Broadband Week Direct

Today's report from Web Editor Susan Rush

• AOL-TW Are Talkin' ISP Deals
• Sycamore Beats Estimates
• Excited About Broadband Music
• ASPs Honored At COMDEX
• Werner Lands In Aurora
• Broadband Briefs

AOL-TW Are Talkin' ISP Deals

America Online and Time Warner are reportedly following the lead suggested by the Federal Trade Commission and are in talks with several rival ISPs about giving them access to AOL-Time Warner cable lines. Earthlink Inc. and Juno Online Services Inc. are among the ISPs named in the discussions, according to the Washington Post. AOL declined to comment on the talks.

But Juno confirmed that the companies are close to an access deal. "We are exceptionally close to a deal. It will be similar in structure to deals we have with other telecom companies, like Covad," says a Juno Online spokesman. "We expect the deal to be based on a per subscriber, per month fee, not a per minute fee."

Seeking additional open access concessions, the FTC postponed its vote last week to approve or block the $183 billion merger. The FTC has not publicly announced the exact concessions it is after, but under one circulating scenario, regulators could force the companies to sign a contract with at least one national ISP service first and then add AOL to the cable network to ensure that the newly merged company does not create an instant monopoly. The FTC will likely move to block the deal if it is not satisfied with the concessions. Time Warner already has begun an open access trial involving several ISPs in Ohio.

AOL's shares were trading at $49.88, and Time Warner's stock was priced at $75.19 during early morning trading.

Related Stories:
FTC Postpones Merger Vote; Stocks Dip, BroadbandWeek Direct, 11/10/00
AOL-TW: Access Remains An Issue At FTC, BroadbandWeek Direct, 10/16/00

Sycamore Beats Estimates

Optical networking provider Sycamore Networks is in the black, posting pro forma net income of $6 million, or 2 cents a share for the first quarter of fiscal 2001, compared with a loss of $4.1 million, or 2 cents a share during the same period a year ago.

The Q1 numbers beat analysts' expectations by a penny. Revenues were reported at $120.4 million, up from $19.5 million a year earlier.

The company reported a net loss of $26.2 million, up from a net loss of $7.4 million during the same quarter during fiscal 2000. Sycamore acquired Sirocco Systems in September.

Company officials believe the growth will continue, forecasting its revenue will grow to $500 million during fiscal 2001.

Related Story:
Sycamore Grows In Q4, BroadbandWeek Direct, 8/25/00

Excited About Broadband Music

By 2002, 19 million consumers will use the Internet to download music, and one in four of those will use a broadband connection, according to research from Forrester Research. Both Excite@Home and MTVi are trying to capitalize on this growing market. The duo has teamed to deliver a new online music channel, Excite Music.

The site includes streaming audio and video from MTVi including "You Hear it First,." Excite Music is also being fueled by internet radio stations, music news and reviews. A selection of music downloads will also be available, both for free and for-purchase.

"Music is key to the online experience and an area where we expect to see maintained growth in both dial-up and broadband," says Byron Smith, executive vice president of Consumer Broadband Services for Excite@Home. "[This deal] is the next step in Excite@Home's commitment to bringing consumers the best-quality, online music on the Web through...broadband."

The site will be promoted on MTV's television network and through outdoor media ads in Silicon Valley. Only time will tell if Web users will be screaming, "I want my Excite Music."

Related Story:
MP3.com Ruling Sends Message To Net Start Ups, Broadband Week, 10/00

ASPs Honored At COMDEX

A good sign that an industry has arrived is when it starts giving out awards. Such is the case for the Application Service Provider Industry Consortium, which doled the first-ever ASPire Awards at this year's COMDEX Fall 2000 technology fest.

The consortium selected winners from several performance categories. Top honors included Verso Technologies, for enablement; Resonate Inc., management and operations; eTopware Inc., integration; and LearningStation.com, delivery.

Founded in May 1999, the ASP Consortium now numbers more than 700 member companies. The fledgling ASP market is expected to grow into a multi-billion-dollar market in the coming years, as demand for hosted network services rises, particularly among small to mid-sized businesses.

Related Story:
ASPs Play Host To Biz Applications, Multichannel News, 11/8/99

Werner Lands In Aurora

The industry has been wondering where Tony Werner, the former AT&T Broadband chief technology officer would land after his departure last month. Well, it seems Aurora Networks snatched him up. Werner joins the company as its new president and chief executive officer. "This is an exciting time to be leading in technology development," said Werner in a statement. While with AT&T, Werner was at the forefront of several significant broadband service launches, including AT&T Digital Cable and high-speed cable Internet services.

Aurora Networks develops optical transport systems designed to boost bandwidth of two-way broadband networks.

Related Stories:
Werner's Last Words, Broadband Week, 11/00
Werner Exits AT&T, BroadbandWeek Direct, 9/22/00

Broadband Briefs:

AT&T Broadband installs its one-millionth high-speed cable Internet customer. The San Francisco Bay Area customers, Gerry and Arlene Balot, hit the jackpot, winning a year of free service, a new Gateway computer and a high-speed cable modem. The company also plans to donate two years of AT&T@Home service to a charity of the Balots' choice.
BIFS Technologies Corp. completes installation of its SWOMI wireless broadband network system in 1,000 hotel/resort rooms in Myrtle Beach, S.C.
Sprint launches its fixed-wireless Internet service to customers in the Denver metro and Boulder, Colo. areas. The always-on connection features Earthlink Sprint Internet services.
Global Crossing North America inks a $100 million deal to provide voice and data services to Eschelon Telecom Inc.
Fuzion Wireless Communications launches its fixed wireless broadband service in Boulder, Colo.
Winstar Communications Inc. will integrate Speedera Networks' suite of content delivery and traffic management services to its broadband services and Web hosting portfolio. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office grants a U.S. patent to Avanex Corp. for its proprietary dense wavelength multiplexing (DWDM) process. The process enables the splitting of an optical signal an "extraordinary" high number of wavelengths, each capable of carrying a stream of data, according to the company.
Lucent Technologies inks a $200 million deal to supply data systems and products to IP Communications. IP plans to offer voice services over a data network in Texas next year.