SONY, IBM AND TOSHIBA INVEST $400 MILLION FOR BROADBAND ERA SUPERCHIPS
Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCEI), IBM and Toshiba will collectively invest $400 million in the next five years to design a "supercomputer-on-a-chip" for the broadband era. The forthcoming "Cell" chips will offer "teraflops" of processing power for consumer devices capable of accessing the broadband Internet at ultra high speeds.  The devices will have features smaller than 0.10 microns and will leverage the latest semiconductor technologies, including copper wires, silicon-on-insulator (SOI) transistors and low-K dielectric insulation.  IBM expects a considerable portion of its new, state-of-the-art 300 mm wafer manufacturing facility in Fishkill, N.Y. to be dedicated to this product.  http://www.ibm.com/Press/prnews.nsf/jan/FFBB4B222F4DBFE585256A0D0056C7AC
IBM, March 12, 2001

CONVERSENT COMMUNICATIONS, A CLEC, RAISES $186 MILLION IN NEW FUNDING
Conversent Communications, a facilities-based CLEC serving New England and the mid-Atlantic region, secured $186 million in a second round of funding for rollout of its network.  Conversent provides business voice, data, and Internet services, including VPN, DSL and web hosting.  Since January 1, 2000 Conversent has opened 14 new offices and expanded its staff from 140 to 530 employees.  The new funding includes $105 million in senior secured debt committed by Fleet, CIT, GE Capital Corporation, IBM Credit Corporation, and Bank of New York. The remainder of the investment is $81 million in private equity led by cable entrepreneur Robert Fanch, former Chairman of Fanch Communications.  http://www.conversent.com
Conversent Communications, March 12, 2001

• Conversent Communications was co-founded in 1998 by Robert Fanch and Conversent's president and CEO, Robert Shanahan.
• Fanch Communications, which had 537,000 cable customers primarily in West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Michigan, was acquired by Charter Communications in November 1999 for $2.4 billion.
• Conversent currently has six Class 5 telephone switches and more than 2000 miles of fiber.

BT SELECTS MARCONI FOR UK CORE TRANSMISSION NETWORK
BT re-evaluated its sourcing options for the future supply of its UK core transmission network and selected Marconi to supply next generation SDH and optical DWDM equipment for the next five years.  Financial terms were not disclosed.  http://www.marconi.com/html/news/marconitosupplybtsukcoretransmissionnetwork.htm
Marconi, March 12, 2001

AMCC DELIVERS 40 GBPS SIGE CHIP, SECOND GENERATION OC-192 CHIPSET
Applied Micro Circuits Corp. (AMCC) released the first commercially available silicon germanium (SiGe) OC-768 transimpedance amplifier (TIA).  The device is suited for short reach, intermediate reach and long reach OC-768 SONET.  Samples are currently available and production release is scheduled for June.  AMCC also announced its second-generation OC-192 chipset featuring low jitter generation and power with a highly-integrated post-amplifier. The chipset is designed for SONET/SDH and proposed 10 Gigabit Ethernet applications.  http://www.amcc.com/Compinfo/PressReleases/s76800.htm
AMCC, March 12, 2001

GENOA RAISES $75 MILLION, UNVEILS SINGLE-CHIP OPTICAL AMPLIFIER
Genoa, a start-up based in Fremont, California, raised an additional $75 million for its development of next-generation optical semiconductors.  The company's first product is a single chip linear optical amplifier (LOA) capable of simultaneously amplifying dozens of different wavelengths without distortion, even if those wavelengths are unpredictably switched in and out of the communications path. The device could be used in a range of metro equipment, including optical cross-connects, high-speed routers, optical add-drop multiplexers, transponders and DWDM systems.  Genoa's single chip linear optical amplifier (LOA) is expected to be about 100-times smaller than a typical EDFA-type optical amplifier.  Commercial samples are expected later this year.  The new funding will be used to ramp up the company's Indium Phosphide manufacturing facility.  Investors include August Capital, Bessemer Venture Partners, Global Crossing, Investor AB, Levensohn Capital, Meritech Capital Partners, Oak Investment Partners, and WorldCom Ventures. Genoa is based in Fremont, California.  http://www.genoa.com/
Genoa, March 12, 2001

• Genoa is led by Dr. Rick Gold, previously a president and CEO of Pacific Monolithics, a supplier of Gallium Arsenide ICs.  The company was founded by Sol DiJaili and Jeff Walker, both of whom previously developed optoelectronic devices at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

AGILENT DEBUTS NEW OC-48 TRANSCEIVERS FOR METRO APPLICATIONS
Agilent Technologies introduced new 2.5 Gbps small-form-factor (SFF) fiber-optic transceivers for SONET/SDH short reach (2 km) and intermediate reach (15 km) links.  The new devices are designed to be produced in very high volume and will be offered with LC connectors. Agilent expects to introduce similar devices in the coming months for OC-12 and OC-3 speeds. http://www.agilent.com/view/sff
Agilent Technologies, March 12, 2001

• Separately, Agilent and Agere Systems signed a multi-source agreement (MSA) for 10 Gigabit Ethernet fiber optic transceivers.  The agreement specifies a uniform form factor, size, connector type and electrical pin-outs.

AGILENT SHIPS 30 GBPS PARALLEL OPTICS MODULES
Agilent began shipping parallel-optics transmitter/receiver modules that combine up to 12 channels for 30 Gbps aggregate links.  The transmitter and receiver pair occupies approximately the same area as two 1 Gbps small form factor (SFF) transceivers.  Agilent's modules support distances of 300 meters on industry-standard 50/125-micron 500 MHz km (bandwidth-length product) fiber and 600 meters on proposed new 50/125-micron 2000 MHz km high bandwidth fiber. Agilent is developing other parallel optics modules, including a four-channel transceiver for Ethernet and OC-192 VSR markets.  http://www.agilent.com/about/newsroom/presrel/2001/12mar2001c.html
Agilent Technologies, March 12, 2001

AGILITY AND ADC SIGN MULTISOURCE AGREEMENT FOR TUNABLE LASERS
Agility Communications and ADC agreed to work on common standards for tunable laser interfaces.  The companies are developing initial standards for a 40-pin parallel form factor, and for electronic interfaces and host level software commands.  The multi-source initiative would make it easier for equipment providers to design their equipment while helping to address potential capacity issues through the availability of at least two suppliers with compatible products.  http://www.agilitycom.com
Agility, March 13, 2001

LYNX SHOWS NANO-SECOND ELECTRO-OPTIC SWITCHING
Lynx Photonic Networks, a start-up with R&D in Israel, introduced a dynamically controllable switch with four input ports, four output ports and a switching time of less than 5 nanoseconds.  The device can transparently switch photonic bit streams in either the 1300nm or the 1550nm spectral windows.  Applications could include the interconnection of multiple terabit-class routers, inter- and intra-shelf connectivity, storage area network (SAN) switching and, in the future, all-optical frame and packet switching.  The chip is fabricated on a Lithium Niobate substrate, assembled on a printed circuit board (PCB), and integrated into a compact 19-inch, 1U rack mountable housing.   http://www.lynxpn.com
Lynx Photonic Networks, March 12, 2001

• In January, Lynx Photonic Networks closed $30 million in venture funding for its planar waveguide photonic switch arrays.  Investors include ADC Telecommunications, Enron Broadband Services, Infineon Ventures, Van Wagoner Capital Management, Telesoft Partners and Morgan Stanley Dean Witter.

ALTAMAR NETWORKS DEVELOPS SCALABLE OPTICAL TRANSPORT SYSTEM
Altamar Networks, a spin-off from Ditech Communications Corporation, unveiled plans for a scalable transport system for the long-distance optical network.  Altamar's Titanium Optical Network System will provide the core switching and transport functionality to route and transmit thousands of wavelengths in DWDM networks.  The optical-to-electrical switching architecture will use virtual ring technology for protection.  The switching system will also be designed to scale to ten of thousands of wavelengths. Production shipment is scheduled for calendar Q1 2002. Altamar is based in Mountain View, California.  http://www.altamar.com
Altamar Networks, March 12, 2001

• Last June, Ditech Communications agreed to acquire Atmosphere Networks, a developer of metro optical products, for $88.5 million in stock and cash.  Atmosphere Networks developed a multi-service SONET/SDH add-drop multiplexer (ADM) that is optimized for carrying voice and data traffic in virtual path rings. The design replaces the bandwidth constraints of TDM with a thin-layer of ATM for bandwidth efficiency.

AUSTRALIA'S SWINBURNE UNIVERSITY BUILDS 11,000-SEAT CISCO IP TELEPHONY NETWORK
Australia's Swinburne University of Technology selected Cisco Systems to build one of the largest end-to-end IP telephony networks in the world serving more than 11,000 connection points.  The network is being implemented across Swinburne's six campuses in the Melbourne area.  Cisco’s Catalyst 8500s and 6500s switches will be used at the core.  More than 45 Catalyst 4006s and up to 190 Catalyst 3500s (all with in-line power) switches will provide both distributed connections to wiring closets and end user connections, all of which are 10/100-switched Ethernet.  Also included are IP telephony gateways, Cisco CallManagers and IP phones. Cisco 7200 routers and Catalyst 6500 FlexWAN modules provide connectivity for Swinburne's Metropolitan Area Network (MAN) linking other campuses. Financial terms were not disclosed.  http://www.cisco.com
Cisco Systems, March 12, 2001

COPPER MOUNTAIN EXPANDS DSL PRODUCT PORTFOLIO
Copper Mountain Networks introduced two WAN aggregator boxes for consolidating traffic from multiple DSL concentrators onto shared WAN circuits.  The new two-slot or five-slot devices can send aggregated traffic over four or eight T1 or E1 IMA lines (at sub-DS3 speeds), over a 45-Mbps DS3 ATM circuit (or E3 ATM circuit), or over a 155 Mbps STM-1/OC-3c optical circuit.  http://www.coppermountain.com/news/03122001pr.html
Copper Mountain Networks, March 12, 2001

STARBAND SIGNS 25,000 CUSTOMERS IN FIRST 3 MONTHS FOR 2-WAY SATELLITE SERVICE
StarBand Communications has signed up 25,000 customers for its 2-way satellite Internet access since launching the service in November 2000.  The company is targeting residential users in the continental US who do not have access to either cable modem or DSL service.  StarBand also signed a three-year renewal of its distribution agreement with EchoStar Communications Corporation. Currently, DISH dealers nationwide are selling the StarBand service both as a bundled offering with DISH Network programming and as a stand-alone, high-speed Internet service.  The StarBand system can also be configured to receive satellite television service from EchoStar's DISH Network.  http://www.starband.com
StarBand Communications, March 12, 2001

• StarBand's two-way satellite service uses a very small aperture terminal (VSAT) with a .75-meter elliptical dish that includes a transmitter and receiver, as well as Gilat proprietary electronics and software.
• StarBand said consumers should expect download speeds up to 500 kbps and upload speeds up to 150 kbps.  During peak usage hours, StarBand's goal is to provide 150 kbps download and upload speeds of 50 kbps.

• The company has leased 14 Ku-band transponders on Loral Skynet's Telstar 7 satellite, which is in orbit approximately 22,300 miles above the equator. 

• StarBand's strategic partners include Microsoft, EchoStar (owner/operator of DISH Network TV service) and Gilat Satellite Networks.

C SPEED NAMES CEO
C Speed, a start-up developing MEMS-based, scalable optical switching subsystems, named Dwain Aidala as its president and CEO.  Aidala previously was senior vice president and general manager of Mitsubishi Electric & Electronics’ Integration, Communications and Imaging (ICI) Division. C Speed is based in Santa Clara, California.   http://www.cspeed.com
C Speed, March 12, 2001