Heard on the Net

News about People and Companies Influencing The Broadband Home

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People News

Matt Alden has been named Senior VP and General Manager of Motorola Broadband Communications Sector's newly created Digital Media Group. Carl McGrath will head DMG's consumer gateway business, and Denton Kanouff will lead their digital media system efforts. ( www.motorola.com/broadband )

Rita Brogley has become President and CEO of Moxi Digital, replacing Founder Steve Perlman. ( www.moxi.com )

Blaine Burnie has been appointed VP Sales and Network Integration of Internet Cable Corporation. He was previously President of the company's subsidiary Cable Systems Technical Services Inc. ( www.internetcablecorp.com )

Isabelle Bussel has joined Sigma Systems, based in their newly opened Paris office, to head their sales initiative across Southern Europe. Previously she was at Ceon. ( www.sigma-systems.com )

Catherine Duenas and Jeff Rosenberg have formed i-modulo, providing PR and strategy for broadband, digital entertainment and cable TV. Previously each ran independent public relations and advisory businesses. ( www.i-modulo.com )

Derrick Fitzgerald has joined Pace Micro Technology Americas as Director of Product Management to target their digital set-tops to North American cable operators. Prior to Pace, Fitzgerald was with NetSpeak. ( www.pacemicro.com )

Jeffrey M. Goldthorp has been appointed as chief of the Office of Engineering and Technology's network technology division for the US Federal Communications Commission . He was previously at Telcordia Technologies. ( www.fcc.gov )

Sarah Hackforth has been appointed VP and general manager of Terayon's Europe, Middle East and Africa operations (EMEA). Previously she was with RiverDelta Networks. ( www.terayon.com )

Brian Hickey has been promoted to President of Wavexpress. He was previously their General Manager. ( www.wavexpress.com )

Allen S. Horwitz and Del Willis will head Pacific Coast Cabling's new cabling networking subsidiary. They are responsible for design and engineering and sales management, respectively. ( www.pccinc.com )

Chuck Kaplan has been appointed VP of marketing for Narad Networks. He was previously at PowerTV. ( www.naradnetworks.com )

Scott C. McDonald has been appointed EVP and CFO of Hybrid Networks. ( www.hybrid.com )

Ed Nafus has been named president of the Broadband Services Division for CSG Systems. He was previously EVP of operations. ( www.csgsystems.com )

Jim Ramo has been named CEO of Movielink, an Internet VOD service formed by 5 leading studios. Ramo had previously headed Geocast Network Systems. ( www.movielink.com )

M. Jay Sinder has been appointed CFO of Focal Communications Corp. ( www.focal.com )

David Sugishita has joined SONICblue as EVP and CFO. Sugishita was previously with RightWorks. The company also promoted John Todd to EVP and COO. ( www.SONICblue.com )

Also noted: A friend pointed us to a January 22 article in Investor's Business Daily on Leaders & Success, called "Paul Baran Changed The World". We have the pleasure of knowing Paul and believe that everyone in broadband should know his name and contributions. Although IBD doesn't have the article freely available, there are many Web sites that can fill you in, including http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/9.03/baran.html .

(Please email people@bb-home.com to report a change in your position.)

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Company News

--Acquisitions

Alcatel is acquiring Astral Point Communications, which develops technology to manage optical bandwidth for metro area services. The transaction has an implied value of Euro 153 million. ( www.alcatel.com ) ( www.astralpoint.com )

Ciena Corp. is acquiring ONI Systems Corp. for $1.2 billion in stock and debt. ( www. ciena.com ) ( www.oni.com )

MetaSolv Software has acquired certain operations support system (OSS) assets of Nortel Networks for $35 million. These include the previously acquired Architel Systems software. ( www.metasolv.com ) ( www.nortelnetworks.com )

New Edge Networks has acquired certain assets and the customer base of Excite@Work customers for $1.5 million. ( www.newedgenetworks.com )

REMEC Inc. has purchased the assets of Spike Broadband Systems Inc. from a bankruptcy court for $4 million in cash. ( www.remec.com )

STMicroelectronics has acquired the intellectual property and DSL chipset products from Tioga Technologies for $10 million. ST was also granted an option to purchase all outstanding shares or assets of Tioga by January 15, 2003 for an additional $12 million. ( www.st.com ) ( www.tiogatech.com )

Sunrise Telecom Inc. is acquiring Agilent Technologies' CaLan Cable TV Test business. Financial terms were not released. ( www.sunrisetelecom.com ) ( www.agilent.com )

--Funding

Artel Video Systems closed a new round of financing for developing its Interactive TV and VOD applications. Investors include BancBoston Capital, Charles River Ventures and Commonwealth Capital Ventures. ( www.artel.com )

Atrica, a provider of optical ethernet equipment secured $75 million in its third round of funding. St. Paul Venture Capital led the round. ( www.atrica.com ) ( www.stpaulvc.com )

Catena Networks has raised $75 million in a fourth round of financing. Catena is focused on enabling mass-market deployment of broadband DSL services and access network convergence. ( www.catena.com )

Cedar Point Communications, developer of a PacketCable-based telephony technology for cable system operators, announced completion of an initial round of $19 million in private equity financing. ( www.cedarpointcom.com )

Cox Communications received a $500 million investment from Bill Gates, via Cascade Investments and the Gates Foundation. ( www.cox.com ) ( www.gatesfoundation.org )

Hyperchip Inc. has secured $70 million in its fourth round of financing. Calling itself "The Petabit Routing Company" the funding will enable contining carrier trials for its core router. ( www.hyperchip.com )

Ishoni Networks received a $25 million equity investment from Royal Philiips Electronics giving Philips a 51% majority stake in Ishoni, a silicon and software solution provider for broadband CPE and devices. ( www.ishoni.com ) ( www.news.philips.com )

Magis Networks received funding from existing investors, including Paul Allen's Vulcan, joining Motorola in Magis' second round. Magis develops 802.11a wireless chipsets. ( www.magisnetworks.com )

NEC Eluminant Technologies finalized a $5 million funding agreement with Yasuda Enterprise Development to support its growth in fiber-based, broadband products and services. Yasuda is one of the largest venture capital companies in Japan. ( www.eluminant.com ) ( www.yedvc.co.jp )

NETGEAR Inc. repurchased all of Nortel Networks' 68.6 percent interest in NETGEAR for an undisclosed amount. NETGEAR was a 100 percent owned subsidiary of Nortel until March 2000. ( www.netgear.com ) ( www.nortelnetworks.com )

ProSyst Software AG has added 5 Million Euro to its capital base. Two new investors joined the earlier investor group on funding for further product and market development. ( www.prosyst.com )

Xanboo Inc. has received a $20 million investment from investors including Motorola Ventures. ( www.xanboo.com )

--Other News

Broadjump has continued their success in winning customers for their configuration, installation and maintenance software. With their latest addition of TELUS, they now claim to have 90 percent of the Canadian DSL market and 70 percent of the total North American broadband market as their customers. ( www.broadjump.com )

EarthLink is aggressively pushing to add new high-speed Internet access customers, with a year-end goal of adding 250,000 customers. They completed a deal with Compaq Computer to offer EarthLink High Speed Internet service to new Compaq Presario Internet PCs in the US. Another promotion offers a free gateway for their DSL customers who sign up for 12 months of EarthLink's home networking service, costing $9.95 monthly. The offer provides 2Wire's Home Portal gateway. A Ziff Davis report indicated that of their approximately 4.8 million subscribers, 471,000 (about 10%) use high-speed access. ( www.earthlink.net ) ( www.compaq.com ) ( www.2wire.com )

Guthrie Telecom, a competitive local exchange carrier owned by Panora Cooperative Telephone Association, has launched their fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) network for delivering a bundled package including high-speed data, entertainment video, and multiple phone lines per home. They are using Optical Solutions' "FiberPath" platform, based on a passive optical network (PON). ( NONE ) ( www.panoratelco.com ) ( www.opticalsolutions.com )

Intertainer announced an agreement with MGM allowing them to include MGM titles as part of their broadband video-on-demand service. ( www.intertainer.com ) ( www.mgmhomevideo.com )

ITRAN Communications announced a joint venture, named PREMINET, Inc. with Kinden, Alps and Macnica for a complete power line communications (PLC) solution in Japan. Initial products will be released coincident with the revision of Japanese regulations regarding PLC and will provide data communication rates of 2.5 - 24 Mbps. ( www.ITRANcomm.com )

MetaTV launched its new interactive TV platform and announced an agreement to host and manage Cox Communications iTV service in selected markets. ( www.metatv.com ) ( www.cox.com )

Motorola's Broadband Communications Sector and digeo announced an agreement to manufacture and market new broadband media centers designed collaboratively with Charter Communications. The devices will include capabilities for digital video recording, telephony and other advanced communication services. Charter will begin deploying the new units this fall. ( www.motorola.com/broadband ) ( www.digeo.com ) ( www.charter.com )

Panasonic Digital Concepts Center (PDCC) announced its new incubator company, Rainmaker Technologies, Inc. See previous Rainmaker information at our December 19, 2001 issue at http://www.broadbandhomecentral.com/report/backissues/Report0112.html#link4 . ( www.panasonic.com ) ( www.RainmakerTechnologies.com )

Rogers and Shaw, Canadian cable operators, are rolling out a "lite" offering which provides up to 128 kbps download and 64 kbps upload speeds and unlimited time online, for the same price as dial-up services. ( www.rogers.com ) ( www.shaw.ca/litespeed )

Sprint has teamed with GateHouse Networks to market GateHouse's video services in conjunction with Sprint's voice and data communications. They will be marketed to new residential developments in Sprint's local territory, which has more than 8 million access lines in 18 states. GateHouse, a division of Lamont Digital Systems, designs, builds, operates and finances customized telecommunication systems for communities. ( www.sprint.com )( www.gatehousenetworks.com ) ( www.campustelevideo.com )

--Public Policy/Regulatory News

US: Broadband has been big news in Washington, D.C. over the past month. Here are a few of the items.

• Computer Systems Policy Project (CSPP) representatives met with government officials to discuss their broadband vision for the US. Executives from Motorola, Dell Computer, NCR and Intel called for a national effort to promote broadband deployment like those in South Korea and Sweden or fear falling farther behind in the global broadband race. Their report, "Building the Foundation of the Networked World: A Vision for 21st Century Wired and Wireless Broadband", said US economic expansion is dependent on broadband deployment. It recommended that by the end of 2003, 80% of U.S. homes should be able to get data at 1.5M bit/sec., and 50% of the nation's homes should be able to receive data at 6M bit/sec. They also called for nationwide 100M bit/sec. access by the end of the decade. ( www.cspp.org )
• The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) granted limited approval for using ultra-wideband (“UWB”) technology at very low power levels. The technology has been backed by companies such as Intel and Sony Corp and can be used for short-range wireless high-speed data connectivity. The FCC is permitting its use in stages. If the low power version does not produce interference with other systems, higher levels of power may be approved. ( www.fcc.gov )
• The FCC has tentatively concluded that broadband Internet access provided over phone lines are information services, with a telecommunications component, rather than telecommunications services, which could lead to less regulation of ILEC broadband services. The action has sparked lots of reaction. The FCC's notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) asks numerous questions about the impact of reclassifying DSL provisioned by the Bells and other ILECs. The FCC said the proceeding would parallel a similar one underway for cable modem service. They are seeking comment on whether facilities-based broadband Internet access providers should contribute to support universal service just as facilities-based telecommunications carriers currently are required to do. All this raises many questions for the US broadband industry.
• A U.S. Appeals Court has struck down the FCC rules barring companies from owning cable operators and TV stations in the same markets. They also ordered the FCC to reconsider its rules prohibiting companies from owning stations that together reach more than 35% of the national TV market. This is expected to lead to more consolidation and vertical media integration.
• The Tauzin-Dingell bill is expected to come to a vote this week in the US House of Representatives. Although it may pass there it faces far more difficult odds in the Senate.

Miscellany: Broadband Airplane Redux

When commercial markets fizzle, whom do you target? The government, of course! We had written previously about "Broadband Airplanes" and Boeing's plans for Connexcion. After September 11th, support largely evaporated for those plans. Recently Boeing won a $112 Million deal to give US Vice President Cheney, cabinet members and other US government officials the broadband service in C-32As, specially configured Boeing 757-200s. Even if you and I won't have it, the big guys will be able to have real-time, two-way broadband connectivity in the air. ( www.boeing.com )