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Daily news and top headlines for broadband communications engineering and design professionals
Tellabs sees $80M Q4 loss, cash flow holds steady
January 22, 2002 7:00 pm | by Anne Kerven | CommentsTellabs lost $80 million on fourth-quarter sales of $470 million, but the company maintained a positive operating cash flow throughout the year, it says. The company also saw a $182 million loss on $2.2 billion in sales in 2001. Fourth-quarter sales fell to $470 million from the $1.2 billion it recorded a year ago, and Tellabs reports an $80 million loss, or 20 cents a share, compared with a $2...
Vivendi/EchoStar close $1.5 B deal; REMEC buys Spike
January 22, 2002 7:00 pm | by Anne Kerven | CommentsVivendi Universal closed its previously announced $1.5 billion investment in EchoStar Communications Corp., proceeds of which will help fund EchoStar's proposed merger with Hughes Electronics Corp. The funds are part of a programming and middleware deal the two announced in mid-December, under which Vivendi would supply EchoStar with iTV content and Canal+ Technologies middleware, and invest th...
Next Level trims 120 more jobs in streamlining effort
January 21, 2002 7:00 pm | by Anne Kerven | CommentsCutting 120 jobs will cut future cash expenses by about $2.5 million a quarter, Next Level Communications Inc. said today. The company announced the layoffs and lowered its Q4 guidance, citing slower-than-expected customer deployments. The layoffs reduce the broadband access platform provider's workforce by one-third, it says, and are part of an ongoing effort to cut overhead costs.
nCUBE/OpenTV mix VOD; Alcatel buys into U.S. SONET market
January 21, 2002 7:00 pm | by Anne Kerven | CommentsnCUBE Corp. will integrate its n4 streaming media appliance, nABLE Interactive Management Platform, with OpenTV's EN2 middleware platform. The VOD result will allow viewers to watch selected movies with real-time VCR features, such as pause, rewind and fast-forward, the two say. … Alcatel will acquire Massachusetts-based Astral Point Communications for $135.
Flash: Industry up, down, flat, depending on sector
January 21, 2002 7:00 pm | by Anne Kerven | CommentsThe ever-present uncertainty is what keeps you in the industry and you know it. According to a rash of recently released studies, parts of the industry are up, down and flat. • Zero growth in the IP backbone market will prompt backbone providers to focus on key decision criteria used by their ISP customers when choosing backbone vendors, says Watching the Bandwidth Flow — The 2001 I...
Thomson puts Brazil unit to work with ATT deal
January 21, 2002 7:00 pm | by Anne Kerven | CommentsCashing in on new capacity from its Brazilian plant, the next two years will see Thomson Multimedia churning out up to 1 million RCA-branded high-speed digital cable modems for AT&T Broadband. Thomson opened the Manaus, Brazil, plant in October to help produce the RCA line. The plant had a 250,000 annual capacity, the company said then, that could ramp up to 500,000 as demand goes up.
Equal-access tangle looms in Texas
January 17, 2002 7:00 pm | by Anne Kerven | CommentsTime Warner Telecom says it only wanted to wire customers in a Houston office building and obtain it for the same fees as the incumbent provider was paying. But a complaint it filed launched a lawsuit questioning the constitutionality of Texas' access laws and rules. Under a 1995 Texas law that opened Texas' local phone markets to competition, tenants could choose their own provider for phone s...
Comcast settles union spat, more to come
January 17, 2002 7:00 pm | by Anne Kerven | CommentsComcast Cable Corp. resolved parts of a dispute with the Communications Workers of America Local 4107 and the National Labor Relations Board that accused the cableco of unfair labor practices. More is pending, CAW says. According to CWA Local 4107 President Jan Rich, Comcast was accused of a convoluted list of actions, including bypassing the union and dealing directly with employees, coercion ...
S-A launches new modem to 'solid' Q2 results
January 17, 2002 7:00 pm | by Anne Kerven | CommentsNo dust gathering here — Scientific-Atlanta unveiled an addition to its WebSTAR cable modem line, weighed in on a solid second quarter and landed a new member in its CreativeEdge Developer Program. S-A says its DOCSIS 1.0- and 1.1-certified WebSTAR DPX 100 cable modem is ready to fly, and includes a faster microprocessor than previous models.
OpenTV HITS jackpot in long-delayed deal
January 16, 2002 7:00 pm | by Anne Kerven | CommentsNearly six months after it announced talks were underway, OpenTV closed its deal with AT&T's Headend In The Sky to use HITS' satellite transponders to deliver virtual interactive channels. The announcement wasn't unexpected: OpenTV CEO Jim Ackerman said in July the company was talking to HITS "with the intention to deploy games, information-on-demand and commerce services.
CableLabs releases DOCSIS 2.0 to mixed reviews
January 16, 2002 7:00 pm | by Anne Kerven | CommentsMeeting its year-end goal, CableLabs says it finished DOCSIS 2.0 specs before 2001 was out, and now is finalizing plans for interoperability testing. But business, immersed in making earlier versions pay, gives the announcement mixed reviews. The consortium says it should finish test plans in time for the first quarter and may start certification tests in the third quarter, "pending product mat...
Cisco routers connect China; Cox/Level 3 ink network deal
January 16, 2002 7:00 pm | by Anne Kerven | CommentsCox Communications will use CrossRoads Internet access and Center Co-location services from Level 3 Communications Inc. in its national IP network, including connecting its subscribers to the Internet, other networks and content providers. Cox also will use Level 3's OC-48 Link Private Line and metropolitan dark fiber services to connect its regional data centers and metro fiber optic networks ...
Supreme Court rules on pole attachments
January 15, 2002 7:00 pm | by Anne Kerven | CommentsIn a huge win for the cable industry, the Pole Attachments Act does cover attachments that provide high-speed Internet access at the same time as cable TV, the U.S. Supreme Court decided today. The decision on National Cable & Telecommunications Association Inc. v. Gulf Power Co. et al reverses one from the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, which had held that commingled services of high-speed...
Results, offers and other financial fodder
January 15, 2002 7:00 pm | by Anne Kerven | Comments• FiberCore Inc. closed on a $6 million private placement of 5 percent convertible subordinated debentures to institutional investors, it says. The company has the option to increase the dollar amount to $9 million. FiberCore received $5 million at closing, with another $1 million coming with the filing of a registration statement.
NTL/BroadJump deploy in U.K.; MegaPath/Radiant trade markets
January 15, 2002 7:00 pm | by Anne Kerven | CommentsAfter successful trials in Manchester and Glasgow, United Kingdom broadband provider NTL will deploy BroadJump Inc.'s Virtual Truck Qualifier, Installer and CorrectConnect for its cable modem and set-top customers. Financial terms were not disclosed, but the deal gives BroadJump access to the U.K. and increases its presence in Europe.
