View from the Edge

By Jim Duffy

Search View from the Edge

Duffy is managing editor of The Edge, Network World's service provider equipment section. He has 17 years of high-tech reporting experience, including 11 years at Network World. Reach him at jduffy@nww.com.

Controversy surrounds Cisco IOS router exploit talk at conference: 08/04/05; Although Cisco and Internet Security Systems had sought to halt a talk at the Black Hat Conference to reveal how unpatched Cisco routers can be remotely compromised, the talk was delivered anyway by the ISS researcher who originally uncovered the problem. As Senior Editor Ellen Messmer reports, the researcher was dismissed by ISS and his talk ignited a spate of lawsuits against himself and the Black Hat Conference. An update is available here: http://www.networkworld.com/news/2005/072805-cisco-settlement.html http://www.networkworld.com/news/2005/072805-cisco-black-hat.html
Telecom lawyers rake it in: 07/29/05; Plus: SBC net income dips, but revenues increase; fight about TV over IP coming to Congress
Verizon to offer managed security, storage services: 07/27/05; Verizon is entering the managed security and storage service markets by turning internal operations outward toward enterprise customers.
Court finds Microsoft infringed AT&T patent: 07/22/05; Plus: WilTel CEO talks strategy; VoIP still lags behind in quality, survey says
Ebbers sentenced: 07/20/05; Bernie Ebbers, 63, will be 88 when released from prison after he was sentenced to 25 years for orchestrating the largest corporate accounting fraud in U.S. history.
Yahoo, Cisco to submit e-mail ID spec to IETF: 07/15/05; Plus: Internet minds try to curb unwanted traffic; Sprint to buy wireless affiliate for $1.3 billion
Private line services market headed for recovery: 07/13/05; Prices for private line services are expected to firm up in 2006, marking the beginning of a recovery in this contracting market, according to Insight Research.
BellSouth to roll out Virtual Ethernet Service: 07/08/05; MPLS-enabled offering will support four classes of service assigned on a per VLAN basis.
Verizon Wireless bundles data, voice plans for businesses: 07/06/05; Plus: Avaya, XO to collaborate on managed services; IPsphere Forum takes shape
Metro WDM revenue set to jump: 07/01/05; Metro WDM seems to be the brightest star in the hazy optical hardware galaxy.
Carriers push users to move off legacy nets: 06/29/05; Also: MCI broadens services aimed at melding legacy, IP nets; SBC unveils managed IDS service
MCI shareholder starts proxy fight to block Verizon: 06/24/05; A MCI shareholder is seeking support from other shareholders to block Verizon's plan to acquire the carrier.
Carrier router and switch market up in Q1: 06/22/05; Worldwide revenue for service provider routers and switches totaled $1.63 billion in Q1 2005
Revolving doors at Nortel's executive suite: 06/17/05; New COO resigns after fallout, CTO follows.
Supercomm closes it doors for good: 06/15/05; Another Supercomm has come and gone… in fact, Supercomm is gone for good after 18 years.
Nortel up to date on financial reporting: 06/10/05; Plus: Nortel fixes DoS vulnerability; AT&T loses $1 billion government contract
Verizon to add class-of-service features to Ethernet service: 06/08/05; Plus: AT&T expands security services; reform for reform's sake
Ethernet is red hot: 06/03/05; There may be no hotter data service right now than Ethernet. The worldwide market for Ethernet services was $2.5 billion in 2004 and is expected to more than double in 2005, according to Infonetics Research.
Energy Sciences Network adds 10G Ethernet metropolitan-area net in key cities: 06/01/05; Plus: Qwest adds features to global WAN services; few IT decision-makers see benefit in adopting IPv6
Enterprises reap benefits of MPLS: 05/27/05; Enterprises are now reaping the benefits of MPLS technology that was created in 1997 to bring more ATM-like characteristics to IP. Companies looking to improve QoS, facilitate any-to-any communications and converge several legacy and next-generation services on a common infrastructure are taking a long look at MPLS.
Nortel CEO has high hopes for 2005 despite challenges: 05/20/05; One year after taking the helm at the beleaguered telecom giant, CEO Bill Owens has steered Nortel through perhaps the most challenging period in its 110-year history.
Qwest offers incentives to keep enterprise customers: 05/18/05; Plus: Entrisphere closes $75 million in Series C financing; another solid quarter from Cisco
Chicago Mercantile Exchange signs on for MCI Ethernet services: 05/13/05; Plus: Internap announces optimization gear enhancements; AT&T details suite of IP services
What's next for Qwest?: 05/11/05; Having lost the auction for MCI despite its higher bid, Qwest now faces a future as telecom's ugly stepchild. Not only will it have to compete against the two new megacarriers - Verizon/MCI and SBC/AT&T - it will have to do so with $15 billion in debt, the least-attractive region of any of the RBOCs, and virtually no presence in hot growth markets such as wireless.
BT names suppliers for 21CN buildout: 05/06/05; Plus: Verizon shuts down free Wi-Fi hotspots; SBC rolls VPN RoadWarrior