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OPTICAL
INTERNETWORKING FORUM UPDATE
At its May 2nd meeting in Montreal, the Optical
Internetworking Forum (OIF) recommended two documents for
approval. The first
is a proposed implementation agreement for low cost, 10 Gbps
optical interfaces using 12-channel parallel optics.
The second document specifies an interface for packet and
cell transfer between a physical layer (PHY) device and a link
layer device, for aggregate bandwidths of OC-192.
The proposed interface would serve IP, ATM and 10 Gbps
Ethernet applications. The
OIF also formed a special interest group to generate a unified
view of carrier requirements for a UNI 1.0 specification that
describes services a user could request from the network.
Two additional OIF items of note:
Russ Tuck of Pluris, Inc. was elected chairman of the OIF's
Physical and Link Layer Working Group, and Mike O'Dell, chief
scientist for UUNET, was appointed to the OIF Board of Directors.
http://www.oiforum.com/
OIF, May 17, 2000
TIME
WARNER TELECOM ACQUIRES GST'S WEST COAST FIBER NETWORK FOR $450
MILLION
GST Telecommunications, an early
Integrated Communications Provider (ICP) headquartered in
Vancouver, Wash., filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy papers and announced
plans to sell all of its high-capacity, fiber network assets to
Time Warner Telecom for $450 million in cash.
GST said its demise was necessitated by escalating cash
flow problems, a substantial debt load, and an inability to secure
additional financing. Time Warner Telecom, which operates as a
CLEC in 21 US markets, recently announced plans to accelerate its
deployment of metro fiber networks in major US cities.
http://www.gstcorp.com
http://www.twtelecom.com/PressRelease/index.html
GST, May 17, 2000
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GST
operates a long-haul fiber network along the west coast of the
US with 5,961 owned fiber route miles and 1,033 leased fiber
route miles. The
company has been developing a converged voice/data ATM
network. At the
end of last year, it had 15 Class 4/5 voice switches, 23 Frame
Relay and 37 ATM switches in operation.
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GST
has provided fiber for The National Transparent Optical
Network (NTON) project, which has served as a testbed for WDM
technologies. GST has also been a trial customer or Avici
Systems' terabit router platform.
VIATEL
TO DEPLOY CISCO'S MPLS IN ITS EUROPEAN FIBER NETWORK
Viatel will be deploying Cisco System's 12016 GSRs with
MPLS to support advanced IP VPN services throughout its European
network. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Viatel is building a multi-duct, continuously-upgradeable,
cross-border fiber network in Western Europe.
It currently has completed 7,000 route km of its announced
10,400 km footprint. Viatel
is also building metropolitan fiber networks in London, Amsterdam,
Paris, Berlin, Frankfurt and Dusseldorf as well as throughout the
New York City area. http://www.viatel.com
Viatel, May 17, 2000
COLT
TELECOM SELECTS CISCO FOR EUROPEAN IP NETWORK AND SERVICES
COLT Telecom Group plc
named Cisco Systems as its preferred IP equipment supplier for its
European networks. The
companies are currently working together on an "IP City"
project in Stockholm to deliver IP services alongside existing
voice and data offerings.
http://www.cisco.com/
http://www.colt-telecom.com/
COLT Telecom, May
17, 2000
BT
ANNOUNCES NEW INVESTMENTS IN ITS PAN-EUROPEAN NETWORK
BT announced a £32
million investment to expand the "Farland" European
fiber network its runs with its European partners.
The expansion will add coverage in Ireland, Spain, Sweden,
Norway and Denmark, giving the European fiber backbone a span of
65,000 route kms. The
Farland network is currently based on 16
channel DWDM. http://www.farland-net.com
BT, May 12, 2000
WILLIAMS
ORDERS NORTEL NETWORKS' SONET FOR ITS METRO NETWORKS
Williams Communications ordered Nortel Networks' SONET
equipment for the first phase of its optical-in-the-metro
environment launch. Financial
terms were not disclosed.
http://www.nortelnetworks.com/corporate/news/newsreleases/2000b/05_17_0000187_williams.html
Nortel Networks,
May 17, 2000
LUMENON
REPORTS PROGRESS WITH ITS OPTICAL CHIP PROCESS TECHNOLOGY
Lumenon Innovative
Lightwave Technology, a developer of integrated optical
components, reported progress in implementing its proprietary
PHASIC process technology toward volume production of optical
devices. PHASIC is
Lumenon's process technology for integrating design, fabrication,
packaging and testing of planar lightwave circuit components.
Lumenon will leverage Hybrid
Sol-Gel Glass (HSGG) technology to create hybrid glass circuits
directly on silicon chips using its low-temperature PHASIC
process. The
technology is used to provide a fast, direct photolithographic
method for depositing waveguides on integrated optics devices at
low temperatures (under 200° C).
Construction of a new manufacturing facility
supporting PHASIC is on schedule. The company hopes to be able to
supply large volume of optical chips by early next year.
Lumenon also announced its intention to extend its passive
component portfolio to include splitters, couplers, filters,
interferometers, add/drops, and combinations of these.
http://www.lumenon.com
Lumenon, May 17, 2000
ORCKIT
TO ACQUIRE EDSL NETWORKS FOR ITS VDSL SOLUTIONS
Orckit Communications
will acquire EDSL Networks of symmetrical DSL technology, for
approximately $33 million (757,000 shares of ORCT).
EDSL offers a DSL access platform that supports value-added
services for the Multi-Tenant Unit (MTU) market using VDSL
technology. The
system implements a switched, symmetrical 10 Mbps Ethernet DSL
connection per resident within a building using existing twisted
pair wiring. The
platform is suitable for CLECs with copper, wireless or fiber
access networks. Orckit said EDSL's MTU last drop VDSL solution
adds value to its central office DSLAM.
http://www.orckit.com/fr_pr_000517.html
http://www.edsl.com
Orckit, May 17, 2000
ALCATEL
ADOPTS CENTILLIUM'S CHIPSET TO INTEGRATE VOATM INTO LITESPAN
Centillium
Communications, a start-up based in Fremont, California, will
supply Alcatel with a new chipset solution for compressing and
processing voice packets, initially using voice over ATM (VoATM).
Centillium's Entropia chipset will be used in a new
integrated voice gateway card for Alcatel's Litespan family of
multiservice access platforms.
The new chipset consists of a communications digital signal
processor (DSP), software for voice processing including
compression, echo cancellation,
ATM adaptation layer processing, and host API software.
Centillium said its solution deliver 256 compressed voice
channels compared with only 12 channels of voice typically
supported by today's general purpose DSPs.
http://www.centillium.com/news/press/20000517pr01.html
http://www.centillium.com/products/vop/gwc2256.html
Centillium, May 17, 2000
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Last
month, Alcatel
introduced new ADSL line cards for its large installed base of
Litespan digital loop carriers.
Carriers could use the Litespan + ADSL solution to
provide DSL services to customers more than 18,000 ft from a
Central Offices (CO). Alcatel
will offer the solution as an environmentally hardened
mini-DSLAM package for low-density subscriber DLC situations.
Alcatel's Litespan platform is being used by every US
RBOC.
ALCATEL
REACHES ONE MILLION DSL CO LINE SHIPMENTS THIS YEAR
Alcatel shipped one
million DSL central office (CO) lines in the first 4 months of the
year, bringing its worldwide installed base to 2.7 million.
Sixty-eight percent of the first quarter volume was shipped
to service providers in North America, fifteen percent to service
providers in Europe, fifteen percent to the Asia/Pacific region,
and two percent to Latin America.
During Q1, Alcatel also shipped 190,000 of its SpeedTouch
customer premise units. http://www.alcatel.com/vpr/index.htm?body=/latestnews/17052000_1uk?OpenDocument
Alcatel, May 17, 2000
LSI
LOGIC TO ACQUIRE INTRASERVER TECHNOLOGY FOR HOST ADAPTER EXPERTISE
LSI Logic will acquire IntraServer Technology, a
venture-backed developer of host adapter boards, for about $70
million. IntraServer, which is based in Holliston, MA, offers PCI
and CompactPCI I/O peripherals for Alpha, Intel, and SPARC based
systems that are ClusterReady. The merger combines LSI Logic's
high-volume, single and dual function SCSI and Fibre Channel host
adapter board solutions with IntraServer's high-performance,
multi-function (SCSI, Fibre Channel, and Ethernet) host adapter
board business http://www.lsilogic.com/news/nwsreleases/pr0240.html
LSI Logic, May 17, 2000
INTEL
AND MITSUBISHI TO CODEVELOP 3G CHIPSETS
Intel and Mitsubishi
Electric Corporation are co-developing a cellular chipset for the
3G wireless market. Intel
first established a Wireless Communications and Computing Group in
December 1999 to focus on flash memory technology; cellular
chipsets; high-performance, low-power processors; and digital
signal processing activities.
Mitsubishi expects to ship 25 million cellular phones this
year and 60 million annually by 2004.
http://www.intel.com/pressroom/archive/releases/aw051700.htm
Intel, May 17, 2000
UNIQUE
BROADBAND SYSTEMS PROPOSES HIGH-SPEED MOBILE COFDM FORUM
Unique Broadband
Systems, a Canadian start-up developing broadband wireless
solutions, is proposing a High-Speed Mobile COFDM Forum to develop
standards for high-speed mobile multimedia transmission into
moving vehicles using coded orthogonal frequency division
multiplexing (COFDM). The
technology is expected to support receive rates of up to 30 Mbps
and return rates of up to 2 Mbps.
http://www.uniquesys.com/
Unique Broadband Systems, May 17, 2000
SWITZERLAND
RAISES $340 MILLION FOR WLL LICENSES FOR 9 COMPETITORS TO SWISSCOM
Switzerland's Federal
Office of Communications (OFCOM) raised 582.8
million Swiss francs ($340.4 million) from its auction of
Wireless Local Loop (WLL) licenses.
The Swiss regulatory authority awarded 34 WLL licenses,
including three national licenses, allowing 9 telecommunications
service providers to compete with Swisscom for subscriber
connections (the so-called "last mile”).
http://www.bakom.ch/eng/news/
OFCOM, May 16, 2000
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