VITESSE TO ACQUIRE EXBIT FOR 10 GIGABIT ETHERNET TECHNOLOGY
Vitesse Semiconductor agreed to acquire Exbit Technology A/S, a fabless semiconductor company that develops high-speed chip-sets and Intellectual Property cores, for approximately 4.4 million shares (valued at $104 million on March 30, 2001).  Exbit, which is based in Denmark, is focused on Gigabit and 10 Gigabit Ethernet switching and routing technology.  The company has 62 employees, including over 40 engineers.  http://www.vitesse.com/news/040201.shtml  http://www.exbit.com
Vitesse, April 2, 2001

• Last June, Fujitsu Microelectronics Europe (FME) and Exbit Technology announced an alliance under which Exbit's 16-port Gigabit Ethernet switch-on-chip will use Fujitsu's 0.18 micron technology. 
• Exbit Technology was founded in June 1999 by Ole Christian Andersen, former ASIC development manager at Intel Denmark.  Its first product was a 10/100/1000 Mbps Ethernet Media Access Controller (MAC).  In July 2000, Exbit announced the availability of a 10 Gigabit Media Access Controller (MAC) Intellectual Property (IP) Core.  

REALNETWORKS SIGNS MEDIA PARTNERS FOR SUBSCRIPTION MUSIC SERVICE
RealNetworks, EMI, Bertelsmann, and AOL Time Warner will launch a MusicNet venture that offers an extensive collection of downloadable and streaming music to paying subscribers.  MusicNet, as both a technology provider and a music clearinghouse, will operate as a standalone independent company and will license its "private-label" platform to companies seeking to sell music subscription services under their own brands.  America Online and RealNetworks each plan to launch branded online subscription services later this year.  http://www.realnetworks.com/company/pressroom/pr/2001/musicnet.html?src=noref,rnhmpg_020701,rnhmhl
RealNetworks, April 2, 2001

REALNETWORKS UPGRADES ITS YIPES ACCESS SERVICE TO 500 MBPS
Yipes is now providing RealNetworks' Real Broadcast Network (RBN) with a 70 Mbps connection directly to the Internet and a 500 Mbps MAN link to several other Internet service providers with a presence in Seattle.  Previously, RealNetworks was using 200 Mbps capacity from Yipes.  Last fall, RealNetworks was able to upgrade its bandwidth capacity within an hour when public interest in the presidential election drove an unexpected surge of Web traffic to RBN.   http://www.yipes.com/press_box/pr_010402.html
Yipes, April 2, 2001

KPNQWEST INTRODUCES IP VPN SERVICE WITH FLAT-FEE PRICING STRUCTURES
KPNQwest introduced a corporate IP VPN and Voice service across its European network featuring flat-fee pricing structures.  The flat-fee pricing covers all on-net calls, with significant reductions for off-net calls as voice traffic is carried to the edges of the KPNQwest IP footprint before being switched to the PSTN.  KPNQwest has 300 fully owned PoPs in 19 European countries.  http://www.kpnqwest.com/html/records.asp?record_id=539
KPNQwest, April 2, 2001

AGILITY SHOWCASES HIGH-POWER, WIDELY TUNABLE LASER
Agility Communications announced a prototype 10-mW widely-tunable laser that can rapidly tune to more than 90 ITU channels.  Agility's 10-mW laser uses a unique, single chip, "all-monolithic" architecture based on Indium Phosphide.  The product potentially could be used for long-haul optical networks.  http://www.agility.com
Agility Communications, April 2, 2001

MITEL AND AGILENT AGREE TO STANDARD FOR 4-CHANNEL PARALLEL OPTIC MODULE
Mitel and Agilent Technologies signed a Multi-Source Agreement (MSA) for next-generation 4- channel parallel fiber optic modules, operating at data rates up to 10 Gbps.  The module is designed for very short reach OC-192 and InfiniBand connections.   http://www.mitelsemi.com/index.htm
Mitel, April 2, 2001

• In February, a 12-channel MSA was announced between Mitel, Agilent Technologies and W.L. Gore & Associates.

INTELSAT ISSUES RFP FOR ADVANCED BROADBAND SATELLITE SYSTEM
Intelsat has issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) for the purchase of a next-generation broadband satellite system.  The RFP includes one geostationary Ku/Ka-band satellite with options for up to four more spacecraft that could be used for last mile access for small office-home office users.  Intelsat already has 10 satellites on order, representing a total investment of more than $3.2 billion, for launches planned from this year through 2003.   http://www.intelsat.com/
Intelsat, April 2, 2001

RIVERDELTA DELIVERS MPLS PER-FLOW CONTROL FROM THE HFC NETWORK EDGE
RiverDelta Networks, a start-up based in Tewksbury, Massachusetts, announced a hardware-based distributed policy routing capability that enables its Broadband Services Router 64000 to support large numbers of subscribers across multiple Internet Service Providers (ISPs).  MPLS per-flow controls at wire-speed could be implemented to deliver QoS from the edge of a Hybrid Fiber Coax (HFC) access network through a service provider's core network.  http://www.riverdeltanetworks.com
RiverDelta, April 2, 2001

• RiverDelta’s Broadband Services Router 64000 is a content-aware, IP switch/router designed to deliver hundreds of thousands of voice, data, video, music, and other interactive IP-based service flows over shared cable and other broadband network infrastructure.  RiverDelta uses a proprietary SmartFlow technology to allocated bandwidth to hundreds of thousands of unique IP service flows at multiple levels, including on a per-application, subscriber, and system and service provider basis.
• RiverDelta is led by Dave Callan, the former founder and CEO of XCOM Technologies, a facilities-based CLEC acquired by Level3.

PACIFIC BROADBAND RAISES $50 MILLION FOR HFC SPECTRUM OPTIMIZER
Pacific Broadband Communications, a start-up developing ultra dense, high performance, and highly noise immune systems for broadband service providers, secured $50 million in Series B funding.  Pacific Broadband is working on next generation standards-based MAC and PHY technologies that could initially be used in DOCSIS equipment.  The tightly integrated MAC and PHY technologies would allow cable operators to optimize the use of their available HFC spectrum.  The company is based in San Jose, California.  Investors include Bowman Capital, Cox Communications, Juniper Networks, Scientific-Atlanta, Vulcan Ventures (a significant shareholder of Charter Communications), RCN, Pilot House Ventures, Raza Foundries and YAS Broadband Ventures.  http://www.pacificbroadband.com/news/press_4.2.01.html
Pacific Broadband Communications, April 2, 2001

CHINOOK RAISES $17 MILLION FOR ULTRA EFFICIENT SPECTRUM MANAGEMENT TECHNOLOGY
Chinook Communications, a start-up based in Lexington, Massachusetts, secured $17 million in venture funding to commercialize spectrum enhancement technology originally developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).  Investors include OneLiberty Ventures, WaldenVC, BancBoston Ventures, Highland Capital Partners, and YankeeTek Ventures.  The technology would allow broadband network operators to add up to 6 Mbps per channel in each occupied 6 MHz channel without impacting existing services.  http://www.chinook.com/ 
Chinook Communications, April 2, 2001

• Chinook is headed by Andrew J. Audet, who formerly was General Manager of the Cable Data Products Division at Motorola.  Chinook's technical team is led by Michael J. Grady, former CEO and Co-Founder of Argon Networks, former Senior Vice President of Engineering for Bay Networks, and one of the founding engineers at Stratus. 

REDBACK CUTS REVENUE EXPECTATIONS, ANNOUNCES RESTRUCTURING
Citing a weakened global telecommunications market, Redback Networks now expects its Q1 revenues to be approximately $85 to $90 million.  The company also announced a 12% reduction in its workforce, representing about 150 people.  Redback will also take Q1 charges of approximately $24 million for excess inventory as a result of certain product design enhancements.  http://www.redback.com
Redback Networks, April 2, 2001

• Redback’s net revenues for the fourth quarter of 2000 were $115 million.