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Date: Friday, September 22, 2000, 12:05 PM -0400
From: Faulkner Information Services <mailserver@faulknerinfo.com>
To: ???
Subject: Faulkner's Comm Flash 09/20/00 - (Part 1 of 2)




Com-Flash

Copyright 2000, Faulkner Information Services. All Rights Reserved. 






Publication Date: September 20, 2000






Preview
Com-Flash is a biweekly news summary for Faulkner Subscribers, covering
computer systems, software, and vendors. This flash covers the period
September 6, 2000 to September 20, 2000. 






Top of the News
In response to dipping share prices, AT&T Wireless is considering combining
its businesses with Nextel Communications. Both companies have experienced
a drop in the price of their stock, but AT&T Wireless' shares have fallen
14 percent since its initial public offering. By combining AT&T Wireless
with Nextel Communications, the two companies would create a wireless
carrier with 18 million customers, second only to Verizon Wireless and tied
with the wireless venture of SBC and BellSouth. AT&T Wireless will propose
the plan at a board meeting held later in September. The company needs the
approval of AT&T CEO C. Michael Armstrong before making the deal.





Mergers/Acquisitions
NTT Communications, a subsidiary of NTT, finalized its $5.5B purchase of
Verio. As a result of the merger, Verio is indirectly a wholly owned
subsidiary of NTT. 

ADC Telecommunications agreed to buy France Electronique, a European
systems integration services provider helping communication service
providers by integrating Internet, e-mail, voicemail, fax and voice
services for wireless and wireline communications devices. ADC said the
acquisition of France Electronique would expand its wireless service
offering to site acquisition, negotiation, and turn-key implementation.
Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. ADC said it expected the deal
to close in October, subject to customary conditions. 

Concessions made by America Online and Time Warner to the European
Commission failed to erase concerns over their proposed merger. The
Commission said that the AOL-Time Warner merger and the joint venture
between Warner Music Group and EMI Group would create a monopoly in the
markets for online music and Internet access. In response, AOL offered to
alter the shareholding structure of its AOL Europe venture with Germany's
Bertelsmann. AOL also promised a three-year period of not forcing content
providers to sign an exclusive carriage agreement for both AOL's US system
and AOL Europe. In addition, EMI promised not to provide preferential
access to ISPs associated with AOL-Time Warner. The commission will rule on
the Warner Music/EMI merger by October 18, and will give a verdict on the
AOL-Time Warner agreement by October 24. 

BellSouth announced it is purchasing DukeNet Communications' 20-percent
stake and Caronet's 10-percent stake in BellSouth Carolina PCS, which
provides services to customers in the Carolinas and Northeast Georgia. The
acquisition of equity stakes is part of a larger plan to allow BellSouth
PCS to own 100 percent of the properties in the region. Presently,
BellSouth owns 55.7 percent. The merger agreements involve BellSouth's
payment of $20 million for each one percent ownership BellSouth PCS,
totaling $885 million. The stakes are owned by DukeNet, Caronet, Cook Inlet
PCS, and 30 independent phone companies. After the merger of all the
Carolina properties into BellSouth PCS, the operation will be folded into
the BellSouth/SBC joint wireless venture. 

Cabletron Systems, on behalf of Enterasys Networks, reached a definitive
agreement to acquire Indus River Networks. The acquisition of Indus River,
headquartered in Acton, Massachusetts, expands the company's VPN product
offerings in a market that analysts expect to reach $2.2 billion in 2002.
The combined value of the deal will total approximately $170M. Both
companies' boards of directors approved the acquisition, and the
transaction is expected to close in the third quarter fiscal year 2001. 

Charter Communications and Cablevision Systems announced the completed
acquisition by Charter of Cablevision's Kalamazoo, Mich. cable system.
Charter issued 11.2 million shares of common stock for a closing of 170.6
million, and the acquisition added approximately 48,600 customers. 

Cisco Systems entered into a definitive agreement to acquire privately held
PixStream of Waterloo, Canada. PixStream is a provider of hardware and
software products to distribute and manage digital video across all types
of broadband networks. The acquisition supports Cisco's vision to
accelerate broadband deployments and build networks that enable service
providers to offer data, voice, and video services to businesses and
consumers. Cisco common stock worth an aggregate value of approximately
$369 million will be exchanged for all outstanding shares and options of
PixStream. This acquisition will be accounted for as a purchase and is
expected to be complete in the first quarter of Cisco's fiscal year 2001.
In connection with the acquisition, Cisco expects a one-time charge for
purchased in-process research and development expenses not to exceed $.02
per share. 

Citizens Communications and Berkshire Telephone announced that Citizens
agreed to acquire all the assets of Berkshire. The parties expect the
transaction, which requires the approval of New York Public Service
Commission, to be completed in 2001. 

Covad Communications and its newly formed Covad Communications
International announced its first European investment. Covad will purchase
a majority share of Loop Telecom. Under the agreement, Covad will acquire
Loop Holdings Europe AsP, which holds shares representing a 70 percent
interest in Loop Telecom for $15 million and notes for additional payment
of $15 million six months after close and another $20 million one year
after close. 

Sprint announced that it is not selling its 25-percent stake in Brazilian
telephone operator as originally planned as a condition of the WorldCom
merger. Anatel, the telecoms regulator in Brazil, had ordered Sprint to
shed its stake in the long distance carrier because WorldCom operates
Embratel, Intelig's chief competitor. With the merger ancient history,
Anatel withdrew its request for Sprint to exit Intelig and also lifted a
ban preventing Sprint from participating actively in Intelig's management.
Britain's National Grid and France Telecom also have a 50-percent and
25-percent stake, respectively, in Intelig. In other news, Intelig
announced that its start-up costs were running higher than expected and
that first-half losses would be more than expected. 

In response to the growing number of African-Americans online, Time Warner
announced its plans to acquire Africana.com, a Web site focusing on
African-American history and culture. Once the acquisition is finalized,
Africana.com will join NetNoir, a popular culture Web site, as an America
Online proprietary service. No financial terms of the deal were disclosed. 

Time Warner Telecom announced the acquisition of substantially all the
assets of GST Telecommunications for a total of $690 million. Time Warner
Telecom will acquire GST's network of over 4200 miles of local and regional
fiber, a network operations center in Vancouver, WA, SS7 networks, voice
and data switches, and virtually all of GST's other assets, excluding
customers and certain assets in Hawaii and certain non-core businesses. 

Vodafone is in talks with Italy's Wind over the sale of Infostrada,
Vodafone's Italian business. Infostrada is wholly owned by Mannesman AG,
and the sale to the Italian fixed and mobile operators would need the
approval of the Mannesman board. 

WorldCom plans to purchase Intermedia Communications in a $3 billion stock
deal. In addition, WorldCom will assume Intermedia's debt of $3 billion.
WorldCom will also acquire Intermedia's 54 percent stake in Digex. The deal
is expected to close in early 2001. 





Alliances/Joint Ventures
Aquis Communications signed nine interconnection agreements with Verizon
Communications for areas served in the District of Columbia, Delaware,
Maryland, New Jersey, New York, and West Virginia. The contracts will allow
for transport and termination of traffic on each of the companies'
networks. 

AT&T Wireless and BT Wireless are deploying the Ericsson Mobility Gateway
as part of their WorldConnect services offered through Advance, the joint
venture between the two companies. The Mobility Gateway operates on the
open JAMBALA platform, which will allow WorldConnect to bring wireless
coverage to subscribers on TDMA and GSM networks. 

BCE and Thomson will join forces to create a media conglomerate estimated
to be worth at least $2.7 billion. The new entity will include national
television network CTV, the Globe and Mail national newspaper, Globe
Interactive, an Internet content provider, and Sympatico, an Internet
portal. 

BEA Systems and KPMG Consulting entered a strategic alliance to speed the
deployment of Internet-based B2B e-commerce services based on the BEA
E-Commerce Transaction Platform. Under the agreement, KPMG Consulting will
deliver B2B services leveraging BEA's technologies to enterprise customers
worldwide in high-technology, finance, communications, healthcare,
manufacturing, and government markets. 

Capslock entered an alliance with BEA Systems to extend wireless devices to
the BEA WebLogic M-Commerce Solution. By utilizing Capslock Advanced
Wireless Architecture (CAWA), the adaptation and development process for
BEA platform-based mobile commerce applications will be simplified and
serve a diversified set of wireless devices including smart phones, WAP
phones, and wireless PDAs. 

BMC Software and KPN entered a partnership to sell and re-sell BMC's
SiteAngel 2000 service. SiteAngel 2000 is an online Web Site performance
real-time monitoring service. KPN of BMC's European partners to incorporate
SiteAngel 2000 into its e-business management services as a value-added
option. 

Broadwing Communications signed a three-year, $8.7-million contract with
Center 7, an ASP. Broadwing is providing Center 7 with dedicated, secure IP
VPN services, collocated Web hosting capabilities, and 155M bps private
lines access. 

Enron announced a three year agreement with British Telecom to enable
subscribers of BTopenworld, a unit of BT, to access the fiber optic Enron
Intelligent Network. Under the deal Enron will deliver content and services
such as streaming video that requires high bandwidth to BTopenworld's
network.

In addition, BT continues talks with AT&T to consider partnerships in
business services. The two firms are partners in the Advance wireless
alliance and in the Concert joint venture, which combined their
international operations. 

CableLabs announced that three companies were selected to author the
OpenCable Application Platform (OCAP) specification. Sun Microsystems,
Liberate Technologies and Microsoft will work on a middleware platform with
digital video, data, and interactive capabilities. OCAP is expected to be
completed by year-end. 

Business Layers forged a development partnership with Computer Associates
to integrate Business Layers' eProvisionware products with CA's eTrust
Single Sign On, its secured access service, and Unicenter TNG, its
enterprise management service. Business Layers' integration of
eProvisionware for eTrust SSO and Unicenter TNG will help automate security
policy deployment via the interface console of Unicenter TNG. 

ConnectSouth Communications executed a line sharing agreement with
Southwestern Bell, a subsidiary of SBC Communications, in Austin, Texas.
The agreement will allow most consumers in that market to use their
existing phone line for both normal phone service provided by the local
carrier and high-speed DSL Internet access through another competitive
service provider. In November 1999, the FCC had set a June 6, 2000 deadline
for all incumbent local exchange carriers and competitive data carriers to
ink line-sharing agreements. 

Avnet Computer Marketing reported entering a global distribution agreement
with EMC. Under the agreement, EMC's CLARiiON mid-range storage product
will be sold and supported by Avnet's North American Storage Business Unit
and all European and Asia/Pacific Operations. Avnet created its Storage
Business Unit in March of 2000 as a response to the market demand for
storage services. 

EMC teamed with USA Video Interactive to offer a high-speed media service
that utilizes EMC's family of CLARiiON storage systems. USA Video
Interactive will offer EMC's CLARiiON as part of its Internet video systems
product line. 

BMC Software and KPN announced their partnership for the co-location,
selling and reselling of the SiteAngel 2000 service. SiteAngel 2000 is an
online Web Site performance monitoring service allowing for real time
monitoring from customers to the enterprise's back office. 

KPNQwest signed an agreement with British Telecom to roll out its high
speed Internet services in British local markets. The agreement gives
KPNQwest access to BT's raw copper networks and allows the company to
install its own DSL. 

Level 3 Communications announced a strategic agreement with New T&T, a
Fixed Telecommunications Network Services (FTNS) operator in Hong Kong, to
provide Hong Kong businesses and residents with New T&T's network services
and access to Level 3's high capacity undersea cable. The collaboration
will solidify both companies positions in the Hong Kong market. 

In other news, Level 3 signed 20-year network services agreement with
SAVVIS Communications worth $135 million. Under terms of the agreement,
Level 3 agreed to provide SAVVIS with long-term transport, operation and
maintenance services, collocation space, and network capacity. 

Lockheed Martin Global Telecommunications' business unit, COMSAT Mobile
Communications, entered a three-year agreement with Tenzing Communications,
which will be able to offer its OnBoard services through COMSAT's
air-to-ground network. OnBoard allows airline passengers to use laptops and
send and receive e-mail while in flight. 

Marconi won a contract to supply German mobile network operator Deutsche
Telekom Mobilnet (T-Mobil) with high capacity SDH multiplexing equipment. 

Microsoft formed an e-mail services joint venture with Ericsson called
Ericsson Microsoft Mobile Venture. The new company, which is 70 percent
owned by Ericsson and 30 percent owned by Microsoft, will provide products
supporting mobile e-mail and personal information management tools for the
mobile Internet market. Since e-mail is one of the most common Internet
applications, an increasing number of mobile Internet users will mean
increased e-mail access. 

InfoSpace and Nortel Networks reported a multi-year strategic alliance to
offer InfoSpace's wireless services platform and Nortel Networks' network
infrastructure products to service providers worldwide. Under the
agreement, Nortel and InfoSpace will provide a service that allows carriers
worldwide to implement advanced data and transaction services quickly over
wireless Internet networks. 

Nortel Networks reported that a subsidiary of Leap Wireless said that it
would buy $350 million of wireless network infrastructure from Nortel
Networks over the next three years to expand its local wireless services.
Leap claimed that the equipment would allow it to launch local calling
service into eight additional markets by the end of 2000. 

SBC Communications signed an agreement with Covad Communications under
which SBC will invest $150 million for a six-percent stake in Covad and
will resell Covad DSL connections. Effective October 1, SBC will offer
Covad DSL connections in its 13-state region and in new markets that it
plans to enter for a minimum of six years. Covad will receive a guaranteed
$600 million in revenue over the life of the contract. As part of the
agreement, SBC and Covad settled several legal disputes, including an
antitrust lawsuit filed by Covad against SBC and its subsidiary Pacific
Bell. In addition, the companies agreed upon pricing for line sharing. 

Optical networking start-up Tellium struck a $350 million deal to supply
equipment to Cable &Wireless. The contract calls for Cable &Wireless to
purchase a "minimum" of $350 million of equipment during the next five
years. Cable &Wireless plan to launch Tellium's gear starting the first
quarter of next year. 

Tivoli Systems will collaborate with Ariba on the management and security
of B2B marketplace deployments. Tivoli will integrate its e-Marketplace
Manager with the Ariba Buyer, Ariba Marketplace, and Ariba Dynamic Trade to
simplify the administration of secure and managed e-marketplaces. In
addition, Tivoi will offer secure access to Ariba products and event
monitoring. 

Williams Communications placed a $27 million investment in Epoch Internet,
a privately held Internet solutions provider. As part of the agreement,
Epoch will purchase $128 million worth of long-hauled network capacity from
Williams over the next 20 years. 





Internet
ITXC began operating the ExchangePlus IP service from Lucent Technologies.
The company installed the service in each of its ITXC.net SuperPoPs and
on-location for remote customers. ITXC claims that it is the first service
provider to deploy the ExchangePlus IP capability commercially. ITXC now
uses the service as a telephony switch and as a switch/gateway solution.
With this technology, singles box interfaces with telephony switches and
converts calls to Internet Protocol from the Public Switched Telephone
Network and vice versa. 

NetSpeak, Cisco, and Datacraft Asia announced that their partnership has
given birth to a VoIP product for the Asia-Pacific marketplace. The launch
of a VoIP offering is part of Cisco's and Datacraft's joint venture to
focus on the telecommunications marketplace. In addition, Datacraft is the
systems integrator and distribution partner in NetSpeak's Solutions
Partners Program. 

QUALCOMM released the commercial version of Eudora 5.0 for Windows and
Macintosh users. This new version includes the Eudora Sharing Protocol, a
file-sharing and syncing system that allows Eudora users to share files
without the use of a central server or IT support. Then company is offering
the service for $49.95 and an upgrade price for $29.95 for customers with
Eudora Pro 4.0-4.2. 

Rhythms NetConnections launched its DSL-based Internet and network services
in Jacksonville, FL. With the addition of Jacksonville, Rhythms now serves
57 US markets. 





Web Authoring, Web Development Software
DDI announces availability of OPAL 3.0, an enhanced version of its OPAL
program. Featuring upgrades to all three main components, Advisor,
Developer, and Assessor, OPAL 3.0 provides around the clock resources such
as online advice, assessment tools, and development planning for enhanced
job performance and professional development. 





Messaging and Groupware
etrieve reported that it is now optimized for Lotus Notes via an open beta
test, whereby Notes users can use a mobile phone as the messaging base to
prioritize their office e-mail according to individual preferences. Options
include composing voice e-mails via the Notes address book, getting pages
when new messages come in, or accessing this information using either
voice, Web, or fax. 

Novell launched Novell GroupWise Wireless 1.1, software that provides
wireless access to messaging, calendaring, tasks, and address books. This
software also allows companies to quickly respond to sales inquiries,
support requests, and investment opportunities. GroupWise Wireless is
supported by service providers such as AT&T Wireless Services, Nextel,
Sprint PCS, and delivers instant access to business-critical data through
Internet-ready devices.

Additionally, Novell reported that it will discontinue its Netware 3.x
product line, beginning with Netware 3.2. Novell also hopes to discontinue
the NetWare 4.x platform shortly thereafter. However, the company plans to
offer support for customers still using the IPX and NLM architectures of
older Netware versions. 





Network Switching
Enterasys Networks expanded its Matrix series of intelligent switching
platforms with the Matrix E5, offering a full set of switching features to
meet the requirements of expanding wiring closets and data centers in the
enterprise. The five-slot Matrix E5 offers high-capacity 48-port 10/100
Fast Ethernet modules. 

General DataComm introduced the NexEra 9000 ATM core switch, which
complements GDC's family of next-generation packet voice and data gateways
to enable critical carrier-business applications, including:
Dialed-Internet offload, tandem voice switch replacement, DSLAM
aggregation, and high-density multiservice implementations. The NexEra 9000
is a fully redundant, non-blocking, 40 gigabit high capacity core switch,
supporting network connectivity with ATM interfaces supporting bit rates up
to OC48. 





Carriers and Carrier Services
Broadwing Communications filed to operate as a CLEC in Arizona and
Pennsylvania. The terms of the filing would allow Broadwing to compete for
local voice and data communications traffic in those states. 

Citizens Communications purchased approximately 133,000 telephone access
lines in Minnesota from Verizon Communications. Citizens now owns and
operates all of Verizon's local telephone exchanges in Minnesota. In
addition, Citizens plans to acquire nearly one million telephone access
lines from Verizon and Qwest.  

Global One announced worldwide availability of its Prepaid VoIP. Besides
using a single prepaid card for voice calls or Internet access, the
platform also supports advanced applications such as prepaid wireless,
prepaid for fixed line telephones, voicemail, value added services, and
unified messaging. The system, based on Cisco routers, allows businesses
and carriers to route traffic either by IP or PSTN using LCR or QOS
parameters. 

Level 3 Communications announced it will be cutting its price on
long-distance bandwidth by 50 percent or more, depending on the amount of
usage. By reducing bandwidth prices, Level 3 is making a move to attract
new wholesale customers. 

Sprint launched its International Block of Time, a flat-fee international
long distance offering for small businesses. The plan is targeted at small
businesses that spend between $50 and $15,000 in long distance per month,
with a bulk of the cost going toward international calls. Sprint is
offering five IBOT plans, ranging from 300 international calling minutes
for $39 to 2000 international calling minutes for $240 a month.
International destinations included in the IBOT offer are; Austria,
Australia, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy,
Japan, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Spain,
Sweden, Switzerland, and Vatican City. 

Keeping with the trend of bundled services, Sprint and EarthLink teamed up
to offer unlimited Internet services and 1000 minutes of state-to-state
evening long distance calling for a flat rate of $30 per month. The offer
pairs Sprint's 1000 Nights with EarthLink's Internet Access. For an
additional $2 per month, consumers will receive up to six mailboxes on
their EarthLink account. Current Sprint customers also have the option of
bundling either Sprint Nickel Nights, sprint $0.07 Anytime, of Sprint 1000
Anytime with EarthLink Internet access. 

Effective October 1, Verizon Communications will offer residents of tribal
lands that qualify for Native American Lifeline service local phone service
for as low as $1 a month. Earlier this year, the FCC approved the Native
American Lifeline program to provide individuals with limited incomes
living on federally recognized tribal lands with basic local phone service.
Qualifying residents can also save up to $100 on initial installation and
connection charges. Verizon will offer the program in Arizona, California,
Idaho, Indiana, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Oregon, Washington, and
Wisconsin. 





Wireless Communications
Taiwan's KG Telecom launched the country's first GPRS network, supplied by
Nokia. Nearly four months after the network was installed, KG Telecom is
now offering services with GPRS and moving towards third generation
technology for future mobile Internet services. 

Motorola launched Russia's first GPRS high-speed network with Mobile
TeleSystems. The network is based on a MTS dual band GSM 900/1800 network
and will allow Mobile TeleSystems to offer GPRS-based cellular services.
The launch included installing the network, which includes 160 base
stations, in Moscow and the surrounding area. Commercial launch is
scheduled for December. 

Using Logica's integrated Message Application Router and SMS
Internetworking, SBC Wireless is enhancing and expanding its wireless data
services. The technology from Logica will allow the company to offer
wireless data to customers throughout the nation and will be offered
through six of the companies marketing brands. 

Sonera and Nokia completed tests that bring roaming capabilities for IP
traffic between GPRS networks. GPRS roaming is a basic requirement for
future global mobile Internet services possible for GPRS subscribers in
other operators; GPRS networks. GRX is a centralized IP routing network for
interconnecting GPRS networks. 

Verizon Wireless launched its Family SharePlan in Arizona and New Mexico.
The plan provides up to four lines of service, and includes calling plans
that provide 400 anytime minutes and 2000 mobile-to-mobile minutes for $50
per months or 800 anytime minutes, free national long distance, and 4000
mobile-to-mobile minutes for $80 a month on the first two phones. Two
additional phones can be added to the account for an extra $20 per month
per phone.

In addition, Verizon Wireless enhanced its local calling plans by adding
free weekends for life and free nationwide long distance. The company now
offers Digital Choice plans with three different pricing options,
including: $30 per month for 250 minutes; $40 per month for 500 minutes;
and $50 per month for 700 minutes. 


Broadband/Cable Networking
Redback Networks announced Cable &Wireless would deploy its optical
networking platform, SmartEdge, across their fiber optic network throughout
the US. The integration of the SmartEdge platform enables C&W to support
the convergence of voice, data, and Internet services onto a common
infrastructure. The Redback platform is available on a global basis for
deployment by C&W.

Adelphia announced that it will invest $25 million to install 200 miles of
fiber optic cable in the Indianapolis area. Adelphia will open offices in
Indianapolis, creating about 100 jobs. The network, which will provide
telephone and high-speed Internet access to small and mid-sized businesses
will be ready by April 2001. 

BellSouth is offering the self-install option for its BellSouth FastAccess
Internet Service to customers in each of the 31 markets where the service
is available. The kits come with either an internal DSL modem or an
external USD DSL modem, in addition to configuration software, and phone
line filters. The self-install DSL service offers a maximum download speed
of up to 1.5M bps and a maximum speed from the user's computer to the
Internet of up to 256K bps. FastAccess is available for $49.95 per month;
new residential customers will receive the first two months for the price
of one. BellSouth residential customers who subscribe to the Complete
Choice calling plan can sign up for DSL service for $40 per month. 

Covad Communications announced the launch of its DSL-based Internet
services to businesses and residents in Akron and Cincinatti, OH. Covad
will have access to 530,000 households and 56,000 businesses in the new
Ohio markets. Covad offers two products: Telespeed, targeted to businesses,
and Telesurfer, appropriate for households. 


Should you have any questions, concerns or problems with your flash, please
contact us at: mailto:flash@faulkner.com 

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