SPRINT DROPS ION, SUSPENDS MMDS FIXED WIRELESS DEPLOYMENTS
Sprint terminated its long planned ION (Integrated On-Demand Network) and halted further rollouts of its MMDS-based fixed wireless access service.  The company said that although technical challenges with ION have largely been resolved, ION no longer makes economic sense.  Although the ION technology remains cutting edge, Sprint foresaw financial losses for the next several years.  The company also cited difficulty in provisioning last mile connections from the RBOCs as another reason to terminate ION.  Sprint will transition current ION customers to alternative service arrangements.  A substantial portion of the assets that support the ION offerings are expected to be written off in the fourth quarter.  Sprint said it still believes the future calls for a converged services platform, however not with the cost overhead of ION.  The company sees a migration of its transport services to an IP backbone.

Regarding its Broadband Direct fixed wireless access service, Sprint said the first generation of MMDS technology proved to have too many line of sight issues, accompanied by high installation costs and unforeseen technical challenges.  Sprint will continue to serve its existing customer base of 52,000 broadband fixed wireless users, but will not accept new customers.  It has frozen existing network rollouts and will not enter new markets.  Sprint will monitor second generation MMDS platforms for technical improvements but is also considering reallocating the spectrum for other uses, including 3G mobile services.  Sprint’s restructuring will result in the loss of 6,000 jobs (7% of the company) along with 1,500 contractor positions.  http://www3.sprint.com/PR/CDA/PR_CDA_Press_Releases_Detail/1,1579,3921,00.html
Sprint, October 18, 2001

• Last October, Sprint began offering consumer broadband DSL services under the Sprint ION brand in 12 major US markets.  The premium service, priced at $149 per month, included downstream speeds up to 8 Mbps, upstream speeds up to 1 Mbps, four voice/fax lines with Voice Mail, Caller ID and other features, unlimited local calling, plus 750 minutes of domestic long distance.  Entry-level DSL Internet access (1.5 Mbps, no VoDSL) was priced at $44.99 per month.
• In May 2000, Sprint launched its first commercial MMDS fixed access service in Phoenix.  The MMDS service is priced at $49.95 per month for residents or $199.95 for businesses and provides average downstream rates of up to 1 Mbps.  Sprint Broadband Direct uses an outdoor mounted "pizza box" shaped transceiver device which requires line-of-sight to a mountaintop transmission tower.  Hybrid Networks supplies Sprint with fixed wireless access modems and router products for its MMDS broadband wireless access networks.

TIME WARNER CABLE READIES FOR LARGE SCALE VOD/SVOD ROLLOUTS
Time Warner Cable committed to purchase 625,000 digital set-tops and other headend equipment from Scientific-Atlanta to meet projected consumer demand for advanced cable TV services, including video on demand (VOD), subscription video on demand (SVOD), personal video recording (PVR) and HDTV.  The purchases include 100,000 of Scientific-Atlanta's new Explorer 8000 home media servers, which feature a hard drive for PVR applications; 50,000 of Scientific- Atlanta's recently announced Explorer 3100HD set-tops for HDTV; and 475,000 Explorer 2100 digital set-tops for VOD, SVOD, email, Web browsing, chat and e-commerce.  Financial terms were not disclosed.  http://www.scientificatlanta.com/nav/html/top/tnwsframe.htm 
Scientific Atlanta, October 18, 2001

• Separately, Scientific Atlanta entered into a development agreement with America Online that will enable AOL to create a version of the AOLTV service for cable that will be made available on Scientific-Atlanta's Explorer set tops.  The first version of AOLTV for cable will be deployable on all 2000 class Explorer set-tops and will enable Explorer users to utilize popular AOL communication applications like e-mail, instant messaging, the Buddy List feature and Buddy Chat.

3DSP UNVEILS ITS UNIVERSAL PHY PROCESSOR FOR BROADBAND
3DSP, a start-up based in Irvine, California, unveiled an intellectual property core for universal physical layer signal processing (PLSP) in broadband communications.  The UniPHY core's custom instructions and architectural features are specifically tuned towards PLSP applications -- including Wireless LAN (802.11a, 802.11b, HiLAN2), and xDSL.  http://www.3dsp.com
3DSP, October 18, 2001

• 3DSP's principle investors include Alcatel Ventures, Intel Capital and FVIC.

NEC ELUMINANT SECURES $26 MILLION FOR ITS PON ACCESS SYSTEMS
eLUMINANT, a subsidiary of NEC USA, secured $26 million in additional financing for its fiber-based broadband access products.  The new funding included $18 million from ITOCHU Corporation and $8 million from NEC USA.  ELUMINANT expects to begin trials of its new FiberSLAM PON product shortly.  The company is headquartered in Chantilly, Virginia and has an R&D center in Portland, Oregon.  http://www.eluminant.com/
NEC Eluminant, October 18, 2001

SCION PHOTONICS NAMES EX-ZAFFIRE EXEC AS CEO
Scion Photonics, a start-up based in Fremont, California, named James R. Fultz as president and CEO.  Fultz previously served as CEO of Zaffire.  Scion supplies DWDM products, fiber optic assembly equipment and application specific photonic components.  Its investors include Read-Rite Corporation, Tyco Ventures, and Integral Capital Partners.  http://www.scionphotonics.com/ 
Scion Photonics, October 18, 2001

ACTERNA AND TOLLGRADE FORM DSL TEST ALLIANCE
Acterna and Tollgrade formed a new strategic alliance to help improve the installation, deployment and management of DSL equipment.  Under an OEM agreement, the companies will jointly develop and market DSL remote test solutions.  http://www.acterna.com/about_us/newsroom/pr01/101801.html  http://www.tollgrade.com 
Acterna, October 18, 2001

• Tollgrade recently acquired Lucent Technologies’ MLT/LoopCare test system business

BELLSOUTH REACHES 463,000 DSL CUSTOMERS
As of September 30, Bell South was serving 463,000 DSL customers, up by 82,000 from the 381,000 subscribers reported at the end of Q2.  Bell South anticipates 600,000 DSL customers by year’s end.  In its quarterly earnings report, Bell South also noted that data revenues increased 28% in Q3 compared to the same period last year and account for over $1 billion for the quarter. http://bellsouthcorp.com/proactive/newsroom/release.vtml?id=37843
BellSouth, October 18, 2001

NORTEL NETWORKS REPORTS Q3 REVENUE OF $3.69 BILLION
Nortel Networks reported Q3 revenue of US$3.69 billion, down from US$6.73 billion in the same period in 2000.  Pro forma net loss from continuing operations for the third quarter of 2001, excluding incremental provisions and other charges, was US$854 million or US$0.27 per common share.  Including the incremental provisions and other charges, pro forma net loss from continuing operations for the third quarter of 2001 was US$2.18 billion, or US$0.68 per common share.  Compared to Q3 2000, network Infrastructure revenues decreased 48%, photonic components segment revenues were down 93% and other revenues fell 29%.  Substantial growth in Global Professional Services in Europe and Asia, and strong growth in the United States, was more than offset by considerable declines in legacy voice solutions for corporations across all regions and wireless products.  After its recently announced restructuring and workforce reduction plans are completely implemented, Nortel Networks expects to break even at a quarterly revenue level below US$4 billion.  http://www.nortelnetworks.com
Nortel Networks, October 18, 2001

• In Q2, Nortel Networks reported quarterly revenue of US$4.61 billion, down from US$7.21 billion in the same period in 2000.

PMC SIERRA REPORTS Q3 REVENUE OF $61.6 M, DOWN 35% COMPARED TO Q2
PMC-Sierra reported Q3 net revenues of US$61.6 million, down 35% compared to US$94.1 million in the second quarter of 2001.  Pro forma net loss was US$26.8 million or US$0.16 per share.  The company announced a cost restructuring program include a reduction of approximately 350 employees.  As of September 30, PMC-Sierra had a total of 1,475 employees worldwide.  http://www.pmc-sierra.com 
PMC-Sierra, October 18, 2001

• Earlier this week, PMC-Sierra announced that it received the "Semiconductor Supplier of the Year Award" from Cisco Systems.  In July, PMC-Sierra signed a strategic supplier agreement with Lucent Technologies.

CONEXANT SYSTEMS REPORTS FLAT QUARTERLY REVENUE
Conexant Systems reported quarterly sales of $201.0 million, compared to prior quarter revenues of $200.1 million. The pro forma net loss for the fourth fiscal quarter was $136.6 million, or $0.54 per share.  Conexant said revenues for the quarter were about 5% higher than expectations set at the beginning of the quarter and the company exceeded its target for cost reductions.  The company also cited a 24% sequential growth in its wireless communications chip business.  http://www.conexant.com 
Conexant Systems, October 18, 2001

Daily Journal For Broadband Networking
Copyright 2001 Converge! Media Ventures Inc.
All Rights Reserved. ISSN 1084-2438
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