|
White Papers & Reports |
||||
Broadband
Week's Library is an invaluable resource for networking
professionals who build, manage and sell broadband applications
and services. White papers, analyst reports, vendor information
and more can be found at www.bbwlibrary.com. |
|
Wednesday, August 7, 2002 |
|
• Satellite company rolls out video distribution services • Orange tries to postpone 3G launch in Sweden Cisco Systems Inc.'s fourth-quarter were better than the Street was expecting, but the networking giant's good news was not enough to keep the Nasdaq on an upward swing. In May when Cisco reported better-than-expected results, the NASDAQ jumped more than 96 points. But with accusations of financial wrongdoing and spending uncertainties, the market failed to be inspired this time. In midday trading, the NASDAQ was relatively flat, down less than a point at 1,258.80. For the just-ended fourth quarter, Cisco reported net income of $772 million, or 10 cents a share. In the same quarter last year, the company posted net income of $7 million, or breakeven. Sales climbed from $4.3 billion to $4.83 billion. To date, Cisco has shed more than 8,000 jobs and written off more than $2.2 billion in inventory. The company says it has been protected slightly from the telecom turmoil because only about 20 percent of its customers are from the telecom sector. Although its customers remain cautious, Cisco expects to report a slight increase in sales in the first quarter 2003. As of 12:42 p.m. EDT, Cisco shares were up 79 cents, or nearly 7 percent, to $12.86. Cisco also announced plans to beef up its share buyback program to $8 billion. Since September, when the program was first announced, Cisco has repurchased $2 billion of its shares. Cisco's Chief Financial Officer Larry Carter plans to retire in May. Dennis Powell, vice president of corporate finance, will take over Carter's post. Related stories:
Charter Communications Inc. is looking to create custom digital channel lineups, and is turning to Terayon Communications Systems Inc. to make it happen. The fourth largest MSO is deploying the latest digital video management system, the DM 3200 CherryPicker, in its cable systems. With the DM 3200, Terayon has taken its CherryPicker to the next level, the company said. The second-generation product has been reduced from eight racks to one and its inputs have increased from eight to 16. Using the proprietary ASICs (Application Specific Integrated Circuits), the DM 3200 ensures the "highest picture quality and optimal bandwidth utilization for grooming, digital-into-digital advertising insertion and rate shaping for HDTV content," Charter said in a statement. The latest CherryPicker has been designed to increase the number of programs or services that can be rate shaped from between 12-18 to 32. Terayon's first-generation CherryPicker is deployed
today with the eight largest U.S. MSOs. The company recently inked
a deal calling for Harmonic to resell its CherryPicker digital video
management system. Related stories:
Satellite company rolls out video distribution services PanAmSat Corp. is spreading its wings in the video distribution sector with the introduction of two new digital services. PanAmSat's first service, dubbed simply Video on Demand, enables cable operators to deliver content, including movies, news, educational programming and sports, to their subscribers in North America. After examining the international scope of the video distribution business, PanAmSat has launched the Digital Store & Forward service. The service enables the digital storage and delivery of video content around the globe. It negates the need for analog tapes to shipped overseas so content can be shown internationally. DSF enables production companies to use satellite links to beam content around the globe. The services were developed in partnership with PanAmSat's core video customers, the company said. The new services are in line with the plan company CEO Joseph Wright Jr. outlined when he took over the reigns at PanAmSat in October 2001. At the time he said the satellite provider planned to refocus on its core customer base, including cable networks and their future delivery needs. The company has poured more than $2 billion into refurbishing or replacing portions of its satellites. In May, PanAmSat inked a VOD deal with Intertainer. The deal called for the two companies to mesh satellite delivery with Intertainer's Demand E.S.P. video delivery platform. PanAmSat's VODcast pitcher-catcher delivery scheme, developed by SeaChange International Inc., is designed to funnel content directly into video servers from vendors using standard formats. This eliminates the need to manually input content at the cable headend. Related story:
Although some good news is coming out of the latest round of quarterly financial reports, many telecom companies are still cautious. Nokia, Digex Inc. and Tut Systems Inc. are reducing their staffs to pare expenses as demand continues to wane. Nokia plans to shed 900 jobs from its networks division by the end of the year. The market for telecom infrastructure remains week, and Nokia is making the cuts to better align the organization with current demand. The cuts, which will affect employees in Nokia's network delivery and maintenance functions, will be spread out among employees around the world, Nokia said. The company did not outline how much it would save as a result of the headcount reductions. Trying to distance itself from scandal-ridden WorldCom Inc., Digex Inc. is taking steps to become financially independent. The managed service provider is reducing its staff by roughly 200 people. The 20 percent staff cut is designed to align expenses with revenue. Affected employees will receive a severance package based on their time with the company. The cuts will be completed by the end of the week. In June, Digex laid off 86 employees, and put George Kerns at the company's helm. WorldCom owns 61 percent of Digex shares and has a 94 percent voting stake in the company. Digex, however, insists that its cost cutting measures are not related to WorldCom's troubles. Tut Systems Inc. is cutting a bit deeper than Nokia or Digex, with a planned reduction of 39 percent of its work force. The cuts will mainly take place in Tut's engineering, operations and general and administrative departments. In addition to the layoffs, the company plans to shut its Bridgewater, N.J. design center. Theses actions will bring Tut between $5 million and $6 million in annual savings. During the third quarter, Tut will take a $1.6 million charge -- $0.5 million for severance packages and $1.1 million to close the design center. The VDSL systems provider said it has the financial resources to operate beyond the next 12 months. The company says it remains committed to its line of products, including the Expresso, IntelliPOP 5000 and IntelliPOP 8000. Related stories:
Austin, Texas-based telecom OnFiber Communications Inc. made a move Tuesday, Aug. 6, to bolster its service offerings by acquiring most of the network assets and customer lists of Englewood, Colo., rival Telseon Inc. OnFiber declined to reveal a purchase price, but said the assets are worth $85 million. Industry observers speculated that OnFiber is acting while assets in the struggling telecom industry can be purchased cheaply. Just three months ago, OnFiber acquired the majority of the assets of Sphera Optical Networks Inc. for $2.3 million in a deal in which it claimed a revenue boost of about 55 percent. This latest acquisition will expand OnFiber's network from 10 major US metropolitan areas to 12, adding Denver and Miami, the company said. The acquisition also increases the total value of OnFiber's customer contracts by 40 percent, to $39 million, OnFiber said. "The integration of the networks will bring great value to the customers of both companies by expanding into new metros, deepening the footprints in current metros and broadening our service offerings," Danny Bottoms, OnFiber's president and CEO, said in a statement. Privately held OnFiber is backed by Menlo Park, Calif.-based investment firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers; New York's Incepta Group and Bear Stearns Merchant Banking; San Mateo, Calif.-based TeleSoft Partners; New York private equity firm Amerindo Investment Advisors Inc.; and GE Capital Corp. of Stamford, Conn. Telseon, which offers high-speed telecom services, had raised $20 million in the second quarter. The company has raise about $261.5 million since 1999. Related stories:
Orange tries to postpone 3G launch in Sweden
K-based mobile operator Orange SA has filed an application with the Swedish authorities to postpone the deadline of its 3G mobile network build-up by three years to Dec. 31,2006, the Norwegian online news provider Nettavisen reports. Orange reportedly also seeks a reduction of the required network coverage. It is currently obliged to cover 8,860,000 people but hopes that 8,300,000 would suffice. Orange is one of many mobile operators that paid billions of euros for 3G licenses across Europe. Operators have been forced to delay or in some cases even drop plans for 3G services due to lack of technology, funds and customer interest.
• Cramer, Sheer partner Cramer Systems and Sheer Networks have teamed to deliver network inventory and provisioning automation capabilities to speed the rollout of broadband services. Cramer will combine its inventory management and provisioning automation capabilities with Sheer's service activation and live network auto-discovery tools to enable service providers to reconcile inventory, topology and service configurations. To speed service deployment, the companies' tools will enable real-time synchronization of a live network. "Automating broadband service delivery is key to increasing its uptake and enabling carriers to open up vital new revenue streams," said Don Gibson, Cramer's chief technology officer. • AOL taps Miller Jonathan Miller has been named CEO of AOL Time Warner Inc.'s America Online division. Miller formerly served as CEO of USA Interactive's Information and Services Group. He replaces AOL chief Robert Pittman, who recently resigned as chief of the troubled Internet division. • nCUBE, Lifetime deploy digital program insertion nCUBE Corp. and Lifetime Movie Network have deployed a Digital Program Insertion (DPI) system using the DVS-253 cueing standard for digital ad insertion. It is the world's first such deployment, according to the companies. The DVS-253 standard defines cue messages that notify insertion systems of where and how to insert digital advertising without analog cue detection equipment. The system enables operators to conduct both analog and digital ad insertion from the same server. Lifetime also is using Scientific-Atlanta Inc.'s PowerVu Plus D9210 advanced encoder. The PowerVu Plus D9210 compresses signals and injects DPI signaling based on cue trigger inputs.
|
|
Broadband Announcements |
|
Check out Broadband Week's People on the Move page. To find out who's coming and going in the broadband industry, click here. To submit company hiring news, e-mail Broadband Week's People Page.
|
|
Broadband Week Resource Links |
|
Broadband Web Directory |