
OSI Systems reported revenues for the second quarter of fiscal 2002 of $30.0 million, compared to $28.0 million in the same period last year, an increase of $2.0 million or 7%. Excluding revenues from divested businesses of approximately $2.0 million, the increase in revenues would have been 16%.
Net income for the second quarter of fiscal 2002 was $1.3 million, an increase of 266% from $351,000 for the second quarter of fiscal 2001. OSI Systems diluted earnings per share for the quarter was 12 cents on 11.1 million diluted shares compared to 4 cents on 9.3 million diluted shares in the same quarter last year.
For the first six months of the period, OSI Systems reported revenues of $56.5 million versus $52.9 million in the year ago six month period. This represents an increase of $3.6 million or 7%. Excluding revenues from divested businesses the increase would have been $8.0 million or 17%.
The six month net income increased to $1.7 million or diluted earnings per share of 17 cents as compared to a net loss of $154,000 or loss per share of 2 cents for the prior year six month period.
Coherent reports 13.7% fall in Q1 sales to $96.6m, electro-optics segment sales of $73.9m drop 11%
Announced Date: 1/29/2002
Coherent has reported financial results for the first quarter ended December 29, 2001. Sales of $96.6 million and income from continuing operations of $2.7 million (9 cents per diluted share), which included a $0.7 million (2 cents per diluted share) after tax and net of minority interest benefit of a non-recurring favourable inventory adjustment, represent decreases of 13.7% and 72.1%, respectively, from the same quarter last year.
Electro-Optics segment sales of $73.9 million for the first three months, 2001 were 11% lower than during the same quarter last year. Bookings of $76.3 million reflected a 30% decline over the prior year period, but represented a 9% sequential increase over the fourth quarter of 2001.
OCP reports Q1 revenue down 40.5% sequentially to $8.8m for net income of $200,000 or EPS of 0c
Announced Date: 1/29/2002
Optical Communication Products (OCP) reported that revenue for the first quarter of fiscal 2002 decreased 78.9% to $8.8 million from $41.9 million for the same period in fiscal 2001, and decreased 40.5% compared with $14.9 million for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2001.
Net income for the first quarter of 2002 decreased to $200,000 from $10.8 million for the same period in fiscal 2001, and represented an increase from a net loss of $3.3 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2001. Earnings per diluted share for the first quarter of fiscal 2002 decreased to 0 cents per share compared with 10 cents per share for the same period in fiscal 2001, and represented an increase from a 3 cent net loss per diluted share for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2001.
WJ Communications reports Q4 sales of $14.0m, vs $15.5m in Q3, for net loss of $2.6m or 5c per share
Announced Date: 1/29/2002
WJ Communications reported sales for the fourth quarter of 2001 were $14.0 million, compared to $15.5 million in the third quarter of 2001 and $36.2 million in the fourth quarter of last year.
The pro forma fourth quarter loss excluding non-cash and non-recurring items was $2.4 million, or 4 cents per diluted common share, which compared to a pro forma net loss excluding non-cash and non-recurring items in the immediately preceding third quarter of $1.9 million, or 3 cents per diluted common share.
On a GAAP basis for the fourth quarter of 2001 the company reported a net loss of $2.6 million, or 5 cents per diluted common share compared with a net profit of $20.5 million, or 32 cents per diluted share in the fourth quarter of 2000.
Reported results in the fourth quarter of 2001 include severance expenses and amortization of deferred stock compensation. Reported results in the fourth quarter of 2000 include a $30.1 million pre-tax gain on the disposition of the company's final leasehold interest in a vacated facility.
AFOP reports Q4 revenues of $4.17m, vs $4.28m in Q3, for pro forma net loss of $1.83m or 5c per share
Announced Date: 1/29/2002
Alliance Fiber Optic Products (AFOP) reported revenues for the fourth quarter of $4.17 million as compared to $4.28 million in the previous quarter. Pro forma net loss for the fourth quarter of 2001 was $1.83 million, or 5 cents per share based on 34.1 million basic shares outstanding.
In comparison, pro forma net loss for the third quarter of 2001 was $1.74 million, or 5 cents per share based on 33.4 million basic shares outstanding, and pro forma net income for the fourth quarter of 2000 was $442,000, or 1 cent per share based on 34.3 million diluted shares outstanding.
Revenues for the year 2001 were $20.39 million, an 8% decline from the $22.22 million in revenues reported for 2000. Pro forma net loss for 2001 was $5.33 million, or 16 cents per share, based on 33.3 basic shares outstanding, compared to pro forma net income of $1.02 million, or 4 cents per share, based on 25.5 million diluted shares outstanding, for 2000.
Multilink Technology posts Q4 revenues of $26.7m, vs $37.6m in Q3, for pro forma net loss of $3.6m or EPS of 5c
Announced Date: 1/29/2002
Multilink Technology reported revenues for the fourth quarter of 2001 of $26.7 million, compared with $37.6 million for the third quarter of 2001 and $25.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2000. Pro forma gross margins for the fourth quarter of 2001 were 57.9%, compared with 64.7% in the third quarter of 2001 and gross margins of 63.4% in the fourth quarter of 2000.
Pro forma net loss for the fourth quarter of 2001 was $3.6 million, or diluted EPS of 5 cents, compared with net income of $1.6 million, or diluted EPS of 2 cents, in the third quarter of 2001 and net income of $1.1 million, or diluted EPS of 1 cent, in the fourth quarter of 2000.
Total revenues for the year were $130.5 million, compared with $72.7 million for last year. Pro forma gross margins for both years were 62.8%. Pro forma net loss for 2001 was $0.7 million, or diluted EPS 1 cent, compared with net income of $6.4 million, or diluted EPS 8 cents, for the same period in 2000.
AFC reports Q4 revenues of $82.1m, vs $116.1m, for net loss of $5.85m or 7c loss per share
Announced Date: 1/29/2002
Advanced Fibre Communications (AFC) reported revenues for the fourth quarter of 2001 were $82.1 million, compared with $116.1 million for the fourth quarter of 2000. For the year 2001, revenues totalled $327.6 million, compared with $416.9 million for the year 2000.
Net loss for the fourth quarter of 2001 was $5.8 million, or 7 cents loss per share. Pro forma net income for the fourth quarter of 2001 was $4.8 million, or 6 cents earnings per share (diluted). Pro forma net income excludes the following items: unrealized gains on trading securities; income recognized as a result of Marconi Communications' failure to meet distribution revenue goals (Marconi payment) in 2001; write down of inventory and the carrying value of certain other assets; and charges related to the workforce reduction on Oct. 18, and the closing of certain foreign offices.
Net income for the fourth quarter of 2000 was $26.9 million, or 32 cents earnings per share (diluted). Pro forma net income for the fourth quarter of 2000, which excludes income realized from a Marconi payment in 2000, was $20.2 million, or 24 cents earnings per share (diluted).
Digital Lightwave posts Q4 sales of $5.4m, vs $33.9m, for net loss of $12.8m or 41c per share
Announced Date: 1/29/2002
Digital Lightwave reported fourth-quarter net sales of $5.4 million, compared with $33.9 million for the fourth quarter of 2000. Net loss as reported was $12.8 million, or a loss of 41 cents per diluted share, compared with net income of $13.0 million, or 40 cents per diluted share, for the same quarter a year earlier.
Fourth-quarter net loss included a restructuring charge of $500,000 for a reduction in workforce, as well as a reserve for doubtful accounts of $4.8 million and a reserve for excess inventory of $2.8 million. Excluding the effects of the charge and the reserves, fourth-quarter net loss on a pro forma basis was $4.7 million, or a loss of 15 cents per diluted share.
Net sales for fiscal 2001 were $82.8 million, compared with $100.7 million for fiscal 2000. Net income as reported for the full year was $2.8 million, or 9 cents per diluted share, compared with $31.4 million, or 98 cents per diluted share, for the prior year. Excluding the effects of restructuring and litigation charges and reserves for doubtful accounts and excess inventory, pro forma net income for 2001 was $16.7 million, or 52 cents per diluted share.
At year end, the company's cash and cash equivalents were $51.0 million, up from $30.5 million at year-end 2000.
Montana Power's sale of energy utility approved, progressing plan to become telecoms company under Touch America
Announced Date: 1/29/2002
The Montana Public Service Commission has approved an agreement that will allow The Montana Power Company to move forward on the sale of its electric and natural gas transmission and distribution utility to NorthWestern and become a stand-alone telecommunications company under Touch America.
Additionally, the Federal Trade Commission has granted NorthWestern's request for early termination of the waiting period for the acquisition.
With the FTC clearance, NorthWestern has now received all regulatory approvals to complete the Montana Power transaction and has also obtained all necessary financing to complete the acquisition.
The actual sale is expected to close in two to four weeks, with Montana Power investing the proceeds into Touch America, which will then become a separate stand-alone, debt-free telecom company. NorthWestern will own Montana Power's electric and natural gas distribution and transition company and is expected to take over the Montana Power name.
OCP announces CWDM versions of 8-channel SFF pluggable optical transceivers
Announced Date: 1/29/2002
Optical Communication Products (OCP) has announced the availability of CWDM versions of its 8-channel Small Form-factor Pluggable (SFP) optical transceivers.
OCP's hot-pluggable CWDM transceivers are available in eight wavelength channels at nominally 1470 nm, 1490 nm, 1510 nm, 1530 nm, 1550 nm, 1570 nm, 1590 nm and 1610 nm. They are also available in a multi-rate format, which allows operation at all the popular line rate speeds from 100 Mbit Ethernet up to Gigabit Ethernet, including OC-3, OC-12 SONET/SDH/ATM and Fiber Channel.
While every effort has been taken to ensure the accuracy of the information contained in this report, Optical Keyhole and its agents or sources cannot be held responsible for any inaccuracies or result thereof. No item shall be taken as a recommendation to buy or sell any form of equity.
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