VENDORS COMPLETE GIGABIT ETHERNET / COPPER INTEROPERABILITY TESTS
Network equipment vendors successfully completed a round of interoperability tests for Gigabit Ethernet over Category 5 copper cabling. The tests, which were conducted at The Silicon Valley Networking Lab, included a variety of multi-vendor interoperability tests, as well as full-speed stress tests. Specifically, 1000BASE-T was successfully run at speeds of 1000 Mbps over links of 100 meters and on three different Category 5 cabling plants. Tests included file sharing, full motion video sharing, and remote installation of software across the switched 1000BASE-T copper network. The group will host a public demonstration at next week's NetWorld+Interop. Vendors participating in the event included 3Com, Alteon Web Systems, Extreme Networks, Foundry Networks, Hewlett-Packard, Intel, Hitachi Cable, Ixia, Lucent Technologies, Mohawk/CDT, Netcom Systems, Sun Microsystems and SysKonnect. http://www.gigabit-ethernet.org/ 
http://www.svnl.com
Gigabit Ethernet Alliance, September 3, 1999

BT TO OFFER 1900 MHZ WIRELESS NETS AS HOME GATEWAYS TO ISDN, ADSL
BT plans to introduce a residential wireless networking system to provide connections between PCs, peripherals, telephone handsets and its residential ISDN of ADSL services. The products, which were developed by Home Wireless Networks Inc. (a start-up based in Atlanta, Georgia), will combine DECT and 802.11 wireless Ethernet technologies. DECT operates on the 1880 - 1900 MHz frequency range, offers 10 frequency channels and supports a data rate of 1.152 Mbps. The DECT and 802.11 radios will have a typical range of 300 m line of sight, or 50-75 m coverage in building. BT plans to launch two-line and four-line systems with wireless smart handsets, wireless phone sockets, and wireless data sockets by early next year. BT will begin selling the system early next year. Home Wireless Networks recently introduced a US version of its wireless network hub operating in the 902-928 MHz frequency range. Key features include wireless PC networking, voice call transfers, conference calling and handset-to-handset calling. Home Wireless Networks Inc. received venture funding from Lucent Technologies, Alliance Technology Ventures, Klaus Krone and Grotech Capital Group. It has its European Headquarters in Cambridge, UK. http://www.homewireless.com/
http://www.bt.com/World/news/newsroom/index.htm
BT, September 6, 1999

NEC PREVIEWS CONVERGED OPEN NETWORK ARCHITECTURE
NEC will preview its Converged Open Network Architecture for IP at next month's Telecom 99 Exhibition in Geneva, Switzerland. NEC said its architecture would introduce connection-oriented features into connection-less IP networks. The design will consist of two network layers: a Multi-QoS Packet Transmission Network and a separate QoS Control Network, which will provide intelligence and management functions. Separating the transmission network from a control layer is expected to enable easier addition of new services and interfaces. A major component of NEC's Converged Open Network Architecture will be a Converged Service Node that guarantees delay at the ITU-T Digital Network Recommendation (less than 0.45 ms). The Converged Service Node will be integrated with a DWDM system and built with carrier class redundancy. NEC expects to scale the platform to terabit levels. http://www.nec.co.jp/english/today/newsrel/9908/3102.html
NEC, August 31, 1999

SONERA ANNOUNCES GSM 38.4 KBPS DATA SERVICE
Helsinki-based Sonera is the first GSM network operator to announce a High Speed Circuit Switched Data (HSCSD) service for its mobile telephony network. The new GSM HiSpeed Data service allows the simultaneous use of up to four channels (multislot), thereby providing data transfer rates of 38.4 Kbps. Ordinary GSM modem connections perform in the 9.6 Kbps to 14.4 Kbps range. Sonera will also use V.42bis data compression in its network to further increase the throughput for data in text format. The Nokia 9110 Communicator and the Nokia WAP phone 7110 will support the new 38.4 Kbps data service. Last week, Sonera announced the first information services intended for WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) compliant mobile phones. Content providers ready to offer WAP services include Finnair, CNN Interactive, Yellow Pages, Diners Club and others. http://www.sonera.fi/investor_en/news/press/72.html
Sonera, September 6, 1999

GLOBAL CROSSING BECOMES CHINA TELECOM'S PARTNER IN MARINE CABLE CO.
Global Crossing will acquire a 49% share of S.B. Submarine Systems Company Ltd. (SBSS), a marine cable construction firm that owns and operates two cable ships and has berths and a cable depot in Shanghai. SBSS was recently involved in the construction of the China-US cable system and the Northstar cable system. Global Crossing's 49% share was previously owned by Great Eastern Telecommunications, a venture of Cable & Wireless and Hong Kong Telecom). China Telecom, the principal provider of telecommunications services in China, holds the other 51% interest in SBSS. Financial terms were not disclosed. http://www.globalcrossing.com/pressreleases/pr_090699.asp
Global Crossing, September 6, 1999

V-BITS SIGNS DISTRIBUTION DEAL FOR NEW MPEG-2 MUX
V-Bits, a San Jose, California start-up developing DSP-based MPEG-2 video manipulation and multiplexing technologies, signed a distribution agreement with Tiernan Communications Inc., a leading provider of digital television systems. V-Bits' RateMux product could be used for customizing local digital program lineups, performing rate reduction of MPEG program streams, creating 256 QAM data streams, providing a gateway for digital ad insertion and creating statistically multiplexed outputs from VOD servers or local MPEG encoders. A future upgrade will allow multiplexing of HDTV and SDTV programs. V-Bits was founded in 1997 by Ji Zhang, formerly Senior Staff Engineer at DiviCom, and Fang Wu, formerly Senior Staff Engineer positions at Compression Labs (CLI) and General Instrument. The company recently received $7.5 million in second round funding led by Bedrock Capital Partners, EDB Ventures, KLM Capital, and several individual investors. http://www.v-bits.com/ 
V-Bits, September 3, 1999

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