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Resources

* Global Knowledge presents a two-day course on "Understanding Digital Subscriber Line (xDSL)," where participants can learn what DSL is and how to implement sound DSL solutions to meet telecommuting, branch office, campus or intrabuilding networking needs. Classes will be held in Morristown, NJ, Dec. 21-22 and March 22-23; Detroit, Jan. 11-12; New York, Jan 18-19; Atlanta, Jan. 25-26; Chicago, Feb. 1-2; Boston, Feb. 8-9; Dallas, Feb. 15-16; Washington, Feb. 22-23; Raleigh, NC, March 1-2; San Jose, CA, March 8-9; Philadelphia, March 15-16. See http:// am.globalknowledge.com.

* A new event, SUPERnet 2001, Jan. 14-17 in Santa Clara, CA, plans to focus on advances in widespread deployment of broadband networking infrastructure and services. Optical, broadband access and IP vendors will unveil the latest technologies, products, applications and services for achieving widespread broadband connectivity. Sponsored by the Telecommunications Industry Association and International Engineering Consortium. Go to www.supernet2001.com.

* The BICSI Winter Conference, Jan. 15-18, Orlando, FL, offers conference sessions on global network rollouts, evaluating network throughput, plenum cable fire information, TIA standards and a comparison of American and European fiber core size. Keynote speaker Todd Buchholz, former White House economic advisor, will offer tips on surviving fast-paced changes of the new economy. Additionally, features include 200 industry exhibits; members-only technical seminar, "Designing an Open Office Environment"; exam for the RCDD designation; and 15 pre- and post-conference BICSI design and installation courses. For more details, see www.bicsi.org.

* The OSS for New Generation Networks conference, Coral Gables, FL, Jan. 16-18, highlights the importance of developing OSS architecture, and its ability to handle the demands of today's network services. Telecom carriers, cable utility telecoms and network wholesalers should attend. Details at www.ITTelecomSolutions.com,

* EC 2001, Jan. 21-24 in San Francisco, focuses on electronic commerce infrastructure. Featuring an all-new track focus and more than 70 sessions. Consult www.nacha.org/conferences.

Future Queue

DESPITE WALL STREET, OPTICAL STAYS HOT ...

Investors have temporarily soured on optical companies, but lighting up the nation's network continues unabated. Telseon, Denver, is extending its optical networking services in Chicago, Dallas, Miami and St. Louis, using the transport exchange facilities and services of LayerOne Inc., Dallas.... Optical bandwidth-on-demand provider-Yipes Communications, San Francisco, reports two new deals, Communications and Power Industries and PDI/DreamWorks, both of Palo Alto, CA.... SAVVIS Communications, Herndon,VA, is partnering with Nortel Networks, Palo Alto, CA, and Level 3 Communications, Broomfield, CO, to build a 20,000-mile redundant backbone network comprised of eight rings connecting 50 U.S. markets.... Sphere Optical Networks, New York, is expanding its metropolitan gateway network into 14 U.S. and European cities.... Agilent Technologies', Palo Alto, CA, new division focuses on the high-speed optical networking market.

ON THE RESEARCH FRONT ...

Demand for wireless data and Internet services is growing rapidly, according to a report from Cahners In-Stat Group, Scottsdale, AZ. The hottest growth segment will be mobile phone Internet access.... According to the Gartner Group, mobile phone users in China have surpassed Japan, 51.7 million to 51.1 million, respectively. Clarent Corp., Redwood City, CA, is riding that trend with two new deals in China. China Mobile will use Clarent's voice-over-IP platform to build its nextgen backbone network, and the company also is partnering with China BOC to implement more advanced, cost-effective IP telephony solutions in the world's largest market.... Larger telecom equipment suppliers--Avaya, Williams Communications, Siemens, GTE, and Norstan--are at an advantage over their smaller, regional and local rivals, according to The Phillips Group-InfoTech. National companies have become difficult to compete with on price points for maintenance contracts and offer more advanced capabilities than local competitors.... Phillips InfoTech also predicts use of unified messaging solutions by large enterprises will increase dramatically within three years, with the global market reaching $6.8 billion by 2004.

ASPS FOR ASPS ...

Attention (at least on Wall Street) is shifting from the application service provider model to application infrastructure providers (AIPs). Venture capitalists are interested in AIPs over the riskier ASPs. AIPs provide hosting services tailored to the application hosting needs of ASPs and enterprises.... Ernst & Young spinoff, EYT, Chantilly, VA, has agreed to host its financial ASP offering at Equinix, Mountain View, CA, Internet business exchange centers in Washington, D.C., and Silicon Valley.... Baltimore Technologies, Boston, now an ASP, offers e-security solutions for other ASPS, including secure PKI hosting, VPN, secure Web access and content filtering.

QUOTE OF THE MONTH:

As we move forward, software quality will play an increasingly visible role. The `real cost of business downtime' asserts that 40% of all failures are due to software. The wireless world of the future will consist of dedicated hardware devices, but will ultimately be defined by the quality and robustness of the software they run."

--Jim Duggan at the Gartner IT/xpo in Orlando, FL.

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