Cisco Takes Two for $258 Million
Cisco shells out cash for Hammerhead Networks and Navarro Networks. (more)

The Rout(er) is on for Cisco
The networking giant adds 14 more pieces to and refreshes its prodigious line of routers. (more)

Another Software Company for Level 3
Beefing up its services portfolio, the carrier announced the $122 million purchase of Software Spectrum, sending its shares skyrocketing. (more)

While Others Flounder, Level 3 Shines
Level 3 Communications, Inc. (Quote) officials announced the expansion of its current contract with a major national Internet service provider (ISP), the second in a week. (more)

Qwest Facing Another Probe?
States probe whether the telecom struck secret deals with rivals to buy their support in regulatory issues. (more)

Venture Capital News

BigBand Networks Closes $27M Funding Round
BigBand Networks Inc., a provider of broadband multimedia routing systems for broadcast television and advanced services, announced today that it has closed a $27 million financing round. To date, the company has raised a total of $57 million in three rounds. New investors include Charles River Ventures, which led the round, Lauder Partners and CommVest. All of the company's prior venture capital investors, Redpoint Ventures, Pilot House Ventures, Cedar Fund and Evergreen Investments, are also participants.

BigBand Networks intends to use its funds to expand sales, marketing and development of the Broadband Multimedia-Service Router (BMR). The company recently announced that two quarters after commercial launch of the BMR's digital broadcast capability, the product serves more than 500,000 digital cable subscribers in live North American installations. BMR customers include Time Warner Cable, Cox Communications, Rogers Cable and Blue Ridge Communications.

Movaz Networks Closes $60 M in Funding
Movaz Networks, which provides provider of optical networking solutions for the Metro Edge, Metro Access and Metro Core, announced the closing of $60 million in funding consisting of Series C financing and a strategic business agreement. The funding will further strengthen Movaz's market position in delivering Unified Metro Optical Infrastructure to its expanding customer base. Eight existing and new top tier investment firms participated in the financing, including Oak Investment Partners, Worldview Technology Partners, Menlo Ventures, Meritech Capital Partners, Anschutz Investment Company, Telus Ventures, Silicon Valley BancVentures, Inc. and GATX Ventures, Inc.

New VC Report Released
INT Media Research, a division of INT Media Group Inc. (Quote) (which owns this site), announced the release of its latest report. "First Quarter 2002 Venture Capital Report: A VCBuzz.com Chronicle of Investment Trends" is an in-depth report providing a detailed compendium of venture capital deals made during the first quarter of 2002 compiled by INT Media Research Analyst and VCBuzz.com Editor Corey Ostman. The report includes summary charts highlighting the volume of venture capital investments made each month as well as the money invested in 14 key sectors including: Biotech, Broadband, Consulting, E-Commerce, Internet Services, Nanotechnology, Networking, Optical, Retail, Security, Semiconductor, Software, Telecommunications and Wireless. The report finds that although the number of deals appears to be slowing slightly, venture capitalists appear to be investing larger amounts in fewer companies in 2002.

Product News

Jedai Releases GigE Access Switch
Jedai Broadband Networks Inc. announced the availability of its FrontRunner 3200 access switch router with integrated TDM telephony. The FrontRunner has been in lab and field-testing with several top North American cable operators. To meet the demand and the mission-critical system requirements of network operators, Jedai worked with Intel to design Intel switching technology into the FrontRunner and with Flextronics for its manufacturing expertise.

Fujitsu Announces Fast Ethernet, OC-12 Capabilities on FLASHWAVE 4100 Multiservice Platform
Fujitsu Network Communications said it has upped the ante in the optical transport market with the addition of fast Ethernet and OC-12 interfaces on its entry-level FLASHWAVE 4100 multiservice platform. The fast Ethernet addition includes virtual private network services, router connectivity and Ethernet transport. The carrier-hardened FLASHWAVE 4100 platform is optimized specifically to deliver data and traditional Time Division Multiplexing (TDM) services at the edge of a carrier's network -- meaning more flexibility, increased speeds and greater functionality can be offered by carriers to their customers' premises.

Other News

Long-Term Outlook Good for MEMS in Optical Networks - Study
Despite the downturn in the telecom market, the development of MicroElectroMechanical Systems (MEMS)-based solutions for optical networking is moving forward at a rapid pace, with product offerings expanding beyond switches to include tunable lasers, tunable filters, variable optical attenuators, and dynamic gain equalizers.

In-Stat/MDR reports that even though MEMS solutions are ready and the telecom market is not, the long-term opportunity for those developing MEMS-based devices for optical networking remains a positive one. The high-tech market research firm projects that, for companies that can wait for the market to turn (sometime in 2003), the return will be significant, with revenues for MEMS in optical networking forecast to grow from $33.1 million in 2001 to more than $1.8 billion in 2006.