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---------- Forwarded Message ----------
Date: Monday, October 16, 2000, 3:57 PM -0400
From: Faulkner Telecom Weekly <telweekly@faulknerinfo.com>
To: ???
Subject: Faulkner Telecom Weekly Oct 13, 2000



Telecom Weekly 

October 9, - October 13, 2000 

Top Story of the Week

EU Approves AOL/Time Warner Merger (10/11/2000) 
After a four-month probe, the EU conditionally approved the $129 billion
merger of AOL and Time Warner. AOL and Time Warner agreed to allow a
competitive market for media and entertainment, first by severing ties with
Germany's Bertelsmann . Bertelsmann is one of five major music distributors
in the world and a joint owner of AOL Europe. The dissolution of AOL ties
with Bertelsmann and the recent dissolving of EMI/Time Warner merger talks
have assured the EU that free market competition, especially in online
music distribution, will continue in Europe. AOL and Time Warner still must
gain approval of US regulators, where the mixture of AOL's media
distribution and Time Warner's high-speed Internet access has caused
concerns.

Ongoing negotiations between Time Warner and AT&T are likely to come to an
end without resolution. US regulators reviewing America Online's
acquisition of Time Warner are questioning the potential anti-competitive
ties between TW and AT&T, the top two cable operators in the US. AT&T has a
25.5-percent stake in Time Warner Entertainment through its MediaOne
acquisition. Under the conditions for the MediaOne deal, AT&T agreed to get
rid of its stake in TWE, sell some of Liberty Media Group, or shed cable
systems to fall below the FCC's 30-percent cap in the cable subscriber
market. Compared to the alternatives, cutting ties with Time Warner is the
most favorable option. AT&T is now, however, playing hard to get. If
regulators decide to require TW dissolve its relationship with AT&T as a
condition of the AOL deal, AT&T could force TW to pay a premium price for
the stake.

In related news, competitors met with the House Commerce Telecommunications
Subcommittee. Disney and other content providers pushed for binding
conditions on the merger, including open access for programming and
interactive content. Also present were instant messaging competitors, who
expressed concerns over AOL's resistance to making its instant messaging
software interoperable with similar programs. ISPs argued that AOL and Time
Warner should be subject to the same open access policies as phone
companies. While the subcommittee has no say in the merger approval
process, the FCC and FTC are closely scrutinizing the deal. 




Acquisitions, Mergers, and Divestitures
Enel Purchases Infostrada (10/11/2000) 
In a move to challenge the market dominance of Telecom Italia, Enel
purchased Infostrada, Italy's number two phone and Internet group, for
$9.63 billion. Enel plans to pay Vodafone half in cash and half in bonds
for the company and fold it into Wind, Enel's joint venture with France
Telecom. 

Verizon Takes Stake in California (10/11/2000) 
Verizon Wireless is acquiring additional stakes in the Sacramento Valley
Limited Partnership for $236 million, which is being paid to Roseville
Communications. The company is buying the 24.2 percent stake owned by
Roseville along with 920,000 POPs, increasing the Verizon Wireless' total
stake to 76.6 percent. Sacramento Valley Limited Partnership serves markets
in both Northern California and Nevada, including Sacramento, Stockton, and
Reno. 

MFN Acquires SiteSmith (10/11/2000) 
Metromedia Fiber Network agreed to acquire SiteSmith in a deal valued at
$1.36 billion. The acquisition will be an all-stock transaction which will
leverage MFN's optical IP infrastructures with the first global end-to-end
optical IP outsourcing solution, including design, architecture, hardware
and software installation, co-location and network connectivity, and
ongoing management. The merger also adds senior executives with extensive
managed services experience to MFN's management team. The deal is expected
to close by the end of 2000. 

Vodafone After Eircom Unit (10/10/2000) 
To expand its presence in Europe and to give itself a foothold in Ireland,
Vodafone Group is looking to acquire Eircom's wireless business, Eircell.
The $4-billion transaction would give Vodafone access to Eircell's one
million customers. Talks between the two companies are still at an early
stage and nothing is certain, especially since a number of other companies
also have their eye on Eircell. Eircom is possibly selling all or part of
the wireless unit in order to boost its stock or because it sees itself
unable to compete in the growing market in Ireland. 




Alliances and Joint Ventures
Telstra Nears Deal with PCCW (10/12/2000) 
Telstra is close to announcing terms of an alliance with Hong Kong's
Pacific Century CyberWorks. Initially announced in April, the alliance
includes a mobile company, owned 60 percent by PCCW and 40 percent by
Telstra, and a 50/50 Internet Protocol network joint venture. 

AT&T Wireless Buys Infowave Solution (10/12/2000) 
AT&T Wireless is purchasing the Wireless Business Engine from Infowave for
use in internal deployment. With the Infowave solution, AT&T Wireless will
use WAP-enabled devices from Mitsubishi and Palm to connect to Microsoft
Exchange e-mail, contacts, calendars, and tasks. In other news, AT&T
Wireless and YadaYada formed an alliance to offer AT&T's services to
YadaYada's customers, which include mobile employees and consumers.
YadaYada will be using AT&T's Wireless IP Network and CDPD technology to
offer wireless services at speeds of up to 19.2K bps to over 3000 US
cities. 

Motorola Joins with Tundra (10/12/2000) 
Motorola's Semiconductor Products Sector joined with Tundra Semiconductor
to create interconnect products for the Motorola Smart Networks Platform.
The agreement between the two is part of a strategy to take advantage of
the growing semiconductor market, which could exceed $50 billion in revenue
in three years. Motorola and Tundra are working together on the design of
PowerPC and RapidIO-related core logic technology that can be integrated
with both companies' products for the wireless, wireline, and data
communications industries. 

Nokia in Agreement with Radiolinja (10/12/2000) 
Nokia contracted Finland's Radiolinja to develop the mCatch location-based
service from Nokia. Under the agreement, Radiolinja is offering its RX
Algorithms, which will be added to the mCatch as it is introduced into
mobile Internet networks. The mCatch enables location-based services for
the positioning of GSM phones, and is supports open standards. 

Scientific-Atlanta Invests in BridgeWave (10/12/2000) 
Scientific-Atlanta announced an equity investment in BridgeWave
Communications as part of a plan to improve its wireless broadband
solutions. BridgeWave's technology, which integrates converging
technologies, will be used by Scientific-Atlanta's Prisma fiber nodes to
provide wireless data services for high-speed Internet access and WAN/LAN
services. 

Best Buy Sells AT&T Broadband Services (10/11/2000) 
Best Buy agreed to offer selected AT&T Broadband services at its retail
locations. Best Buy signed a letter of intent to display interactive kiosks
selling AT&T Roadrunner and AT&T@Home, its high-speed Internet offerings,
as well as AT&T Digital Cable, its digital TV service. 

BLOOMBERG and Time Warner Sign Distribution Deal (10/11/2000) 
BLOOMBERG TELEVISION and Time Warner Cable signed a distribution agreement
that allows BLOOMBERG to pursue carriage on all of Time Warner's regional
cable systems. The deal allows BLOOMBERG access to 12.6 million new
households as well as interactive capabilities over Time Warner's digital
cable. 

Ericsson in Partnership with Compaq (10/10/2000) 
Ericsson and Compaq forged an alliance to develop switching computers for
the AXE-based wireless and wireline networks from Ericsson. Under the
agreement, Compaq is incorporating its AlphaServer and Tru64 UNIX
technology into the switches so that Ericsson's networks are able to handle
increased calling capacity with standards-based technology. With Compaq's
solutions imbedded in the switches, Ericsson's network technology will be
compatible with the CompactPCI platform, integrated systems that are based
on Alpha technology and enables the delivery of standards-based servers.
The agreement benefits Ericsson, allowing it to develop network solutions
with increased speed. 

Motorola and Teledesic End Agreement (10/10/2000) 
Motorola ended its agreement with Teledesic in which it would provide the
satellites for Teledesic's high-speed Internet service. Now that the
agreement is ended, Teledesic is able to look elsewhere for its satellites
even though Motorola is remaining as an investor in the project. Teledesic,
which has been spending money for its satellite system without seeing
returns from services, which should be launched in 2003, will probably cut
the number of satellites from 288. 

Nokia in DSL Agreement (10/10/2000) 
Nokia entered into a three-year agreement with DualStar Communications to
bring high-speed DSL equipment to major metropolitan US markets. After
conducting trials of the technology in the New York City metro area, Nokia
began making deliveries to the major cities across the country. The
equipment includes the Nokia D50 Digital Subscriber Line Access
Multiplexer, network terminals, the Nokia Network Management System, and
components for the Nokia Broadband IP Access solution. DualStar is using
these solutions and components to provide a range of communications
solutions to customers in residential and commercial buildings. Such
services include local and long distance calling, high-speed Internet, and
satellite-based television. 

QUALCOMM in Agreement with Chunghwa (10/10/2000) 
QUALCOMM entered into an agreement with Chunghwa Telecom Labs under which
the companies will develop CDMA-based subscriber units. Chunghwa is using
QUALCOMM's cdma2000 1x technology to create third-generation prototype
units, while QUALCOMM is supplying chips, software, and technical
documentation. 

Hughes Collaborates with CAIS Internet (10/10/2000) 
Hughes Network Systems and CAIS Internet joined forces to offer broadband
services to consumers and business customers. Through Hughes'
satellite-based DirecWay service, CAIS will offer its broadband Internet to
businesses, and through Hughes' DirecPC service, CAIS will offer Internet
access to consumers. 

Red-M Adds to WAP Forum (10/10/2000) 
Red-M joined the WAP Forum and is adding its technologies to development
group. The WAP Forum is focusing on developing the WAP standard, and
Red-M's specialty is Bluetooth access server products. Its addition to the
Forum brings Bluetooth expertise to the group, which will be able to
develop both technologies and applications for both Bluetooth and the WAP
standard. 




Broadband/Cable Networking
Global Crossing Completes Mexican Crossing (10/13/2000) 
Global Crossing completed the construction of a fiber-optic ring, Mexican
Crossing, connecting Mexico City, Guadalajara, and Monterrey. The company
was also licensed by the Mexican Federal Commission of Telecommunications
(Cofetel) to operate in Mexico. Mexican Crossing is Global Crossing's first
10G-bps terrestrial optical system in commercial service. The 2200-mile
ring can transport voice, data, and multimedia communications at speeds up
to 320G bps over a single fiber pair. Nortel Networks provided its OPTera
Long Haul 1600 Optical Line system, OPTera Connect DX Connection Manager,
and Preside network and service management solutions. 

Sprint ION Expanding Product Line (10/13/2000) 
Sprint is expanding its consumer broadband offerings to allow customers to
integrate multiple services over a single connection to the home. The
company is offering three new families of products. ION xt4 offers
high-speed Internet access with downstream speeds up to 8M bps and upstream
speeds up to 1M bps, four voice/fax lines, unlimited local calling, and 750
minutes of domestic long distance for $149.99 per month. ION xt2 offers the
same features, except drops long distance calling to 400 minutes a month
for $119.99 per month. ION Direct offers dedicated Internet access with up
to 1.5M-bps downstream speeds for $44.99 per month. The ION services are
currently available in Austin, Dallas, Denver, Fort Worth, Houston, Kansas
City, Los Angeles, Orange County, Phoenix, San Antonio, San Diego, and
Seattle. Sprint also offers broadband wireless service in Colorado Springs,
Detroit, Houston, Phoenix, and Tucson. 

Birch Connects to Project Pronto (10/13/2000) 
Through a market trial being conducted by SBC Communications in the Kansas
City region, Birch Telecom is offering high-speed Internet Access via SBC's
$6-billion Project Pronto platform. The broadband initiative will extend
the reach of DSL service, currently only available to customers within
18,000 feet of a central office and that are served solely on copper wires. 

AT&T Canada Awarded Contract (10/12/2000) 
Access-Canada, a subsidiary of OnSite Access, signed a multi-year,
multi-million dollar contract with AT&T Canada to provide communications
and high-speed Internet services. OnSite Access-Canada will use AT&T
Canada's underlying broadband communications infrastructure to deliver
Internet and data services within commercial office buildings. 

NorthPoint Expands DSL Service (10/11/2000) 
NorthPoint Communications launched its DSL network in four new markets in
the eastern US. NorthPoint DSL is now also available in Albany, Harrisburg,
Richmond, and Sarasota. 

Cisco Signs Deal to Upgrade Telstra (10/10/2000) 
In a $50-million, multi-year deal, Cisco will upgrade Telstra's high-speed
cable modem service through the supply of a high-end cable modem
termination system, IP infrastructure, and related back-end systems. 

SingTel to Begin Trials for VoDSL Services (10/10/2000) 
Singapore Telecom will begin trials of TollBridge Technologies'
Voice-over-DSL service, the V5.2 Voice Gateway, this October. SingTel will
be one of the first ISPs to use this carrier-class technology in Asia. In
other news, SingTel will deploy Redback Networks' Subscriber Management
System to meet the increased demand for broadband access. 

KPNQwest to Install IP VPN (10/09/2000) 
INTERSHOP Communications, an e-commerce software provider, contracted
KPNQwest to implement a Europe-wide IP VPN service. The IP VPN is worth
about two million euros over three years. 




Financial News
StarBand files IPO (10/13/2000) 
StarBand Communications, a joint venture between Gilat Satellite Networks,
EchoStar Communications, and Microsoft, filed an application with the SEC
to go public. StarBand, a provider of high-speed Internet access via
satellite, hopes to raise $287.5 million in the IPO. The company will use
the net proceeds to fund continued growth, expand its subscriber base, and
for general corporate purposes. 

NTT May Buy More KPN Shares (10/12/2000) 
Dependent upon KPN Mobile's upcoming IPO, Nippon Telegraph &

Telephone may buy additional shares in its European partner. In order to
maintain its 15-percent stake, NTT will consider buying more if the IPO
involves new shares. 

FT Postpones Equant Deal (10/12/2000) 
France Telecom attributed its delay in acquiring Equant to recent poor
stock performance, citing that the deal may change if market conditions
improve. The acquisition would help FT bolster Global One. 

Hughes Reports Slight Revenue Increase (10/12/2000) 
Hughes Electronics announced that its revenues for the third quarter 2000
increased 3.7 percent to $1.68 billion from $1.62 billion. The company's
loss was $93.8 million, compared to a loss of $34.9 million in the same
quarter in the previous year. Cash flow from operations dropped nearly 47
percent from $202 million to $107.9 million. The company's Direct-to-Home
services yielded revenues of $1.29 billion, compared to $1.14 billion.
Satellite services reported revenues of $199.3 million, compared to $210.7
million, and Hughes Network Systems reported $284.0 million, compared to
$426.2 million. 

Motorola Reports 66 Percent Increase (10/11/2000) 
In the third quarter 2000, Motorola's earnings rose 66 percent to $598
million, or $0.26 per share, compared to $361 million, or $0.16 per share.
Sales rose from $8.1 billion from the same quarter in 1999 to $9.5 billion.
Concerns over the company's cell-phone and semiconductors allayed as
results from both sectors met expectations. 

PanAmSat Reports Low Profits (10/10/2000) 
PanAmSat's revenues for the third quarter 2000 dropped five percent to
$199.3 million from $211 million. The company's earnings experience a much
sharper decline, dropping 74 percent to $9.25 million, or $0.06 per share,
compared with $34 million, or $0.23 per share for the same period in 1999. 

BT May Announce Break-Up Next Month (10/09/2000) 
As soon as next month, British Telecom could announce a phased break-up to
revive slumping share prices. The company plans to separate its regulated
domestic business from its faster growing Internet and mobile phone arms.
The break-up will come in phases because of regulatory and tax
complications and the company's joint venture with AT&T. 

WorldCom CEO Files to Sell Shares (10/09/2000) 
WorldCom CEO Bernie Ebbers filed an application with the SEC to sell 11
percent of the 27 million WorldCom shares he owns, or about three million
shares. Based on WorldCom's recent stock prices, the value of the shares is
about $77.8 million. 




Internet/Intranet
AT&T Considering Billing Web Merchants (10/13/2000) 
AT&T is reviewing a plan that would charge Internet merchants for each
customer that accesses an Internet retail site using AT&T's network. The
company is also proposing that it be awarded an additional commission if
the customer buys something. AT&T would not confirm the plan, however, the
new fee structuring is expected to take effect next year. Such a shift
would mark a departure from traditional traffic volume-based fees. With its
long distance revenues on a steady decline, AT&T is now looking for new way
to generate profits. 

Sonera Using Ericsson's IP Backbone (10/10/2000) 
Sonera signed a contract with Ericsson for the supply of the Ericsson
Packet Backbone Network with AXI 580 IP Routers. Under the contract, Sonera
is using the technology with its PBN platforms to increase the backbone
capacity of its networks in Denmark, Sweden, and Finland. 




Legal News
US Says Mexico Must Enforce Rules (10/12/2000) 
The US is standing firm on its decision to bring a formal complaint before
the WTO against Mexico's Telmex if regulations to open its telecom market
to competitors are not enforced. Complaints from AT&T, WorldCom, and US
investors in July led to a WTO complaint alleging that Mexico failed to
live up to guarantees of telecom market fairness. The two sides have until
mid-October to sort out their differences. 

NextWave Loses (10/11/2000) 
NextWave Personal Communications lost its case before the Supreme Court
that it should be allowed to keep its licenses at a lower cost than the
$4.7 billion it originally promised to pay. NextWave lost the licenses it
won in a FCC auction after failing to make its payments. Those 64 licenses
are scheduled to be re-auctioned by the FCC, which was sued by NextWave,
stating that the licenses had depreciated in value by the time the
government was ready to issue them. In 1998, NextWave filed for bankruptcy
protection in New York, and the bankruptcy allowed the company to pay $1
billion for the licenses; however, in December 1999 the 2nd US Circuit
Court of Appeals reversed that decision. NextWave then said it had enough
money to pay, but the FCC refused since the licenses were cancelled as soon
as the company defaulted on the payments. NextWave appealed to the Supreme
Court, which refused to restore the licenses without comment. The company
has yet another appeal pending before the Supreme Court. FCC must hold off
on its re-auction until that appeal is heard. 

Qwest Still Cleaning up US WEST Mess (10/09/2000) 
Eager to settle the problems inherited through the acquisition of US WEST,
Qwest Communications agreed to settle a $43.5 million lawsuit filed by
Colorado consumers. Some 244,000 people filed the suit against US WEST
about four years ago for making consumers wait too long for phone services.
Individual payments range from $3.79 to $1900. Although similar lawsuits
have been filed in Arizona and New Mexico, the settlement covers Colorado
customers only. Earlier this year Qwest shelled out $12.7 million in fines
levied against US WEST by the Colorado Public Utilities Commission for poor
service. 




Personnel and Organizational Changes
AOL Appoints CFO From Time Warner (10/13/2000) 
Effective after the proposed merger closes, Joseph Ripp will become the new
CFO of AOL. Previous CFO of Time Warner, Ripp will replace AOL CFO J.
Michael Kelly, who will be promoted to CFO of the combined company under
its new organizational structure. 

Global Crossing CEO Calls it Quits (10/13/2000) 
After just seven months on the job, Leo Hindery resigned as CEO of Global
Crossing. The company named vice chairman Thomas Casey as Hindery's
successor. Hindery will continue as chairman and CEO of the company's
Web-hosting unit GlobalCenter until next year when Exodus Communications
acquires the unit. 

Motorola Exec Quits (10/13/2000) 
One day after the company lowered its earnings estimates for fiscal 2000,
Motorola's executive vice president in charge of the company's
communications division, Merle Gilmore, resigned, effective immediately.
Motorola president and COO, Robert L. Growney, will fill the position until
a permanent successor is named. Gilmore was a 30-year Motorola veteran and
was viewed as the next logical COO. 

Sprint CTO Resigns (10/13/2000) 
Marty Kaplan, Sprint's CTO and senior vice president, stepped down from his
post to pursue other opportunities, effective October 20. A successor has
not been named. 

@Link Appoints WorldCom Exec CFO (10/11/2000) 
@Link Networks appointed former WorldCom VP of Investor Relations Gary
Brandt to the position of CFO. Brandt will be responsible for @Link's
financial operations, including investor relations, accounting, financial
reporting, billing, tax financial planning and analysis, treasury, and
internal audit. 

Covad Promotes CIO (10/10/2000) 
Covad promoted Frank Thomas to the newly established position of executive
vice president and chief information officer. Thomas will be responsible
for strategic planning, software engineering, IT operations, and quality
assurance. 




RBOCs
SBC Challenging BellSouth in Florida (10/13/2000) 
Consumers in Miami-Dade County Florida now have a choice of local telephone
carriers. SBC Telecom, and unit of SBC Communications, will compete against
BellSouth in the region for local customers and will provide consumers with
the option of buying local and long distance services from a single
carrier. According to the company, service prices are on average about 15
percent lower than what BellSouth charges. Package prices start at $25. SBC
Telecom will also offer dial-up Internet and DSL services. 




Regulatory News
FCC Chief Rebukes Slow Digital Conversion (10/13/2000) 
In a speech at the Museum of Television and Radio, FCC Chairman William
Kennard accused the broadcasting industry and television manufacturers of
slowing the conversion from analog to digital television. Kennard suggested
that Congress should require all new television sets to be digital-capable
by 2003, and all TV broadcasters to pay rent for use of analog signals
after 2006. 

AT&T, Verizon at Odds in WV (10/13/2000) 
The West Virginia Public Service Commission commenced open hearings on
access fees as part of Verizon Communications' Incentive Rate Plan, due to
expire at the end of the year. At the root of the hearing is AT&T's request
for the PSC to reduce that charges the IXC pays to complete long distance
calls over the Verizon network. Verizon claims that the access charges are
what keep local calling prices affordable. AT&T contends that WV consumers
could save as much as $27 million on in-state long distance charges if the
fees are cut. 

Feds Concerned About QoS in SBC Regions (10/13/2000) 
One year after SBC Communications and Ameritech merged and pledged to
devote greater resources to service quality, state and federal regulators
are investigating why the company has increased installation delays and
longer repair times. Several state agencies have already levied fines
against Ameritech and parent-company SBC, now federal regulators want to
know how the company is going to reverse the situation. Federal laws
mandate that service problems must be corrected within 36 hours of being
reported. In August 2000, Ameritech's average repair time was 160 hours.
The FCC will be working with state commissioners in Illinois, Indiana,
Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin to monitor Ameritech's QoS in the coming
months. Last month Ameritech shifted 966 technicians from construction to
installation and repair work in its region in an attempt to correct most
service problems within 24 hours, however, result are not expected for
about six months. Despite the local service failures in Ameritech's region,
SBC is currently pressing to enter the long distance market in Michigan. 

Telephone Tax Bill on its Way Out (10/13/2000) 
A telephone tax that was initially implemented to finance the
Spanish-American War may finally be headed for the history books. The
102-year-old three-percent excise tax was repealed after the war against
Spain ended, was reinstated during WWI, repealed again, adopted again
during the Depression, and made permanent in 1990 to help generate funds to
reduce the federal deficit. Legislation to repeal the tax was approved by
the House and Senate and now awaits President Clinton's signature. 

FCC Supports Competition within Buildings (10/13/2000) 
The FCC is pushing for increased telecom competition in residential or
commercial buildings that house multiple tenants. Through its Competitive
Networks Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, the FCC compiled information on the
state of competition in multi-tenant environments, and created new measures
to improve the competitive arena. The actions include forbidding carriers
to sign exclusive contracts with building owners, reducing competitive
carriers' dependence on incumbent LECs to gain access to wiring within
buildings, forcing utilities and LECs to grant carriers and service
providers access to conduits and "rights-of-way" in buildings, and
prohibiting the restriction of video antennas on property used or
controlled by the antenna user. In addition to these measures, the FCC
passed a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking. 

FCC Allocates Additional Spectrum (10/13/2000) 
The FCC allocated 50 MHz of spectrum for commercial wireless services. The
spectrum is located in the 3650-3700 MHz band and can be used for
fixed-wireless and commercial mobile services. The agency is considering
pairing this with 50 MHz of spectrum available in the 4940-4990 MHz band. 

South Korean Wireless Market in Turmoil (10/11/2000) 
As companies are bidding for licenses to offer third-generation mobile
phone services, the telecommunications sector is facing an ongoing struggle
over which platform to adopt. The government is demanding that two
platforms-WCDMA and cdma2000-be adopted to insure competition; however, the
three top bidders all favor WCDMA. The government could make a decision to
force one carrier to adopt cdma2000, most likely the losing bidder. 

Disney Prohibited From Viewing Merger Documents (10/11/2000) 
The FCC prohibited Disney from viewing confidential documents related to
the AOL/Time Warner merger. The prohibition comes after one of Disney's
associate attorneys sent an e-mail containing a description of the
documents to counsels not covered by confidentiality agreements.
Confidential information will not be disclosed to Disney until they provide
the FCC with measures to ensure future breaches will not occur. 

UK's Oftel Casts Doubt on Unbundling Claim (10/11/2000) 
UK's telecom regulator, Oftel, said that less than 17 percent of British
Telecom's local exchanges will be opened to competitors by July, but
insisted that would meet the government's aim for widespread deregulation.
BT is allowing competitors into only 361 of its less lucrative exchanges
under the first phase of unbundling. 




Satellite Communications
PanAmSat to Launch New Satellite (10/12/2000) 
PanAmSat's PAS-1R Atlantic Ocean Region satellite arrived in Kourou, French
Guiana, where it will be launched in the middle of November. The PAS-1R,
PanAmSat's 22nd spacecraft, is being launched to replace the PAS-1
communications satellite that was launched 12 years ago. The company's new
satellite includes transponders designed to deliver video, data, and
Internet services to customers in the Americas, Europe, and Africa. 

DIRECTV Launches Interactive TV (10/10/2000) 
DIRECTV, Wink, and THOMSON Multimedia launched DIRECTV INTERACTIVE, an
interactive platform that will be available to more than one million
customers who own a Wink-capable DIRECTV receiver. By the end of 2001,
DIRECTV expects to have over five million homes connected to the service,
which will allow customers to interact with the programs and commercials
onscreen. 




Security
Tivoli Launches SecureWay PKI (10/10/2000) 
Tivoli Systems launched the Tivoli SecureWay Public Key Infrastructure
(PKI), software for financial organizations looking to enhance e-business
transactions using digital certificates and digital signatures. In
addition, PKI meets the interoperable Identrus e-business standard. 




Network Switching
Corvis and Broadwing Deploy First All-Optical Switch (10/11/2000) 
Corvis delivered the first all-optical switch to Broadwing Communications
for commercial use. The new switch offers 2.4 terabit capacity and enables
service providers to switch traffic without optical-to-electric and
electric-to-optical conversions. 

Mitel Introduces New WAN Chip (10/10/2000) 
Mitel's new WAN switching chip, the MT90866, will offer twice the bandwidth
of current solutions, the company announced. The MT90866 switches up to
4096x2432 channels, delivering the highest available channel capacity to
networks. The new chip manages voice, data, and video traffic and
incorporates three different switching functions. 




Wireless Communications
Ericsson Bringing WAP to Enterprises (10/12/2000) 
Ericsson is enabling enterprises to offer mobile e-commerce to customers
through its newly launched enterprise WAP Gateway. With the WAP Gateway's
applications, mobile users are also able to access corporate Intranets in
real-time. Businesses can create mobile offices that include corporate
directories, calendars, news, and e-mail for their employees, and the
service can be applied to such areas as banking, stock trading, and travel.
In addition, the enterprise WAP Gateway is fully WAP-compliant and operates
on Windows NT. 

A Fair WIND Blows for Nokia (10/12/2000) 
Nokia announced that WIND, the company owned by Enel and France Telecom,
chose it as its partner in the development and deployment of its
third-generation networks. As WIND's partner, Nokia is a turnkey supplier
of equipment, including its mobile core network, radio access technology,
and mobile terminals. Using the company's equipment, which will be
integrated into existing networks, WIND will be able to offer 3G mobile
Internet services to its 6.4 million Italian customers. 

Sonera, Compaq in Mobile Security Deal (10/11/2000) 
Sonera's Finnish mobile operator unit, SmartTrust, sealed a deal with
Eurogiro Network to enable secure payments over mobile phones in 30
countries. Both SmartTrust and Compaq won the deal for international secure
payment software known as Public Key Infrastructure (PKI). 

Nokia Introduces 3G Solutions (10/11/2000) 
At the UMTS 2000 Congress in Barcelona, Spain, Nokia introduced its new
suite of 3G network solutions and Mobile Internet Application Platforms.
Using the Nokia Positioning and mPlatform Solution, operators and service
providers will be able to bring their services to market quicker and they
will be able to customize those solutions to their customers' needs. In
addition, the company introduced the UltraSite WCDMA Optima family of
WCDMA-based base stations that allow operators to increase capacity by 75
percent. Other solutions unveiled at the Congress include the IP-RAN Common
Radio Resource Management for multi-standards 3G networks, which places
radio resource controls onto a single server, and the SGSN for 3G networks,
which combines IP routing with mobile networks. 

BellSouth Bring Wireless to Guatemala (10/11/2000) 
BellSouth launched cellular phone service in its eleventh Latin American
market, Guatemala. The BellSouth-branded services will be offered first in
Guatemala City and its surrounding areas and will cover the entire country
within a year. Launching service in Guatemala increases the company's total
Latin American coverage to include a population of 247 million and gives
BellSouth access to Central America's largest country and economy. 

WebLink Signs with Glenayre (10/11/2000) 
WebLink Wireless singed an agreement to buy $20 million in wireless
infrastructure equipment from Glenayre. Throughout 2001, WebLink will
purchase the equipment and incorporate it into its ReFLEX network, tripling
capacity and increasing data speed for sending and receiving messages. 

QUALCOMM Hears Good News from China (10/11/2000) 
After meeting with Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji and Minister of Information
Industry Wu Jichuan, QUALCOMM's CEO Irwin Jacobs was told that China is
close to building a wireless network using the company's technology. Jacobs
also met with executives from China United Telecommunications, which
promised to build a wireless network with QUALCOMM's equipment and will
most likely build one for five to 10 million subscribers. This news comes
after reports from earlier this year that QUALCOMM's CDMA technology would
not be used at all for Chinese networks. 

ALLTEL Up To Date (10/10/2000) 
ALLTEL announced its Always Up2Date Guarantee for customers of its Total
Freedom and Regional Freedom digital rate plans. Under the guarantee,
ALLTEL will analyze customer phone usage for a six month period and notify
them in the case that another plan would better fit their calling patterns.
Customers are also given a $100 credit towards a new phone every two years. 

US Unwired Brings Sprint to Pensacola (10/10/2000) 
Sprint PCS Network Partner US Unwired launched PCS wireless services in
Pensacola, FL; Selma and Florence, AL; and Nashville, TN. With the launch
in these new areas, US Unwired can reach over 743,000 residents. In
addition, the company is providing roaming services in Alabama and Florida. 

Verizon Wireless Brings Service to Sioux Falls (10/10/2000) 
Verizon Wireless announced it is launching digital wireless service in
Sioux Falls and also launched the first-ever digital service in Sioux City,
Iowa. Both consumers and business customers can now access a list of
services, including Caller ID, voice, privacy, and security. Customers can
also take full advantage of their dual-mode phones now that Verizon offers
both digital and analog in these two cities. 

Comments or suggestions about Telecom Weekly may be sent to Tammy Boyle. 
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