KDDI COMPLETES MERGER, FORMING JAPAN’S SECOND LARGEST CARRIER
KDD, DDI Corp. and IDO Corp completed a three-way merger, creating Japan’s second largest telecommunications carrier after NTT.  The new company, known as KDDI, launched a national branding campaign focusing on Mobile & IP and using the slogan “Designing the Future.”  http://www.kddi.com
KDDI, October 1, 2000

SWITZERLAND’S DIAX ACTIVATES COMMERCIAL GPRS MOBILE NETWORK
diAx activated a GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) mobile network across Switzerland.  The network offers continuous, packet-based connectivity to the Internet, a corporate intranet or a WAP portal.  The mobile phone network initially supports transmission rates of up to 40 kbps, and as soon as GPRS-compatible terminals become available in Switzerland, diAx will be launching a specific high-speed service.  Nokia said the launch of the diAx commercial GPRS network is a first for Nokia in Europe.  http://www.nokia.com
Nokia, September 29, 2000

• diAx is a joint venture of more than 60 companies of the Swiss electricity industry, Swiss Re and Winterthur Life - and SBC Communications.  Its GSM dual band infrastructure reaches more than 90% of Switzerland’s population.
  
• Separately, Telefónica Móviles España agreed to deploy Nokia’s GPRS core solution into their commercial mobile network.  A commercial launch is expected later this year. 

DOMINION TELECOM AND WILLIAMS SIGN $41 MILLION FIBER LEASE
Dominion Telecom signed a $41 million fiber lease with Williams Communications.  The deal will extend Dominion’s forthcoming fiber network to major cities throughout the Northeastern US, including Boston, Cleveland, Albany, Buffalo, New York, Rochester and Syracuse.  Williams also becomes a preferred provider of off-network services that Dominion Telecom may need to expand its rapidly growing business.  http://www.dominiontel.com
Dominion, October 1, 2000

• Dominion Telecom (previously known as VPS Communications) is a subsidiary of Dominion, which is a leading electric power and natural gas company with 7,600 miles of inter-state natural gas pipeline.  Dominion Telecom expects to have more than 700,000 fiber miles and 7,000 route miles within the next 18 months. The company operates as a facilities-based, inter-exchange carrier providing broadband solutions (private line, Internet and collocation) to wholesale customers throughout the eastern US.
   
• Dominion Telecom has previously announced fiber leases with Metromedia Fiber Network (MFN), extending its facilities from Washington, D.C., to New York City and within the metropolitan areas of Washington, Northern Virginia, Newark and New York City.
  
• Dominion Telecom is deploying Alcatel's 80-channel DWDM platform.

CONVERGENT NETWORKS FILES FOR IPO
Convergent Networks filed SEC papers for an initial public offering of its common stock.  http://www.convergentnetworks.com/
Convergent Networks, September 29, 2000

• Convergent Networks offers the Integrated Convergence Switch, a next generation packet switch that provides interworking and adaptation between traditional TDM and packet switched networks.  The platform serves as an alternative to traditional circuit switches and as a solution for offloading Internet dial-up traffic.  
  
• Convergent Networks recently acquired Technology Control Services, a start-up developing service creation softswitches and applications.  TCS offers an Intelligent Services softswitch that provides both call control and an open service creation environment for delivery of carrier-class services, including traditional CLASS features, and enhanced applications, like unified messaging and pre-paid calling card services.
  
• Convergent Networks has also outlined plans for adding VoDSL capabilities to its platform using DSP-based feature modules.  These will enable the ICS platform to receive ATM-based voice and data traffic originating from customer xDSL integrated access devices (IADs) via a DSLAM.  When combined with a softswitch, the platform would allow carriers to deploy IADs at the customer premise to efficiently concentrate voice/data over local loops.  
  
• In May, Convergent Networks named John C. Thibault as its Chairman, President and CEO.  Thibault previously was President and CEO of GeoTel Communications, a provider of customer interaction software solutions for call centers that was acquired by Cisco Systems last year.  The company is based in Lowell, Mass. 

GN NETTEST TO ACQUIRE PHOTONETICS FOR DWDM TESTING
GN Great Nordic, the parent firm of GN Nettest, agreed to acquire Paris-based Photonetics S.A., a supplier of instruments for testing and measuring the performance of DWDM systems and components.  In connection with the acquisition, the Board of GN Great Nordic resolved to evaluate an initial public offering of GN Nettest stock to possibly take place in the first quarter of 2001.  GN Nettest is based in Copenhagen, Denmark.  http://www.nettest.dk/
GN Great Nordic, September 29, 2000

N+I: BEST OF SHOW AWARDS
The following companies received Best of Show Awards at last week's Networld+Interop show in Atlanta.

WAN & Remote Access Equipment:  Lucent Technologies – OptiStar EdgeSwitch, which is an interface card that can be used in local network servers to provide optical backbone connectivity at speeds up 2.5 Gbps.  http://www.lucent.com/press/0900/000929.nsa.html

WAN Services:  CoreExpress -- CoreExpress Extranet, which promises a new model for transferring traffic between ISPs with guaranteed performance based on financial incentives.  http://www.CoreExpress.net

Performance Test & Measurement:  Spirent Communications – Optical Tester for OC-192 POS on the Adtech AX/4000, enabling the platform to provide testing from DWDM and SONET up through the routing stack. http://www.spirentcom.com/news/pressreleases/bosawardlayer1-7.asp

Carrier Network Infrastructure:  Foundry Networks -- BigIron Global Ethernet, which is based on a combination of Ethernet and Layer 2 Packet Over SONET (POS) technology. http://www.foundrynetworks.com/pr9_26_00c.html

Network Management:  NetBotz-- WallBotz, RackBotz, which are specialized hardware devices designed to perform a single or specialized set of monitoring functions over network equipment.  http://204.1.9.141/

Network Servers & Peripherals:  Linux Networx -- Evolocity 4500, which is a rack-mounted cluster system for linking multiple computers through high-speed networks to form a single and more powerful system.  http://www.linuxnetworx.com/products/evolocity1.html

Enterprise Network Infrastructure:  Packeteer Inc -- AppCelera Internet Content Accelerator (ICX-55), which provides caching and content compression technologies for improving corporate WAN connections.  http://www.packeteer.com/news/pr.cfm?pr_ID=68

E-Commerce:  Sybridge Technologies — The Matriq, which is carrier-grade B2B Bridging Infrastructure built on UNIX-based software suite.  http://www.sybridge.com/

Network Security & Performance:  Cisco -- Catalyst 6000 IDS Module. http://www.cisco.com

IP Video & Telephony Applications:  V-SPAN -- Conferencing Portal, an outsourced conferencing service.  http://www.v-span.com

Network Applications Software:  Magic Solutions -- Magic Total Service Help Desk.

The awards were chosen by the editors of InternetWeek and Network Computing magazines.  http://www.interop.com
September 29, 2000