News
FREE Email Newsletter
Daily news and top headlines for broadband communications engineering and design professionals
Marconi lowers guidance, sells medical unit to Philips
July 4, 2001 8:00 pm | by Anne Kerven | CommentsLondon-based Marconi Plc. will cut another 4,000 jobs and revised its annual guidance, it reported yesterday after requesting a temporary suspension of its trading. The telecom-equipment company also sold its medical systems unit to Royal Philips Electronics for $1.1 billion, causing Moody's Investors Service to put its A3 ratings on review for a possible downgrade.
Zolo adds 16- and 20-channel DWDM modules to line
July 4, 2001 8:00 pm | by Anne Kerven | CommentsZolo Technologies Inc. released its 100 GHz, single-input, 16- and 20-channel DWDM modules, it says. The Zmux 1:16/100 and 1:20/100 multiplexers/demultiplexers are part of a line of DWDM modules that include 32- and 40-channel, 100 GHz ones. The products are designed for metro access, metro core and regional networking applications, Zolo says.
C-COR.net acquires Aerotec for $2.25 M
July 4, 2001 8:00 pm | by Anne Kerven | CommentsC-COR.net will acquire Aerotec Communications Inc. for $2.25 million in cash and merge the company with its subsidiary Worldbridge Broadband Services Inc. The merger should be complete by the end of the month. C-COR.net purchased Worldbridge in February 2000, a C-COR.net spokeswoman says. Merging Aerotec will help C-COR.
Nortel lands China contract; Moody's lowers ratings
July 4, 2001 8:00 pm | by Anne Kerven | CommentsGood news and bad news for Nortel Networks. The company just landed a contract with Jitong Networks Communications to build a national multiservice backbone network. But Moody's Investors Service downgraded the company's long-term securities ratings. The contract, for an undisclosed amount, expands Jitong's existing backbone to 100 cities, with a core hubs capacity of 40 Gbps.
QBeo ITV photo gallery joins Liberate PopTV
July 2, 2001 8:00 pm | by Anne Kerven | CommentsQBeo Inc. will adapt its ITV photo application to work on Liberate Technologies' TV Platform software. The deal is part of QBeo's joining Liberate's PopTV Program. My Photo Gallery, QBeo's photo channel, lets users store, view, edit and share photos, and order prints and photo merchandise. The deal is QBeo's second in two weeks.
Akara reaps $30 M in second round of funding
July 2, 2001 8:00 pm | by Anne Kerven | CommentsAkara landed $30 million in a second financing round for its optical service management system. The company will expand operations, customer service and sales, and develop more products and services with the funds. The round was led by Canadian VC firm VenGrowth, but also included help from Corning Inc.
Study: Optical access market to top $2 B in 2005
July 2, 2001 8:00 pm | by Anne Kerven | CommentsFirst-mile connections to multitenant office buildings will emerge as a strong growth area, with fiber-connected facilities more than doubling in 2005. The industry's services sector will reach $900 million in that time, a new study says. Optical Access: Next Generation Technology and Services in the First Mile, from Communications Industry Researchers Inc.
Study: Fixed wireless grows on unlicensed band
July 1, 2001 8:00 pm | by Anne Kerven | CommentsLittle or no marketing may account for the lack of awareness of fixed wireless services, a study says. In reality, this sector is doing well — in the unlicensed band, where CLECs and IPs are showing a profit. Unlicensed Spectrum from Allied Business Intelligence says unlicensed operators are leading the fixed wireless deployment, and will approach 7 million subscribers by the end of 2006.
A Novo to maintain 3Com cable modems
July 1, 2001 8:00 pm | by Anne Kerven | Comments3Com may not be selling any new cable modems, but for those who have already deployed them, A Novo Broadband Inc. has agreed to maintain and repair them. 3Com has about 1.3 million of the modems installed. Under the deal, A Novo will repair, refurbish, and do software upgrades and general maintenance in its service centers in Florida; Ohio; California; and Montreal, Ontario.
Digital modem shipments down/analog up, study says
July 1, 2001 8:00 pm | by Anne Kerven | CommentsShipments of digital modems continued to fall in first-quarter 2001, but analog modems saw an increase, says the just-released Networking Quarterlies report from Cahners In-Stat Group. Cable modems and ADSL modems shipments also fell during the quarter. While shipments of both will continue to fall in second quarter, third quarter should see an increase, particularly in ADSL CPE shipments, In-S...
BigBand Networks announces next-generation broadcast grooming device
June 30, 2001 8:00 pm | by Staff | CommentsBigBand Networks Inc. recently announced the availability of Broadcast Grooming for the company's Broadband Multimedia-Service Router (BMR), which provides cable MSOs with a multi-port, carrier-class grooming solution featuring efficiency, control and functionality. Through the BMR, MSOs receive a "best of breed" solution for pressing broadcast needs, while at the same time embarking on a futur...
TollBridge unveils new multi-protocol voice processing card
June 30, 2001 8:00 pm | by Staff | CommentsTollBridge Technologies recently introduced the Voice III module that targets the latest voice over broadband access standards including NCS, MGCP, BLES AAL5 and BLES AAL2. This voice processing card delivers the highest available densities for voice-over-IP deployment with the TB300 and TB200 gateways for cable, DSL, fixed wireless, T-1 and ATM broadband media access.
STMicroelectronics introduces HDTV chip
June 30, 2001 8:00 pm | by Staff | CommentsSTMicroelectronics has introduced an advanced HDTV encoder IC called the STi7020, and the STV0397, a multi-channel VoIP processor for cable network-based telephony products. The STi7020 contains multiple stream MPEG high definition (HD)/standard definition (SD) video decoding, audio decoding, a 2-D/3-D graphics subsystem and functions such as NTSC/PAL video encoder and high definition and stan...
Value-added services to beef up struggling DSL industry
June 30, 2001 8:00 pm | by Staff | CommentsValue-added services such as virtual private networking, voice-over-DSL, VOD and MPEG music will give the struggling DSL industry a shot in the arm, a new report says. The "Enabling Value-Added Services Over DSL Networks: Market Opportunities For Service Providers and Suppliers" report from Pioneer Consulting estimates that more than 16 million DSL customers will subscribe to more than 25 milli...
Equator launches Dolphin and StingRay
June 30, 2001 8:00 pm | by Staff | CommentsEquator Technologies Inc. recently unveiled its new Dolphin reference design platform. The company also introduced the StingRay reference board, an advanced development board designed to support Equator's MAP-CA Broadband Signal Processor (BSP) chip. Dolphin will shorten the design cycle of enhanced, multi-function media appliances by providing a complete and customizable hardware/software plat...
