CABLE & WIRELESS SELECTS TELLIUM'S AURORA OPTICAL SWITCH
Cable & Wireless signed a five-year, $350 million contract to deploy Tellium's optical switches in its global IP backbone.  Field deployment is expected to begin in Q1 2001.  Cable & Wireless said its primary goal in deploying a core optical switch is to provide dynamic capacity allocation to its customers.  Tellium's Aurora Optical Switch will become the key component of the Cable & Wireless optical core network.  http://www.tellium.com/cablewireless_main.html
Tellium, September 12, 2000

• Last week, Tellium announced commercial shipment of its second-generation Aurora Optical Switch to Extant, a facilities-based company providing carrier transport.  The Tellium optical crossconnect handles up to 512 OC-48 connections while bypassing the SONET/DCS layer.  Support for OC-192 connections is expected this fall.  Tellium's Operating System uses IP signaling protocols to bring Layer 3 control to its optical core, enabling the switch to interoperate with ATM switches and IP routers.

SAVVIS TO BUILD NEW OC-192 BACKBONE OVER LEVEL 3 FIBER
SAVVIS Communications announced plans to build its own North American backbone, replacing its current leased-line network. The initial 20,000 route-mile redundant backbone, which will use dark fiber from Level 3Communnications, consists of eight OC-192 rings.  SAVVIS will use Nortel Networks' OPTera Long Haul 1600 Optical Line System and OPTera Connect DX Connection Manager to light the fiber.  It has also implemented the Nortel Networks Shasta 5000 BSNs and Juniper Networks M-series routers in its IP backbone.  The company also operates an ATM backbone of Lucent/Cascade switches.   http://www.savvis.net
SAVVIS, September 12, 2000

NEXTLINK SELECTS LUCENT'S 10 GBPS OPTICAL TRANSPORT
Lucent Technologies was awarded a $25 million contract to supply its WaveStar TDM 10G optical transport platform to NEXTLINK for deployment in its inter-city US fiber backbone.  NEXTLINK said it anticipates being the first carrier to light more than 40 wavelengths at OC-192 on a single fiber.  http://www.lucent.com/press/0900/000912.nsb.html
Lucent, September 12, 2000

• In July, NEXTLINK selected Ciena's MultiWave CoreStream DWDM platform for its long-haul network.  The contract was valued at $120 million in its initial phase.  
  
• NEXTLINK is the largest holder of broadband fixed wireless spectrum in the US, with licenses covering 95% of the population in the top 30 markets.  NEXTLINK's broadband wireless services are currently in trial phase.  The company operates local fiber facilities in a number of markets, including a recently completed 432-strand fiber network through Silicon Valley and around San Francisco Bay.

FRAME RELAY FORUM ADVANCES INTEROPERABILITY SPECIFICATIONS
The Frame Relay Forum announced the adoption of a new Frame Relay Privacy Implementation Agreement that provides authentication and encryption facilities that may be used over a frame relay virtual connection, both permanent and switched, to discourage unauthorized data observation.  The Forum also passed a new Network-to-Network FR/ATM SVC Service Interworking Implementation Agreement that defines switched virtual connection (SVC) and soft permanent virtual connections (SPVC) service interworking between Frame Relay and ATM at the Network-to-Network Interface (NNI).  In addition, the Frame Relay Forum made amendments to four other pre-existing Implementation Agreements to further the scope and versatility of Frame Relay.  http://www.frforum.com/
Frame Relay Forum, September 12, 2000

NORTEL NETWORKS PROMOTES ITS OPEN IP ROUTING SOFTWARE
Nortel Networks said more than 200 companies have now licensed its Open IP Environment Software suite, including developers of network processors, semiconductors, operating systems and network equipment.  http://www.nortelnetworks.com/corporate/news/newsreleases/2000c/09_12_0000582_openip_environment.html
Nortel Networks, September 12, 2000

DYNARC APPOINTS FORMER ATM AUTHORITY AS DIRECTOR OF BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
Frederic Thepot, the former Director of Technology at Marconi Communications (formerly FORE Systems) and Vice President of the ATM Forum, has joined Dynarc as Director of Business Development.  Thepot is author of "ATM in Europe: The User Handbook," published by the ATM Forum, and has written numerous white papers on ATM.  Dynarc provides metro networking solutions based on an optical IP architecture known as Channelized Reserved Services (CRS), which offers support for end-to-end quality of service. http://www.dynarc.com
Dynarc, September 12, 2000

3COM LAUNCHES VODSL INITIATIVE
3Com has formed strategic relationships with CopperCom and Jetstream as part of an initiative to introduce a wide range of Voice-over-DSL solutions.  Future 3Com products will be designed to interoperate with both CopperCom's Gateway and Jetstream's CPX-1000 broadband services platform.  http://www.3com.com/news/releases/pr00/sep1200b.html
3Com, September 12, 2000

VIRATA INTRODUCES MPLS SOFTWARE SUITE
Virata introduced an MPLS source code suite for network equipment providers.  Virata's portable software suite includes extensions to RSVP-TE (Resource Reservation Protocol-Traffic Engineering), LDP (Label Distribution Protocol) and CR-LDP (Constrain-Based Routing Label Distribution Protocol).  By early next year, Virata also plans to add pre-packaged MPLS functions to its current integrated software-on-silicon (ISOS) products, which are used for DSL equipment.
http://www.virata.com/cgi-bin/frame.pl?URL=/news/pr/mpls.htm
Virata, September 12, 2000

• Virata acquired Inverness Systems, a developer of IP/ATM/MPLS software source code, for approximately $105 million (850,000 VRTA shares) in March.  Inverness is based in Israel.

CISCO INTRODUCES AUTOMATED DSL FLOW-THROUGH PROVISIONING
Cisco System introduced a new system for automating the lengthy and manual end-to-end DSL flow-through provisioning process, which is expected to enable service providers to cut the waiting period for service turn-up from several weeks to a few days.  Key elements of the system include: order placement and loop qualification, turn-up of the DSL circuit, subscriber PC configuration and start of service, and database updating and billing.  The provisioning system works with products from BroadJump, Portal Software, Quintessent Communications and Turnstone Systems.
http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/146/pressroom/2000/sep00/sp_091200.htm
Cisco Systems, September 12, 2000

PINGTEL RAISES $12.7 MILLION FOR ITS JAVA-BASED VOIP PHONES
PingTel, a start-up developing Java-based, voice-over-IP (VoIP) phones and management software, raised $12.7 million in its second round of funding. The company believes intelligent, Java-based, voice-over-IP phone appliances, softphones and management software will be the delivery platform for next-generation hosted PBX services (IP Centrex) and IP PBX systems.  Investors include Dain Rauscher Wessels, Intel Capital, St. Paul Venture Capital, Wind River and others.  http://www.pingtel.com/content/press_release.php3?ID=22
PingTel, September 12, 2000

• PingTel was founded by Jay Batson, a former networking industry analyst at Forrester Research, and Rich Schaaf, a member of the development team for the BBN Lightstream WAN switch.

ZNYX NETWORKS ANNOUNCES EMBEDDED ETHERNET SWITCH BASED ON LINUX
ZNYX Networks, a start-up based in Fremont, California, announced an embedded CompactPCI 10/100/1000 Ethernet switching board featuring an open-source Linux software development environment.  The embedded switch fabric provides line-rate service for 24 ports of 10/100BaseTX (either front or rear panel) and 2 ports of front-panel 1000BaseFX Gigabit Fiber.  The company believes the open source Linux support will enable enables OEMs and system integrators to quickly develop both standard and customized next-generation IP switching applications for VoIP gateways and call managers, firewalls, integrated access devices, etc. http://www.znyx.com/news_room/news_releases/news0009a.htm
ZNYX Networks, September 12, 2000