OPTICAL INTERNETWORKING FORUM DEBUTS 10 GBPS VERY SHORT REACH (VSR) SPECS
The Optical Internetworking Forum (OIF) adopted two Very Short Reach (VSR) OC-192 interface specifications aimed at reducing the cost of OC-192/STM-64 links between equipment in a single central office (CO).  The first specification uses parallel optics over 12 fibers at 1.25 Gbps each and supports links of up to 300 meters. The second specification uses 10 Gbps serial signaling with a 1310 nanometer laser over single mode fiber (SMF) and reaches up to 600 meters.  http://www.oiforum.com/
OIF, January 16, 2001

TELIA INTERNATIONAL SELECTS ERICSSON/JUNIPER FOR IP BACKBONE
Telia International Carrier selected Ericsson to deliver and install more than 25 of its AXI 580 IP Backbone Routers (Juniper Networks' M160 routers) throughout the US and Europe.  Telia will also deploy more than 20 of Ericsson's AXI 520-4 IP Backbone Routers (Juniper Networks' M20) throughout its US network.  The carrier will also use Ericsson's Multiservice Management Suite applications, Network Resource Manager and Service Level Manager for configuration and fault management of the IP backbone.  Financial terms were not disclosed.  http://www.juniper.net/news/pressreleases/2001/pr-010116.html
Juniper Networks, January 16, 2001

WINFIRST SELECTS NARUS IP USAGE METERING FOR ITS FIBER-TO-THE-HOME NETWORK
WINfirst, a start-up carrier planning fiber-to-the-home networks, will use NARUS' billing and mediation system to measure IP usage on its network.  NARUS said WINfirst could use the real-time network intelligence of its platform to develop profitable business models for digital content distribution and other value-added services.  http://www.narus.com/news/01_16_2001_narus_winfirst.html
NARUS, January 16, 2001

• In October, WINfirst (formerly Western Integrated Networks) awarded a five-year, $800 million agreement to Lucent Technologies for equipment, software and services.  An additional five-year, $200 million contract was awarded to Avaya for data switching equipment.  WINfirst is planning to build fiber-to-the-home residential networks in Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, Austin, Portland, San Diego and Sacramento.  In addition, WINfirst has franchise applications pending in Los Angles, San Francisco and Oakland, Calif., Las Vegas and Seattle.  Lucent's contract covers key data and IP technologies, including its NX64000 Multi-Terabit Switch/Router, GX 550 Multiservice Wide Area Network Switch, SpringTide 5000 IP Service Switch, the 7R/E Packet solutions and optical components that will be used to enable the fiber-to-the-home connection. 
• Last July, WINfirst raised $830 million from prominent investors in a second round of equity financing.   Investors include J.P. Morgan, Madison Dearborn, Columbia Capital, First Union Capital and others.  The company is led by Jim Vaughn, the former co-founder of FrontierVision, which grew into the 15th largest US cable operator before its sale to Adelphia Communications for $2.1 billion in 1999.  WinFirst is based in Denver, Colorado.
• The NARUS platform uses hardware appliances known as Semantics Analyzers that are installed throughout a network to capture application-level usage information in real time.  The company is developing "content metering" capabilities that will enable its IP Billing Mediation System to transform certain network traffic into billable events using third-party billing systems.  More specifically, the new NARUS Content Metering Service system enables ISPs to track and bill accurately for music (MP3 and others), video, and other high-value content.

ZAFFIRE WINS $20 MILLION CONTRACT WITH FIBERSTREET, PARTNERS WITH FOUNDRY AND QUALLABY
FiberStreet, a venture-capital backed IP/fiber carrier, has chosen Zaffire as its primary supplier of optical networking products, and will deploy the Z3000 DWDM platform in early 2001.  The contract is valued at $20 million.  Separately, Zaffire announced a collaboration with Foundry Networks to enable Gigabit Ethernet traffic to be fully carried as packet over DWDM in metro and regional area networks.  The companies have successfully tested the interoperability of Foundry’s BigIron Layer 3 Gigabit Ethernet switches and NetIron routers connected to Zaffire’s Z3000 optical service platform.  Zaffire is also working with Quallaby, a developer of SLA monitoring solutions, on digital wrapper technology supporting advanced optical SLAs, thereby eliminating the need for expensive SONET-based protocols and equipment on IP/Optical connections.  http://www.zaffire.com/in_the_news.html
January 16, 2001

• Zaffire's Z3000 platform for metro hub aggregation provides transparent and opaque wavelength transport services to existing equipment, including SONET, SDH and Gigabit Ethernet at speeds from 155 Mbps to 10 Gbps.  Zaffire's architecture leverages a Fractional Wavelength technology to multiplex diverse traffic types (IP, ATM, Frame Relay, Gigabit Ethernet, Voice and TDM) within a single wavelength.  At the same time, traffic can be packed efficiently across wavelengths and appear as a single trunk to the network.  MPLS is used to maintain QoS.  The platform scales to 256 wavelengths (up to 2.5 Tbps) on a fiber pair using 50 GHz channel spacing.  Zaffire uses a digital wrapper monitoring technology to provide non-intrusive performance monitoring of end-to-end wavelength quality.
• Zaffire and Foundry Networks are based in San Jose, CA.
• FiberStreet is based in San Jose, California.  http://www.fiberstreet.com

GOTHAM NETWORKS ANNOUNCES NEW EDGE SWITCH AND SERVICE MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE
Gotham Networks, an Acton, Mass. based start-up, announced a new compact version of its “Switchless Switch” edge device and service management software for its line of switching products.  Gotham's new GN 400 multi-service switch is designed for broadband aggregation or edge switch routing in sub-20 Gbps space-constrained environments.   The platform utilizes up to four Universal Service Cards (USCs) to customize switching, control and protocol processing for each unit.  Gotham’s new SmartService Control management software will allow service providers to manage a network of GN 400 and GN 1600 switches through a single interface.  Using the carrier class Java based software, a service provider can create and launch new services, track network performance, and manage service level agreements (SLAs).  Gotham said that the products would be available in Q2 2001.  http://www.gothamnetworks.com/news/index.html
January 15, 2001

• Gotham’s “Switchless Switch” architecture used in the GN 400 and GN 1600 differs from conventional edge routers/switches by eliminating the need for a centralized switching fabric.  Instead, the design uses a distributed, fully interconnected, non-blocking mesh architecture where every card in the chassis is connected to every other card.  Gotham’s key design element is a Universal Service Card that provides switching, control, and protocol processing all on a single, multi-function board.  The carrier-class platform supports both WAN and LAN interfaces; Layer 2 switching for ATM, Frame Relay, permanent and switched virtual circuits; and Layer 3 routing for RIP, OSPF, BGP and MPLS. The system can handle interfaces from DS0 to OC-48c.  Additionally, the GN 1600 is OC-192 and DWDM-ready.  Interface densities for the GN 400 range up to 1,300 DS1 channels, 192 DS3 channels, or 64 OC-3/Ethernet ports.  The GN 1600’s range is up to 5,000 DS1 channels, 768 DS3 channels, or 256 OC-3/Ethernet ports.  Gotham said its unique design would allow service providers to build market-competitive networks based on capital investments that are directly proportional to subscriber growth. 
• Gotham Networks is headed by Lou Piazza, who previously served as Senior Vice President of Operations at Wellfleet (Bay Networks) and earlier as Vice President of Packet Switch Development at BBN Communications.  Gotham’s technical team is led by Vijay K. Aggarwal, previously the Principal Architect of Nexabit Network's Terabit Router.

EQUINIX SIGNS WILLIAMS FOR NET SERVICES WITHIN ITS IBX CENTERS
Williams Communications will offer a variety of network services, including metro private line, metro wave services and high bandwidth offerings, within the Equinix IBX centers.  Financial terms were not disclosed.  http://www.equinix.com/press/2001/01-16-01.htm
Equinix, January 16, 2001

BELLSOUTH SELLS A PORTION OF ITS EQUITY STAKE IN QWEST
BellSouth will sell approximately 22 million shares of Qwest Communications back to Qwest for $1.0 billion in cash, or $45 per share.  BellSouth will continue to hold about 3.1% of the outstanding shares of Qwest.  The companies will continue existing commercial agreements.  In addition, BellSouth will purchase $250 million of Qwest services over 5 years, with payment being made in shares of Qwest at $45 per share plus interest.   http://www.bellsouthcorp.com/proactive/documents/render/34882.vtml
BellSouth, January 16, 2001

LUCENT INTRODUCES ITS SECOND GENERATION SOFTSWITCH
Lucent Technologies introduced its second generation softswitch, supporting both IP and ATM networks.  At the applications layer, the Lucent Softswitch uses an open Java Telephony-based Applications Programming Interface (JTAPI) that enables service providers and independent software developers to create new applications.  At the protocol and call control layer, the softswitch features a unique graphical programming language called PPL (Programmable Protocol Language) which allows Lucent to upgrade the platform for new services or protocols.  Forthcoming software upgrades will include a standards-based interface designed to work with multiple vendor gateways, support for a range of media and application servers, and evolutionary Class 5 features. Trials are underway at more than 10 service providers.  http://www.lucent.com/press/0101/010116.nsa.html
Lucent Technologies, January 16, 2001

LYNX PHOTONIC NETWORKS RAISES $30 MILLION FOR ITS PHOTONIC SWITCH ARRAYS
Lynx Photonic Networks, a start-up developing all-optical switching modules, closed $30 million in venture funding for its planar waveguide photonic switch arrays.  The company's switching technology offers dynamic light energy management (i.e., all-optical switching plus variable optical attenuation) and supports multicast and broadcast optical transmission. The company is based in Southern California, with R&D in Israel.  Investors include ADC Telecommunications, Enron Broadband Services, Infineon Ventures, Van Wagoner Capital Management, Telesoft Partners and Morgan Stanley Dean Witter.  http://www.lynxpn.com 
Lynx Photonic Networks, January 16, 2001

• Lynx Photonic Networks' planar waveguide switches are 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. 

SANDCRAFT RAISES $34.5 MILLION FOR NETWORKING PROCESSORS
SandCraft, a start-up based in Santa Clara, California, secured $34.5 million Series C venture capital round for its development of MIPS-based control plane processors for networking applications.  SandCraft's latest designs are targeted at optical networking platforms.  Investors include Wasserstein Adelson Ventures, Vantage Point Venture Partners, Cisco Systems, Chase H&Q, Pacific Ventures, Tallwood Venture Capital, US Venture Partners and Van Wagoner Capital Management.  http://www.sandcraft.com/
SandCraft, January 16, 2001

NORTHPOINT FILES FOR CHAPTER 11 BANKRUPTCY PROTECTION
NorthPoint Communications filed a petition for Chapter 11 protection with the US Bankruptcy Court in San Francisco.  The company also secured a commitment for up to $38 million of debtor in possession (DIP) financing from its existing lenders to continue day-to-day operations.  NorthPoint said it is seeking a financially sound strategic partner that is interested in its DSL network, employees and customer base.  http://www.northpoint.net
NorthPoint, January 16, 2001

• At the end of November, Verizon terminated its merger agreement with NorthPoint, citing the deterioration in NorthPoint's business, operations and financial condition since Aug. 7, when the two companies had agreed to merge their DSL businesses.

RHYTHMS REACHES 67K DSL SUBSCRIBERS, OUTLINES BUSINESS PLANS
As of December 31, 2000, Rhythms had approximately 67,000 DSL accounts in service, up from 47,000 at the end of Q3.  The company also outlined a new business strategy that includes a layoff of 23% of its workforce (450 employees), a decision to concentrate on serving its 40 largest markets, and a focus on line sharing for new consumer installations.  The company's capital expenditures will approximate $75 million during 2001.  Rhythms hopes to have 175,000 lines in service by the end of 2001.  Based on cash balances along with $50 million of vendor lease financing obtained in November 2000, Rhythms said it could fund its operations through Q1 2002.  http://www.rhythms.com/news/pr/2001_businessmodel.cfm
Rhythms NetConnections, January 16, 2001

JUNIPER REPORTS Q4 REVENUE OF $295 MILLION, UP 47% OVER Q3
Juniper Networks reported Q4 revenue of $295.4 million, up 47% over the $201.2 million for Q3.  Pro-forma net income, excluding amortization, was $84.6 million or $0.24 per share.  http://www.juniper.net/news/pressreleases/2001/pr-010116a.html
Juniper Networks, January 16, 2001