HITACHI DEMONSTRATES 128-CHANNEL DWDM SYSTEM SPANNING 8,000KM
Hitachi announced the availability of a 128-channel DWDM system with the capability to carry 10 Gbps traffic up to 8,000km without electrical regeneration.  Hitachi is demonstrating the platform running over Lucent’s TrueWave RS (Reduced Slope) Fiber.  The platform is an enhanced version of Hitachi’s existing AMN 6100 DWDM system, which was designed with future upgrades in mind.  http://www.hitel.com
Hitachi, June 5, 2001

• In January, Hitachi announced that Global Crossing would deploy its AMN 6100 Ultra-Long Haul DWDM system in more than 90 nodes throughout North America.  Global Crossing already has Hitachi's AMN 5192 4-Fiber BLSR and AMN 4100 Transmux systems installed in its network.

• In March, Hitachi announced a flexible wavelength multiplexing system that features add-in options for an optical transponder, optical transmultiplexer and optical regenerator.  The system is being developed to convert one wavelength to another, to multiplex IP and ATM traffic onto 10 Gbps wavelengths, as an optical crossconnect and as an optical regenerator

MARCONI UNVEILS SOLITON OPTICAL TRANSMISSION PLATFORM, DSL AGGREGATION HUB
Marconi introduced an ultra-long haul optical transmission platform that uses dispersion-managed soliton technology.  The new SmartPhotoniX UPLx160 will be capable of carrying 160 wavelengths at 10 Gbps per wavelength for up to 3,000 km without signal regeneration.  The product is the first to be released by the Marconi SOLSTIS initiative, which was established in May 2000.  Marconi also introduced a high-density access hub that combines the functionality of a DSLAM with ATM switching, IP routing, voice gateway and Broadband Remote Access Server (B-RAS) functionality.  Marconi's Access Hub supports up to 512 xDSL lines in a single shelf.  The system’s backplane offers up to 40 Gbps of throughput capacity.  Last month, Telecom Italia Wireline signed an agreement with Marconi Communications for 700,000 ADSL and SDSL lines that will be delivered using the Access Hub architecture.  http://www.marconi.com
Marconi, June 5, 2001

• Last year, Corvis acquired Algety Telecom, a French start-up pioneering soliton optical transmission systems.  Solitons are specially shaped lightwave pulses that balance the effects of fiber dispersion and fiber non-linearity to allow higher bit rate transmission over longer distances than conventional systems.

MARCONI TELECOM SURVEY FINDS MOST US CARRIERS BELIEVE MARKET IS STABILIZING
Marconi published the results of a recent survey of 91 telecommunications carriers and 112 enterprises in the US that predicted a stabilization of the industry and modest increases in network investments. The survey found that 82% of respondents believe the industry is either stabilizing or growing, but 69% of enterprises said broadband wasn't realizing its potential in terms of applications or profit, and 68% of service providers (carriers) mirrored similar sentiment.  Results of the survey are available online in a presentation (.ppt) from Marconi’s CEO Designate, John Mayo.
http://www.supercomm.marconi.com/news_survey.htm
Marconi, June 5, 2001

DSL FORUM ESTIMATES WORLDWIDE SUBSCRIBERS AT 7.559 MILLION, UP 34% OVER Q4 2000
As of the end of March, the number of DSL subscribers worldwide had surpassed 7.559 million, according to the DSL Forum and the telecommunications research firm TeleChoice.  The figure represents a 34% increase over the estimated 5.637 million global subscribers reported in Q4 2000.  http://www.dslforum.org/PressRoom/SUPERCOMM_DSL_release_fin.html
DSL Forum, June 6, 2001

SBC TO SELL 2WIRE HOME NETWORKING PRODUCTS TO DSL SUBSCRIBERS
SBC Communications began marketing 2Wire home networking products to existing and new residential and small business DSL subscribers in its Pacific Bell region.  The 2Wire HomePortal gateways use existing phone wires or wireless connections to create local area networks, allowing customers to share a single DSL Internet connection and connect PCs, printers and other devices.  The wired version is based on the 10Mbps Home Phone Networking Alliance (HomePNA) standard, which connects devices through existing phone jacks. The wireless version is based on the 11Mbps Wi-Fi/802.11b standard, and offers a range of up to 24m (80 feet).  http://www.sbc.com/  http://www.2wire.com/
SBC, June 6, 2001

FRANCE TELECOM SELECTS JUNIPER M160 FOR NORTH AMERICAN BACKBONE
France Telecom selected Juniper Networks’ M160 Internet backbone routers for North American backbone network.  The POPs will be connected with 10 Gbps circuits.  Ericsson will provide installation and support for the account.  Financial terms were not disclosed.  http://www.juniper.net/news/pressreleases/2001/pr-010606.html
Juniper Networks, June 6, 2001

• In September 2000, France Telecom selected Alcatel to design, build, install and maintain its DWDM network across North America.  Nortel Networks was selected to supply its 10 Gbps SONET transmission platforms.  Level 3 Communications will provide 15,000 route miles of long-haul fiber.  The installation will cover 28 points of presence and 270 intermediary sites across the continent.  Commercial services over the backbone will be offered under the Global One organization.

MFN TO PROVIDE OPTICAL INFRASTRUCTURE TO DEUTSCHE TELEKOM
Metromedia Fiber Network (MFN) signed a 20-year contract to provide optical infrastructure to Deutsche Telekom within key metropolitan areas domestically and internationally.  Specifically, MFN will connect Deutsche Telekom's backbone from New York to Washington, D.C., and throughout the northern Virginia and New York City metro areas.  Deutsche Telekom will also connect to MFN's cable landing stations in Manasquan and Tuckerton, N.J., and access MFN's metro-area backbones in New York City, Philadelphia and Vienna, Virginia.  http://www.mmfn.com
MFN, June 6, 2001

TELLABS OUTLINES NEW OPTICAL PLATFORM, SIGNS QWEST FOR TITAN 5500 DIGITAL CROSS-CONNECTS
Tellabs outlined plans for a new optical transport system that would address three growth areas of a network -- faster speed, greater switching capacity and more wavelengths of light.  The FOCUS HX system would also support traditional voice services as well as data and video.  Key attributes will include the ability to transport 40 Gbps rates, the ability to add switching capacity in 100 Gbps increments, and the ability to support up to 160 wavelengths.  Further product details were not disclosed.  Separately, Qwest selected Tellabs' TITAN 5500 digital cross-connect system for deployment in its network.  Financial terms were not disclosed.  Tellabs recently increased the capacity of the TITAN 5500 by 50%, enabling 3,072 digital signal-3 equivalent ports.  http://www.tellabs.com/news/01news/nr060501a.shtml
Tellabs, June 5, 2001

CYPRESS TO ACQUIRE LARA NETWORKS FOR PACKET PROCESSORS AND ROUTING ENGINES
Cypress Semiconductor agreed to acquire Lara Networks, a developer of silicon-based packet processing solutions for WAN infrastructure equipment, for $225 million (predominantly in cash).  Lara offers a line of network search engines (NSEs) and network co-processors that could be used in switches, routers and multiservice gateways handling multiple protocols up to OC-768 and including 10-Gigabit Ethernet.  Lara supplies custom co-processors for Cisco's Enterprise line of networking equipment and also counts among its customers Juniper Networks, Foundry Networks, Extreme Networks, Ericsson, NEC and Fujitsu.  Lara’s co-processors perform very-high-speed, parallel database searches -- to offload the complex routing table search function from network processors.  Lara’s network search engines currently support up to one million table entries and perform 100 million look-ups per second.  http://www.cypress.com
Cypress Semiconductor, June 6, 2001

• In April, Cypress acquired HiBand Semiconductors, a developer of mixed-signal integrated circuits for SONET, Ethernet, Fibre Channel, and InfiniBand.  The company is currently in the final stages of the development of a 10 Gbps physical layer device for Ethernet.

NET2PHONE LAUNCHES TELEPHONE OVER BROADBAND SERVICE
Net2Phone launched a service allowing consumers to make telephone calls with a standard phone over broadband IP connections.  The new VoiceLine service requires a device that connects a standard phone to a broadband network connection, and a monthly service fee.  The device will be available at retail stores, through service providers, and integrated into products by OEM partners.  The VoiceLine service is available for domestic calls as fixed price plans ranging from $9.99 (250 minutes) to $49.99 (1700 minutes) per month.  International calling plans are also available.  There is no charge for incoming calls.  Net2Phone plans to add voice-activated dialing, voice portal and messaging services to VoiceLine in the future.  www.net2phone.com
Net2Phone, June 6, 2001

SPIRENT ADDS VSR OPTICS TO ADTECH AX/4000, OC-12/DS3 OPTICAL INTERFACE TO TEST PROBES
Spirent introduced a Very Short Reach (VSR) interface for its Adtech AX/4000 OC-192/192c Packet over SONET (POS) and Bit Error Rate Tester (BERT) module. VSR is a ratified OIF standard that provides a low-cost parallel fiber alternative to conventional 10 Gbps interfaces.  The specification uses SONET framing and is expected to be deployed in network switches/routers and optical equipment located within the same POP.  Spirent also announce the addition of OC-12/DS3 optical interfaces to its Hekimian Broadband Remote Test Units (BRTUs), which are designed for use with both broadband digital cross-connect systems and optical test access units.  The equipment is used to ensure quality of service on OC-12, STS-3C and STS-1 circuits, as well as high-density testing of DS3, DS1, and DS0 services, on legacy and next generation cross-connect devices.  http://www.spirentcom.com/news/pressreleases.asp 
Spirent, June 6, 2001

AGILENT OFFERS MPLS TE OVER OC-192 AND VPN TESTING
Agilent Technologies announced an integrated testing solution for MPLS Traffic Engineering (TE) over OC-192 links.  The system tests the labels assigned to the packet traffic by MPLS signaling protocols based on the state of the available network as well as the state information distributed across the router network via TE extensions attached to routing protocol communications.  The system also supports testing of MPLS based VPNs and the IGP/BGP routing protocols.   www.agilent.com/comms/IPTest
Agilent, June 5, 2001

BROADSOFT WINS CONTRACT WITH TALKINGNETS FOR VOICE SERVICES SYSTEM
BroadSoft, a start-up telephony services provider based in Gaithersburg, Maryland, has signed a contract for its BroadWorks product with telephony ASP TalkingNets.  The BroadWorks service delivery and creation system allows service providers to design and deploy web-enabled packet-based telephony services, including conferencing, voice mail, auto-attendant, selective call forwarding and notification, call transfer and dial-by-name.  TalkingNets, which provides server-based wholesale telephony solutions that allow broadband service providers and system integrators to offer next generation voice services to small and medium-sized businesses, has deployed the product in Denver and Washington, DC.  Financial terms were not disclosed.  http://www.broadsoft.com  http://www.talkingnets.com
BroadSoft, June 6, 2001

OPNEXT AND TRW TO DEVELOP 40 GBPS INDIUM PHOSPHIDE COMPONENTS
OpNext, a newly formed optical components company majority-owned by Hitachi, and Velocium, TRW's new telecommunication components spin-off, agreed to jointly develop optical components for OpNext’s forthcoming OC-768 fiber optic transceivers.  The new chips will be fabricated using TRW's indium phosphide and gallium arsenide technology.  First deliveries of the new components, which include amplifiers and modulator drivers, are scheduled for later this year.  http://www.opnext.com
OpNext, June 6, 2001

• In January, OpNext named Harry Bosco as its new President and CEO.  Bosco most recently was Special Venture Partner at Clarity Partners, and previously served as Group President of Optical Networking at Lucent Technologies.

• In September, Hitachi transferred its fiber optic components business unit into OpNext, a new company that is a joint venture with Clarity Partners and Marubeni Group.  Clarity and Marubeni agreed to invest up to $450 million in OpNext.  Hitachi's existing product line includes laser diode modules for OC-48/STM-16s and OC-192/STM-64s, transmitters and receivers for both OC-48/STM-16s and OC-192/STM-64s.  Customers include major telecom equipment suppliers.

BROADCOM LOWERS Q2 FINANCIAL OUTLOOK
Broadcom lowered its financial outlook for Q2, predicting a revenue decrease of between 32% and 35% from the first quarter.  The company said that although current demand conditions continue to be soft, it is “starting to see some signs of stabilization in the business for the second half of the year.”  http://www.broadcom.com 
Broadcom, June 6, 2001