First GPRS PCMCIA cards due in 4Q 
Telus challenges two Bell federal contracts 
CRTC approves Skycable for MDS license in BC 
Verizon Wireless kicks off mobile Net access 
Little VoiceStream draws giants' eyes 
Canon launches its 3RD generation wireless optics 
Motorola sets up second IP telephony unit 
Chinese police to use VoIP 
Optical network component maker to buy out rival firm 
Globalstar cuts U.S. rates on satellite calls 
WorldCom and Sprint quit deal 
IBM labs peek into future and sees a blue planet 
The microphotonics revolution 
DSL becomes a virtual reality 
Apple to report earnings and unveil new products 
MCK and TollBridge partner for voice over DSL and cable 
ICANN votes to create new top-level domains 
Internet registrar announces pre-booking for domains 

First GPRS PCMCIA cards due in 4Q
Source: Newsbytes

Just in time for the first GPRS (general packet radio service) networks now starting to appear on GSM networks across Europe, the first GPRS PCMCIA (personal computer memory card international association) cards are scheduled to arrive in the next few months.  Option Internet, the Dutch mobile communications firm, has struck a deal with BT Cellnet in the UK, which launched the world's first GPRS network in late June.  Joshua Van Raalte, a spokesperson for BT Cellnet, said that the cards will sell for between 100 and 200 pounds ($150 and $300) when they ship - about the same levels as a standard GSM data card.  The difference with GPRS, however, is that more network channel resources can be "daisy-chained" together to allow mobile downloads at speeds of up to 52,000 bits per second (bps) and uploads of up to 26,000 bps.

The cellular carrier says that its agreement with Option International will allow researchers to perform GPRS terminal equipment benchmarking, as well as network interoperability tests, far sooner than would otherwise be possible.

Telus challenges two Bell federal contracts
Source: Angustel 

Telus has appealed to the Canadian International Trade Tribunal against the award to Bell Canada of two federal government phone contracts: one for prison phone cards and the other for National Defense communication systems.

CRTC approves Skycable for MDS license in BC
Source: Angustel

On July 6, CRTC Decision 2000-220 approved an application by Craig Broadcast Systems (under the name SkyCable Pacific) to offer TV broadcast services to customers in southern BC using wireless (MDS) technology. A competing application by Look Communications (see Telecom Update #207) was rejected.

Verizon Wireless kicks off mobile Net access
Source: CNet

Verizon Wireless on July 17 debuted a new Internet service for cell phones called Mobile Web.  The new service combines many of the features introduced separately by Bell Atlantic, Vodafone AirTouch and GTE, the three companies that recently merged their wireless operations to form Verizon Wireless and create one of the nation's largest mobile phone carriers.  Using information from 32 branded Web sites, Mobile Web provides email access, news, entertainment, weather, sports updates, financial information, e-commerce services and air travel information, Verizon said in a statement.

Among the many Web resources providing information and services to Mobile Web are E*Trade, DLJ Direct and Fidelity Investments for financial services; ABC News and ESPN for online content; and Amazon.com for shopping. Microsoft's MSN online network is also included.

Little VoiceStream draws giants' eyes
Source: CNet

There's a new belle at the telecommunications merger ball, and her name is VoiceStream Wireless.  With a freshly minted national reach, the small wireless carrier is being eyed by some of the biggest communications companies in the world. From Deutsche Telekom to Japan's NTT DoCoMo, companies are circling with an itch to acquire the small firm's newfound ability to reach a vast majority of potential U.S. wireless subscribers.

The interest is a testament to VoiceStream's success in building a national brand out of a series of small consolidations in the past year, analysts say. Although the company doesn't yet have anywhere near the customer reach of Verizon Wireless, Sprint PCS or Nextel Communications, it owns the spectrum and much of the infrastructure to get there.  Analysts said there aren't any companies that stand a good chance of replicating this feat, making VoiceStream a valuable target.

VoiceStream also has an advantage over other takeover targets like Nextel or Sprint. It operates the GSM (Groupe Speciale Mobile) wireless technology, which is the dominant standard in Europe and many regions in Asia but is relatively uncommon here. That could give companies like Deutsche Telekom and NTT DoCoMo an advantage in streamlining operations and allow customers to roam easily from country to country using the same phone they've purchased in the United States.

Canon launches its  3^RD generation wireless optics  
Source: Convergedigest

Canon introduced its third generation, "free-space" communications laser system supporting OC-12 transmission over distances of up to 2 km.  The Canobeam III features a narrower beam than previous versions, making it less susceptible to weather conditions.  The system is priced at around $50,000 per pair.  

Motorola sets up second IP telephony unit
Source: iLocus

Motorola has restructured its IP Network Systems (IPNS) business unit to include IP telephony development, which was previously confined only to the Computer Networking group. This follows the recent announcement of over 100 percent yearly growth in the deployment of its VoIP enterprise product, Vanguard.  Through the new IP telephony team, Motorola will concentrate on both VoIP access network and customer premise equipment development. Marketing efforts will be expended initially in the North American region.  

The group will also focus on support of emerging VoIP industry standards efforts, their implementation and approval status, and operations and deployment issues.  The VoIP group will be responsible for managing Motorola's relationships with its key business partners to provide a full end-to-end VoIP solution.  IPNS has created five businesses, each with its own dedicated business management and engineering teams, to provide a more committed service to Motorola's growing global customer base in these market segments. The five units are for Cable Modems, IP Telephony, International Telephony, Infrastructure, and Network Operation Solutions.

Chinese police to use VoIP
Source: iLocus

In a country where Voice over IP is becoming a public buzz word, the police department also decided to give it an official trial.  The police force in the northeast province of China has signed VoIP contract with Canadian company Memotec.  Using Memotec's gateway - a multiservice solution for regional and central site locations - will enable the Chinese police to combine inter-office voice communications with their existing LAN network using VoIP.  The communication infrastructure planned will link police headquarters, the regional office and roughly 150 remote offices.

Memotec is a networking company developing access devices and edge switches the provide consolidation of multiservice traffic over packet-based and cell based networks such as Frame Relay, IP and ATM.

Optical network component maker to buy out rival firm
Source: Spectrum

JDS Uniphase Corp., and SDL Inc., announced on 10 July that they had agreed to merge in a deal estimated at $41 billion. If it is approved, JDS, a leading maker of optical network components such as lasers and routers, will gain exclusive access to SDL’s technology for lasers and related components, as well as influence over the direction of SDL’s research.  By acquiring its rival–which it will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary–JDS expects to be better able to meet the Internet-generated demand for optical transmission components such as optical amplifiers and lossless optical switches.

Industry analysts have voiced concerns that the deal may not gain regulatory approval because the combined company would control as much as 80 percent of the market for certain types of lasers. They speculate that a condition of approval might be the sale of some its laser production capacity–a stipulation that may not faze JDS because it would still have exclusive right to valuable SDL technologies for laser packaging and multiplexing.

Globalstar cuts U.S. rates on satellite calls
Source: Teledotcom

Struggling satellite phone company has cut prices as part of a promotional campaign.  The company said in a statement that prices of Globalstar-compatible phones from Qualcomm Inc. (San Diego) had been slashed, with a GSP-1600 phone cut to $1,199 from $1,499.  Customers who commit to Globalstar's so-called Freedom 20 or Freedom 120 monthly plans for 24 months get the phone for $699.  In addition, the per-minute pricing for satellite service starts at just under $1 a minute for 500 minutes.

Globalstar, which is backed by Loral Space & Communications Ltd. (New York), said the effort was aimed at letting more people make and get phone calls where cellular service was not available.  Globalstar deliberately defaulted last month on a $250 million bank credit line to get an extra six months of cash for its faltering satellite phone service.  Analysts have said the move signals Globalstar's difficulty in attracting investment in the face of slow subscriber growth and worsening cash projections for its global phone system.  Satellite telephone companies have been under close inspection since this year's $5 billion collapse of Iridium LLC, which was backed by Motorola Inc.

WorldCom and Sprint quit deal
Source:  Teledotcom

The $115B merger in the works between WorldCom Inc. and Sprint Corp. is officially dead, much to the relief of Wall Street and some industry observers.  Both companies' boards of directors voted yesterday to support calling off the deal, and neither will pay a steep $2.5 billion breakup fee.  

WorldCom CEO Bernie Ebbers sounded off about the Department of Justice at the Wireless Communications Association International Conference in New Orleans, venting frustration with the regulatory process. Both companies officially announced that the DOJ conditions to approve the merger eliminated the customer benefits and financial incentives that supported it.  The DOJ said it would not be prepared to go to trial until next year if WorldCom challenged its ruling in court. And WorldCom still would have needed Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and European Commission (EC) approval after contesting the DOJ decision. That timeframe wasn't in the best interests of shareholders, customers or employees, WorldCom said.

IBM labs peek into future and sees a blue planet
Source: Comsoc

In order to understand the pervasiveness of computing in the future and develop suitable technologies, IBM is conducting a four-year, $180 million experiment, dubbed Planet Blue, that has been underway since February at the company's T.J. Watson Research Center in Yorktown Heights, New York. Major topics for study include knowledge management applications for entire populations and the development of wireless computing infrastructures, devices, and applications. On the knowledge management front, IBM researchers have established a system within their labs that they call the Skills Marketplace, which monitors and analyzes the content and subject matter of researchers' email messages in order to determine who is an authority on certain subjects. As the Internet becomes an increasingly large part of everyday life, IBM researchers contend that applications need to be developed to help people sort through the vast amounts of content to find needed information. Researchers are also experimenting with wireless handheld computers that will allow users to communicate and make transactions more conveniently. "In the very long term, there will be a cyberspace proxy for every object in the real world, including each one of us," says Michael Wirth, of IBM's User Systems Ergonomic Research (USER) group. "It will represent me to that world and it will also assist me." However, currently the technology to support such pervasive wireless applications is insufficient, a problem IBM researchers are also addressing. IBM has submitted its Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) to be accepted as an open standard for wireless communications; such standards are essential for the seamless data transfer such applications require, according to Wirth. 

The microphotonics revolution
Source: Comsoc

Optical technology, which uses light rather than electricity, is poised to vastly improve the ability to move data, as scientists work to create photonic switches, an entirely optical Internet, and optical integrated circuits. Photonic switches are already available from such companies as Agilent Technologies and Corning. Rather than converting data into electrons as today's switches do, photonic switches route information in the form of light, providing significant performance gains in a much smaller technology. Photonic switches mark the first step toward creating smaller light-handling devices and ultimately creating an all-optical Internet that could deliver high bandwidth applications with ease. Improvements in data delivery are becoming increasingly important as Internet traffic grows and applications such as video-on-demand require more and more bandwidth. Photonic switches will first be used to replace the expensive electronic switching in fiber-optic backbones. To enable an all-optical Internet, photonic switches will eventually need to be able to read data packets and determine where the packets should go, as electronic routers do today. One difficulty in working with optical technologies is that photons are more difficult to control than electrons. To overcome this problem, researchers at Nanovation Technologies, MIT, and other organizations are developing technologies that confine light and allow lightwaves to make sharper turns. Meanwhile, researchers at such companies as Honeywell, IBM, and Sun Microsystems are working on ways to use photons to carry information between chips to create a more powerful motherboard. The next advance might be to use photons in individual chips to replace metal interconnects.

DSL becomes a virtual reality
Source: Comsoc

Rhythms NetConnections provides virtual access to its DSL local networks for ISPs, enabling them to expand their services into new markets without the need for new facilities. Connections are established through the nationwide backbone that Rhythms has set up to link its metro-area DSL networks. Rhythms' Virtual Reach service also enables ISPs to try out new markets before dedicating themselves to setting up facilities in those markets, said Michael Calabrese, vice president of product management. Rhythms is the first of the top three CLECs to offer the service, but will be followed by NorthPoint Communications, which is developing a similar service called Regional Connect. Covad Communications has yet to reveal whether or not it will introduce such a system. 

Apple to report earnings and unveil new products
Source: ZDii
 
People who follow Apple Computer Inc. typically fall into two camps: those intrigued by the style of its machines and those more interested in the curve of its profit line.  The company will have something for both groups this week as it reports third-quarter results and brings Chief Executive Steve Jobs to the stage Wednesday July 19th to show off new products at the MacWorld Expo in New York.  Much of the latest buzz surrounding Apple has been over rumors it will introduce a new cube-shaped iMac computer as an update to its popular clam-shaped machine, or that it will come out with a more conventional mouse to replace the existing one that looks like a hockey puck and never quite fit the hands of many users.

Financial analysts, however, say there is a bigger Apple story that sometimes gets lost behind all the attention to computer fashion. After a few years of solid results and disciplined inventory management, Apple continues to suffer unfairly from a lingering reputation as a top design company with a lousy business sense.  The consensus among analysts is that Apple will show a third-quarter profit of 44 cents per share, compared with a 35 cent profit for the same period a year ago. Yet analysts say that gain does not do justice to Apple's fiscal discipline and its success building a broad product base that can withstand weakness in key product areas.

MCK and TollBridge partner for voice over DSL and cable
Source: Commweb

ICANN votes to create new top-level domains
Source: itworldcanada

At the end of a four-day meeting in Yokohama, Japan, the board of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) voted unanimously yesterday to create new top-level domains for the Internet.  Under the resolution, ICANN will appoint an unspecified number of registry operators by the end of 2000 to operate new top-level domains as alternatives to the current .com, .net and .org domains.  The board's failure to specify the number of new top-level domains it will create came under fire from some at the conference. Although ICANN Interim-Chairperson Esther Dyson said she would rather see approximately ten new top-level domains created, other board members cautioned that number may be too high given ICANN's staffing problems, which are in turn related to funding problems.

Internet registrar announces pre-booking for domains
Source: itworldcanada

Canadian Internet registrar Internic.ca announced last week it is offering a pre-booking service for registering .ca domains prior to the lifting of restrictions by the Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA).  The free service is being offered to allow anyone to get in line now on a first come first serve basis for a .ca name. When the rules change this fall, Internic.ca will attempt to register all the new names on behalf of their clients who have pre-booked. If an applicant’s domain is registered they then pay a standard registration fee to Internic.

Internic president Rob Hall said, in release, that he came up with the idea after receiving a flood of inquiries from customers. “Because of the existing restrictions, many individuals and companies have been prohibited from registering a top-level domain name,” Hall said. “Under this new set of rules, all that changes. We felt a pre-booking service would give our clients a better level of preparedness and a better chance at getting the domains they wish.”

Under current regulations, applicants were frequently denied .ca names due to their level of incorporation or restricted to only one name. Only organizations that have been incorporated federally could apply and receive a top-level .ca domain name. Under the new regulations the CIRA will allow anyone to have a .ca domain name. The change will allow companies to protect all of their trademarks with a range of .ca names, one for each of their products or brand names, according to Internic.