TYCOM PLANS 7.6 TBPS SOUTH EAST ASIA CABLE NETWORK
TyCom signed a partnership agreement with DishnetDSL Limited of India to build an eight fiber pair, 19,000-km undersea ring network interconnecting Chennai, India with Singapore, Guam and Jakarta, Indonesia.  The South East Asia Cable Network will be connected to the transpacific ring of the TyCom Global Network, providing seamless connectivity between India and the US.  The network will have a maximum capacity of up to 7.68 Tbps.  Scheduled completion dates are Q2 2002 for the India-Guam (via Singapore) link, and Q1 2003 for the completion of the ring connecting Guam to India via Jakarta.  The project was valued at $1.25 billion.  http://www.tycomltd.com 
TyCom, February 27, 2001

• In October, Alcatel was awarded a US$250 million lead contract to build an 8.4 Tbps undersea cable network linking Singapore with Chennai, India.  The 3,200 km cable system will use eight fiber pairs, each capable of carrying up to 105 wavelengths of 10 Gbps traffic.  Alcatel described the project as the highest capacity undersea cable contracted to date and scalable to 8.4 Tbps.

ASIA GLOBAL CROSSING AND KOREA'S DACOM FORM JOINT VENTURE
Asia Global Crossing and DACOM, a leading Korean ISP, formed a joint venture to provide wholesale terrestrial backhaul capacity to carriers, ISPs, and multinational corporations between Seoul and Asia Global Crossing's East Asia Crossing cable.  The capacity will be sold in units ranging from STM-1s (155Mbps) to wavelengths (10 Gbps), choices previously not available in Korea.  http://www.asiaglobalcrossing.com
Asia Global Crossing, February 27, 2001

ALCATEL LAUNCHES VOICE GATEWAY FOR ITS DSL ACCESS PLATFORM
Alcatel introduced an integrated voice gateway module that enables its 7300 ASAM DSL Subscriber Access Multiplexer to deliver voice over digital subscriber line (VoDSL) in markets outside North America.  The solution delivers up to ten toll-quality voice lines combined with Internet access over a single DSL line.  The gateway provides ATM AAL2 termination and V.52 management.  On the PSTN side, Alcatel's 7300 ASAM handles up to eight E1 interfaces, or 240 simultaneous calls, to a local exchange switch.  The system can be extended to support up to 64 E1 cards, or 1,900 active calls.  For installations where the DSLAM and voice switches are not co-located, Alcatel provides the same voice gateway module capability in a new standalone 7310 Loop Voice Gateway (LVG).  Alcatel believes that 65% of European operators are planning on deploying VoDSL equipment in their networks.  http://www.cid.alcatel.com/VoDSL
Alcatel, February 27, 2001

EFFICIENT SIGNS DSL MODEM CONTRACT WITH SBC COMMUNICATIONS
SBC Communications selected Efficient Networks as its provider of external Ethernet modems.  The agreement covers a one-year period, with two discretionary one-year extensions.  Financial terms were not disclosed.  http://www.efficient.com/pressroom/200102271.html
Efficient Networks, February 27, 2001

• Last week, Siemens agreed to acquire Efficient Networks for $1.5 billion.

EQUIPMENT VENDORS FORM IP STORAGE FORUM 
Leading equipment vendors formed a new IP Storage Forum to promote the adoption of standards-based block storage networking solutions using IP and Ethernet networks. Applications for IP storage include remote mirroring and backup, distributed Internet Data Centers, storage service provisioning and transparent LAN/MAN/WAN storage networks. Lead members of the group include Adaptec, Brocade Communications, Cisco Systems, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Platys Communications, Intel, Qlogic, SAN Valley, Sun Microsystems, Troika Networks, Vixel, XIOtech and others. The IP Storage Forum is part of the Storage Networking Industry Association (SNIA). http://www.snia.org   
Storage Networking Industry Association (SNIA), February 27, 2001 

IETF ADVANCES TWO IP STORAGE SPECIFICATIONS TO STANDARDS TRACK
The Internet Engineering Task Force's (IETF's) IP Storage Working Group advanced two specifications, iSNS and iFCP, proposed by Nishan Systems to standards track status.  The Internet Storage Name Service (iSNS) specification provides the generic framework and naming service for storage entity management in an IP-based storage network.  It consolidates existing Fibre Channel and DNS mechanisms, and leverages standards-based, distributed directory databases, such as the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP). Co-authors of iSNS include Nortel Networks, LightSand Communications, Cisco Systems, IBM Research and Pirus Networks.  The Internet Fibre Channel Protocol (iFCP) specification links Fibre Channels SANs over generic TCP/IP networks.  Nishan Systems also contributed to a proposed iSCSI specification, and submitted another specification, mFCP, for informational status review.  A technical overview of the protocol suite for Fibre Channel over IP is available on the IETF website.  http://www.ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-monia-ips-ifcparch-00.txt
Nishan Systems, February 27, 2001

OPTISPHERE NETWORKS NAMES MANAGEMENT TEAM
Optisphere Networks, a subsidiary of Siemens Information and Communication Networks, named Jost Spielvogel as its CEO. At Siemens, Spielvogel managed programs that introduced the first bi-directional optical amplifiers, the initial stage in building a true WDM.  Most recently he led R&D efforts that resulted in Optisphere/Siemens setting records for DWDM distance and bit-rate transmissions in the development of a commercial 40 Gbps long-haul transport system.  Optisphere also named Roy Koelbl, a former vice president and network infrastructure officer at Teleglobe, as its CTO.  Thomas Mader, a former vice president with Lucent Technologies, has joined the company as president and COO.  http://www.optisphere.com
Optisphere Networks, February 27, 2001

• Optisphere Networks is focusing on optical terabit solutions for IP-optimized transport, routing and channel aggregation.  The company is based in Reston, Virginia.
  

• Last October, Optisphere completed a laboratory demonstration that carried 176 wavelengths at 40 Gbps with 50 GHz spacing over 50km over fiber.  The company said it used a special bi-directional transmission system to ensure a spectral efficiency of 0.8 bit/s per Hz bandwidth.
  

• Siemens first announced plans to establish Optisphere in February 2000.

YOTTAYOTTA ACQUIRES ADAPTIVE RAID TECHNOLOGY
YottaYotta, a start-up developing ultra high density network storage, acquired Qlogic's AdaptiveRAID intellectual property for an undisclosed sum.  The deal includes Qlogic's R&D facility in Boulder, Colorado.  Qlogic plans to refocus its efforts on iSCSI and InfiniBand.  http://www.qlogic.com  http://www.yottayotta.com/
Qlogic, February 27, 2001

• YottaYotta is developing an architecture for networked storage that eliminates storage controller bottlenecks for massive scalability storage for wide area networks.  The company's name refers to the term yottabyte, which is one trillion terabytes of data.  The company's head office is in Montreal with R&D in Edmonton, Alberta.

CODEON SUPPLIES 10 GBPS AND 40 GBPS OPTICAL MODULATORS TO SIEMENS
CODEON is supplying 10 Gbps and 40 Gbps optical modulators to Siemens Information and Communication Networks (ICN) for a field trial.  The companies expect the testing will result in a commercial contract.  CODEON is based in Columbia, Maryland.  http://www.codeoncorp.com
CODEON, February 27, 2001

NETWORK PHOTONICS CHOOSES AGILITY'S TUNABLE LASERS FOR ITS DWDM PLATFORM
Network Photonics, a start-up developing an all-optical DWDM switching and transport system, will integrate Agility's 3040 widely tunable lasers into its platform.  The Agility 3040 laser is available in limited quantities today and will be generally available in September 2001.  http://www.agilitycom.com
Agility Communications, February 27, 2001

• The Agility 3040 laser is capable of tuning to more than 100 ITU (International Telecommunications Union) channels in less than 10 milliseconds.  It provides 4 mw of optical output power, supporting the entire "C" band of 1525 nm to 1565 nm with 50-GHz spacing.  The device is based on an indium phosphide laser chip manufactured at the company’s wafer fab in Santa Barbara, California.  
  

• Agility Communications was founded in October 1998 by Dr. Larry Coldren, a professor at the University of California at Santa Barbara and co-founder of OCI (now Gore Photonics), and Greg Fish, a researcher specializing in InP photonic circuit design at UC Santa Barbara.
  

• Network Photonics raised $106.5 million in second round funding in October 2000.  The company is led by Steven Georgis, previously a co-founder of Exabyte Corporation, a network storage and storage-area networking company.  The company's technical team is headed by Ted Weverka, formerly a member of the technical staff at Optical Networks.  Investors include The Sturm Group, Spectrum Equity Investors, Mustang Ventures, New Enterprise Associates and US Venture Partners.

TROPIC SECURES $60 MILLION FOR PACKET-BASED OPTICAL PLATFORM
Tropic Networks, a start-up based in Ottawa, Canada, secured US$60 million for development of its optical IP services platform.  Tropic's equipment is being designed to support Ethernet and IP services in metro networks.  Specific product plans have not yet been disclosed.  Investors include Crescendo Ventures, Goldman Sachs, Altamira, Raza Foundries, Celtic House International and Kodiak Venture Partners.  http://www.tropicnetworks.com/
Tropic Networks, February 27, 2001

• Tropic Networks is led by Kevin Rankin, formerly vice-president of the Broadband Copper Access division at Newbridge Networks.  Its technical team is led by Dr. Dan Oprea, formerly with Nortel Networks as a senior architect involved high-capacity optical transport and terabit switch routing.