BELL LABS TESTS SEMICONDUCTOR-BASED 160 GBPS LINE RATE TRANSMISSION
Researchers at Lucent's Bell Labs successfully tested a semiconductor-based transmitter and demultiplexer operating at a 160 Gbps line rate.  The demonstration was carried over 300 km of Lucent's TrueWave RS fiber using a single optical wavelength.  The highest single-wavelength commercial transmission system today operates at 40 Gbps.  Lucent said the 160 Gbps system could be carried by DWDM.  http://www.lucent.com/press/1199/991110.blb.html
Lucent Technologies, November 10, 1999

CONEXANT DEVELOP LOWER COST, 10 GBPS INTERCONNECTS
Conexant Systems is working with Cisco Systems to develop a very short reach (VSR) interface based on parallel optics to interconnect co-located gigabit/terabit routers, DWDM terminals and SONET/SDH ADMs at 9.952 Gbps (OC-192) data rates.  The VSR technology will be used in point of presence (POP), central office (CO) and portal sites connections over distances of up to 400 m.  Conexant said parallel optics would be far cheaper than existing serial interconnections.  The VSR interface specification was presented last month at the Optical Internetworking Forum and has been adopted as a baseline document.  Conexant plans to release products supporting the VSR specification during the first half of 2000.  http://www.conexant.com/pressroom/releases/1999/11101999-1.asp
Conexant Systems, November 10, 1999z

CSIX CONSORTIUM PUBLISHES ITS NETWORK PROCESSOR SPECIFICATION
The Common Programming Interface (CPIX) Forum, which is developing control plane software interface standards for network processors, published its first draft specification for public review.  The group is specifically soliciting review from network equipment vendors and is accepting comments through December 5, 1999.  The CSIX specification defines the physical and message layers of the interconnect between network processors and the switching fabric.  The CSIX Consortium currently includes 25 member companies.  The specification is online.  http://www.csix.org/
CSIX Consortium, November 10, 1999

IAXIS COMPLETES ITS SECOND EUROPEAN FIBER ROUTE
Iaxis completed the second phase of its European network with new fiber stretching over 5,000 km and passing 10 cities in Germany, Switzerland, and Italy.  Phase One of the Iaxis network -- a 3,000 km ring linking London, Paris, Strasbourg, Frankfurt, Dusseldorf, Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Antwerp and Brussels – began operations in May.  Further extensions are planned to Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Bordeaux and Vienna.  Iaxis also plans to build a 10,000 km submarine network in the Mediterranean using 48 fiber cables for multiterabit capacity linking Spain, France, Italy, Turke, Tunisia, Algeria and other countries..  http://www.iaxisbv.com/
Iaxis, November 10, 1999

In September, iaxis signed a multi-million dollar contract to provide wavelength capacity to Deutsche Telekom. The network uses Ciena's DWDM platform.  The company recently announced plans to build carrier-hosting facilities.  iaxis is led by Ray Dutton, a founder director of MFS Communications (acquired by WorldCom).

NETWORK ELEMENTS RAISES $12 MILLION FOR OPTICAL ASIC DEVELOPMENTS
Network Elements, a start-up based in Beaverton, Oregon, raised $12 million in first round funding from New Enterprise Associates and Alloy Ventures.  The company is integrating advanced ASICs with high-speed optics, electronics, and software cores. Network Elements' modular solutions will incorporate optical interfaces and wirespeed processing for layers 2/3 through layers 4/7, for multi-gigabit/sec IP, Ethernet, ATM, SONET and DWDM processing engines.  http://www.networkelements.com/
Network Elements, November 10, 1999

GERMANY'S QS COMMUNICATIONS SELECTS LUCENT'S STINGER DSL PLATFORM
QS Communications AG, a German telecommunications start-up, selected Lucent Technologies to design and build a nationwide SDSL network based on its new Stinger platform. QSC will also use the PacketStar Access Concentrator and CellPipe 50A customer premises equipment.  Deployment begins this month in Cologne, Munich and Berlin.  QSC holds Class 3 and Class 4 telecommunications licenses and has negotiated a national interconnection and co-location agreement with Deutsche Telekom.  The contract was valued at approximately $100 million over the next 12 months, and up to $400 million over the next four years.  http://www.lucent.com/press/1199/991110.nsb.html
http://www.qsc.de
Lucent Technologies, November 10, 1999

Lucent's Stinger DSL access concentrator incorporates an ATM switching fabric for ensuring end-to-end QoS capabilities. Either ATM or Frame Relay could be used from the customer premises to the central office. The Stinger chassis supports all versions of DSL-SDSL, ADSL (full-rate and G.Lite), IDSL and HDSL2. The DSLAM provides up to 672 ports per chassis and 2016 ports per rack.  Lucent plans to scale Stinger to support up to 9,000 ports on a single OC-12 trunk by next year.  The Stinger DSLAM platform is also designed for Voice over DSL services, delivering up to 16 voice lines along with data, Internet and video services over one copper connection.

BRAZIL'S INTELIG AWARDS NETWORK CONTRACT TO ALCATEL
Intelig Telecomunicacoes Limitada, a new Brazilian joint venture between National Grid Group PLC (50%), France Telecom (25%) and Sprint (25%), awarded a three-year, EUR 346 million (US $360 million) turn-key network construction contract to Alcatel.  The network deployment includes the core optical fiber (8,500 route km by next year), DWDM and SDH equipment, land satellite stations, intelligent network, call centers and switching systems. http://www.alcatel.com/press/current/1999/11_10a.htm
Alcatel, November 10, 1999

RHYTHMS AT 6,700 DSL LINES, ANNOUNCES PLANS TO DOUBLE DEPLOYMENT
As of September 30, Rhythms NetConnections had 6,700 DSL lines in service, up from 3,250 DSL lines on June 30.  Rhytms now has 855 central office locations built or operational, up from 508 at the end of Q2.  The company also announced plans to roughly double its DSL deployment – the new target is to have a DSL presence in 2,000 central offices across the US by the end of next year.  http://www.rhythms.net/about/pr/revenue.html
Rhytms NetConnections, November 10, 1999

NETWORK PLUS INSTALLS ITS FIRST VODSL CUSTOMER LINE
Network Plus Corp., a CLEC serving the northeastern and southeastern US, installed its first Voice over DSL customer line this week.  Twenty customers are scheduled for installation this quarter.  http://www.nwp.com
Network Plus, November 10, 1999