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To: Stephen B. Temple who wrote (1708)	10/27/1998 1:00:00 PM
From: Stephen B. Temple	Respond to of 3178

Getting it backwards October 27, 1998 Network World via NewsEdge Corporation : Two years, eight months and 25 days ago, Congress passed the Telecommunications Act of 1996. The telecom act said the regional Bell operating companies could and should enter the long-distance business. The act mentioned nothing about allowing them to merge. So what's been the Federal Communications Commission's policy toward RBOCs? It rejects their long-distance applications and approves their mergers. Does that strike anyone as backwards? The argument against letting RBOCs into long distance is that they haven't opened their local markets, as the law requires. But is t hat really true? There's now a group of competitive local exchange carriers (CLEC) that have broken into markets by reselling RBOC p hone lines by the bushel - an inconvenient fact for the longdistance carriers' lobbyists, who go to comical lengths to keep the RBOC s out of long distance. Recently, I've sat in these lobbyists' offices listening to them rant about "monopoly RBOCs." Yet sitting right in front of them are handouts bragging that their companies are local and long-distance carriers. AT&T and MCI WorldCom in fact have become both courtes y of their mergers. So how can the RBOCs be monopolies? Perhaps the RBOCs haven't retaliated hard enough. They've submitted only five state applications for long-distance authority to the FCC in nearly three years. Two were from Louisiana and one was from South Carolina, neither a hotbed of CLEC activity. Where are the long-distance applications from SBC Communications in California and Bell Atlantic in New York, where there's supposed ly so much local competition? Maybe their priorities are elsewhere. Is it any accident that SBC and Bell Atlantic are the two Bells that have bought other Bells and are trying to merge again - SBC with Ameritech and Bell Atlantic with GTE? Somehow the FCC has bought the line that mergers such as these give users something new. I don't see how. Even the original RBOCs we re basically the result of mergers - seven companies formed out of Ma Bell's 22 local operating companies. When two RBOCs merge toda y, it just means that a larger collection of local calling areas is gathered under one parent company. Perhaps the FCC should reverse its policy as much to refocus the RBOCs' energies as to follow the intent of Congress. If the FCC put its foot down on mergers, maybe the RBOCs would finally start competing - another thing they're supposed to be doing but aren't. A lot of things in telecom reform are complicated, but on these points, the law is clear: The RBOCs should do new things, not the same old, same old. Why not give the law a try? David Rohde, senior editor - drohde@nww.com <<Network World -- 10-26-98, p. 42>>

To: Stephen B. Temple who wrote (1708)	10/27/1998 1:03:00 PM
From: Stephen B. Temple	Respond to of 3178

OT> NOKIA/ Nokia launches revolutionary switching equipment to more than double subscriber capacity October 27, 1998 M2 PRESSWIRE via NewsEdge Corporation : For the Nokia High Capacity GSM system Nokia today expands its mobile switching product family by launching new, high capacity products as part of the Nokia High Capacity GSM system. Launched at the PT/ExpoComm exhibition in Beijing, China, the DX 200 "i-series" products offer the market's highest capacity. The DX 200 "i-series" products will bring significant savings for network operators, reducing required site size by up to 60 per cent and offering up to a 70 per cent power saving thanks to a new compact design. The DX 200 "i-series" Mobile Switching Centre (MSCi) more than doubles existing capacity and is capable of handling up to 400,000 subscribers. Operators can also fully use sophisticated features, such as Intelligent Network (IN)-based services, as Nokia's switches can operate at maximum capacity even if all the calls in the network require an IN service. Nokia's MSCi is built to cope with the most demanding mobility management traffic generated in the most dense city networks. The DX200 "i-series" also includes high capacity products for the Home Location Register (HLR) capable of supporting 1.2 million subscribers. "All new DX 200 "i- series" products work seamlessly with existing DX 200 mobile switching equipment," explains Sauli Salo, Senior Vice President, Mobile Switching, Nokia Telecommunications. "With Nokia's expanded range of complementary high-capacity products for urban and rural networks, plus transit switching, the DX 200 "i- series" will give GSM operators complete flexibility to optimise their growing networks." Nokia offers total GSM systems, with everything from digital mobile phones to transmission and switching as well as extensive services and network management solutions for building, efficiently operating and developing these networks. Having supplied GSM technology to 74 operators in 37 countries, Nokia ranks as the world's largest supplier of GSM 1800 networks and one of the two largest in GSM 900. The world's first GSM call was made through a Nokia network in 1991. Nokia is the world's leading mobile phone supplier and a leading supplier of mobile and fixed telecom networks including related customer services. Nokia also supplies solutions and products for fixed and wireless datacom, as well as multimedia terminals and computer monitors. In 1997, net sales totaled FIM 52.6 billion (USD 9.8 billion). Headquartered in Finland, Nokia is listed on five European Stock Exchanges and on the New York Stock Exchange (NOK.A), has sales in 130 countries and employs more than 42,000 people world-wide. <<M2 PRESSWIRE -- 10/26/98>>

To: Stephen B. Temple who wrote (1708)	10/28/1998 8:32:00 AM
From: Stephen B. Temple	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 3178

OT>> PairGain Announces Plans for Early G.lite Compliance of Avidia System and Megabit Modems October 28, 1998 TUSTIN, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE) via NewsEdge Corporation -- DSL Leader Offers Key Contributions in Development of Specification; Prepares to Ship Avidia System To Enable Mass Market Deployment of Consumer ADSL Services PairGain(R) Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: PAIR) today announced that its Avidia(TM) System and Megabit Modems(TM) will be in compliance with the industry's new G.lite standard and has plans to participate with other vendors to accelerate interoperability testing. The International Telecommunications Union's (ITU) determination of G.992.2 Splitterless Asymmetrical Digital Subscriber Line Transceivers, a new standard also known as G.lite, will enable mass market deployment of consumer ADSL services. The determination occurred last week at the ITU-T Study Group 15 meeting in Geneva, Switzerland. The ITU's adoption of G.lite sets a common, international standard that will speed the mass market deployment of consumer ADSL services. PairGain's Avidia System and Megabit Modems are targeted at large volume markets with industry-leading density, management and price/performance features. "PairGain's close involvement in the development of the G.lite standard focused on accelerating time-to-market by minimizing unnecessary modifications to the existing full-rate DMT ADSL standard, allowing vendors to build on existing interoperability work. PairGain's industry-leading Falcon DMT ADSL solution is poised to provide early support of interoperable G.lite," said George Zimmerman, PairGain's chief scientist. PairGain, a market leader in DSL solutions with more than one million DSL units installed worldwide, was the first ADSL vendor this year to release a single chip solution that supports both full-rate DMT ADSL and the new G.lite standard. The chip has been incorporated into several product lines, including PairGain's Avidia System, the first of a new generation of integrated access concentrators that can be configured as a DSLAM (Digital Subscriber Line Access Multiplexer), access server or LAN extension concentrator. The Avidia System allows service providers to deploy G.lite services on a large scale to both business and consumer customers. The new Avidia platform has been designed to support mass market deployment of G.lite-based services by providing extended features that allow for true splitterless operation and go beyond the scope of the standard. The system's functionality has surpassed that of traditional DSLAMs, in that it offers two to three times the density of other solutions, and combines support for G.lite, full-rate DMT ADSL, SDSL, HDSL and IDSL-based services. The Avidia System is the only DSL solution that supports both G.lite and full-rate DMT ADSL on the same physical ports. In addition, PairGain's exclusive intelligent power management feature, PowerGain(TM), allows both G.lite and full-rate DMT ADSL to operate at less than one watt per subscriber. The Avidia System is NEBS level three compliant and is currently deployed in several field trials. G.lite was developed as an extension to the current ANSI standard T1.413 " full-rate" ADSL. The G.lite standard is a splitterless version of the full-rate ADSL and minimizes the need for "truck rolls", or the installation of specialized equipment at the subscribers' premises. The new standard provides consumers with an "always-on" connection to the Internet at rates up to 1.5 Mbps downstream and 500 kbps upstream, and is able to support both Internet access and a regular analog telephone connection over a single copper telephone line, eliminating the need for additional in-home wiring. PairGain has also released a new line of Megabit Modems, also designed to support G.lite, full-rate ADSL and other data services. Additionally, PairGain has partnered with Rockwell Semiconductor Systems, a leader in consumer modem technology. Earlier this year, Rockwell agreed to license PairGain's DMT ADSL technology for integration into consumer ADSL modems targeted to the residential consumer and business markets. About PairGain PairGain Technologies is a world leader in the design, manufacture and marketing of DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) networking systems. Service providers and private network operators worldwide use PairGain's products to deploy DSL-based services such as high-speed Internet, remote LAN access, and enterprise LAN extension. For more than 10 years PairGain has been recognized as a technology leader and industry innovator. The company offers the widest range of HDSL, ADSL and SDSL-based systems available. Its product lines include HiGain(R) T1/E1 access systems, small subscriber carrier systems including PG-Flex(R) and PG-Plus(TM), campus systems and megabit access products including the Avidia system and Megabit Modems. Currently, more than 1,000,000 PairGain DSL-nodes are installed in over 70 countries. Additional information about the company is available via the Internet at www.pairgain.com. Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters discussed in this announcement are forward-looking statements which involve risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to economic, competitive, governmental and technological factors affecting the Company's operations, markets, products, services and prices and other factors discussed in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

To: Stephen B. Temple who wrote (1708)	11/2/1998 9:14:00 AM
From: Stephen B. Temple	Read Replies (5) \| Respond to of 3178

MEDIAONE KEY IN AT&T, TIME WARNER DEAL November 2, 1998 Electronic Media via NewsEdge Corporation : AT&T Corp. may be intensifying its negotiations with Time Warner to provide high-speed telephony services to its 12 million subscribers, but the cable giant's partner, MediaOne, may hold the deciding vote on any deal. While Time Warner and AT&T wrangle over their shared revenues, investments and equity interests in a telephony venture, sources are asking what the companies will have to offer MediaOne for its pivotal support. MediaOne, whose former corporate parent was regional telephone player US West, has a 25 percent stake in Time Warner Entertainment, a subsidiary that holds 10 million of Time Warner's cable subscribers. But, Time Warner and MediaOne have equal votes in determining key business matters. ''We've looked at doing telephony alone and other ways. If we can realize the full value of our upgraded systems in a telephony deal with AT&T, we'll do one,'' said one high-level Time Warner source. MediaOne declined comment on the fluid talks, but sources at the company said they did not want Time Warner to take the ''path of least resistance.'' Time Warner Chairman and CEO Gerald Levin heightened speculation about a broad- ranged telephony deal recently when he publicly acknowledged that the complex discussions with AT&T are in high gear and an agreement ''is near.'' The stumbling block is economics: how much AT&T will invest in a venture of its branded telephony services and the percentage of revenues. Time Warner is considered the linchpin in AT&T's aggressive effort to sign all major cable operators for telephony services. Sources say AT&T also is far along in its telephony negotiations with Comcast Corp. and with smaller TCI affiliates like Lenfest Communications and Bensnan Communications. A symbiotic deal A telephony arrangement is as strategically important to AT&T as it is to Time Warner. It is one of the few competitive situations to arise in which each has something critical the other needs, and from which everyone can profit. AT &T has the branded telephony that cannot be developed by cable operators, whose upgraded digital systems can be turned into money-printing machines offering high-speed data, video and telephone services. TCI's 12 million cable subscribers give AT&T only one-third of the U.S. households where lucrative telephony, high-speed data and digital video businesses services will mushroom as cable transforms its analog into a digital platform over the next year. Only 11 percent of TCI's plant has been sufficiently upgraded, and many systems are in rural locations. Tom Wolzien, analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein, estimates telephony services can generate $500 million in annual pretax profits for Time Warner in five years. More than one-third of all U.S. homes are expected to get their telephone service through cable within 10 years. The AT&T brand will attract twice as many local phone service customers for cable operators, he said. Digital telephony ''At the heart of the AT&T -TCI merger is Internet Protocol telephony-digital phone service over cable,'' Mr. Wolzien said, ''a key element that will permit AT&T to protect its long-distance service by bundling it with local service.'' For AT&T, offering telephone services to TCI's cable base could generate a $2 billion windfall, offsetting 10 percent of TCI's purchase price, he said. Other analysts estimate cable operators could see 15 percent margins from telephony services within the first five years and add 17 percent to cable valuations as early as next year. Cable's high-speed connections will provide more immediate, clear digital connections to the Internet for e-mail and other Web-based services. That is why others, such as America Online is in discussions with Time Warner about providing faster service than is currently provided through conventional telephone lines and personal computers. (Story, Page 3.) Analysts say Time Warner's talks with AT&T and AOL are just the tip of the iceberg where sweeping and lucrative broadband deals are concerned, deals that will fuse, cable, telephone and Internet companies.