SBC LAUNCHES $6 BILLION, DSL "PRONTO" INITIATIVE
SBC Communications will invest $6 billion over the next three years to deploy DSL in approximately 1,400 central offices, to lay more than 12,000 miles of fiber, and install or upgrade 25,000 neighborhood broadband gateways.  SBC's "Project Pronto" also commits the company to:

• migrate to a converged voice, data and video network based on an ATM distributed network system (ADNS) architecture.  
  
• migrate to voice trunking over ATM (VTOA).  SBC intends to begin field trials next year in Houston and Los Angeles. Upon the successful completion of these trials, SBC plans to complete its VTOA deployment in its largest markets by 2004.  VTOA is expected to increase trunk efficiency by 50%, while reducing further investment in traditional tandem circuit-switched equipment
  
• introduce Voice-over-ADSL next year, providing customers with up to four additional voice lines, in addition to a DSL line and a primary voice line. SBC is evaluating another VoDSL solution that would provide up to 16 additional voice lines over a symmetrical DSL line.
  
• introduce Switched Virtual Circuit (SVC) DSL by next year that would allow telecommuters to switch between their ISP and their corporate LAN without rebooting.
  
• guarantee minimum downstream DSL connection speeds of 1.5 Mbps and 6.0 Mbps downstream speeds to more than 60% of its 77 million customers. (current PacBell DSL offerings are tiered at 384 Kbps or 1.5 Mbps minimum downstream speeds)
  
• provide HDSL services featuring a minimum of 1.5 Mbps upstream and downstream connections

http://www.sbc.com/News_Center/Article.html?query_type=article&query=19991018-01
SBC Communications, October 18, 1999

SBC SIGNS MAJOR DSL SERVICE AGREEMENTS WITH IBM, E*TRADE
SBC will provide as many as 15,000 IBM telecommuting employees with remote access to IBM's corporate network via DSL circuits.  The deal is believed to be one of the largest DSL contracts to date.  SBC also entered into a marketing alliance with E*TRADE to promote 1.5 Mbps DSL service to most active online investors.  http://www.sbc.com/News_Center/
SBC Communications, October 18, 1999

SBC Communications currently serves 59 million access lines, 10.1 million wireless customers under its Southwestern Bell, Ameritech, Pacific Bell, SBC Telecom, Nevada Bell, SNET and Cellular One companies.

SONOMA SYSTEMS ENHANCES ATM INTEGRATED ACCESS WITH FULL PBX FUNCTIONALITY
Sonoma Systems introduced an ATM Integrated Access Device featuring full PBX functionality.  The Sonoma Xchange combines value-added Voice over ATM (VoATM) with business-class data services, Internet access and transparent LAN connectivity.  Enhanced telephony capabilities include voicemail, auto-attendant, call conferencing, hold, call forwarding, park, transfer, do not disturb, call groups and call waiting; all of which are accessible either through a standard telephone handset or via a LAN-based client application.  WAN interfaces scale from a single, T1/E1 UNI to up to 4 Inverse Multiplexing over ATM (IMA) links.  The unit offers up to two 10/100 Ethernet ports with bridged or routed services and either 24 or 48 PBX station ports for standard telephone handsets.  The product is currently available for trials.  Sonoma Systems said its Convergence Architecture extends ATM capabilities to the edge of the network, enabling Integrated Communications Providers (ICPs) and CLECs to offer and bill for custom calling services such as caller ID, call waiting, and vertical service codes such as *69, without needing Class 5 central office switches. 
http://www.sonoma-systems.com/
Sonoma Systems, October 18, 1999

Savvis Communications recently selected Sonoma Systems' ATM-based Access device for delivering Ethernet-based Internet service to corporate customers.

NORTEL NETWORKS TO ACQUIRE CLARIFY INC FOR EBUSINESS SOLUTIONS
Nortel Networks will acquire Clarify Inc., a software developer specializing in customer relationship management and eBusiness applications, for US$2.1 billion in stock.  Clarify's eFrontOffice product suite integrates, consolidates, and routes all customer touch points -- including the web and email –into a "customer knowledge base" that can be shared across an enterprise.  Clarify is based in San Jose, California and has 650 employees.  Nortel Networks said the acquisition would drive a "second wave" of eBusiness integration focused on the customer.  http://www.nortelnetworks.com/corporate/news/newsreleases/1999d/10_18_9999661_clarify.html
http://www.clarify.com
Nortel Networks, October 18, 1999

 Clarify Inc. is Nortel Networks' fourth acquisition this year:

In September, Cisco Systems acquired WebLine Communications for $325 million in stock.  WebLine also develops customer interaction management software

JDS UNIPHASE ACQUIRES RAMAR CORP. FOR OPTICAL MODULATOR
JDS Uniphase acquired Ramar Corp., a privately-held developer of lithium niobate modulator components used in optical networks, for an undisclosed sum.  JDS Uniphase said the acquisition would add significant technical capabilities to it 10 Gbps and 40 Gbps lithium niobate modulator product development.  Ramar is based in Northborough, Mass., and employs 14 people. http://www.jdsunph.com/corpinfo/press-no0011.htm  http://www.ramar.com/
JDS Uniphase, October 18, 1999

SPRINT UPGRADES ITS NEC ATM SWITCHES TO 40 GBPS CAPACITY
Sprint is upgrading the NEC ATM core backbone switches used throughout its nationwide long-distance network from 10 Gbps to a fully redundant 40 Gbps configuration.  Once the upgrade and consolidation project is completed, Sprint will have nine 40 Gbps ATOMNET/M20 core switches in its network.  NEC's next generation of ATOMNET core switches will feature optical components for DWDM interfaces, fabric capacity scalable from 40 to 160 Gbps, higher speed interfaces, increased call capacity and enhanced traffic management.  http://www.necpng.com/
NEC America, October 18, 1999

UPC TO PURCHASE 250K SET-TOP BOXES FROM GI, MICROSOFT
United Pan-Europe Communications (UPC) agreed to purchase 250,000 000 DVi-5000+ DVB-compliant advanced interactive digital set-top terminals from General Instrument Corporation by 2002.  The digital set-top boxes will use the Microsoft TV software platform (based on Windows CE).  http://www.gi.com/
General Instrument, October 18, 1999

As of August 31, UPC's systems passed approximately 9.11 million homes with 5.9 million basic cable subscribers.  UPC also had 140,200 residential telephony lines, 15,200 business telephony lines, 64,300 cable modem Internet subscribers and 2,700 business Internet subscribers.

LARA INTRODUCES MEMORIES FOR GIGABIT TO TERABIT SWITCHING/ROUTING
Lara Technology, a start-up based in San Jose, California introduced the first members of its Ternary Content-Addressable-Memory (CAM) Module family.  The devices are specialized memories designed for larger lookup table sizes, ranging from 16K to 896K addresses.  Applications include Gigabit, Terabit, ATM switches and routers.  The modules can sustain a throughput of 66 million searches per second in Layer 2, Layer 3, Layer 4 and Multi-Layer applications such as VPN, QoS, CoS and policy management.  http://www.laratech.com/press16.frameset.htm
Lara Technology, October 18, 1999

MILLENNIUM OPTICAL NETWORKS ACTIVATES NYC NETWORK
Millennium Optical Networks activated the first phase of its fiber network in Manhattan, offering OC-48 connections between two of the largest telecommunications carrier buildings in NYC.  Millennium network strategy is to connect all “telco hotels” in the New York region with its DWDM transport network.
Millennium Optical Networks, October 18, 1999

MCI WORLDCOM AND VULCAN VENTURES INVEST $600 MILLION IN METRICOM'S WIRELESS NETWORK
MCI WorldCom and Vulcan Ventures will each invest $300 million in Metricom to support the rollout of its Ricochet 128 kbps mobile data service in major markets across the US.  Metricom uses a unique network architecture based on a digital packet-switched network and spread-spectrum radio frequency transmission.  The meshed frequency-hopping network use micro cell radio transmitters hung on streetlight and utility poles. The self-configuring "poletop" radios allow users to send and receive data from Ricochet wireless data modems anywhere in coverage areas. Ricochet WAPs collect RF data packets from the poletop radios and convert them for transmission over the local wireline and national Internet backbone networks. http://www.metricom.com/
Metricom, October 18, 1999