6-February-2003    Volume 10 Issue 023

OPNET software embeds expert knowledge about how network devices, network protocols, applications, and servers operate. This intelligence enables users in network operations, engineering, planning, and application development to be far more effective in optimizing performance and availability of their networks and applications.  Click on a link below to learn about our products best suited to your needs:

ATM FORUM ADVANCES STANDARDS FOR INTERWORKING WITH IP, MPLS
The ATM Forum reported progress on several fronts at its quarterly meeting last week in Santa Clara, California.  Key developments focus on IP addressing, a new MPLS interworking mode, and new support for transporting voice and video traffic.  Highlights of the meeting include:

• a new specification for IP addressing on native ATM switches advanced to straw ballot.  The new standard, which would allow direct mapping of IP addressing onto an ATM switch would especially help network administrators who are upgrading their router connections from PVCs to SVCs.  The common IP-ATM addressing scheme would also benefit enterprise networks that utilize IP firewall and filtering applications alongside an ATM backbone.
• adopted a new work item for ATM and MPLS interworking that adds a fourth encapsulation mode (N-to-1 Cell mode) to the original ATM/MPLS interworking specification.  Each of the four encapsulation modes are optimized for certain applications or traffic characteristics.  Support for the N-to-1 Cell encapsulation mode brings harmony to the related work of The ATM Forum, The MPLS Forum, the ITU and the IETF. 
• adopted a new work item for ATM – SIP interworking.  This would provide optimized support for transporting IP voice and video connections over an ATM backbone.
• adopted a new work item for MPEG-4 over ATM.  There is already an MPEG-2 over ATM specification (audio/video multimedia services or AMS). 
• initiated a dialogue with the Metro Ethernet Forum regarding future specification roadmaps.  One possibility is the development of a Metro Ethernet – ATM interworking specification
• the ATM Forum’s quarterly meeting was collocated with the Broadband Content Delivery (BCD) Forum.  The MPLS Forum is co-locating some of its meetings with these organizations as well.
• the ATM Forum hosted its second Broadband Exchange event, bringing together technical experts to discuss evolving broadband technologies and applications.  This quarter’s Broadband Exchange focused on the architectural issues and market opportunities for content delivery networks.  Presentations at the day-long meeting covered video services over DSL, video-on-demand (VOD) rollouts and market prospects, the MPEG-4 standard, backbone architectures for MSOs, and the latest trends in VOD servers.
• the next Broadband Exchange will cover 3G/4G Wireless and will be held in conjunction with the ATM Forum’s upcoming technical committee meeting in April in Madrid, Spain.

http://www.atmforum.com
05-February-2003

BELLSOUTH OFFERS WHOLESALE, INTER-LATA GIGE SERVICE
BellSouth is rolling out interstate, native mode LAN interconnection (NMLI) Gigabit Ethernet Service for wholesale customers.  The service is also available at 10 Mbps and 100 Mbps. BellSouth said NMLI is the first service of this type to be deployed as part of its High Speed Transport Service portfolio. http://www.interconnection.bellsouth.com
05-February-2003

SPRINT REPORTS STABILIZED LD PRICING, 20% REVENUE GAINS FOR FR/ATM, 9% FOR IP
Sprint reported Q4 revenues of $6.53 billion, compared to $6.52 billion last year.  Full-year 2002 consolidated revenues were $26.63 billion, up 4% from $25.52 billion in 2001.  Net income for Q4 was $39 million, compared to a fourth quarter loss of $1.23 billion in 2001.  Some highlights of the report:

• operations produced more than $665 million of positive free cash flow in Q4.
• the pricing environment for long-distance services continues to stabilize, even with recent RBOC entry into the long-distance business.
• data services revenues in Q4 increased 7% year-over-year.  Frame Relay and ATM revenues both increased more than 20% from the same period last year.  Internet revenues increased 9% from the same period last year.
• dial-up IP revenue declined in double digit amounts due to AOL repricing
• total access lines for Sprint’s Local Telecommunications Division declined 1.7% in 2002
• while voice grade equivalent lines grew 9%.
• Sprint’s Local Telecommunications Division added 38,000 new DSL lines in Q4, ending with 150,000 DSL lines in service.
• In 2003, Sprint FON Group Capital expenditures are expected to increase slightly to $2.3 billion.  Global markets has targeted capital of $800 million primarily to support growth in demand for enterprise services.  The local division capital plan of $1.4 billion includes investments for broadband initiatives and the phased transition from circuit to packet switching.
• Sprint PCS had 250,000 net customer additions in Q4 and more than 1.2 million net new customers for 2002. 
• Sprint PCS average revenue per user for the quarter was just over $62 compared to just under $61 a year ago.
• Sprint PCS capital expenditures were $590 million for Q4 and $2.67 billion in 2002.  For 2003, Sprint PCS capital expenditures are expected to decline to a range of $2.3 - 2.4 billion.

http://www.sprint.com
05-February-2003

• Separately, The Wall Street Journal reported that Sprint’s Board of Directors is forcing out William T. Esrey, chairman and chief executive officer, and Ronald T. LeMay, president and chief operating officer, over an issue of tax accounting of their stock options. 

THE MPLS FORUM AND EANTC COMPLETE MPLS SCALABILITY TEST
The MPLS Forum and the European Advanced Networking Test Center (EANTC) completed a multi-vendor MPLS scalability and resiliency interoperability test event that involved 13 vendors.  The one-week interoperability program tested MPLS VPN scalability and also verified MPLS Fast Reroute techniques.  One of the services tested was TDM over IP over MPLS, which requires SONET/SDH-grade carrier class recovery characteristics.  Participating vendors were Agilent Technologies, Alcatel, Avici Systems, Cisco Systems, Data Connection, IXIA, NetPlane, Nortel Networks, Quallaby, RAD Data Communications, Redback Networks, Riverstone Networks and Spirent Communications.  The test, which will be showcased at the MPLS World Congress in Paris, February 5-7, 2003, was conducted with the cooperation of the ETSI Interoperability Service and hosted by Upper Side.  http://www.mplsforum.org/  http://www.eantc.com
05-February-2003

RAD DATA COMMUNICATIONS CARRIES E1 LEASED LINE OVER MPLS
RAD Data Communications will demonstrate its IPmux TDM over IP (TDMoIP) gateway carrying an emulated end-to-end E1 leased line over an MPLS backbone.  The multi-vendor interoperability event, organized by the MPLS Forum and the European Advanced Network Testing Center (EANTC), in cooperation with the ETSI Interoperability Services and hosted by Upper Side, is showcasing MPLS equipment interoperability, and, in particular, network scalability and fast rerouting (under 50 ms).  More than a dozen equipment manufacturers are participating. The event is being held this week in Paris.  http://www.rad.com  http://www.upperside.com
05-February-2003

MARCONI TO SUPPLY ITS ACCESS HUB TO TELECOM ITALIA
Telecom Italia awarded a two-year contract valued at EURO 80 million to Marconi for upgrades to its access network.  Marconi will supply its Access Hub platform and work alongside Italtel, which will supply switching technology and professional services, to build the new network infrastructure.  Marconi’s Access Hub technology will enable the distribution of a variety of services to end users such as xDSL, traditional telephony and ISDN, interacting both with traditional telephone exchanges and IP systems.  http://www.marconi.com 
05-February-2003

ETISALAT DEPLOYS JUNIPER NETWORKS M160 ROUTERS
Etisalat, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Telecommunications Corporation, has deployed Juniper Networks’ M160 routing platforms in POPs throughout the country.  Financial terms were not disclosed.  http://www.juniper.net
05-February-2003

JUNIPER NETWORKS RELEASE PERFORMANCE DATA FROM BTEXACT TESTING
Juniper Networks announced the results of performance tests carried out on its T640 Routing Node by BTexact Technologies, BT's advanced research and technology business.  BTexact measured the total aggregate throughput of a T640 configured with 32 OC-192c/STM64 SONET/SDH interfaces.  Using 32 Agilent Router Tester modules, BTexact demonstrated that a fully loaded single chassis T640 Routing Node was capable of a forwarding rate in excess of 780 million packets per second, with traffic consisting of 40 byte IP packets on every port and 500,000 active BGP routes.  Throughout this test no packets were dropped.  Juniper Networks said this rate is 99.7% of the theoretical maximum.   http://www.juniper.net
05-February-2003

MULTISERVICE SWITCHING FORUM PLANS TESTING ROUND IN 2004
The Multiservice Switching Forum (MSF) plans to conduct a second Global Multiservice Interoperability (GMI) event in 2004 to demonstrate a deployable and operationally ready IP telephony network with network management, enhanced QoS and security features.  The group conducted its first such GMI 2002 over the course of ten days in November.  Fifteen participants, including carriers, system suppliers and test equipment manufacturers, demonstrated the MSF Release 1 Architecture utilizing MEGACO/H.248, Bearer Independent Call Control (BICC) and SIP as the main control and signaling protocols.  The MSF expects even more participants in 2004.  http://www.msforum.org 
05-February-2003

SONUS NETWORKS ADDS VOICE VPN CAPABILITIES
Sonus Networks released a major software upgrade that adds Voice VPN capabilities, a new set of international signaling variants, and network optimization tools to its packet voice platform.  The Voice VPN features in the latest Release 5.0 of the Sonus Open Services Architecture enable service providers to offer a packet-based voice VPN to enterprise customers.  With the carrier-hosted SMARRT Voice VPN service, enterprises gain the ability to connect multiple, geographically distributed sites and remote users in a single virtual network.  The new international capabilities for the Sonus platform include national SS7 variants for Argentina, Brazil, Chile, China, India and Spain.  With the addition of these new signaling types, Sonus now supports more than 30 SS7 variants and international versions of ISDN PRI and CAS.  http://www.sonusnet.com
05-February-2003

MITEL NETWORKS INTRODUCES TELEWORKER IP PHONE SYSTEM FOR BROADBAND
Mitel Networks introduced an enterprise teleworker solution that enables an IP phone with a broadband connection (DSL or cable modem) to become a secure extension off the corporate network.  Mitel Networks’ 6010 Teleworker solution uses secure Real-Time Protocol (RTP) encryption for voice privacy.  Remote data connections are supported off an easily configured Ethernet port on the IP phone.  http://www.mitel.com 
05-February-2003

QUINTUM OFFERS PORTAL FOR PASSING VOIP TRAFFIC THROUGH FIREWALLS
Quintum Technologies, a start-up based in Eatontown, New Jersey, introduced a VoIP platform designed to eliminate repeated compression and decompression of traffic due to firewalls at the network edge.  Quintum’s Tenor Call Relay allows service providers and enterprises to route VoIP calls to external IP networks from behind network address translation firewalls.  The new product supports up to 720 simultaneous VoIP calls.  Quintum offers a smaller version supporting up to 32 simultaneous voice calls.  http://www.quintum.com
05-February-2003

BRECIS SECURES $20 MILLION FOR ITS MULTISERVICE PROCESSOR
BRECIS Communications, a start-up based in San Jose, California, raised an additional $20 million in funding for its line of multiservice processors.  The BRECIS network processors will leverage distributed intelligent processing "engines" on the same chip to rapidly and simultaneously perform prioritized data transactions with an extremely efficient peer to peer communications mechanism.  Each of these engines could be dynamically managed, prioritized, or even reprogrammed to suit both the immediate needs of the data being processed and the particular design goals of the integrated access device.  The new funding round, which was led by new investor Crosslink Capital, and includes returning investors InterWest Partners, Focus Ventures, Norwest Venture Partners, and Sequoia Capital, brings total investment in the company to $72.4 million.  http://www.brecis.com
05-February-2003

• BRECIS Communications is led by George Alexy, who previously was Senior Vice President of Marketing at Cirrus Logic.

VOICERAMP RAISES $7.8 MILLION FOR BROADBAND SOFTWARE
VoiceRamp Technologies, a start-up based in Richardson, Texas, raised $7.8 million in series A funding for its development of software solutions for broadband access and existing switching networks.  The company said its architecture would support circuit switched networks as they transition to converged packet based technologies while leveraging the value of the installed base of network elements and operational support systems.  The investment was co-led by CenterPoint and Star Ventures, with STARTech Early Ventures also participating.  http://www.voiceramp.com
05-February-2003

• VoiceRamp Technologies is headed by Allen Adams, who also co-founded DSC Communications and IPCell Technologies (recently acquired by Cisco Systems).

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A Daily Report For Broadband Networking
Copyright 2003 Converge! Media Ventures Inc.
All Rights Reserved. ISSN 1084-2438
News sources are listed for your reference.
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About this Report Converge! Network Digest is a daily market research report providing concise, edited and information-enhanced insight into next generation networking technology, products and services.  We cover the full stack of network layers with the belief that innovation and market dynamics at any one layer ripples across the whole industry. The publication is distributed globally to leading telecom service providers, cable network operators, network research labs, network equipment manufacturers, silicon developers, research analysts and members of the media. Subscriptions are available at an annual rate of $500 for 240 issues.  Corporate licenses are also available.  A limited number of complementary VIP subscriptions are available to senior executives of telecom service providers. For editorial comments or to submit news for consideration, please contact James Carroll Subscriptions Cut through the industry noise by getting your own copy of this report Sponsorships Gain visibility and market presence with our audience of key networking executives Directory Listings List your company.  Free and Premium listings are available. Seminars Announce your networking seminar to the world, starting at $499.