BELL ATLANTIC INVESTS IN METROMEDIA FIBER NETWORK
Bell Atlantic will acquire $550 million in dark fiber capacity from Metromedia Fiber Network over a 20 year period and will invest about $700 million to purchase approximately 9.9% equity in the firm. Also as part of the deal, Bell Atlantic will buy $975 million in debt securities convertible into common stock, increasing its potential equity investment in MFN to about 19%.  MFN will use the new cash to accelerate the rollout of its intra-city networks domestically and internationally.  Bell Atlantic said the alliance is consistent with its previously announced plans to build an in-region ATM-based long distance network.    http://www.ba.com/nr/1999/Oct/19991007001.html
http://www.mmfn.com/
Bell Atlantic, October 7, 1999

Metromedia Fiber Network's strategy is to build high-density, meshed fiber networks in Tier One markets.  The architecture uses either 432 or 864 fiber strands per trunk.  Its first dark fiber network serves Manhattan and the greater New York area. New construction is underway in Boston; Philadelphia; Chicago; Washington, D.C.; Dallas; Houston; Atlanta; Seattle; Los Angeles; San Jose and San Francisco.  In Europe, MFN has announced network construction in London, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Stuttgart and Cologne, as well as a German national ring network.  The company also has a joint venture with Racal Telecom of the UK known as International Optical Network (ION).

In June, Bell Atlantic agreed to allow MFN to offer dark fiber connectivity within its central offices, making it possible for CLECs to utilize MFN's dark fiber to connect directly to Bell Atlantic's network or to another CLEC's network  

In May, MFN announced a fiber alliance with Williams Communications giving it access to intercity dark fiber on the Williams network.

ABOVENET OPENS EUROPEAN EXCHANGE POINTS, TRANSATLANTIC LINKS INCREASED TO 750 MBPS
AboveNet Communications, which was recently acquired by Metromedia Fiber Network, opened its European Internet Service Exchange (ISX) facilities in London, Frankfurt and Vienna offering co-location services and common peering connections among ISPs.  To support the exchange points, AboveNet added an STM-4 line trans-Atlantic link to its network.  Its aggregate trans-Atlantic capacity now exceeds 750 Mbps.  The European sites are connected by STM-1 lines.  AboveNet said its has signed more than 273 private and public peering agreements for its one-hop network Internet Service Exchange (ISX) facilities worldwide.   http://www.above.net
AboveNet, October 6, 1999

In January, AboveNet signed a 25-year fiber contract with Global Crossing for capacity between the US and the UK.

AMERITECH AGREES TO PROVIDE IP CALL TERMINATIONS FROM ITXC.NET  
Ameritech agreed to provide IP terminating service for Internet telephony calls carried over ITXC.net.  ITXC is Internet telephony wholesale carrier that routes most of its calls over the public Internet.  Its network includes over 121 IP PoPs in 75 cities and 37 countries.  ITXC has previously signed similar agreements with Bell Atlantic, China Telecom, and Korea Telecom.  http://www.itxc.com  
ITXC, October 7, 1999

UNISPHERE SOLUTIONS SHIPS ITS VOICE-DATA CONVERGENCE SWITCH  
Unisphere Solutions announced commercial availability of its next generation switching platform for converged voice and data networks.  The SMX-2100 Service Mediation Platform (SMP) employs a distributed processing model that unbundles core voice switching from Class 5 switches, combining ATM and IP signaling with the existing Signaling System 7 (SS7) infrastructure.  The SMX-2100 is a NEBS-3 compliant platform designed to support up to 120 T3s in a non-blocking configuration using a mix of TDM, IP, and ATM to achieve a maximum bandwidth potential exceeding 80,000 DS-0 channels. It uses Motorola's PowerPC RISC processors to perform its signalling mediation.  The platform is being tested at Telcordia, Intertek Testing Service and the BellSouth Technology Assessment Center.  http://www.unispheresolutions.com/news/pr_100599.html
Unisphere Solutions, October 7, 1999

Siemens AG acquired Castle Networks, a start-up from Westford, Mass, in March 1999 as part of the new Unisphere Solutions company.

CISCO SYSTEMS TO SHOW SVCS OVER DSL  
At next week's Telecom '99 in Geneva, Cisco Systems will demonstrate a video application and Internet access being delivered over a PPP over ATM over SVC (PPPoAoSVC) connection.  The demonstration will use a PC containing an ATM-25 adapter, a Cisco 627 ATM-25 ADSL modem and Microsoft Windows 2000 software. The modem will be connected via a Cisco 6260 DSL access concentrator and a Cisco 7200 router running Cisco IOS software to Microsoft Media Technologies 4.0 Server and an Internet connection.  Cisco said its end-to-end DSL architecture delivers the ATM features and intelligence needed to support advanced features such as SVCs and Quality of Service.  http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/146/october99/2.html
Cisco Systems, October 6, 1999

ECI TELECOM INTRODUCES INTEGRATED ATM, IP AND TDM TELEPHONY INTER-NETWORKING
ECI Telecom announced its xTX family of Telephony Inter-Networking solutions for linking IP, ATM and TDM voice networks.  The carrier-class platform uses an integrated Call Agent with support for SS7 and ISDN protocols and offering functions such as Interworking Call Control, Dynamic Call Routing, Signaling conversion, control of media gateways and Generation of Call Detail Records.  The product family includes:

* DTX-600 & DTX-60 compression systems, offering 20:1 compression of toll quality voice calls, as well as fax, modem, and native data traffic

* ITX-1000 and ITX-4000 IP telephony platforms, incorporating H.323 and MGCP protocols

* ATX-600 ATM telephony gateway, supporting AAL2 and Variable Bit Rate (VBR) compression

ECI Telecom said major networks have already deployed the xTX systems are are already supporting live traffic.  http://www.ecitele.com/rxtx.htm  
ECI Telecom, October 6, 1999

CONFERENCE ANNOUNCEMENT: "ADVANCED NETWORKING SOLUTIONS: STRATEGIC MIGRATION TO MULTISERVICE PACKET NETWORKS"
A conference entitled "Strategic Migration to Multiservice Packet Networks" will be held October 20-21st at the JW Marriott Hotel in Atlanta, Georgia.  Main topics of the event include the thirst for bandwidth, the economic model of the new network, the first converged voice/data networks, comparisons of Voice over IP vs. Voice over ATM, MPLS and traffic engineering, ATM network evolution, integrated billing solutions and network migration through the optical backbone.

The conference features presentations and case studies from many leading service providers, including: GTE Internetworking, BellSouth, 2nd Century Communications, Qwest Communications, Bell Nexxia, UUNET, Global Crossing, GST Telecom, New South Communications, Net2000, Sprint, Time Warner Telecom, OmniCall, Rhythms NetConnections and the Multiservice Switching Forum.

A post-conference round table will focus on Operator's Views of the Multiservice Network.

For further conference information, contact:  

ICM Conferences
Arlene Soumillac,  ArleneS@thgus.com