LEVEL 3 ACQUIRES VIATEL’S TRANSATLANTIC ASSETS FROM BANKRUPTCY COURT
In a Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceeding, Level 3 Communications acquired Viatel’s transatlantic network, including two fibers on the "Yellow" submarine cable connecting London and New York. This is the same fiber pair that Level 3 sold to Viatel in April 2000.  Level 3 now owns and controls 50 percent of the fibers on the Yellow cable.  Viatel has also transferred backhaul fiber and 20 Gbps of capacity on the separate transatlantic cable known as AC-1 to Level 3.  Financial terms of the multifaceted deal are outlined online.  http://www.level3.com/us/news/newsreleases/1,1345,2001Aug23-5572,00.html 
Level3, August 23, 2001

AT&T BROADBAND SAYS DEAL WITH LIBERATE IS NOT EXCLUSIVE AND CONTINUES WORK WITH MICROSOFT 
AT&T Broadband said the deal announced yesterday under which Liberate Technologies will provide software for interactive TV services distributed by its AT&T Headend in the Sky (HITS) is not exclusive.  AT&T Broadband is continuing to develop interactive services for the currently deployed set-top box, an interim level set-top box, and the advanced set-top box with Microsoft.  AT&T Broadband has not yet decided to offer its own customers the new service from AT&T HITS and Liberate.  http://www.attbroadband.com/services/ 
AT&T Broadband, August 23, 2001

UK TELECOM REGULATOR PROPOSES FINES FOR DELAYS IN OPENING LOCAL LOOPS
OFTEL, the official regulator for the UK telecom industry, proposed that BT should pay fines of £10 per loop for each working day an unbundled loop is unavailable to its competitors and £80 per operator for each working day's delay in providing co-location facilities.  OFTEL said that after negotiations between BT and operators, it is clear that regulatory intervention is required to ensure that BT offers satisfactory service level agreements.  http://www.oftel.co.uk/press/releases/2001/pr57_01.htm 
OFTEL, August 23, 2001

• In June, OFTEL proposed four additional measures to help reduce telecom competitors’ installation costs and clarify BT’s provision of facilities for local loop unbundling.  The four measures are:

• following a competitor's request, BT shall be required to install the competitor's equipment in any operational part of a BT exchange.
• a prohibition on BT from charging separately for site clearance when preparing co-location spaces in its exchanges.
• detailed guidelines on the co-location facilities including space that BT is obliged to provide and how BT should assess the availability of these facilities for other operators’ use; and
• prices for shared access to BT’s local loop. OFTEL is proposing an annual rental of £68 and connection charge of £127 per shared loop.

QWEST TO PROVIDE WHOLESALE DSL SERVICE FOR DIRECTV BROADBAND
Qwest Communications will provide wholesale DSL connectivity for DIRECTV DSL customers, beginning in Seattle, Phoenix, Denver, Portland, Minneapolis and Salt Lake City.  DIRECTV Broadband is providing DSL services through other last mile carriers as well, including SBC Communications, Pacific Bell, Southwestern Bell Telephone, Bell South, and Verizon Communications.  http://www.DIRECTVDSL.com 
DIRECTV Broadband, August 23, 2001

IP INFUSION DELIVERS SERVER ROUTING SUITE FOR IPV6
IP Infusion released server routing software supporting IPv6 and IPv4 and containing OSPFv2, OSPFv3, BGP-4+, RIP, and RIPng protocol modules.  The software could be used for testing and early roll out of IPv6 services.  IP Infusion’s ZebOS contains provisions for both IPv4 and IPv6 dual routing stack solutions.  With translation and tunneling protocols, ZebOS could be used in IPv6 native, IPv6 over IPv4, and IPv6 to IPv4 based networks. http://www.ipinfusion.com/news/news_august232001.html
IP Infusion, August 23, 2001

FLEXTRONICS TO ACQUIRE TELCOM GLOBAL SOLUTIONS, EXPANDING ITS ROLE AS NETWORK INTEGRATOR
Flextronics International, which provides contract manufacturing services, agreed to acquire Telcom Global Solutions, a provider of wireless network and RF consulting services based in Irving, Texas.  Financial terms were not disclosed.  Telcom Global Solutions will become part of Flextronics Network Services, which provides network installation and commissioning services throughout the world.  http://www.flextronics.com/networking/default.asp 
Flextronics, August 23, 2001

EXFO ACQUIRES AVANTAS NETWORKS FOR PROTOCOL LAYER TESTING
EXFO Electro-Optical Engineering agreed to acquire Avantas Networks, a start-up based in St-Laurent, Quebec, for approximately US$65 million in stock and cash.  Avantas recently released a portable test unit supporting multi-protocols (ATM, SONET, SDH, Gigabit Ethernet and Ethernet) as well as data transmission rates from OC-192 down to DS0 (64 kbps).  Avantas also offers a remote optical network performance management system that enables an administrator to simultaneously observe QoS parameters at key locations in the network by relying on data from remote test units. The system is complementary to EXFO’s remote fiber test system.  Avantas has approximately 100 employees.  http://www.exfo.com/en/corporate/viewnews.asp?News=119
EXFO, August 23, 2001

NETNUMBER RECEIVES STRATEGIC INVESTMENTS FROM SAIC AND VERISIGN
NetNumber, a start-up based in Lowell, Massachusetts, announced significant minority investments by SAIC Venture Capital Corp. and VeriSign to support its development of global ENUM (electronic numbering) services.  Financial terms were not disclosed.  http://www.netnumber.com 
NetNumber, August 23, 2001

• ENUM is an IETF protocol that resolves international telephone numbers into a series of URLs using a Domain Name System (DNS)-based architecture.  The system would allow a phone number to serve as the basis for an email address or other Web-enabled service.  The official ENUM Public Trial website provides extensive resources on the new protocol and allows registered users to subscribe to provisioning services.  http://www.enum.org
   
• The IETF Telephone Number Mapping (enum) working group is online at http://www.ietf.org/html.charters/enum-charter.html

CISCO SYSTEMS RESTRUCTURES INTO 11 GROUPS
Cisco Systems will restructure from its current three lines of businesses (enterprise, service provider and commercial) into centralized engineering and marketing organizations focused on 11 new technology groups.  These are:

• Access, including converged networking solutions for small- and medium-size businesses, Branch Offices, and Service Provider CPE
• Aggregation for the edge of the networks, generally Service Providers
• Cisco IOS Technologies Division (ITD)
• Internet Switching and Services
• Ethernet Access, including Category 5 copper, optical fiber, and longer distance telephone wire for standard Ethernet connectivity to desktops
• Network Management Services
• Core Routing
• Optical
• Storage
• Voice enabled by IP telephony/VOIP/Packet telephony 
• Wireless, including wireless LAN, mobile wireless, and fixed wireless solutions 

http://www.cisco.com
Cisco Systems, August 23, 2001

LUCENT EXPECTS FLAT REVENUE GROWTH IN 2002, 10-12% GROWTH IN 2003
Lucent Technologies told market analysts that it expects its addressable market to remain roughly flat in fiscal year 2002, but that it is targeting revenue growth of 10 to 12% in 2003.  Lucent expects to return to profitability a quarter ahead of when it achieves positive operating cash flow in fiscal year 2002.  The company will focus its sales efforts on the world's largest service providers.  Lucent’s product focus will be on optical solutions for core and metro markets; packet data solutions (multi-service core, edge and access; circuit and packet voice solutions); second-generation and third-generation wireless solutions; and the software and services to support all of these solutions.  http://www.lucent.com/investor/conference/webcast/
Lucent Technologies, August 23, 2001

• A webcast of Lucent’s presentation is available online until August 30, 2001.
• Some highlights of the presentation:

In 2001, service providers worldwide are expected to spend $306 billion.  The top 20 carriers account for 48% of all capital spending, while the top 50 service providers worldwide account for 75% of all capital spending.

The number of worldwide broadband subscribers is expected to climb from 22 million in 2001 to 84 million in 2005.

• Excluding employees at Agere Systems, contract manufacturing facilities and its optical fiber business, Lucent’s overall headcount will decline from 96,000 in December 2000 to 57-62,000 after its second phase of restructuring is complete.