CIENA TO OFFER ALL-OPTICAL AND OPTOELECTRONIC SWITCHING IN ITS COREDIRECTOR SWITCH
CIENA announced plans to add a pure optical switch fabric to its MultiWave CoreDirector optical core switch, resulting in a single, integrated intelligent switching system that utilizes both all-optical (OO) or opto-electronic (OEO) technologies.   The enhancement will give service providers the flexibility to configure any POP as all-optical or as opto-electronic as needed.   For switching of wavelengths, or bands of wavelengths and fibers, the new pure optical switching fabric would be used.  The conventional OEO switching fabric would be used for accessing bandwidth in flexible increments (from 50 Mbps to 40 Gbps) and to "groom" bandwidth for highly customized service offerings.   Technical details and release date of the new all-optical module were not disclosed.  http://www.ciena.com/news/archive/2000/12/12.14.2000.html 
CIENA, December 14, 2000

• CIENA's CoreDirector system is being deployed by Broadwing and Genuity.
• The CoreDirector switch initially supports 256 OC-48/STM-16 or 64 OC-192/STM-64 interfaces in a single bay with the ability to scale to multi-bay configurations.  The platform provides OC-3/STM-1, OC-12/STM-4, OC-48/STM-16 and OC-192/STM-64 transmission, including wavelength switching, and is designed to support OC-768/STM-256 in the future. The optical interfaces may be software-configured for full wavelength switching or channelized STS-n granularity, down to STS-1. 

MITEL TO SELL ITS COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMS DIVISION, EXPECTS DECLINE IN SEMICONDUCTOR REVENUES FOR THE QUARTER
Mitel Corporation signed a letter of intent to sell its Communications Systems division and the name "Mitel", for C$350 (US$231) million to companies controlled by Terry Matthews.  Mitel Corp. will retain a minority interest in the business.  The transaction is expected to close in February 2001.  Following the disposal of its communications systems business, Mitel said it would focus its resources on the communications semiconductor market.  Mitel also announced that it expects semiconductor revenues for the quarter ending December 29, 2000 to decline 10% from the $194.3 million reported in the previous quarter.  The company cited a reduction in new orders and re-scheduling and cancellations of existing orders as reasons for the revenue decline.  http://www.mitel.com/bcs/bcsprod.nsf/Title/84AC2B4447E1F63E852569B600490E9C?opendocument 
Mitel, December 15, 2000

• Terry Matthews co-founded Mitel in 1972.  He went on to start Newbridge Networks, which Alcatel purchased earlier this year for $7.1 billion.  Matthews is currently CEO of March Networks, a start-up targeting broadband multimedia service delivery, especially corporate digital video. 

INTERSIL'S PRISM II WIRELESS SOLUTION CHOSEN BY COMPAQ FOR NEW NOTEBOOK MULTIPORT
Compaq will use Intersil's PRISM II chip set in its IEEE 802.11b WLAN MultiPort module, a single-sided, removable WLAN adapter card specifically designed to fit into a MultiPort bay on Compaq notebooks.  An antenna, radio transceiver and USB interface are built into the card.  Product availability is expected in Spring 2001.  Compaq also plans to make a Bluetooth MultiPort module available.  http://www.intersil.com/  http://www.compaq.com/ 
Intersil, December 15, 2000

• The IEEE 802.11b wireless LAN standard offers transfer speeds up to 11 Mbps.

WINSTAR TO DEPLOY SIEMENS, ACCELERATED NETWORKS, AND P-COM LAST MILE SYSTEMS
Winstar has awarded Siemens Carrier Networks a $150 million equipment and service contract for its Quickstream fixed wireless and in-building VoDSL access distribution platform.  Siemens will deploy and install the equipment in markets across the United States over two years.  The Quickstream platform integrates point-to-multipoint (PMP) radio equipment from Siemens and P-Com, Inc., together with a VoDSL in-building broadband network platform from Accelerated Networks.  http://www.winstar.com/press/2000/Templ.asp?fileid=1215003
Winstar, December 15, 2000

• Accelerated Networks’ ATM-based, multiservice, in-building network platform provides voice gateway connectivity to class 5 voice switches, and its MTU concentrators provide connectivity within the building and between NxT1, DS-3 or OC-3 wireless systems.

GTS SUBSIDIARY WILL NOT PAY $12 MILLION IN INTEREST
Global TeleSystems (Europe) Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Global TeleSystems, Inc. (GTS), announced that it would not pay $12 million in scheduled cash interest payments due December 15, 2000 on senior notes due in 2008.  The company said that it plans to meet with bondholders to discuss “a consensual restructuring.”   Global TeleSystems (Europe) has retained the investment banking firm of Houlihan Lokey Howard & Zukin to assist it in developing a financial restructuring plan.  http://www.gts.com/  
GTS, December 15, 2000

• On November 13, GTS announced a corporate restructuring to focus on broadband and data services over its European fiber network.  The company said its main focus will be to provide carriers, ISPs, ASPs and Web-centric customers with managed bandwidth and data products, including IP VPNs, dedicated hosting, high-capacity direct Internet access, and streaming media services.

TACHION NETWORKS’ FUSION 5000 SWITCH GAINS CERTIFICATION
Tachion, a start-up in West Long Branch, N.J, received NEGS level 3, ETSI and SBC/Verizon certification of its FUSION 5000 Collapsed Central Office Switch.  With these certifications, the FUSION 5000 is approved for installation in telecommunications central offices in the United States.  http://www.tachion.com 
Tachion, December 18, 2000

• Tachion's FUSION 5000 integrates transport, switching and signaling into a single box.  The platform leverages a dual TDM/ATM switching matrix that allows services to be switched in native format. The integration of SONET transport enables direct attachment to SONET rings.  It could also be used as an Internet offload solution, mediating between low-cost InterMachine Trunks (IMTs) and more costly Primary Rate Interface (PRIs) circuits used to transport dial-up Internet traffic to remote access servers.
• Tachion has raised $34 million in funding from Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Roy Wilkens (Williams Communications Board of Directors member), Clark McLeod (chairman and CEO of McLeod USA), Gabriel Communications, LightYear Communications, Walden International Investment Group and Morgenthaler Venture Partners.

ANALOG DEVICES ACQUIRES SIGNAL PROCESSING ASSOCIATES TO EXPAND VON CAPABILITIES
Analog Devices announced that it has acquired Signal Processing Associates (SPA), a developer of voice processing and fax/data relay software for telecommunications applications.  SPA is based in Victoria, Australia.  Financial terms were not disclosed.  Analog Devices also announced that it has shipped over one-million VoIP DSPs.  http://www.analog.com/  http://www.spa.com.au/ 
Analog Devices, December 12, 2000

PANGEA COMPLETES ORESUND SUBMARINE SEGMENT OF THE PANGEA NETWORK SYSTEM
Pangea announced the completion of the 48-fiber repeaterless Oresund submarine segment of the Pangea Network, a 11,500-km cable system serving Northern Europe, Scandinavia and the Baltics.  The Oresund 22-km marine cable completes the interconnection between the Pangea Network Danish and Swedish rings.  http://www.pangea.com/ 
Pangea, December 12, 2000

• The Pangea Network system is configured as self-healing submarine and terrestrial rings with an initial capacity of 160 Gbps.  The network connects the UK, the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, France, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Estonia.