20-October-1999   Volume 6 Issue 202

PSINET OUTLINES ITS NETWORK STRATEGY
PSINet outlined a strategy to become an "Internet Super Carrier" by opening 20+ Web hosting centers worldwide, acquiring significant dark fiber capacity in the US and internationally, installing Nortel Network's optical network platform and purchasing satellite capacity. Highlights of the announcement include:

• 21+ global hosting centers worldwide by the end of 2000, with plans 
  for more than 60.

• 800 Internet POPs worldwide

• the acquisition 16 dark fibers on IXC Communications coast-to-coast 
  US network. The initial plan is to light 4 dark fibers by late 
  2000. Financial terms were not disclosed

• the purchase an IRU for all the capacity on a single fiber pair on 
  the FLAG Atlantic-1 (800 Gbps of raw capacity or 400 Gbps of 
  protected bandwidth)

• the deployment of Nortel Networks' OPTera LH bi-directional DWDM 
  systems under a 3-year, $200 million contract

• the building or acquisition of an 11-node OC-48 SONET ring in 
  Manhattan from an unnamed partner, and the introduction of SDSL 
  service in NYC

• the introduction an Internet universal transit product that 
  connects all countries' IP traffic with each other for a single 
  price.

• the purchase two full satellite transponders on Loral's Orion 2 
  satellite for connectivity to South America, where PSINet now owns 
  six major ISPs. http://www.psi.net/news/10-19-99_conference.html

PSINet, October 19, 1999

In July, PSINet selected Extreme Networks' Layer 3 switching systems 
as a component of its Global Hosting Center architecture.

EXCITE@HOME REACHES 840,000 CABLE MODEM SUBSCRIBERS
As of September 30, Excite@Home had 840,000 cable modem subscribers, up 35% from the 620,000 reported at June 30.  The company said this represents penetration of 3.9% of the 21 million homes in its geographic footprint and those of its affiliates now upgraded to two-way, digital cable plant; a year ago penetration stood at just 2.1% of 10 million upgraded homes.

Excite@Home's international access footprint now passes a total of 13 million homes, or nearly 20% of Excite@Home's total homes under contract, including recent deals with Telenet of Belgium and a planned venture with Tele-Columbus in Germany.

The company also noted that its most successful customer acquisition program is a marketing campaign aimed at luring AOL subscribers by rebating their "bring-your-own-access" monthly subscription fees.  Traffic on the Excite rose 78% over the same period last year to 89 million average daily page views during September.
Excite@Home, October 19, 1999

ROADRUNNER REPORTS 420,000 CABLE MODEM SUBSCRIBERS
As of September 30, Road Runner had 420,000 cable modem subscribers, up 31% over the 320,000 subscribers reported at June 30.  Road Runner is averaging 10,000 new subscribers a week.  Its geographic footprint covers about 12.5 million homes. http://www.rr.com/rdrun/
RoadRunner, October 7, 1999

PACIFIC BELL TO RESELL NORTHPOINT'S IDSL SERVICE
Pacific Bell Internet Services will NorthPoint Communications' 144 Kbps IDSL access service to customers located more than 17,500 feet from its central offices.  http://www.northpointdsl.com/pressroom/1999/press_991019.html
NorthPoint Communications, October 19, 1999

DIGINET ACTIVATES ITS FIRST FIXED WIRELESS ATM NETWORK IN LATIN AMERICA
Diginet Americas activated its first, fixed wireless ATM network in Sao Paulo, Brazil and Bogota, Colombia, three months after signing an equipment supply contract with Ericsson.  The network uses Ericsson's AXD 301 ATM switch in the backbone and Ericsson's MINI-LINK digital microwave wireless systems for last mile, point-to-point and point-to-multipoint connectivity.  The Digital microwave technology supports access services at rates from 64 Kbps to 34 Mbps.  The service requires Line of sight to one of Diginet's strategically located Hub sites.  Diginet Americas awarded a $100 million contract to Ericsson in June, covering network deployments in the major cities of Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Peru.  Diginet Americas, which is based in Washington D.C., recently raised over $100 million from GS Capital Partners (Goldman Sachs), Alta Communications, Norwest Venture Partners, OneLiberty Ventures and the private equity arm of the Rothschild Family.  http://www.diveo.net/usa/english/pr1018.htm
Diginet, October 14, 1999

General DataComm's (GDC's) APEX ATM switches are also deployed in Diginet's network primarily for data transmission in a Frame Relay application.  General DataComm will supply nine GDC APEX IMX asynchronous edge switches to Ericsson, which will be used as part of their service solution that will include their AXD 301 core ATM switches and mini-link microwave wireless systems.  http://www.gdc.com

LD COM SELECTS ALCATEL FIBER FOR ITS FRENCH AND EUROPEAN NETWORKS
LD COM, a telecommunications venture of the Louis Dreyfus group, selected Alcatel to supply more than 500,000 km of fiber optic cable for its French and European network.  LD COM currently has 60,000 km of fiber along the Seine and in the Paris region.  The company will extend the network to Lille, Calais, Lyon, Strasbourg, Arles, Montpellier and Geneva in the next- 12 months.  LD COM is also building "Carrier Hotel" facilities in major French cities near the main local loop networks.  The contract was valued at 200 million francs (US$33 million)
http://www.alcatel.com/press/current/1999/10_18.htm
http://www.ldcom.fr/
Alcatel, October 19, 1999

TELECOM ITALIA SELECTS MARCONI'S SDH AND DWDM PLATFORMS
Telecom Italia selected Marconi Communications to supply the core transmission equipment for its national optical backbone. The exclusive GBP 32 million (US$53 million) contract covers Marconi's SDH and DWDM platforms.  http://www.marconicomms.com/
Marconi Communications, October 19, 1999

CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY SELECTS NEWBRIDGE'S MAINSTREETXPRESS 36170
Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) will deploy Newbridge Networks' MainStreetXpress 36170 Multiservices Switch, 46020 Network Manager and 3600 Bandwidth Manager for its national signals and communications network.  Financial terms were not disclosed.  http://www.newbridge.com
Newbridge Networks, October 19, 1999

BLAZE NETWORK PRODUCTS RAISES $10 MILLION IN FUNDING FOR DWDM TRANSCEIVERS
Blaze Network Products, a start-up developing an optical transceiver that uses DWDM to improve the distance and capacity of multimode fiber (MMF), received $10 million in venture funding from Wasserstein Adelson Ventures, Dynafund Ventures, Intel and Vanguard Venture Partners.  Blaze Network Products said its transceiver extends the distance over which Gigabit Ethernet may be transmitted on multimode fiber to 2 km.  A second WDM product enables trunking of as many as eight Gigabit data streams onto one fiber.  The company is based in Dublin, California.  http://www.blazenp.com/pressroom/funding.htm
Blaze Network Products, October 19, 1999

NTT DOCOMO. FORMS VENTURE FUND FOR MOBILE INTERNET
NTT Mobile Communications (NTT DoCoMo), IBJ Securities Co., Internet Research Institute, and Ikuo Nishioka (the former Chairman of Intel K.K.) have established a venture fund for technologies, content and services for the mobile communications and Internet sector.  Initial assets under management are targeted at 5 billion yen (US$47 million).  http://www.nttdocomo.com/pre.htm
NTT DoCoMo, October 18, 1999

COVAD USES EFFICIENT NETWORKS' CPE FOR ITS TELESURFER RESIDENTIAL SERVICE
Covad Communications is using Efficient Networks' 5250 external DSL LAN modem as the CPE device for TeleSurfer residential DSL service.  The Covad service, which is resold through other ISPs, is available in 51 metropolitan service areas across the US. http://www.efficient.com/news/199910191.html
Efficient Networks, October 19, 1999