JUNIPER AND CIENA ANNOUNCE 10 GBPS IP-TO-OPTICS INTEROPERABILITY
Juniper Networks and Ciena completed 10 Gbps (OC-192c/STM-64) IP over glass interoperability testing Juniper Networks’ new M160 router and the CIENA 10G CoreStream system.  iaxis, a pan-European network operator using CIENA and Juniper systems at its network core, said 10G IP signals over glass would be an essential enabler of its next-generation broadband IP-based services.  http://www.ciena.com/news/archive/2000/04/04.20.2000pr.html
Ciena, April 20, 2000

EQUANT ADDS FRAME RELAY-TO-ATM, RT-VBR TO GLOBAL NETWORK
Equant introduced Frame Relay-to-ATM interworking capability to its global ATM network, which is now available at speeds of up to 155 Mbps in 50 countries worldwide.  The new Frame Relay-to-ATM enhancement allows customers to migrate from Frame Relay to ATM at speeds from 2 Mbps and above.  Smaller offices outside the 50-nation ATM network can use Equant's 122-country Frame Relay service to communicate with their ATM hubs.  Equant also is now offering integrated corporate voice, video, data and other real-time services using a new real time variable bit rate (rt-VBR) capability.  http://www.equant.com
Equant, April 20, 2000

• In February, Reuters and Equant formed a joint venture to offer financial services customers secure, fast, business-to-business Internet and telecommunications services. 

GLOBAL NAPS SCALES ITS BACKBONE WITH SYCAMORE’S OPTICAL SWITCHES
Global NAPs, a national competitive local exchange carrier (CLEC), will deploy Sycamore Networks' SN 8000 network nodes and optical network management system to scale its backbone services.  Global NAPs currently handles dial-up calls for Internet service providers such as Mindspring, MSN, Netcom, Prodigy, WebTV and Ziplink. It also serves Internet-bound calls for other local carriers such as GTE. The company plans to plans to expand its services to California, Washington, Georgia, Nevada and Illinois.  Financial terms were not disclosed.
http://www.sycamorenet.com/about/news/pressreleases.cfm?news_item_id=242
Sycamore Networks, April 20, 2000

• Sycamores SN 8000 optical network node supports direct provisioning of OC-N/STM-N services and Gigabit Ethernet/Fibre Channel services from the optical network by providing SONET/SDH like features, including service protection, performance monitoring and statistics. Sycamore offers SN 8000 configurations for access, interoffice and long-haul applications.  http://www.sycamorenet.com/solutions/products/sn8000/overview.html
  

CHOICE ONE SELECTS LUCENT FOR $100 MILLION CONVERGED NETWORK
Lucent Technologies announced a three-year, $100 million supply contract with Choice One Communications, a CLEC based in Rochester, NY.  Choice One will deploy Lucent's 7R/E Packet Solutions for a multi-service packet network that integrates voice, video and data services all on a single converged packet network.  The deal also includes Lucent's 5ESS switches, CBX ATM switches, PacketStar access concentrators, AnyMedia access systems, WaveStar 2.5G multiplexers, NetworkCare services and management software. 
http://www.lucent.com/press/0400/000420.nsa.html
Lucent Technologies, April 20, 2000

• In February, Choice One raised $164 million through an IPO (Nasdaq: CWON). The company is targeting small and medium-sized businesses in second and third tier markets in the Northeastern US. 

MARCONI ACQUIRES MSI FOR OSS FOR WIRELESS NETWORKS
Marconi will acquire MSI, a provider of Operational Support Services (OSS) software and consulting services for the wireless telecommunications industry, for US$618 million  (approximately 50% cash and 50% in new stock).  MSI claims over 100 wireless service provider customers in more than 60 countries, including Sprint PCS, Nextel, AT&T Wireless, Vodafone Airtouch, PrimeCo, Telstra, Connect Austria and SingTel Mobile.  MSI is based in London and has about 600 employees worldwide.  Marconi said the acquisition would enhance its capabilities, particularly in 3G and broadband wireless networks.  http://www.msi-world.com/
http://www.marconi.com/news_events/press_releases/current/4394.html
Marconi Communications, April 20, 2000

• MSI was formed in 1998 through the merger of Mobile Systems International and Metapath Software Corp.

BROADWING PROVIDES ITS DSL USERS WITH PREMIUM MEDIA ON-DEMAND SERVICES
Broadwing is now providing its ZoomTown DSL subscribers in the Cincinnati area with fast access to interactive software and multimedia from Media Station.  The premium SelectPlay service uses a proprietary "Bandwidth Manager" to determines both the bandwidth required for a particular title and the available network capacity.  The value-added service is priced at $9.95 per month for unlimited access to 60 titles; additional new titles will be available for individual pay-per-play for only $3.95 for 48 hours.  The basic ZoomTown DSL service is priced at $39.95 per month with Internet service, or $29.95 per month with ISP access via another provider.  http://www.broadwing.com  http://www.SelectPlay.com   
Broadwing, April 20, 2000

BELLSOUTH REPORTS 49,000 DSL CUSTOMERS
Bell South reported 49,000 customers for DSL and high speed Internet access.   BellSouth Internet Service now serves more than 735,000 consumer.  Web hosting, Internet access and eCommerce applications generated revenues of $811 million for the first quarter, up 30.6% over the same time last year.  BellSouth's domestic wireless businesses added an average of nearly 100,000 customers per month during the quarter.  It now has 5.6 million mobile phone customers in the U.S and 6.8 million mobile phone customers in Latin America and Europe.  http://www.bellsouthcorp.com/
BellSouth, April 20, 2000

• This was the first quarter BellSouth disclosed DSL subscription numbers in its financial report.

HARRIS ACQUIRES LUCENT’S POINT-TO-POINT MICROWAVE BUSINESS
Harris Corporation will acquire Lucent Technologies’ microwave radio business unit for an undisclosed sum.  The deal covers TRT Lucent's Microwave Digital Link (MDL) product line, which covers the 2 to 38 GHz frequency bands.  The business unit is based just outside of Paris in Le Plessis-Robinson, France.  Harris also entered into a five-year preferred supplier agreement to serve the worldwide point-to-point microwave needs of Lucent's wireless divisions.  http://www.harris.com
http://www.lucent.com/press/0400/000420.nsb.html
Lucent Technologies, April 20, 2000

INTERNET2 LAUNCHES ABILENE QOS TEST PROGRAM
The Internet2 initiative launched an Abilene Premium Service (APS) test program to support the QBone, an interdomain quality of service (QoS) testbed.  APS is designed for full interoperability with the QBone Premium Service (QPS), which aims to provide a low-loss, low-jitter service to advanced applications such as human-to-human collaborations or human-to-machine remote control.  The Abilene Premium Service is built on the Expedited Forwarding (EF) per-hop behavior defined by the IETF's DiffServ group.  The Abilene backbone is a coast-to-coast, OC-48 packet-over SONET (POS) network connecting to Internet2 universities.  http://archives.internet2.edu/guest/archives/I2-NEWS/log0004/msg00002.html
Internet2, April 20, 2000

NETCOM SYSTEMS DONATES $1 MILLION IN TEST SOLUTIONS TO INTERNET2
Netcom Systems will provide Internet2 universities with $1 million in SmartBits network performance and measurement systems.  The company's SmartBits products are capable of generating and analyzing traffic, at full wire rate, over hundreds of ports for: 10/100/Gigabit, Gigabit Copper, Packet over SONET, ATM, Frame Relay, WAN, XDSL, Cable Modem, Voice over IP, Multicast IP and TCP/IP.  Netcom Systems is a SPIRENT Communications company.  http://www.netcomsystems.com
Netcom Systems, April 20, 2000