Williams first announced plans for its Optical Wave Service in June 1999.

Separately, SBC Communications began transporting 25 million minutes per month of Southwestern Bell Wireless traffic over Williams' national fiber network.  Williams Communications is now carrying all of Southwestern Bell Wireless traffic except for local calls between cellular phones. 

TELUS DEPLOY'S NORTEL'S OPTICAL BACKBONE AND CROSSCONNECT EQUIPMENT
TELUS, Canada's second largest telecommunications company, will deploy Nortel Networks' OPTera LH backbone networking equipment and OPTera Connect DX optical cross-connect at interconnection points.  The TELUS network will use large fiber rings for millisecond restoration.  It is already connected to GTE's US network via Seattle.  The contract was valued at US$47 million.  http://www.nortelnetworks.com
Nortel Networks, January 11, 2000

METROMEDIA'S DARK FIBER BOOKINGS REACH $2 BILLION 
Metromedia Fiber Network has now reached the $2 billion mark in dark fiber lease agreements. Over the past year, the company has announced multi-million-dollar dark fiber agreements with WinStar, Bell Atlantic, Storage Networks, Focal, CBS Broadcasting, Allegiance Telecom, Time Warner Telecom and America Online.  http://www.mmfn.com/
Metromedia, January 11, 2000

AGILENT INTRODUCES WDM CHANNEL ANALYZER
Agilent Technologies introduced a WDM channel analyzer designed to measure signal wavelengths critical for the installation and verification of DWDM systems.  The new channel analyzer provides NIST-traceable absolute-wavelength accuracy of 3 picometers and optical signal-to-noise ratio (OSNR) to >27dB for channel spacing to 50GHz, while ensuring that each channel complies with the ITU-T grid.  Pricing starts at $23,000.  http://www.tm.agilent.com/tmo/datasheets/English/HP86121A.html
Agilent Technologies, January 11, 2000

EQUANT TO LAUNCH GLOBAL VOIP SERVICE
Equant announced plans for a new 50-country Voice over IP service using modular multiservice routers and voice-over-IP technology from Cisco Systems.  The service will launch in February and be backed by global service level agreements.  http://www.equant.com/home.html
Equant, January 11, 2000

NEWSOUTH COMMUNICATIONS INSTALLS LUCENT'S SOFTSWITCH
NewSouth Communications, an integrated communications carrier based in South Carolina, is integrating Lucent Technologies' Softswitch into its network.  The Bell Labs-developed software switch will translate circuit-based traffic into ATM and then, if required at the other end, convert it back to circuit-based messages for delivery over the PSTN. NewSouth Communications recently implemented Cisco Powered Network facilities for IP routing and ATM edge switching.  The NewSouth network currently uses Lucent's 5ESS-2000 switches to support its services in Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Louisiana.  http://www.newsouth.com/
NewSouth Communications, January 11, 2000

GUANGDONG PTA SELECTS NEWBRIDGE 36170 FOR MAJOR EXPANSION
China's Guangdong Post and Telecommunications Administration (GPTA) selected Newbridge Networks' 36170 multiservices platform for a major expansion spanning more than 100 counties and cities in the province.  Newbridge is also providing its 3600 MainStreet Bandwidth Manager and the 3630 MainStreet Primary Rate Multiplexer for the project.  Financial terms were not disclosed.  http://www.newbridge.com
Newbridge Networks, January 11, 2000

AVENA TO DEPLOY LUCENT'S STINGER DSL AND SOFTSWITCH
Avana Communications, a greenfield operator based in Atlanta, will deploy Lucent Technologies' PathStar Access Server, and Stinger DSL Access Concentrators and Softswitch to offer high-quality Voice-over-DSL services across the southeastern US.  The contract was valued at up to $25 million.
http://www.lucent.com/press/0100/000111.nsb.html
Lucent Technologies, January 11, 2000

PRIMARY NETWORK COMMUNICATIONS SELECTS MARCONI FOR DSL CORE
Primary Network Communications, a CLEC based in St. Louis, selected Marconi Communications' TNX-210 and TNX-1100 ATM switches for the backbone of its new DSL network deployment.  The company plans to introduce DSL services within more than 200 central offices in Kansas and Missouri during the next six months.  Marconi's TNX-210 is a modular, 2.5-Gbps switch supporting up to 32 ATM and non-ATM ports.  The TNX-1100 is a modular, 2.5 to 10Gbps switch supporting up to 128 service ports.  http://www.marconi.com/news_events/press_releases/current/4124.html
Marconi Communications, January 11, 2000

YAHOO! GLOBAL AUDIENCE REACHES 120 MILLION UNIQUE USERS
For December, Yahoo! averaged 465 million page views per day, up from 167 million page views per day in December 1998.  During the quarter, Yahoo! also introduced its first voice services, including real-time Chat, as well as a feature to determine competitive long-distance rates and place PC-to-phone calls.  http://docs.yahoo.com/docs/pr/4q99pr.html
Yahoo!, January 11, 2000

HITACHI TO USE QUALCOMM'S HDR FOR 2.4 MBPS PEAK RATE WIRELESS SERVICES
Hitachi will develop infrastructure equipment and support a field trial of QUALCOMM's High Data Rate (HDR) technology, which provides a spectrally efficient 2.4 Mbps peak rate in a cdmaOne 1.25 MHz channel bandwidth.            QUALCOMM's High Data Rate (HDR) is optimized for packet services and will be compatible with IS- 95A, IS-95B and future cdma2000 networks.  Technical trials of HDR are expected to begin in the middle of 2000.  http://www.hitachi.co.jp/New/cnews/E/2000/000111B.html
Hitachi, January 11, 2000

SKYCACHE CHANGES NAME TO CIDERA
SkyCache, which provides global datacasting via satellite, changed its name to Cidera to reflect its expanded data transfer services at the edge of the Internet. Cidera's global broadcast overlay network (GBON) currently has 250 POPs in Europe and North America equipped with satellite dishes.  http://www.cidera.com/
Cidera, January 11, 2000

OTELNET RAISES $10 MILLION FOR ONE NUMBER SERVICE SOFTWARE
OtelNet, a start-up based in Berkeley, California received $10.3 million in its second round of venture financing to support its development of One Number Service (ONS) software.  The software enables integrated wireless and wireline services based on one telephone number per subscriber.  OTelNet's unique ONS approach also satisfies the Service Provider Local Number Portability (SP-LNP) mandate for wireless and wireline service providers.  http://www.otelnet.com/
OtelNet, January 11, 2000