ITU APPROVES FIRST STANDARDS UNDER ACCELERATED PROCESS
The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) approved the first two standards using its new fast-track approval process called Alternative Approval Process (AAP).  The fast-track process allows an ITU-T standard to be approved in as little as four weeks after notification of the last call period.  The two new standards are:

• ITU-T Recommendation G.964 (03/2001) – V-Interfaces at the Digital Local Exchange (LE) – V5.1-Interface (based on 2048 kbit/s) for the support of Access Network (AN)
• ITU-T Recommendation G.965 (03/2001) - V-Interfaces at the Digital Local Exchange (LE) – V5.2-Interface (based on 2048 kbit/s) for the support of Access Network (AN)

Over 25 texts were announced for last call on January 29 and comments were accepted until February 28.  http://www.itu.int/newsroom/press/releases/2001/04.html
ITU, March 6, 2001

CONVERGYS TO ACQUIRE GENEVA TECHNOLOGY, EXPANDING ITS TELECOM BILLING SOLUTIONS
Convergys Corporation, a provider of telecom billing software, will acquire Geneva Technology Ltd. for approximately 17.6 million Convergys shares (valued at $692 million on March 5). Geneva Technology offers convergent billing software for the telecommunications, e-commerce, utilities, and on-line services marketplaces.  The products will continue to be offered on a standalone basis as well as part of broader Convergys solutions.  Geneva Technology is based in Cambridge, UK.  Convergys, which is headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, is the world’s largest billing services company with 45,000 employees, and offers outsourced or licensed integrated billing and customer care services.  http://www.convergys.com  http://www.gtl.com/
Convergys, March 6, 2001

ADC ANNOUNCES WEB-BASED BILLING AND CUSTOMER MANAGEMENT PLATFORM
ADC Announced Singl.eView Web, a new application for its Singl.eView platform that provides an integrated Internet-based convergent billing and customer management solution.  The application enables customers to pay bills, access account information including their transaction history, and order new products and services through a secure Internet environment.  Service providers can also use Singl.eView Web to develop targeted marketing programs that trigger customer upgrade and new service offers based on individual customer actions.  http://www.adc.com
ADC, March 6, 2001

CO-MANAGE WINS SERVICE MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE CONTRACT FROM COX COMMUNICATIONS
Cox Communications has chosen CoManage's Integrated Service Manager to monitor its high-speed data services across the country.  Cox plans to use the system’s fault management and performance monitoring functions to gain enhanced visibility and control of individual service connections for individual customers.  Financial terms were not disclosed.  http://www.comanage.net
CoManage, March 6, 2001

• In January, CoManage announced that AT&T Broadband Network Solutions had deployed its Integrated Service Manager.  At that time, AT&T Canada was already using the CoManage system to enhance its Transparent LAN and ATM services.
• CoManage's Integrated Service Manager architecture leverages a real-time database that links information about network elements, services and customers with network discovery, provisioning, fault management and performance monitoring capabilities.  Network events can be correlated with affected customers and services, enabling service providers to proactively inform customers when there are service-affecting events. The system is designed to work in multi-vendor networks.
• Cox Communications is the nation's fifth largest cable television company, serving approximately 6 million customers.  Cox offers high-speed Internet access under the brands Cox@Home, Road Runner and Cox Express

LSI LOGIC RELEASES LOW-COST DSP FOR VOICE OVER NETWORK APPLICATIONS
LSI Logic introduced a low-cost digital signal processor (DSP) designed for packet voice applications in next generation DSL and broadband wireless integrated access devices (IADs).  The device operates at 150 MHz for a maximum throughput of 600 million instructions per second (MIPS) and delivers up to 12 voice channels.  List pricing is at $8.86 in volume shipments.  http://www.lsilogic.com
LSI Logic, March 6, 2001

JETSTREAM RELEASES ITS SECOND GENERATION, 16-POTS PORT IAD
Jetstream Communications introduced its second generation integrated access device (IAD) for bundled voice and data services over copper.  The 16-POTS port IAD features support for both SDSL and T1 WAN interfaces, 32k & 16k voice compression, V.35 Data connection, bridge/router functionality and a 50-pin Telco connector for POTS interfaces. List price is $2,100 for either SDSL or T1.  http://www.jetstream.com/
Jetstream Communications, March 6, 2001

LUCENT LAUNCHES PROFITSUITES PROGRAM, TARGETTING IN-BUILDING DSL NETWORKS
Lucent Technologies introduced a “ProfitSuites Program” to provide packaged DSL equipment, installation and support for multi-tenant property owners, hotels and conference facilities.  The program would provide property owners the ability to offer high-speed access services to tenants and guests.  ProfitSuites combines Lucent’s Stinger DSL equipment with project management, installation and integration services, marketing assistance, and end-user help desk support.  http://www.profitsuites.com.
Lucent Technologies, March 6, 2001

NORTHPOINT BEGINS AUCTION OF ITS NATIONAL DSL NETWORK
NorthPoint Communications received the first initial bids for its national DSL network.  An auction is planned for March 20, 2001 and a winning bid will be presented to the bankruptcy court for approval on March 21.  NorthPoint hopes to sell the company as a whole, but would not speculate on the outcome.  http://www.northpoint.net
NorthPoint Communications, March 6, 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.  NorthPoint subsequently filed for bankruptcy protection on January 16.

TIME WARNER CABLE SELECTS PORTAL SOFTWARE FOR USAGE-BASED BILLING
Time Warner Cable licensed Portal Software’s Infranet customer management and billing platform to support multiple ISP choices and usage-based billing of its broadband cable services.  The deployment will allow multiple independent ISPs to deliver services, content or applications over Time Warner Cable’s broadband cable network.  Financial terms were not disclosed.  http://www.portal.com
Portal Software, March 6, 2001

• Time Warner Cable has 12.8 million customers, 90% of who are clustered in systems of 100,000 subscribers or more. The company is a division of AOL Time Warner.

NOKIA TO INTEGRATE PORTAL SOFTWARE INTO WAP, GPRS, AND 3G CHARGING CENTER
Nokia Networks selected Portal's Infranet platform to be an integral component of its Nokia Charging Center (NCC), a rating and service management solution for GPRS, WAP, and UMTS mobile services.  http://www.portal.com
Portal Software, March 6, 2001

NORTEL NETWORKS TO CO-MARKET PACKETVIDEO’S MPEG4 STREAMING WIRELESS
Nortel Networks agreed to co-market PacketVideo wireless multimedia software for delivery over 2.5G and 3G wireless networks.  PacketVideo provides MPEG-4 compliant software that enables the delivery, management and viewing of video, audio and multimedia applications.  http://www.packetvideo.com/ 
PacketVideo, March 6, 2001

• In January, Bell Mobility, Canada's leading provider of wireless voice and data services, said it was launching a consumer trial of wireless multimedia services based on PacketVideo's MPEG-4 encoding, distribution and decoding software.
• PacketVideo, which is based in San Diego, California, has raised $42.5M in equity since its founding in 1998.  Investors include Credit Suisse First Boston, Intel, Nexus Group LLC, QUALCOMM, Reuters Group PLC, Rockefeller, Siemens Mustang Ventures, Sony Corporation of America, Royal Philips Electronics, Sonera, Texas Instruments, and Time Warner.

HAWAII I-NET TO DEPLOY LUXN’S OPTICAL ACCESS PLATFORM
The Hawaii Institutional Network (I-Net), which serves the University of Hawaii and its Community Colleges, the Hawaii Department of Education overseeing the state's K-12 School Districts, and government offices of the State of Hawaii, will deploy LuxN’s WavSystem optical access platform.  The new equipment will underlay I-Net’s existing OC-12 SONET infrastructure and two-strand optical fiber plant, while providing an order of magnitude increase in bandwidth and the support of additional traffic, such as Gigabit Ethernet.  Financial terms were not disclosed.  http://www.luxn.com
LuxN, March 6, 2001

• LuxN offers three WavSystem product configurations: a NEBS Level 3 compliant, central office (or POP) platform that aggregates and manages up to 16 separate channels of optical traffic; a smaller, 8 channel central office product that can be used for buildings with multiple tenants or services and a modem-sized, single-channel device for individual customer premises.

RIVERSTONE ROLLS OUT OSS TOOLKITS FOR DYNAMIC PROVISIONING
Riverstone Networks released open source toolkits enabling dynamic provisioning of IP services.  The kits will help service providers to configure Riverstone's RS family of routers for complex tasks of service creation and provisioning, including the ability to dynamically perform rate limiting on a per port basis, classify traffic for differentiated services, and permit or deny traffic for security reasons.  In addition, service providers also have the option to provision their advanced IP services through SNMP.  Granite and other open source toolkits are available on Riverstone's open source website at http://www.nmops.org
Riverstone, March 6, 2001

ADVA EXPANDS OPTICAL PORTFOLIO WITH SONET/SDH AGGREGATION BOX
ADVA Optical Networking added a new optical access feeder system to its Fiber Service Platform (FSP) portfolio.  The ADVA FSP 1000 is a time division multiplexing (TDM) system providing aggregation of up to eight high-speed data, storage, video or voice applications onto a common 2.488 Gbps signal. The system is designed for enterprise or service provider deployment at customer premises or central office sites, and can be used as a DWDM feeder, managed fiber access solution, or for SONET/SDH tail circuits.  The unit’s NEBS/ETSI compliant chassis accepts up to eight modules in speeds ranging from 34 Mbps to 1.25 Gbps, including FDDI, ATM, ESCON, Fast Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet SX and LX, OC-3/-12, STM-1/-4, Fibre Channel and FICON.   http://www.advaoptical.com/ 
ADVA Optical Networking, March 6, 2001

TACHION NAMES CTO
Tachion Networks, a start-up developing a “Collapsed Central Office” platform, named Mehdi Emdadi as its Chief Technology Officer (CTO).  Emdadi has previously served with Siemens, Sprint and Telogy Networks (a Texas Instrument company).  http://www.tachion.com/
Tachion Networks, March 6, 2001

• 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.