COMCAST
BIDS $58 BILLION FOR AT&T BROADBAND’S CORE ASSETS
Comcast, the third
largest cable operator in the US, made a $58 billion
proposal to AT&T to merge its cable networks with
those of AT&T Broadband.
Under the proposed deal, Comcast would issue
1.0525 billion shares of Comcast stock with a value of
$44.5 billion based on Friday's closing price and would
assume $13.5 billion in debt for AT&T's core broadband
business, which is composed of AT&T's 13.5 million
cable subscribers and its joint venture interests.
The combined company would then have approximately
22 million subscribers and leading positions in eight of
the 10 largest markets in the US.
Comcast also proposes to acquire AT&T's
interests in Time Warner Entertainment, Cablevision, and
Rainbow Media by assuming more debt and issuing more
equity to reflect their value.
http://www.pressnews.net/cmcsk/pr.htm
Comcast,
July 8, 200
- Comcast's offer
represents a value of over $4,000 per subscriber.
MICROSOFT
RESTORES SERVICE AFTER SIX-DAY MSN MESSENGER OUTAGE
As
of July 8th, Microsoft had restored operations
to nearly all of its MSN Messenger users.
Widespread outages of Microsoft’s instant
messenger service, which boasts over 31 million users,
were first reported on Tuesday, July 3rd.
http://messenger.msn.com/support/helphome.asp
July 8, 2001
CENTERPOINT
ACQUIRES ZAFFIRE, COMBINING OPTICAL SUBCARRIER
OPTIMIZATION WITH METRO DWDM
Centerpoint Broadband Technologies, a start-up
developing bandwidth optimization systems, acquired
Zaffire Inc., a privately held developer of metro DWDM
systems. Financial
terms were not disclosed.
Centerpoint’s technology uses Subcarrier
Multiplexing to increase the amount and types of traffic
that could be carried by each optical wavelength.
The technology will be integrated with Zaffire’s
DWDM system for metro and regional networks and would
offer the ability to transparently manage multi-protocol
wavelengths with SONET/SDH,
Ethernet,
ATM,
IP,
Fiber Channel and POS traffic.
Product availability is expected in Q1 2002.
Centerpoint also plans to continue offering the
product lines separately.
http://www.centerpoint.com
Centerpoint, July 6, 2001
-
Centerpoint
offers a unique Lightwave Efficient Network Solution
(LENS) for increasing the bandwidth carrying capacity
of optical links in metro and regional networks
without using DWDM.
Centerpoint’s patent-pending Subcarrier
Multiplexing (SCM) technology aggregates multiple
signals into a single wavelength.
The technology then modulates digital input
signals into radio frequency (RF) signals.
Centerpoint claims its system can accept inputs
in their native form, making it possible to connect
legacy systems to the network without having to
multiplex the signal to match existing network speeds.
The system transmits data at 20 Gbps on a
single wavelength.
The systems can also offer performance
monitoring and protection switching, allowing carriers
a choice of protection schemes on a
subcarrier-by-subcarrier basis.
-
Centerpoint's
technology relies on twelve key patent and patent
disclosures that were licensed from Lockheed Martin on
an exclusive basis.
The technology is used in government
communication systems.
The company is led by Dana Waldman, who
previously served as director of Lockheed Martin's
Advanced Communications Systems (ACS).
-
In
October, Centerpoint raised
approximately $130 million in its mezzanine round of
financing.
-
Zaffire's
Z3000 platform for metro hub aggregation provides
transparent and opaque wavelength transport services
to existing equipment, including SONET, SDH and
Gigabit Ethernet at speeds from 155 Mbps to 10 Gbps.
Zaffire's architecture leverages a Fractional
Wavelength technology to multiplex diverse traffic
types (IP, ATM, Frame Relay, Gigabit Ethernet, Voice
and TDM) within a single wavelength.
At the same time, traffic can be packed
efficiently across wavelengths and appear as a single
trunk to the network.
MPLS is used to maintain QoS.
The platform scales to 256 wavelengths (up to
2.5 Tbps) on a fiber pair using 50 GHz channel
spacing. Zaffire
also features a digital wrapper monitoring technology
to provide non-intrusive performance monitoring of
end-to-end wavelength quality.
OPTIMIGHT
DEVELOPS 40 GBPS UPGRADE FOR ITS LONG REACH, FULL SPECTRUM
WDM
OptiMight
Communications, a start-up based in San Jose, California,
announced a 40 Gbps upgrade strategy for its optical
transmission platform.
The plan would allow OptiMight's 10 Gbps OMC 1600
platform to be intermixed with or completely upgraded to
40 Gbps line card transponders at a later stage without
disrupting traffic. OptiMight’s
platform is expected to be generally available beginning
in Q4. http://www.optimight.com/
OptiMight, July 9, 2001
-
OptiMight’s
full-spectrum WDM manipulates optical signals in time
and frequency, compared to existing optical
transmission platforms that manipulate signals only in
the time domain.
Manipulating the signal in both domains
spectrally enriches the pulses, yielding a more robust
optical signal that travels further over fiber.
-
OptiMight
was founded by Wu-Fu Chen and Dr. Ilya Fishman, who
previously served as Research Scientist at
Stanford University and as Engineering Manager at
Spectra-Physics.
LIGHTCONNECT
RAISES $15.8 MILLION FOR ITS DYNAMIC MEMS TECHNOLOGY
LIGHTCONNECT, a start-up based in Newark,
California, raised $15.8 million in second round funding
for its development of optical components based on dynamic
MEMs technology. Investors
include Incubic LLC, Sevin Rosen Fund, Morgenthaler
Ventures, US Venture Partners, Optical Capital Group and
Excelsior Venture Partners III.
http://www.lightconnect.com
LIGHTCONNECT, July 9, 2001
-
Last
week, LIGHTCONNECT introduced a proprietary
“diffractive-MEMS” (micro electro-mechanical
systems) technology that it plans to leverage for a
series of high performance optical components,
including Variable Optical Attenuators (VOA) and
dynamic gain equalizers. Unlike mirror-based
MEMS that require large movements of small mirrors,
LIGHTCONNECT’s diffractive MEMS approach requires
motion of less than 0.4 microns of a ribbon surface
built in standard CMOS. The small movement or
the ribbon yields a change in the wave properties of
light. The non-contact technology initially will
be used in a single and 8-channel voltage controlled
Variable Optical Attenuator (VOA) that is 1,000 times
faster and nearly 90% smaller than current industry
standard devices.
-
Diffractive
MEMS technology was originally developed at Stanford
University by Dr. David Bloom. LIGHTCONNECT has
been in stealth mode since it was founded in 1999.
-
LIGHTCONNECT
is headed by Dr. Peter Clark, who formerly served as
President and CEO of Hitachi Semiconductor.
BAYNET
OPTICS INTRODUCES PROGRAMMABLE LCD-BASED COMPONENTS
Baynet
Optics, a start-up based in Santa Clara, California,
introduced short and medium distance collimators, a
one-channel Variable Optical Attenuator (VOA) and 1x2
Optical Switch Module (OSM) based on liquid-crystal
technology. All
of Baynet’s products will be remotely programmable,
allowing them to be reconfigured as well as maintained
from a carrier’s central office.
The new collimators, which provide the physical
interface between fibers, are significantly smaller than
competing products and are designed for volume
manufacturing. Baynet
Optics will also offer a 1-channel dynamic VOA and 1x2
optical switch, both featuring the low-power consumption
and reliability of liquid crystals.
Sampling will begin later this month.
http://www.baynetoptics.com
Baynet Optics, July 9, 2001
MARCONI
CHIEF EXECUTIVE STEPS DOWN
John Mayo resigned as Marconi’s Deputy Chief
Executive with immediate effect.
George Simpson will remain as the Chief Executive
of the company and Sir Roger Hurn will remain as its
Chairman. http://www.marconi.com/html/news/marconimanagementchanges.htm
Marconi, July 6, 2001
- On
July 5, Marconi cut its financial guidance for the
remainder of the year citing a weakening market for
telecommunications products, particularly in Europe.
|
