FCC APPROVES INCREASE IN HOMERF BANDWIDTH
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) amended rules to allow frequency hopping spread spectrum transmitters operating in the 2.4 GHz band to use a minimum of 15 hopping channels, spanning a total of 75 MHz.  The new rules will allow for hopping channels up to 5 MHz wide, thereby enabling faster wireless LANs and gateways for the home.  Output power would be reduced in proportion to the increase in bandwidth over 1 MHz.  The HomeRF Working Group, which proposed the changes, said the new rules would increase the transmission speed capabilities of the Shared Wireless Access Protocol (SWAP) to 10 Mbps from its currently maximum rate of 2 Mbps.  Members of the HomeRF Working Group include Intel, Cayman, Proxim, Compaq and others.  http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Engineering_Technology/Orders/2000/fcc00312.txt
http://www.homerf.org
August 31, 2000

• The Wireless Ethernet Compatibility Alliance (WECA) had filed comments opposing the proposed changes, arguing that overlapping hopping channels would create interference for existing users of the band.  The IEEE 802.11 High Rate (HR) Direct Sequence (DS) standard promoted by WECA also uses the 2.4 GHz radio spectrum and supports 11 Mbps rates.  http://www.wirelessethernet.org

CISCO SYSTEMS TO ACQUIRE PIXSTREAM FOR ITS DIGITAL VIDEO TRANSMISSION PLATFORMS
Cisco Systems will acquire privately held PixStream, a developer of digital video transmission equipment, for approximately US$369 million in stock.  Pixstream's equipment is used to distribute and manage digital video across all types of networks. The company is based in Waterloo, Ontario and has 156 employees.  Cisco Systems said the acquisition would support its strategy to promote IP-based entertainment services, such as broadcast-quality TV, video-on-demand (VOD) programming and multi-player games, over broadband DSL, cable and wireless networks.  http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/146/pressroom/2000/aug00/corp_083100.htm
http://www.pixstream.com/
Cisco Systems, August 31, 2000

• Pixstream offers a range of platforms designed to encode/decode, demodulate, descramble, multiplex, remultiplex and adapt MPEG compressed multi-channel video and audio signals.  Its flagship VDS5000 Video Networking System enables transmission of professional quality MPEG-2 over ATM, IP and IP over ATM (RFC 1483 and IP Multicast). Pixstream customers include Bell Canada, NBtel, Kingston Vision, QuebecTel, and ExOp of Missouri. 

BIGBAND NETWORKS TARGETS SWITCH/ROUTERS FOR DIGITAL VIDEO
BigBand Networks, a start-up based in San Mateo, California, secured $30 million in venture funding to support its development of a new platform to deliver entertainment-quality content and services combining video, voice and data over multiple broadband networks.  BigBand Networks said its video/data networking approach is based on routing and managing media in its native formats, such as MPEG video or IP packets.  The company is led by Amir Bassan-Eskenazi and Ran Oz who were formerly executives with Optibase, the pioneer of MPEG video transmission over broadband networks.  Investors include Redpoint Ventures, Cedar Fund, Pilot House Ventures and Evergreen Investments. http://www.bigbandnet.com/
BigBand Networks, August 31, 2000

AT&T LATIN AMERICA ACQUIRES CAPACITY FROM GLOBAL CROSSING
AT&T Latin America will acquire $46.5 million in bandwidth capacity from Global Crossing's forthcoming cable systems linking Sao Paulo, Buenos Aires, Santiago, Bogotá and Lima with the US.  AT&T Latin America said the new capacity would enable it to offer complete IP/ATM connectivity domestically, intra-regionally and internationally.  http://www.attla.com
AT&T Latin America, August 31, 2000

• Earlier this week, AT&T Latin America completed its merger with FirstCom and began trading on NASDAQ under the symbol ATTL.  AT&T Corp. owns approximately 58% of the company and former FirstCom shareholders own approximately 34%. Last year, AT&T acquired Netstream in Brazil and Keytech LD in Argentina and both of these companies have been incorporated into the new AT&T Latin America.  The new company is building metropolitan fiber networks in major Latin American cities, and currently has 3,000 route kilometers or 95,000 fiber kilometers in 11 principal metropolitan areas.
  
• Separately, Global Crossing announced the shore landing of its undersea fiber optic cable in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The announcement marks a significantly milestone in the construction of the 18,000 km South America Crossing cable system.  Global Crossing will open a city-center telehouse in Rio, and will also have cable stations in Fortaleza and Praia Grande, serving Sao Paulo, where the company will locate another telehouse.  http://www.globalcrossing.com/pressreleases/pr_083100.htm

FLAG TELECOM DEPLOYS JUNIPER'S M20 ROUTERS FOR GLOBAL IP NETWORK
FLAG Telecom is deploying Juniper Networks' M20 routers throughout its global IP backbone.  Financial terms of the contract were not disclosed.  FLAG Telecom plans to offer international IP VPNs using the QoS/CoS capabilities of MPLS.  http://www.juniper.net.
Juniper Networks, August 31, 2000

• The FLAG Europe-Asia undersea cable, which entered service in November 1997, stretches from the UK to Japan.  FLAG Atlantic-1 (FA-1), which is a terabit class, undersea cable system jointly owned with GTS, is scheduled to enter service in Q1 2001.  FLAG Telecom has also announced plans for a terabit class Pacific cable system that is expected to enter service in 2002.

IPRAD RAISES $16 MILLION IN FIRST ROUND FUNDING
IPrad, a start-up targeting next generation IP over SONET/SDH infrastructure products, raised $16 million in an initial round of private placement financing.  IPrad was established in September 1999 as part of the RAD Group.  The company will have its headquarters in the US and its R&D in Tel Aviv, Israel.  Investors include HarbourVest Partners, Morgan Stanley Dean Witter Private Equity, TLcom Capital Partners, Jafco, Garage.com, and the RAD-Bynet Group, along with senior executives of RAD Data Communications and IPrad employees.  IPrad is headed by Gil Biran.
IPrad, August 31, 2000

NETOCTAVE COMPLETES SPIN-OFF FROM CYLINK
Coinciding with Cylink's acquisition of Celotek's ATM business, NetOctave, which was previously Celotek's Internet Protocol Security Group, has become an independent company.  NetOctave will specialize in IPSec and SSL solutions supporting high connection rates and scaling to multi-gigabit speeds.  The company is headquartered in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina.
http://www.netoctave.com
NetOctave, August 31, 2000

• NetOctave will be led by Bart Bielawski, who was President and CEO of Celotek prior to its announced acquisition by Cylink. 

MOHR, DAVIDOW VENTURES INVESTS IN NLIGHT PHOTONICS
nLight Photonics, a start-up based in Seattle, raised $7.2 million in first round funding led by Mohr, Davidow Ventures.  The company will develop components to extend the reach of optical networks and increasing the amount of functionality performed at the optical level.
http://www.mdv.com  http://www.nlightphotonics.com/
MDV, August 31, 2000