nCUBE WINS VIDEO STREAMING CONTRACT FROM BLOCKBUSTER/ENRON
Enron selected nCUBE's MediaCUBE 4 system to provide video streaming for the recently announced Blockbuster on-demand service.  Financial terms were not disclosed.  The companies promised that the platform would scale to ensure total availability for all titles, at all times, for all subscribers, with full VCR-like control.  http://www.enron.com
http://www.ncube.com/pressroom/pressreleases/pr2000_09_06_blockbuster-enron.html
nCUBE, September 6, 2000

• NCUBE's primary investor is Larry Ellison, CEO and chairman of Oracle Corporation.  Its MediaCUBE video server consists of hard disk drives, output modules, and CPU.  A single MediaHUB unit can deliver 172 simultaneous 3-Mbps streams.  A hypercube interconnect architecture allows up to 256 MediaHUBS to be connected to function as a single server, with no content duplication. A standard 19" rack can hold eight MediaHUBs.  The company has proven the design in tests of up to 5,000 simultaneous 3 Mbps streams.
  
• In July, Blockbuster announced a 20-year, exclusive agreement with Enron Broadband Services to deliver a Blockbuster entertainment service, initially featuring movies on-demand.  The on-demand service would deliver movies to consumers' televisions through DSL networks.  SBC Communications, Verizon (Bell Atlantic + GTE), Qwest, Covad Communications, Telus and ReFlex have signed on as local distribution providers.  The companies are promising VHS-quality or better with VCR-like control (pause, rewind, stop).  Blockbuster is the videotape rental chain of Viacom Inc.

QOS NETWORKS RAISES $100 MILLION FOR GLOBAL CONTENT DELIVERY NETWORK
QoS Networks, a start-up based in Dublin, Ireland, completed an initial round of funding totaling $100 million to build a new global content-delivery network.  The company plans to provide native IP transport with quality of service (QoS) guarantees, firewall security features with sophisticated filtering and policies, prioritized ASP access, VPN services and high-speed Internet access to other ISPs, local service providers, wireless carriers, ASPs, Web hosting companies and multi-nationals.  The company plans to have 45 POPs worldwide by year-end 2001.  Investors include Warburg Pincus, Soros Private Equity, Global Crossing, Signal Lake Venture Fund, Lucent and GE Capital.  http://www.QoSnetworks.net /
QoS Networks, September 6, 2000

• QoS Networks is led by L. Daniel O'Neill, who previously served as Secretary General to SITA and was a founding officer of Equant, and Jim Valentine, who previously served as President and CEO for North American Wireless.

ERICSSON AND JAPAN TELECOM TEST VOIP OVER WCDMA
Ericsson and Japan Telecom completed a key field trial of Voice over IP over WCDMA.  The experimental, IP-based mobile network in Chiba, Japan tested Ericsson's new header-compression algorithm, called Robust Checksum-based Header Compression (ROCCO), which is currently undergoing standardization within the IETF.  The tests were intended to prove that voice could be efficiently transported over an IP-based mobile network, including the cellular air-interface, to mobile terminals, with full quality of voice service as well as full quality of other service features such as data, without loss of capacity.
http://www.ericsson.com/pressroom/20000906-0003.html
Ericsson, September 6, 2000

AWARE ENABLES VDSL, ADSL OR G.LITE ON A SINGLE CHIPSET
Aware introduced a new DMTflex technology that enables its single chipset solution to operate in any of three modes: 16 ports G.lite, 8 ports of full rate ADSL, or single-port very high-speed DSL (VDSL).  VDSL is capable of providing data transmission speeds of 20 to 50 Mbps at distances up to three up to 3,000 feet.  http://www.aware.com/company/press/2000/vdsl.htm
Aware, September 6, 2000

CISCO DELIVERS IP TELEPHONY SUPPORT FOR CATALYST 4000 SWITCHES
Cisco Systems released new IP telephony options on its Catalyst 4000 platform designed for enterprise voice/data network convergence.  A new 48-port 10/100 Ethernet switch card with an Inline Power capability provides the option of powering IP telephones directly from the LAN switch.  IP phones could also be powered by an auxiliary DC Power Shelf that provides 48 volts of power down the Ethernet cable.  Cisco uses a Phone Discovery mechanism to differentiate between an IP telephone and a host's Network Interface Card and thus, will not supply Inline Power to it or other device not designed to use Inline Power.  http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/146/pressroom/2000/sep00/ent_090600b.htm
Cisco Systems, September 6, 2000

GDC INTRODUCES ITS CARRIER-CLASS CORE SWITCH
General DataComm (GDC) introduced its latest NexEra 9000 ATM core switch designed to provide dialed-Internet traffic offload, tandem voice switch replacement, DSLAM aggregation, and high-density multiservice implementations for emerging and incumbent service providers.  GDC's NexEra 9000 is a NEBS compliant, fully redundant, non-blocking, 40 Gbps aggregate core switch supporting ATM interfaces at up to OC-48.  The platform accommodates up to 512 OC-3 ports and 128 OC-12 ports in a single rack.  It supports up to 750,000 concurrent connections and offers advanced traffic management capabilities.  Availability is expected in November. 
http://www.gdc.com/corporate_news/cni_pr/nexera000906.shtml
GDC, September 6, 2000

HOLLAND'S TELFORT SELECTS MARCONI FOR MANAGED WAVELENGTH NETWORK
Telfort, the Dutch telecoms operator, selected Marconi to build, operate and maintain a Managed Wavelength Optical Network supporting direct 2.5 or 10 Gbps optical services to the customer.  The network will use Marconi's remotely configurable all Optical Add/drop Multiplexers and management system.  Financial terms were not disclosed.  http://www.marconi.com/news_events/press_releases/current/4773.html
Marconi, September 6, 2000

NAVA NETWORKS PLANS TERABIT CLASS FOR SE ASIA AND AUSTRALIA
Nava Networks, a new wholesale carrier's carrier, announced plans for a terabit class undersea cable system linking Singapore, Indonesia and Perth, Melbourne, Adelaide and Sydney, Australia.  The 9,000-km Nava-1 undersea and terrestrial cable network will have four fiber pairs, each capable of a minimum of 64 STM-64 (10 Gbps) circuits, for an aggregate capacity of 2.56 Tbps.  Fujitsu was selected to build the undersea cable portion of the network.
Nava Networks, September 6, 2000

SUMITOMO ELECTRIC INDUSTRIES INCREASES ITS WDM INVESTMENTS
Sumitomo Electric Industries will invest 35 billion yen to increase its production of WDM-related products and optical components by two to five times by 2002.  Of the overall investment, 23 billion yen is devoted to optical communications components, 10 billion yen to high-performance fiber for WDM and 2 billion yen to other optical technology products.  New product plans include a 10 Gbps transponder for use in optical data links (ODL) and a high-capacity "Pure Couple" optical fiber for use in long-haul optical networks.  SEI holds a US patent for Fiber Bragg grating stabilized pump laser technology.  http://www.sei.co.jp
SEI, September 6, 2000

• Sumitomo Electric Industries recently spun-off its North Carolina-based electro-optic products group into a new company, ExceLight Communications.  ExceLight's products include 1480 nm pump lasers, DWDM signal lasers, photodiodes and data links for SONET/SDH, ATM and Gigabit Ethernet applications.  It also offers passive products including wavelength-division multiplexers and demultiplexers, optical Add/Drop modules, couplers, splitters, filters, fiber Bragg gratings, and specialty fiber products.   http://www.excelight.com

ARRAYCOMM RAISES $34 MILLION INVESTMENT FOR BROADBAND WIRELESS
ArrayComm, a start-up developing a unique broadband wireless technology, secured $34 million in new financing from Nomura International plc, Cornerstone Equity Investors and American Century.  The company recently gained FCC approval for a commercial i-BURST trial in San Diego commencing 2001.  ArrayComm is based in San Jose, California.  http://www.arraycomm.com/Company/pr_detail.html?id=47
ArrayComm, September 6, 2000

• ArrayComm's i-BURST technology uses spatial processing software to significantly increase radio spectrum efficiency.  The technology uses adaptive smart antennas to deliver data rates of up to 40 Mbps per cell, which could be shared between many simultaneous users at user data rates in excess of 1 Mbps in a fully loaded system.  
  

• In April, ArrayComm secured $15 million in venture funding, including an $8 million investment from Sony Corporation.

SHEER NETWORKS ATTRACTS $30 MILLION FOR PROVISIONING/SURVEILLANCE SYSTEM
Sheer Networks, a start-up developing management software for network provisioning and surveillance, closed a $30 million second round of venture capital financing.  The company is currently beta-testing an autonomous-agent based software system for multi-vendor, public access networks. Investors include Rein Capital, JK&B Capital, Jerusalem Venture Partners, former Oracle President and COO Ray Lane and a large global Internet infrastructure vendor. The company is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California and has its R&D operations in Herzliya, Israel.  http://www.sheernetworks.com
Sheer Networks, September 6, 2000

NET TO NET SECURES $15 MILLION FOR ITS IP DSL LINE
Net to Net, a start-up developing an end-to-end IP DSL product line, received a $15 million private equity investment from Summit Partners.  The company's first native IP DSLAM was introduced in June 1999.  http://www.nettonettech.com
Net to Net, September 6, 2000

NETVERK RAISES $9.5 MILLION FOR WIRELESS DATA SOFTWARE
Netverk, a developer of mobile data software, completed a $9.5 million investment agreement led by Citicorp Capital Asia Limited.  The company's software supports GSM, GPRS, WAP, Inmarsat standards.  Netverk is based in Reykjavik, Iceland and has offices in Hong Kong.  http://www.netverk.net
Netverk, September 6, 2000