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---------- Forwarded Message ----------
Date: Thursday, November 16, 2000, 1:56 PM -0500
From: Faulkner Information Services <mailserver@faulknerinfo.com>
To: ???
Subject: Faulkner Comm Flash 11/15/00 




Com-Flash

Copyright 2000, Faulkner Information Services. All Rights Reserved. 


Publication Date: 11/15/2000


Preview
Com-Flash is a biweekly news summary, for Faulkner Subscribers, covering
computer systems and software, and vendors. This flash covers the period
10/31/2000 to 11/15/2000. 


Mergers/Acquisitions
3Com acquired Nomadic Technologies, developers of wireless networking
products that 3Com will incorporate into offerings for both home and small
business customers. The acquisition builds on 3Com's strength in wireless
LAN products for PCs by enabling connectivity for a wide variety of
Ethernet-ready devices, such as Internet access appliances, printers, and
other non-PC devices. 3Com will acquire Nomadic Technologies for $33
million in cash plus the assumption of debt and other obligations. 

Adelphia Communications completed their acquisition of Cablevision's
Cleveland, OH area cable systems. The cable systems were purchased for
approximately $1.53 billion in cash and securities and included 306,000
subscribers. 

Arch Wireless completed its merger with Paging Network. The two companies
are now one of the largest two-way wireless messaging companies in North
America. The combined company covers about 13 million people, and both Arch
and PageNet bring along alliances with Internet service and content
providers. The company will remain Arch Wireless and will be headquartered
in Westborough, MA. Terms of the merger included $1.2 billion in PageNet
Senior Notes being converted into Arch Wireless common stock. 

BMC Software completed its acquisition of Quebec-based Sylvain Faust. The
acquisition of Faust's database development services will help broaden
BMC's existing range of distributed data management offerings. 

British Telecom is considering selling its stake in French telco, Cegetel,
and is set to reopen partial merger talks with AT&T. The moves would come
after BT announced a break-up of its company last week and scaled back its
global ambitions in order to unload a third of its debt burden. 

Cisco Systems entered into a definitive agreement to acquire CAISsoft, a
wholly owned subsidiary of CAIS Internet. CAISsoft offers software
applications that enable service providers to provision and manage
high-speed, broadband Internet services in hotels, apartments, airports,
and office buildings. CAISsoft's suite of server-based software
applications complements Cisco's existing in-building DSL, Ethernet, cable,
and wireless network offerings by enabling broadband Service Providers to
deploy, market and operate services for the multi-family, multi-tenant, and
hospitality markets. Under the terms of the agreement, cash and Cisco
common stock worth an aggregate value of approximately $170 million will be
exchanged for the stock options and assets of the broadband subscriber
management software business of CAISsoft.  

Citizens Communications completed an acquisition of approximately 17,300
telephone access lines in North Dakota. The company purchased the lines
from Qwest Communications, formerly US WEST. 

Corning reported it will buy Cisco Systems' 10-percent stake in the optical
components business of Italy's Pirelli SpA for an undetermined amount of
Corning stock. The deal grants Cisco a right to sell its stake to Corning,
which it acquired for $100 million in early 2000 when it also bought
Pirelli's terrestrial optical systems business for $2.15 billion.  

Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. is seeking to buy DirecTV before floating the
digital subsidiary, Sky Global Networks, next year. News Corp. executives
are looking at a variety of ways of making the acquisition including a
merger of Sky Global and Hughes Electronics, of which DirecTV is a part or
buying just DirecTV. 

EMC acquired CrosStor Software in a deal worth approximately $300 million.
The acquisition is part of EMC's goal to earn 20 percent of its revenue
from software. By implementing CrosStor's software, EMC can set up
stand-alone storage systems over corporate networks, and thus position
itself as a market leader in direct-attached storage. 

Dutch KPN and Sweden's Telia want to secure their exit from Eircom as part
of the planned sale of the Irish company's mobile unit. The sale of the
prized Eircell mobile business to Britain's Vodafone has been delayed while
an exit mechanism is found for KPN and Telia, who have a combined 35
percent stake. 

Japan's DoCoMo is poised to take a 20-percent stake in KG Telecom, Taiwan's
fourth largest mobile phone company, for up to $556 million. DoCoMo has
already made investments in KPN Mobile in the Netherlands and  Hutchison 3G
in the UK. The company in talks to buy into AT&T Wireless in the US and C&W
in Australia. 

Siemens acquired Trango in a deal to enhance its HiPath customer
relationship management (CRM) product. Trango, a developer of CRM products,
will bring to Siemens expertise in IP-based, multi-channel contact center
solutions and skills-based routing products. The purchase continues
Siemens' aggressive investment strategy in the eCRM market. 

Britain's Telewest said it would extend its UK cable network with the
purchase of Eurobell from Deutsche Telecom for 200 million pounds. After
the acquisition, Eurobell will have 20 million pounds in cash resources and
no external borrowings; DT agreed to provide Eurobell an additional 30
million pounds cash. 


Alliances/Joint Ventures
Adelphia Communications and Wink Communications entered into a multi-year
agreement to develop and deploy interactive television content for
Adelphia's cable subscribers. Adelphia will deploy Wink Enhanced
Broadcasting and the Wink Response Network as a standard cable feature,
beginning in Buffalo, NY and expanding to include most of its systems by
mid-2001. Wink services will be available over Scientific-Atlanta and
Motorola set-top boxes. 

Polycom and Avaya signed an agreement to integrate Polycom's NetEngine
Integrated Access Devices into Avaya's PARTNER Advanced Communications
System. The agreement will give small and medium sized businesses access to
the benefits of a converged network by delivering highly reliable voice
communications over DSL lines. Customers will benefit from competitive
telecommunications rates in an integrated voice and data network. 

Stellcom expanded its alliance with BEA Systems to combine Stellcom's
wireless expertise with BEA's technologies for faster deployment of custom
mobile economy services. Stellcom is a former BEA Partner and worked on
several previous e-commerce integration services. 

Cap Gemini Ernst &Young and Cisco Systems launched a global Internet
consulting venture, Cap Gemini Ernst &Young Telecom Media and Networks,
which is 95.1-percent owned by Cap Gemini and 4.9-percent by Cisco. The
venture aims to speed up offerings to telecom service providers, suppliers
of Internet access sites, and media firms.  

Electric Lightwave formed a strategic alliance with Akamai Technologies to
enhance the quality, performance, and reliability of content served to end
users over Electric Lightwave's Internet backbone. Akamai will deploy
servers in multiple, geographically dispersed, Electric Lightwave data
centers and ISP points of presence to accelerate the delivery of rich
content and to improve the quality of streaming media. 

Ericsson entered an agreement with ViaSat in which both companies will
develop mobile equipment for use in automobiles. Ericsson will implement
GPRS technology in motor vehicles, allowing mobile terminals provided by
ViaSat to connect cars with operation centers. Drivers can use the
technology to access traffic information, stock quotes, news, and other
Internet content services. In addition, emergency services will be able to
monitor automobiles in case of accidents. Also, ViaSat will offer its
Internet Car driver portal, which provides access to Web surfing, e-mail,
and v-commerce (vehicle commerce). 

Hewlett-Packard formed a partnership with Top Layer Networks to deliver
security for HP E-serviceCentre customers. Under the agreement, HP will
implement Top Layer's AppSwitch 3502 switches to provide the connectivity
between the Internet, the HP E-serviceCentre, and client Web-hosted
servers. 

Gadzoox Networks signed an International Technical Support Agreement with
IBM to subcontract to Gadzoox's customers a wide range of services. These
services will include help desk and technical support and on-site
maintenance for select Gadzoox Networks SAN products. The IBM services will
supplement Gadzoox Networks' SAN service program. 

Nortel Networks and Hewlett-Packard reported an intention to work together
to integrate Nortel's high-bandwidth optical networking technology with
Internet infrastructure from HP to create the Optical Internet data center,
an open and interoperable framework that can reduce Internet data center
bottlenecks. With this framework, the two companies expect that service
providers can offer higher performance content and e-business services,
facilitating personalized e-commerce, broadcast-quality streaming media,
and Internet collaboration. The two companies expect to explore joint
commercial development of a 10G bps Ethernet offering, including a 10G-bps
NIC to be housed in the recently announced HP Superdome and other selected
HP9000 servers. 

Siemens and Toshiba formed a long-term alliance to research and develop
third generation (3G) mobile phones. The companies are also considering
marketing mobile handsets that can send and receive video images and can
transfer data much faster than existing phones. The companies will combine
their research ad development resources to create products that will be
separately branded and available by March 2002. 

Siemens ICN and Portal Software signed a strategic business alliance to
deliver value-added IP service solutions for Internet and next-generation
service providers. Portal's Infranet product has been integrated into
Siemens' Service Selection Center, which offers Internet gateway access to
ISPs and allows subscribers to select content and a variety of network
services from a personalized user interface. Portal's Infranet will provide
the customer management and billing solution for content and services. 

SkyStream Networks and Microsoft are collaborating to provide Internet
services over digital set-top boxes. The companies will integrate
SkyStream's zBand content distribution software with the Microsoft TV
platform, allowing broadcasts of high-quality streaming video and Internet
content for television set-top boxes. 

Vodafone Group is taking a 25-percent stake in Swisscom Mobile as part of a
partnership with the Swiss operator. The two companies also created a
service agreement, the terms of which grant Swisscom Mobile access to
Vodafone's products and services. The companies will work together on the
development of new services. The partnership also includes an agreement
between subsidiaries. Mannesman D2 Mobilfunk, Vodafone's subsidiary, will
allow debitel, Swisscom's subsidiary, access to its UMTS technologies. This
stake in Swisscom, which has an equity value of 7.1 billion pounds, allows
Vodafone to enter the Swiss market and to access Swisscom's three million
customers. 


Convergence
GoAmerica and EMC reported the opening of the GoAmerica Wireless Internet
Connectivity Center (WICC). The center was built to provide high
performance, reliable, and secure wireless access to mission critical data.
The center allows for rapid data transmission and offers vast data
capacity. Specifically, GoAmerica will deliver secure wireless access to
critical data and e-mail by utilizing EMC's Celerra Enterprise Storage
System. 

Micromuse and Sun Microsystems reported that Aether Systems selected the
NETCOOL suite running on the Sun platform for real-time fault management
and service assurance of its wireless data infrastructure. Using
Micromuse's Netcool suite on Sun will ensure that Aether's Network
Operations Center runs at peak efficiency. 


Internet
British Telecom promised ISPs it would resolve problems that have delayed
installation of high-speed Web connections in Britain. While ISPs such as
BT Openworld and Freeserve connected 14,000 people to broadband ADSL since
BT began wholesaling the technology in August, BT admitted it had
difficulties in meeting demand and promised steps that would allow it to
triple its installation rate to 15,000 a month by March. 

Telecom Italia, Brazil's Embratel, CNM Network and Florida Atlantic
University joined the NAP (network access point) of the Americas, bringing
the NAP's total membership to 66. The NAP will route Internet traffic from
the Americas, the Caribbean and Europe. 


Messaging and Groupware
Novell launched the Novell Internet Messaging System 2.6, software that
provides ISPs and ASPs with a wireless messaging system. The Novell
Internet Messaging System 2.6 allows service providers secure hosted e-mail
accounts that are accessible anywhere in the world through a wireless
device or a standard Web browser. The Novell Internet Messaging System is
built on NDS eDirectory and supports the Linux, Solaris, and NetWare
platforms. 

Trend Micro launched the NeaTSuite for Lotus Notes, which combines
antivirus and management tools to enterprises via the Lotus Notes messaging
and collaboration platform. Combining ScanMail for Lotus Notes with its
InterScan VirusWall, ServerProtect, OfficeScan, and Trend VCS products will
enable Trend Micro to deliver a multi-layered defense against viruses and
other malicious code. 


Network Switching
Allied Telesyn released its Rapier family of fast Ethernet Layer 3 switches
based on the high-level integration ASIC. The first three members of the
Rapier family, 24, 48, and 16f, offer medium and high-density Fast Ethernet
connections in both copper and fiber. 


Remote Access
IBM unveiled Superior Wireless Applications (SWAP) software, designed to
help remote users of wireless handheld devices manage their business and to
give them access to a wide variety of applications. SWAP will run on IBM's
AIX OS and can be downloaded onto the IBM eServer p640, allowing mobile
business executives to manage tasks via an Internet-ready Palm computer or
other handheld device. 


Carriers and Carrier Services
COMSAT Argentina brought long distance telephone services to customers in
Argentina beginning November 9. The company added long distance to its
range of telecommunications services already, which include corporate
Intranet access, e-commerce, solutions, Web hosting, and VPNs. 

Qwest will provide $600 million worth of voice and data communications
services to McLeodUSA over the next three years. It is the largest
wholesale contract in Qwest's history. Services offered will include DSL
and messaging. 

Verizon Long Distance announced the launch of its bulk-rate long distance
plan in New York. The plan, named TalkTime, offers $0.078 per minute long
distance calling as well as three consumer calling packages. Verizon offers
180 minutes for $15 per month, 300 minutes for $24 per month, and 500
minutes for $39 per month for state-to-state and in-state direct-dial long
distance calls. 


Wireless Communications
ALLTEL is selling 20 PCS licenses covering six states to Verizon Wireless.
Those 20 markets cover a population 11.4 million people. The transaction,
which should be closed by the end of the first quarter 2001, cover cities
in Alabama, Tennessee, Missouri, Georgia, Kansas, and Oklahoma. 

AT&T Wireless and Sprint PCS are exchanging wireless service areas that
cover populations of 18.5 million for each company. The boards of directors
for both companies must first approve the deal and so must federal
regulators. The deal calls for the exchange of 10MHz blocks of spectrum. In
addition, AT&T Wireless unveiled its prepaid service with a choice of two
calling plans: the Free2Go Wireless plan and the AT&T PrePaid Advantage
plan. Pricing goes as low as $0.15 per minute on any of the company's
digital multi-network phones. Both prepaid services include direct dialing
for domestic and international calling and features such as caller ID, call
waiting, and voicemail. AT&T Wireless is selling its prepaid services
through such retail outlets as 7-Eleven and Best Buy, by phone at
800-IMAGINE, and through the Web at www.att.com/wireless/prepaid. 

Cingular Wireless is exchanging its spectrum with that of VoiceStream
Wireless in a deal that will expand the coverage of both companies. After
receiving spectrum from VoiceStream, Cingular will be able to offer
services in New York City and will add to its spectrum in St. Louis and
Detroit. In return, VoiceStream is adding to its spectrum in Los Angeles
and San Francisco and will gain spectrum in all of California and Nevada. 

Deutsche Telekom hopes its takeover of US cellphone operator VoiceStream
Wireless will be approved swiftly but gave no date for when it expects to
the go-ahead. Still, DT expects approval by the first quarter of 2001.
Separately, DT expects to offer cellphone services with the GPRS standard,
a forerunner to the eagerly awaited UMTS standard, in the first quarter of
2001. 

France Telecom is currently testing a high-speed wireless LAN at its R&D
center in Brittany to provide wireless connection to laptop computers.
France Telecom's projects that by 2002, these innovations will enable
nomadic users to surf the Web from a taxi or train, to check email from a
local park, or to send multimedia files with complete transparency and
freedom of movement. 

Motorola released its VoiceXML Voice Developer Gateway, part of the
company's Mobile Internet Exchange (MIX) product family. With the gateway,
which is VoiceXML 1.0 compliant and includes a Voice Browser, Automatic
Speech Recognition, and Text-to-Speech, developers can create voice-enabled
services for the mobile Internet. Among its features, the solution supports
applications for voice recognition input and text-to-speech output. 

Nokia announced the availability of its Activ Software Suite, designed for
mobile business users. The product family includes next-generation WAP
servers and customizable software. In addition, Activ includes a WAP Push
engine, which allows for companies to offer personalized services to its
mobile employees. Nokia's suite is compatible with all of the cellular
technologies in use by service providers, including GPRS, GSM, CSD, CDMA,
TDMA, and CDPD. Aside from the WAP server and the Push engine, the Activ
Software Suite provides optional software such as call identification,
mobile office applications, and security. 

Nortel Networks reported plans to build a Wireless Centre of Excellence in
Bangalore, India along with Infosys Technologies. The Centre will provide
research, development, and testing for Wireless Internet capabilities. 

Nortel Networks and Symbol Technologies formed a strategic alliance for the
joint development, marketing, and delivery of converged, high-speed
Wireless Internet voice and data products, including integrated VoWIP
applications. The first product from this alliance, Nortel Networks
e-mobility 802.11 IP Gateway for the Nortel Networks Meridian 1 portfolio,
will enable converged VoWIP applications over a standard 802.11 wireless
LAN. This product is scheduled for general availability by the end of 2000.


Along with Sony and Matsushita Electric, NTT plans to deliver music through
wireless phones, leveraging Japan's leading position in wireless services.
Japan has the world's largest population of users, at 13 million, connected
to the Internet on cellular phones with business-card sized screens. 

NTT DoCoMo will cut rates on mobile phone calls by as much as 21-percent
from December 1 to make it Japan's lowest-priced service. President
Tachikawa denied that the cuts were aimed at warding off criticism that
DoCoMo is becoming too powerful and choking off competition in the market. 

Sprint PCS and Samsung Telecommunications America introduced the Samsung
Uproar, which includes downloadable music capabilities. Users can download
MP3 files from a PC to the handset, which also serves as an Internet portal
and organizer. 


Broadband/Cable Networking
ADTRAN and Tdsoft announced a relationship targeted at delivering worldwide
VoDSL products to small and medium-sized enterprises as part of Tdsoft's
VoNGA partner program. With this relationship, ADTRAN will ensure that its
Total Access platform of IADs will interoperate with Tdsoft's V5.2 VoNGATE
voice access gateway based on the V5 Standard which specifies an open
interface for access network systems. 

Alcatel introduced the 7770 Routing Core Platform (RCP), a multi-terabit IP
core router designed to enable service providers to deliver differentiated
IP services by guaranteeing network performance. The RCP integrates IP
routing with optical transport, allows multi-layer restoration, and
delivers wire speed routing/forwarding performance.

AT&T Broadband and WorldGate intend to deploy interactive services to
television viewers with digital cable set-top boxes in Cedar Falls and
Waterloo, IA and Tacoma, WA. The initial deployment will provide customers
with access to customized local and national interactive content, including
links to television program-related web sites, as well as Internet and
e-mail.  

BellSouth selected Cisco Systems for the creation of its first IP + Optical
Internet exchange. Capable of speeds from DS-3 and Gigabit Ethernet to
OC-192, the Internet exchange will link data traffic between the US,
Africa, the Caribbean, Latin America, and Western Europe. 

Marconi plans to install two parallel, high-capacity optical networks north
to south across Malaysia. The two national networks, designed to offer
Internet users high bandwidth capacity, have been commissioned by Telekom
Malaysia, which has placed orders worth more than $10 million with Marconi
for equipment, installation, training, commissioning, and ongoing technical
support. 

Marconi released the BXR-48000, a 480G-bps switch router service-provider
offering that allows operators to cut costs by reducing overlay networks,
by migrating multiple legacy,  and by merging IP services onto one network
thus optimizing bandwidth utilization for more efficient use of optical
infrastructures.  

Mediacom Communications signed a definitive asset purchase agreement with
AT&T Broadband to acquire cable television systems serving 14,000 basic
cable subscribers in and around Fairhope, AL with a purchase price of
approximately $34.0 million. The acquisition is the ninth this year for
Mediacom, which serves 770,000 basic subscribers in 22 states. 

Vyyo and Proxim agreed to collaborate to bring wireless high-speed
connectivity to multi-dwelling units. Under the cooperative marketing
partnership, Vyyo will supply its MMDS, 3.5G Hz, and LMDS Lite DOCSIS+
equipment for broadband access to customers' premises, and Proxim will
provide its HomeRF-based wireless networking offering, Symphony, to
distribute wireless high-speed Internet access to multiple users in office
buildings, apartment units, and home networks. 


Satellite Services
Hughes Network Systems opened a regional office in Dubai, United Arab
Emirates, and expanded its presence to include markets in the Middle East
and Africa. Working with regional distributors, Hughes Network Systems will
provide customers in these regions with access to the Hughes global network
and its Broadband Everywhere services for consumers and businesses. Hughes'
services are based on VSAT technology and include high-speed Internet
connectivity, e-business solutions, rural telephony services, and
e-government solutions. 

Inmarsat entered into contracts worth $220 million with Hughes Network
Systems and Thuraya for the launch of a broadband 144K bps mobile service
in 2002. The service is using the Thuraya satellite system and will provide
Inmarsat's customers with high-speed access to the Internet and Intranets,
e-mail, and remote LANs in Europe, North Africa, the Middle East and India.
Inmarsat's services will support such industries as construction, mining,
media, manufacturing, and finance. 

Starband Communications launched high speed two-way Internet services via
satellite, making broadband connections available to consumers who do not
have access to digital cable or DSL. Starband's service can be ordered at
selected DISH Network retailers and Microsoft Internet Centers at
RadioShack stores. 


Network/Systems Management
BMC Software launched CONTROL-D for Distributed Systems, a suite of
products that manages electronic information generated in distributed
systems and mainframe environments. Reports and documents generated by
applications on diverse platforms and systems are delivered to various
destinations such as printers, e-mail addresses, and fax devices. 

BMC Software launched PATROL for Service Level Management (SLM), a PATROL
product that monitors and manages service levels. PATROL for SLM expedites
service level agreements (SLAs) and enables companies to optimize
availability and performance of its mission-critical applications. 

BMC Software introduced the Solutions Provider Program for E-business
Management, an expanded channel partner initiative for strengthening
reseller relationships. It will provide channel partners access to the
products, training, support, and resources for delivering e-business
management services. This program represents a step for BMC into the
Service Provider Solutions business. 

Micromuse reported that Telefonica S.A. selected the Netcool suite for
real-time monitoring of one of its heterogeneous networks in Latin America.
The Netcool suite will allow Telefonica to provide customers with real-time
Web-accessible views of their network service-level agreement data,
including views of service availability, response time, and Web site hit
rates. 

Tivoli Systems unveiled the Tivoli Smart Handheld Device Manager, which
will allow operations staff to manage anything from an IBM server zSeries
to a PDA using the same management structure and user interface. This
offering leverages management via the Tivoli Enterprise and can access
corporate data as well as reduce costs associates with additional
management tools. 


Security
Trend Micro reported that it will offer several different API protocol
support options in its ScanMail for Microsoft Exchange 5.5 anti-virus
service. These options will utilize the API support option of ScanMail that
accommodates individual messaging requirements. These options can be used
by organizations until they migrate to Exchange 2000. 


Storage
Computer Associates introduced ARCserve 7 for NetWare, which delivers data
storage functionality for heterogeneous networking environments for Novell
NetWare. Using ARCserve 7 for NetWare, network administrators can
simultaneously operate Windows, NetWare, and SAN storage devices, across
networking platforms and protocols. 

Hewlett-Packard unveiled the next step in providing customers with an
always-on Internet infrastructure with additions to its scalable networked
storage product line. The latest offerings include a complete family of HP
Surestore Ultrium products, the HP Surestore DLT1 tape drive and
autoloader, the HP Surestore Disk Array XP48, and a number of XP solutions. 


Regulatory News
The Swiss government cancelled it 3G wireless auction after failing to
round up enough willing participants to compete for four UMTS licenses.
Bidding had been expected to net between $4 billion and $5 billion. 

The Federal Trade Commission released a statement that extended the
deadline for its vote of approval on the $115 billion acquisition of Time
Warner by America Online by "a period of not more than three weeks." The
unanimous vote to extend the timeframe for negotiations came amidst new
proposals by AOL and Time Warner to allow rival Internet service providers
access to Time Warner's high-speed cable lines. Earlier this week, the
commission increased its demands in this area, vowing to block the merger
unless a signed contract, with at least one ISP, was completed before
merger plans were finalized. Shares of AOL and Time Warner dropped
6.4-percent and 5.2-percent, respectively, as investors who had been
confident of the merger's approval showed skepticism. In the first public
statement since the merger review began, the FTC solidified its position of
demanding a signed contract prior to the deal, as opposed to verbal
assurances or a memorandum of understanding. 

While British Telecom indicated a lack of interest in bidding for a 3G
license in Belgium, citing that it does not have a presence in the
country's cell phone market in the first place, the company may  reconsider
as the date of the auction draws closer. BT, which is undergoing a major
restructuring, is the fourth telecom operator to express a lack of interest
in the auction. 

Japan's Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications is considering ordering
NTT regional carriers to offer lower rates to rivals. To try to encourage
small firms without their own telecoms infrastructure to enter the
business, the MPT may order NTT to offer public phone lines to other
carriers at a discount of about 20-percent from next April. Currently,
companies wanting to enter the market need to spend at least $933.3 million
to offer a full-scale phone service. 

Austria's auction of UMTS licenses began with initial bids totaling 630
million euros, just above the minimum, after two rounds of bidding. Bidding
could become aggressive if Spain's Telefonica and Austria's Mobilkom stick
to their bids for three licenses, because others would then have to go
empty-handed. 

Europe's shortest and cheapest UMTS auction ended in Austria on Friday with
bids of 832 million euros, just 94 million euros above the minimum bid
level set by telco regulator, Telekom Control. After less than two days of
bidding, all six contenders gained a UTMS license, including two newcomers
to Austria's mobile market, Spain's Telefonica  and Hong Kong's Hutchison
Whampoa. 

Three of QUALCOMM's patents covering CDMA technology were upheld by the
European Patent Office despite opposition from Nokia, which challenged the
patents in 1998. The Patent Office rejected Nokia's claims and stated that
QUALCOMM's CDMA features were inventive enough to be patented. The
technology allows for voice to be transmitted at a variable rate without
data transmissions having to match the rate. 


Standards and Protocols
Adaptec, LSI Logic, and Seagate Technology reported adopting the Ultra320
SCSI SPI-4 draft standard specification for their respective products. The
companies plan to provide their Ultra320 product samples to OEMs before the
end of the year. Products will include host adapters, components, software,
and disc drives and are slated for delivery by mid-2001. 


Financial News
Adelphia Business Solutions saw third quarter results of consolidated
operating revenues of $93.6 million, with record access line installations
of 83,225. Net loss applicable to common shareholders for the third quarter
totaled $75.8 million, or $1.08 per share, compared with $53.7 million or
$0.97 per share, for the same period in the prior year.  

ADTRAN reported that revenues increased 31-percent to $127,277,000 from
revenues of $97,067,000 for the quarter ended September 30, 1999. Net
income for the quarter before an unusual gain increased 51-percent to
$21,403,000, compared to net income of $14,150,000 for the same quarter of
1999. Earnings per share before an unusual gain, assuming dilution,
increased 49-percent to $0.54 compared to earnings per share of $0.36 for
the third quarter of 1999. 

AT&T will soon sell some major assets to alleviate debt, hopefully
bolstering its credit rating. AT&T currently has $61.7 billion worth of
debt. An asset AT&T might try to sell is its 25-percent stake in Time
Warner Entertainment. 

Avaya reported revenues for fiscal 2000, of $7.680 billion, a decrease of
7.1-percent compared to revenues of $8.268 billion for fiscal 1999. Net
Loss for the year 2000 was $375 million, or $1.39 per share, compared to a
net income of $282 million, or $1.09 per share for the fiscal year 1999.
For the fourth quarter of fiscal 2000, the company reported that revenues
decreased by 15.9-percent to $2.016 billion from revenues of $2.398 billion
in the same period a year ago. Net income for the fourth quarter of 2000
was $20 million, or $0.07 per share, compared to a net income of $45
million, or $0.17 per share for the same quarter for the previous year. 

Starting in the fourth quarter, BCE, which recently acquired Teleglobe,
will include results for Teleglobe and Excel in its financial results. In
the interim, BCE announced Teleglobe and Excel's results for the third
quarter ended September 30, 2000. Revenues for Teleglobe were $339 million
in the quarter (compared with $359 million in the same period last year)
and a 6-percent increase compared with the second quarter of 2000. Excel's
revenues were $267 million in the quarter compared with $362 million for
the same 1999 period and $286 million in the second quarter of 2000. 

Kicking off its plan to slice 10 billion pounds off its debt, British
Telecom is selling its stake in Swiss joint venture, Sunrise, for 460
million pounds. It announced the sale of the 34 percent stake to
TeleDanmark, another shareholder in Sunrise, just ten minutes before
Sunrise was slated to participate in a Swiss auction of 3G licenses. 

Cablevision Systems reported third quarter revenues of $945 million, a
14-percent increase from the previous year's $831 million. The company
posted a net loss of $40.1 million, or $0.23 per share, compared with a
loss of $178 million, or $1.17 per share, for the same period 1999. 

Charter Communications reported continued growth in revenues, operating
cash flow, and customers for the third quarter 2000. Revenues increased
13.9- percent, to $842.9 million, from $740 million for the third quarter
1999. Net loss for the quarter was $210 million, or $0.93 per share. 

Comcast reported an increase in third quarter profits to $1.25 billion, or
$1.29 per share, compared with $327.8 million, or $0.41 per share, for the
same period in 1999. The quarter included a gain of $1.06 billion from an
adjustment in debt indexed to shares of Sprint PCS, and a gain of $1.05
billion stemming from securities it received in a distribution agreement
with Excite@Home. Driven by strong digital cable and broadband sales,
revenues for the third quarter also increased 22.6-percent to $1.96 billion
from $1.60 billion for the previous year. Comcast increased its estimates
for the year for digital cable subscribers, up 100,000 to 1.35 million, and
for broadband subscribers, up 25,000 to 375,000. 

Compuware announced financial results for its second quarter ended
September 30, 2000. Revenues were $486.3 million, compared with $568.1
million during the same quarter of the previous year. Net income before
special charges and amortization expense was $23.6 million or $0.06 per
diluted share, compared to $109 million or $0.28 per diluted share in 1999. 

Cox Communications posted a growth in revenues of 12-percent to $902.2
million in the third quarter 2000, up from revenues of $809 million in the
third quarter 1999. The company also posted a wider-than-expected loss
attributed to investments in new services.  

Foundry Networks reported that revenues rose by 191-percent to $113.2
million from $38.9 million in the third quarter of 1999. Net income for the
third quarter, excluding non-cash charges for amortization of deferred
stock compensation, was $28.5 million, or $0.22 per diluted share. 

France Telecom's Internet service, Wanadoo, confirmed robust growth in the
consolidated pro forma revenue for the first nine months of 2000,
strengthening its position as a leading Internet media group. Wanadoo's
international activities contributed 40.9 million euros, up 26-percent over
the full year 1999 revenues. A full 25-percent of Wanadoo customers now
connect to its services outside of France. 

After posting third quarter losses of $219 million, Globalstar's stock
dropped 60- percent, purportedly causing Loral Space &Communications to
halt future investments in the satellite phone company. Globalstar's new
strategy, which includes shifting focus from consumers to government,
military, and large corporate customers, did little to soften the blow to
the company's shares. Bernard Schwarz, Globalstar and Loral chairman,
believes that the new strategy will make the company's service viable, but
current struggles could signal of an Iridium-like disaster. 

Infonet announced second quarter revenue of $156.1 million, compared to
$87.5 million for the same 2000 quarter. Second quarter net income was $4.7
million, compared to a loss of $8.4 million in the comparable quarter. 

Juniper Networks reported revenues for its third quarter results for the
period ending September 30, 2000 were $201.2 million. Actual net income for
the third quarter was $58.1 million or $0.17 per share. 

Larscom reported that revenues were $13,793,000, compare to revenues of
$13,265,000 for the same third quarter of 1999. Net loss for the quarter
was $700,000 or $0.04 per share, compared to a net loss of $28,000 or $0.00
per share for the same quarter of 1999. 

NetManage reported third quarter 2000 revenues of $25.7 million, compared
with $17.6 million in revenues a year-ago, an increase of 46-percent. Net
loss was reported at $0.09 per diluted share, compared with a net loss of
$819,000, or $0.01 per diluted share a year ago. The company's upswing in
revenues were attributed to its SupportNow and OnWeb e-business
initiatives. 

Nortel Networks reported results for the third quarter of fiscal 2000.
Revenues increased 42-percent to $7.31 billion from $5.15 billion in the
same quarter of 1999. Net loss for the third quarter of 2000 was $586
million, or $0.20 per share. 

Proxim reported revenues for the third quarter ended September 30, 2000
were $29,297,000, a 61 percent increase compared to revenues of $18,229,000
for the same quarter of 1999. Excluding the charges and amortization
identified below, pro forma net income for the third quarter of 2000 was
$3,713,000, or $0.13 per share (diluted), compared to pro forma net income
of $2,300,000, or $.09 per share (diluted) for the third quarter of 1999.
During the third quarter of 2000, Proxim entered into a cross-licensing and
technology exchange agreement with Siemens AG, which cost Proxim 500,000
shares of common stock.

QUALCOMM announced that it is delaying its Spinco common stock IPO because
of unfavorable market conditions. The offering is now scheduled to take
place in January 2001. The company received word from the IRS that the spin
off should be a tax-free distribution among stockholders. 

QUALCOMM's revenues for the third quarter 2000 were $635 million, down from
$1.1 billion for the third quarter 1999. Revenues were hurt by slow sales
of the company's CDMA chip sets in South Korea. Net income for the quarter
was $139 million, or $0.17 per share, compared to $136 million, or $0.24
per share. 

RCN reported a continued growth in revenues and connections in its third
quarter financial report. RCN revenues totaled $107.6 million, a 12-percent
increase from $96.2 million in the previous quarter. In addition, total
on-net connections grew by 15 percent, as RCN added 52,672 connections,
compared with 49,210 connections the previous quarter. RCN posted a net
loss of $85.8 million, or $2.70 per share, compared with $75.8 million, or
$2.45 per share for the previous quarter. 

Siemens AG reported a rise in profits of 33-percent but warned that
earnings in 2001 would decrease as the economy cools. Siemens earned 1.1
billion euros in the three months ending September 30, 2000, up from 799
million in the same period 1999. Still, the company projected that growth
for fiscal 2001 would not be as dramatic as fiscal 2000, given developments
in the world economy. 

Telecom Italia posted third-quarter profits at the top end of expectations
but took a hefty charge to pay for 10,000 redundancies as fierce
competition continued to slice revenue in its home phone market. Europe's
fifth largest telco saw the growth in its core profits more than double
last quarter as earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and
amortization jumped 10.3-percent year-on-year, against 5.1-percent annual
growth seen in the first half. 

Teligent reported third quarter revenues of $42.7 million, a 33-percent
increase from the 32.2 million posted for the same period 1999. Teligent
reported a 15- percent increase of on-net buildings to 4142 from 3614, and
an increase of lines to 433,997. Net loss for the quarter was $228 million,
or $3.88 per share, compared with $143 million, or $2.66 per share, for the
previous year. 

Time Warner Telecom reported an increase in revenue for the third quarter
2000, to $121 million from $71 million for the same period 1999. The
company posted a net loss of $2.3 million, or $0.03 per share, compared
with a loss of $9.1 million, or $0.14 per share, in 3Q 1999. 

Verizon reported net income of $3.5 billion, or $1.27 per diluted share,
which increased 39.6-percent on a per-share basis from $2.5 billion, or 91
cents per share, in third quarter 1999. Reported adjusted net income was
$2.0 billion, or 73 cents per diluted share (EPS), compared to $2.0
billion, or 72 cents per share, in third quarter 1999. New services demand
drove a 7.2-percent increase in third quarter adjusted consolidated
revenues from current operations, to $16.5 billion from $15.4 billion in
third quarter 1999. 

Versatel announced third quarter revenues increased 174-percent to EUR 48.5
million, up 4.3-percent compared with the second quarter of 2000, and 174.1
percent compared with the third quarter of 1999. The net loss for the third
quarter was EUR 162.8 million compared to the second quarter 2000 net loss
of EUR 90.1 million. 


Legal News
3Com agreed to settle, for $259 million in cash, two shareholder
class-action lawsuits arising out of its 1997 merger with US Robotics. In
two related lawsuits, one in federal and one in a California state court,
3Com was accused of inflating its stock price by overstating certain
financial figures and of hiding key drops in demand for US Robotics' modem
products. Top executives, including 3Com CEO Eric Benhamou, who is stepping
down next year, and Casey Cowell, then-CEO of US Robotics, were also
accused of selling a total of four million shares for $200 million while
the stock was peaking. The stock price later crashed after 3Com revealed a
surplus of unsold US Robotics modems and resulting fiscal losses that had
not been made public earlier. 

Telgua, majority-owned by Telmex, could have its 1998 privatization revoked
by a Guatemalan court. In a deal rife with allegations of foul play, Telgua
was sold off for some $700 million to a consortium of Central American
investors, who later passed on 79 percent of the company's shares to
Telmex. The case, which is being reviewed in an administrative court,
focuses on a previous administration's handling of the sale, rather than on
Telex's later participation. 


Personnel and Organizational Changes
The July acquisition of a Dutch UMTS license by Belgacom, Deutsche
Telekom's T-Mobile, and Tele Danmark was recently finalized. The venture
will operate under the name, Ben. The ownership structure is as follows:
50-percent plus one share owned by Belgacom and Tele Danmark, while
T-Mobile owns 50-percent minus one share. 

Joining an industry trend, British Telecom announced an aggressive
restructuring plan to cut its debt by $14 billion by selling stock in its
mobile phone business, network operations, and other assets. BT plans to
create a least three new publicly traded companies, BT Wireless, NetCo.,
and a phone directory business named Yell. 

CIENA named CEO Patrick H. Nettles as Chairman of its Board of Directors,
assuming the role left vacant by the departure of Jon Bayless, in March
1999. Gary B. Smith, the current COO of the company, was also elected to
CIENA's Board of Directors. CIENA  also reported plans to open an office in
Hong Kong. 

Covad Communications' chairman and CEO Robert Knowling resigned, agreeing
with the board that new leadership would be in the company's best
interests. Robert Knowling stepped down from his position two weeks after
Covad reported a wider-than-expected third quarter loss. Covad named
director Frank Marshall as its interim CEO, and said founder and former CEO
Charles McMinn would assume the role of chairman. 

Riverstone Networks set an initial public offering of 10 million common
shares that could sell for between $12 and $14 apiece. The company, which
plans to list on Nasdaq under the symbol RSTN, will have more than 102
million common shares outstanding when the IPO is completed. Morgan Stanley
Dean Witter is lead manager, assisted by Chase H&Q, Lehman Brothers and
Salomon Smith Barney. Cabletron, which will hold 86 percent immediately
after the IPO is completed, plans to distribute the rest of its Riverstone
shares to Cabletron stockholders in the future. 

Telstra appointed Rob Tsarnas as President and CEO of its wholly owned, US
subsidiary, Telstra Incorporated. In addition to managing the development
of the company's wholesale carrier business in North America, Mr. Tsarnas
will oversee global account management for the company's US-based Fortune
500 and 1000 customers with operations in the Asia Pacific region, Europe,
and Latin America. 

WorldCom will create tracking stocks, separating its data and Internet
businesses from its consumer and wholesale long distance telephone
operations. The separation comes on the heels of a reduced growth outlook.
The company will retain the WorldCom name, but it will have two separately
traded tracking stocks. The core data and Internet business will trade
under the "WCOM" symbol, while the flagging consumer, small-business,
wholesale long-distance, and dial-up Internet access operations will trade
under the "MCIT" symbol, resurrecting the MCI brand name. 

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