|
EXCITE@HOME
AND UPC TERMINATE MERGER PLANS FOR EXCITE CHELLO
Citing unfavorable market conditions, UPC informed Excite@Home
that it is unwilling to go ahead with their planned merger to
create "Excite Chello".
The proposed transaction would have combined Excite@Home's
Asia-Pacific and European media and broadband subscriber
businesses with assets and distribution commitments from United
Group in an exclusive worldwide joint venture.
Excite@Home said re-negotiated terms would not be in the
best interests of its shareholders.
http://www.home.net/
Excite@Home, December 4, 2000
- The
proposed merger was first announced on July 18, with United
Pan-Europe Communications (UPC) agreeing to combine its chello
broadband subsidiary with Excite@Home’s international
operations in a merger of equals.
Liberty Media had agreed to invest 200 million Euros
(US$187 million) in the new company; United Globalcom
committed 100 million Euros, and Excite@Home was to contribute
100 million Euros.
- Shares
of Excite@Home traded at $19.69 on July 18th.
ATHM closed on December 4th at $5.88.
- Shares
of UPC Corp. traded at $30.13 on July 18th. UPCOY
closed on December 4th at $11.50.
- As of the end of Q3, chello
reported 264,000 cable modem users on its European networks,
up 21% from 219,000 in Q2.
- As of September 30, Excite@Home
reported 2,313,000 broadband subscribers in North America, up
28% from approximately 1,803,000 at June 30, 2000.
GENUITY
ACTIVATES 10 GBPS IP/DWDM WITH JUNIPER / NORTEL'S OPTERA
Genuity activated a 10 Gbps (OC-192c) IP/ DWDM network segment
between Atlanta and Washington DC using Juniper Networks M160
routers and Nortel Networks' OPTera LH-4000 ultra-long-reach
optics. The route was
established with no electrical regeneration of the 10 Gbps optical
signal along the 1480-km path.
Genuity said it will shift its network architecture away
from IP/SONET rings to an optically protected IP/DWDM mesh
network.
http://www.genuity.com/announcements/news/press_release_20001204-02.xml
Genuity,
December 4, 2000
GERMANY'S
STAR 21 NETWORKS DEPLOYS JUNIPER M160 NETWORKS
STAR 21 NETWORKS, a new
broadband service provider, has deployed Juniper Networks M160 and
M10 Internet backbone routers in the core of its nationwide German
IP network. The
network core uses MPLS network engineering and consists of
OC48/STM-16 circuits. The
M10 routers serve as ATM access and peering points.
Financial terms were not disclosed.
http://www.starone.de
http://www.juniper.net/news/pressreleases/2000/pr-001204.html
Juniper Networks, December 4, 2000
WORLDCOM
TESTS FUJITSU'S 176-CHANNEL TERABIT-CLASS DWDM PLATFORM
WorldCom is testing Fujitsu Network Communications' 176-channel
FLASHWAVE OADX DWDM transmission and optical add/drop platform.
The system uses 88 channels in each of two bands of the
transmission spectrum, the C and L bands, using 50GHz spacing
between each channel. Each
channel is capable of carrying 10 Gbps of traffic.
http://www.fnc.fujitsu.com/news/view_1340.html
Fujitsu, December 4, 2000
ESSEX
CLAIMS 1 GHZ CHANNEL
SPACING DWDM SUPPORTING 4,000 CHANNELS
Essex Corporation,
an optical and communication engineering company based in
Columbia, Maryland, announced a Hyperfine Wave Division
Multiplexing system with 1 GHz channel spacing.
The system would allow for the transport of 4000 channels
and has been demonstrated at 16
GHz with channel spacing of 1 GHz.
Essex is developing a series of Hyperfine
DWDM modules that can be adapted for any channel spacing,
including Gigabit Ethernet at 1.25 GHz and even applications under
1 GHz. http://www.essexcorp.com
Essex,
December 4, 2000
- Essex
has been building its HWDM proof-of-concept demonstration
under the terms of a $350,000 US government contract.
LYNX
PHOTONIC NETWORKS OUTLINES OPTICAL SWITCHING PLANS
Lynx Photonic Networks, a start-up based in Woodlands, California
with R&D in Israel, outlined its plans for planar waveguide
switches based on silicon substrates with silica-etched waveguides.
The devices are targeted at the 8x8 to 64x64
small-to-medium scale optical switches, optical cross-connects (OXC),
and optical add-drop multiplexers (OADM).
Lynx said its technology would deliver reconfiguration time
(>2ms), dynamic power control and weighted multicasting.
Prototypes have been delivered to five major telecom equipment
companies. Lynx is
also working on a 16x16 photonic switch based on the same
silica-on-silicon technology.
http://www.lynxpn.com/
Lynx Photonic Networks, December 4, 2000
NOKIA
VENTURE PARTNERS LAUNCHES NEW $500 MILLION FUND FOR MOBILE
INTERNET
Nokia Venture Partners launched a new $500 million venture fund
targeted at start-ups developing solutions for the mobile
Internet. Nokia's
first fund was launched in 1998 and has already provided venture
financing to 25 portfolio companies in the US, the UK, Germany and
Finland. The new fund
includes third party investors: Goldman Sachs, BMC Software, and
CDBWebTech and others. http://www.nokiaventurepartners.com/
Nokia, December 4, 2000
QUALCOMM
SIGNS MOU WITH CHINA'S MINISTRY OF INFORMATION INDUSTRY FOR CDMA
China's Ministry of
Information Industry (MII) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)
in support of QUALCOMM's Framework Agreement with China Unicom
under which the companies will develop CDMA technologies.
The MOU supports the deployment in China of a nationwide
network based on CDMA technology.
http://www.qualcomm.com/cda/pr/view/0,1565,445,00.html
QUALCOMM, December 4, 2000
QUALCOMM
AND TEXAS INSTRUMENTS CROSS-LICENSE WIRELESS PATENTS
QUALCOMM and Texas Instruments entered into a
cross-license agreement covering both companies' patent portfolios,
and including all wireless standards.
The agreement recognizes the significance and value of each
company's intellectual property, including Texas Instruments' DSP
and Analog patents, as well as QUALCOMM's CDMA patents.
TI will offer a comparable agreement to QUALCOMM's
forthcoming spin-off of its semiconductor business.
http://www.qualcomm.com/cda/pr/view/0,1565,446,00.html
QUALCOMM, December 4, 2000
SKYBRIDGE
APPLAUDS FCC DECISION OF SATELLITE SPECTRUM
Last week's decision by the Federal Communications
Commission (FCC) to make available spectrum that would permit non-geostationary
satellites to operate in various segments of the Ku-band removes
the last major hurdle between SkyBridge and an FCC license.
SkyBridge said it is working closely with the FCC and the
other applicants in order to expedite the NGSO licensing process.
http://www.skybridgesatellite.com
Skybridge, December 4, 2000
- The
new FCC rules permit fixed satellite service (FSS) gateway
earth stations to provide, on a primary basis, downlink
(space-to-Earth) operations in the 10.7-11.7 GHz band and
uplink (Earth-to-space) operations in the 12.75-13.15 GHz,
13.2125-13.25 GHz, and 13.75-14.0 GHz bands.
http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Engineering_Technology/News_Releases/2000/nret0014.html
- SkyBridge will use a
constellation of 80 satellites operating in the Ku-band (10-18
GHz), orbiting at an altitude of 913 miles (1,469 km). The
satellites will provide "bent pipe" connections,
meaning no onboard processing or switching will occur. The
company said the low-earth-orbit would allow for short signal
propagation time of 30 milliseconds, which would be sufficient
for interactive services. Over 200 gateway stations worldwide
will relay traffic from the satellites to terrestrial fiber
networks. Localized traffic processing will occur within the
gateway to guarantees the network evolves with IP and ATM
technology.
- Skybridge is backed by Alcatel,
Boeing, Loral Space & Communication, QUALCOMM, Mitsubishi
Electric, Sharp, Toshiba, THOMSON multimedia, CNES and SNECMA
of France among others.
REALNAMES
RAISES $46.5 MILLION FOR ITS INTERNET KEYWORD
SYSTEM
RealNames, a company
developing a global Internet keyword system to replace standard
Web addresses, raised $46.5 million in fourth round venture
funding. The company
is also restructuring its business around a new open,
registry-based distribution model for Internet keywords.
RealNames is proposing a simplified navigation system based
on intuitive common names that would reside as a layer on top of
DNS. Investors
include Verisign, Digital Island, Strong Capital Management,
Munder Capital Management, Digital Island, DWS Investments,
Emigrant Capital, Peak Capital Holdings and Dentsu.com. http://web.realnames.com/Virtual.asp?page=Eng_Corporate_PressRelease_120400
RealNames,
December 4, 2000
3COM
WARNS OF REVENUE AND EARNINGS SHORTFALL
Citing the recent restructurings and organizational changes
undertaken by certain large Tier 1 telecom operators in North
America, 3Com warned that revenues and earnings for its fiscal
quarter ending December 1 will be below market expectations.
The company anticipates reporting total revenue for the
quarter of approximately $785 million to $800 million, versus
earlier targets of $870 million.
3Com expects a net loss per share of approximately $0.19 to
$0.23, compared to a previously targeted net loss of approximately
$0.07 to $0.09 per share. 3Com
also blamed its revenue shortfall on the consolidation and
financing constraints affecting several of its Tier 2 and Tier 3
telecom customers. http://www.3com.com/news/releases/pr00/dec0400a.html
3Com,
December 4, 2000
|
