COVAD SIGNS $600 MILLION DSL CONTRACT WITH SBC COMMUNICATIONS
Covad Communications signed a six-year, $600 million agreement under which it will serve as an in-region and out-of-region DSL provider for SBC Communications.  Under the deal, Covad will put aside its past antitrust claim against SBC and its affiliates regarding line sharing, network access and other issues.  SBC will begin marketing both SDSL business service and ADSL consumer service provided by Covad.  It will also adopt the fully automatic loop ordering provisioning process developed by Covad in an effort to simplify the ordering process between the companies. Pending regulatory approval, SBC also agreed to invest $150 million in Covad, representing a 6% equity stake.  http://www.covad.com/companyinfo/pressreleases/pr_2000/091100a_press.shtml
http://www.sbc.com
Covad, September 11, 2000

• Separately, Covad Communications announced plans to sell $500 million in bonds due 2005.  The funds would be used primarily for capital expenditures to finance network expansion.
  
• Covad Communications also reported that it will reach an installed base of 200,000,subscriber lines before the end of Q3, significantly beating analyst expectations by over 30%.  Covad attributed its faster DSL growth rate to its recent acquisition of BlueStar and the Verizon work stoppage. 
  
• In June, Covad unveiled plans to pursue a direct sales model for its DSL service, rather than relying exclusively on resellers and ISP partners.  The plans included the acquisition of BlueStar Communications, a DSL provider serving the southeastern US.  The BlueStar purchase expanded the footprint of Covad's national network to approximately 1,800 wired central offices, passing 40% of American homes and 44% of businesses.  The company expects to have 2,400 COs in service by year-end.
  
• Last month, Verizon Communications announced plans to merge its DSL operations with those of NorthPoint Communications, which currently has DSL in 1,500 central offices across the US.  Under the deal, Verizon will invest $800 million in NorthPoint, of which $450 million will be used to fund continued network expansion and $350 million would be paid to current NorthPoint shareholders. Verizon would hold a 55% stake in the competitive DSL provider.

NEW MOBILE DATA INITIATIVE NEXT GENERATION (MDI-NG) FOCUSES ON WIRELESS INTERNET STANDARDS
Ten leading service providers and equipment vendors announced the creation of the Mobile Data Initiative Next Generation (MDI-ng), a forum to promote the adoption of wireless Internet services, especially General Packet Radio Services (GPRS).  The group, which is supported by the Global System for Mobile (GSM) Association, seeks to accelerate the adoption of GSM based packet services.  MDI-ng plans to set up wireless industry meetings and workshops where service providers and suppliers can discuss interoperability issues for wireless access by different mobile devices to cellular phone systems.  The group will also focus on complementary wireless technologies such as Bluetooth and wireless LANs.  Founders of MDI-ng include BT Cellnet, Dell Computer, France Telecom, Fujitsu Siemens Computers, Hewlett Packard, Intel, Motorola, Siemens Mobile, Sonera and Toshiba.   http://www.intel.com/pressroom/archive/releases/cn091100a.htm
Intel, September 11, 2000

• The original Mobile Data Initiative (MDI) addressed mobile data connections over GSM 900 and 1800 MHz technologies and the PCS 1900 MHz.

SPIRENT TO ACQUIRE ZARAK SYSTEMS FOR VOICE TEST EQUIPMENT
Spirent plc will acquire Zarak Systems, a developer of voice communications test equipment, for $403 million in stock (44.7 million Spirent plc shares).  Zarak's Abacus product range is a modular and expandable test system that can generate bulk telephone traffic and emulate the call switching function of the communications network Central Office to assess voice quality through a network.  Spirent said the acquisition would enable it to provide advanced performance analysis solutions for the VoIP market and for other converging network technologies.  Zarak was established in 1994 and is funded by employees and individual investors.  The company is based in Sunnyvale, California.  Spirent Communications provides a comprehensive range of performance analysis systems that address the functionality, reliability, performance and standards conformance of networks and network devices.  http://www.spirentcom.com/    http://www.zarak.com/
Spirent, September 11, 2000

• Separately, Spirent Communications announced its plans to add IPv6 support to its SmartBits applications.  The IPv6 capabilities will be available next month.

ITXC DEPLOYS LUCENT'S EXCHANGEPLUS SWITCH/GATEWAY
ITXC, one of the leading wholesale carriers of international Internet telephony traffic, is the first to commercially deploy Lucent's ExchangePlus IP capability.  Lucent's ExchangePlus serves as a programmable telephony switch and as a single-box switch/gateway.  ITXC is deploying the platform at all of its SuperPoPs and at several remote customer locations.  It will use single box both to interface with other telephony switches as a peer and to convert calls to and from Internet protocol.  http://www.itxc.com
ITXC, September 11, 2000

• ITXC's Internet telephony carrier affiliates include Ameritech, Bell Atlantic, Cable & Wireless Optus, China Telecom, Interoute, Jitong, Justice, Korea Telecom, PLDT, Telstra, and TRICOM.  Its IP telephony network currently extends to 258 POPs in 151 cities and 60 countries.
  
• During Q2, ITXC carried 201 million minutes of traffic over its IP network, up 53% over the 131 million minutes carried during the first quarter of 2000 and a greater than 700% increase over the 24 million minutes during the second quarter of 1999.
  
• Over the recent three day Labor Day weekend (September 2 – 4), ITXC carried 10.9 million minutes of voice traffic, roughly 5 times the number of minutes carried on the network during the same holiday in 1999.

MOCKINGBIRD NETWORKS SNARES $32 MILLION IN VENTURE FUNDING
Mockingbird Networks, a start-up developing an IP telephony SS7 softswitch, secured $32 million in venture financing led by Alcatel Ventures and Technology Crossover Ventures. 
http://www.mockingbirdnetworks.com/
Mockingbird Networks, September 11, 2000

• Mockingbird's NuvoStream softswitch architecture is based on Sun Microsystems' UltraSPARC IIi processors and the Solaris operating system.  In December, Mockingbird Networks announced $7 million in venture financing from Wasserstein Adelson Ventures, Cabletron Systems, Bayview Investors and others.

AZANDA NETWORK DEVICES RAISES INITIAL FUNDING FOR OPTICAL SILICON
Azanda Network Devices, a start-up based in Sunnyvale, California, attracted $8 million in venture funding for its vision of silicon-based optical networking.  Azanda plans to offer a suite of high-end layer 2 and 3 silicon solutions for switches and routers.  The company was formed in March 2000.  Investors include Bessemer Venture Partners, Highland Capital Partners and Commonwealth Capital Ventures.  http://www.azanda.com/
Azanda Network Devices, September 11, 2000

• Azanda was founded by Bidyut Parruck (formerly CTO at CoreEl MicroSystems), Rama Ramakrishnan (formerly with Redback, Cisco and Adaptive/NET), Duke Nguyen (LSI Logic) and Joe Nguyen (a partner a Silicon Valley law firm).

ERICSSON INVESTS $7 MILLION IN RED JADE FOR WIRELESS ENTERTAINMENT DEVICE
Ericsson announced a $7 million equity investment in Red Jade, a start-up developing next-generation wireless entertainment products.  IT Provider, a Swedish venture capital firm, contributed an additional $3 million.  Ericsson also plans to provide Red Jade with product design and development, marketing, manufacturing and distribution support.    http://www.ericsson.com/pressroom/20000911-0100.html
Ericsson, September 11, 2000

• Red Jade is based in Palo Alto, California.  The company has not announced any product plans or market strategy to date.  http://www.redjade.com/

ERICSSON MICROSOFT MOBILE VENTURE PROMISES FIRST PRODUCTS IN Q4
Ericsson Microsoft Mobile Venture AB, the joint venture company aimed at mobile Internet solutions, promised to deliver its first mobile e-mail solutions for network operators by year's end.  The mobile email platform will integrate Microsoft Windows 2000 Server and Microsoft Exchange platforms with Ericsson's infrastructure and WAP technology.  The new company is headquartered in Stockholm.  http://www.em-mobileventure.com
EM Mobile Venture, September 11, 2000

WOODWIND RAISES $12 MILLION FOR ITS VODSL ACCESS DEVICES
Woodwind Communications, a start-up developing Integrated Access Devices, completed a $12.2 million second round of private financing.  New investors include Alta Partners, SpaceVest and Sterling Venture Partners.  Woodwind is focusing on intelligent VoDSL devices that offer toll-quality voice and a variety of CLASS 5 and Centrex features.  The company is based in Germantown, Maryland.  http://www.woodwindcom.com/
Woodwind Communications Systems, September 11, 2000

MARCONI INTRODUCES SERVICE MODELING SOFTWARE
Marconi introduced new infrastructure planning software that uses live network topology information to create a model from which growth simulations can be created.  The predictive system is based on network management software from OPNET Technologies.
http://www.marconi.com/news_events/press_releases/current/4789.html
Marconi, September 11, 2000

GILAT-TO-HOME INTERNET SATELLITE SERVICE CHANGES NAME TO STARBAND COMMUNICATIONS
Gilat-To-Home, the coming two-way Internet satellite service for North America, changed its name to StarBand Communications.  The company said its new name would better reflect its new multicasting, always-on, full-screen, TV-quality content on the computer.   http://www.starband.com/
StarBand Communications, September 11, 2000

• Last week, Gilat agreed to lease 14 Ku-band transponders on Loral Skynet's Telstar 7 satellite.
  
• StarBand's two-way satellite service will use a very small aperture terminal (VSAT) with a .75-meter elliptical dish that includes both a transmitter and receiver, as well as Gilat proprietary electronics and software.  At its initial market entry price, the service will likely provide a maximum 400 kbps down/56 kbps return, with an always-on connection.