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Stories by Jim Duffy

  • Cisco's wireless moves: Not just a bunch of air

    You know a technology is hot when Cisco Systems starts throwing serious money at it. Considering the company has spent about $US2 billion to purchase wireless data companies in the past year, it's no stretch to say that wireless technology is the next sizzler. And according to Cisco, the firm's recent investments couldn't have come at a better time as the wireless LAN market heats up, and user demand for high-speed access to corporate networks is at an all-time high.

  • Nortel opens up routing code . . . again

    Nortel Networks is licensing its routing code in an attempt to bring Internet access to the masses at an affordable price and to try to upset Cisco's momentum as the leading supplier of Internet routers.

  • Cisco bolsters potency of quality of service

    Cisco last week announced a significant extension of its policy-based network initiative, one that gives users greater control in allocating network services to business applications.

  • 3Com to rely less on NICs, modems

    On the heels of a better-than-expected fourth quarter, 3Com's stock price dropped almost 14 per cent last week after the company said that it will de-emphasise sales of low-margin, price-sensitive network interface cards and modems.

  • Cabletron's Benson resigns

    Cabletron Systems announced last week that Craig Benson, its embattled chairman, president and CEO, has resigned from the company he co-founded in a New England garage almost 20 years ago. Benson has been replaced by Piyush Patel, Cabletron's senior vice president of worldwide engineering, and former CEO of YAGO Systems, a router start-up that Cabletron acquired last year. Benson will remain on Cabletron's board of directors.

  • Cabletron looks beyond enterprise networks

    Cabletron Systems is set to extend beyond the boundaries of enterprise networks and into the service provider market, with an ambitious virtual private network (VPN) and voice-over-IP product launch.

  • Cisco's WAN strategy is anyone's guess

    Now that Cisco Systems has killed off its ATM switch for the core of enterprise and service provider WANs, the company's plans for this segment of the market are unclear. Cisco is banking on increased sales of WAN switching gear to enterprises and service providers to drive the company's growth. But recent news that Cisco discontinued development of its core WAN switch and delayed another enterprise switch for a year indicates that success for Cisco in this market may be more challenging than expected.

  • Cisco pulls the plug on key WAN switch

    Cisco has quietly killed its prime offering for the core of enterprise and service provider WANs and has delayed delivery of another WAN switch by about a year. The developments raise questions about Cisco's strategy for next-generation WAN switching and could cost the company business.

  • Nortel defends Layer 3 upgrade requirements

    Nortel Networks is defending a plan that requires users to undergo a significant hardware upgrade to gain Layer 3 capabilities on its new LAN switch. Nortel's recently announced Accelar 8000 is a six- and 10-slot modular 10/100 and Gigabit Ethernet switch for enterprise wiring closets and core backbones. It will ship in April with Layer 2 switching modules.

  • Cabletron sets technical direction for turnaround

    In an effort to appear focused during a time of financial uncertainty, Cabletron Systems officials last week disclosed the company's technical direction for the year. The company is attempting to more closely align its product development efforts with customers' business objectives, such as tracking the cost of IT ownership. Cabletron's plan addresses service providers as well as existing government and enterprise accounts, and emphasises software and professional services.

  • 3Com picks up telephony company

    3Com last week announced a definitive agreement to acquire NBX, a developer of network-based telephony systems that integrate voice and data over small business LANs and WANs. The transaction is valued at approximately $90 million in cash and the assumption of stock options, and will be accounted for as a purchase. According to 3Com's estimates, the worldwide market for LAN telephony will be approximately $5 billion by 2003 with more than two-thirds of the sales going to small and mid-sized enterprises.