TechWatch: ECI gets Romanian boost as Israeli companies expand abroad

Having worked together since 2001, the deal adds to the $10 million worth of platforms ECI already has built for RCS & RDS.

By AVI KRAWITZ
tech watch 88 (photo credit: )
tech watch 88
(photo credit: )
ECI Telecom has won a significant deal with Romania's largest cable operator RCS & RDS to carry out the upgrade and expansion of its optical network. The Petah Tikva-based company said the multi-million dollar upgrade will enable RCS & RDS to provide triple-play and other broadband services across Eastern Europe and will give it access to the European Internet exchange in Frankfurt. The upgraded RCS & RDS network will serve approximately 1.7 million subscribers and will create a new regional network in Moldova and connecting Hungary to Romania. It will be based on the 10G DWDM technology. Having worked together since 2001, the deal adds to the $10 million worth of platforms ECI already has built for RCS & RDS. Closer to home, HP Israel and Yael Software and Systems won a tender from Partner Communications to prepare the cellular company's systems to handle phone number portability when the new legislation allowing for the interchangeability of phone numbers comes into effect. Telecommunications companies have been told to prepare for the legislation although no exact time frame has been set for the implementation. The law will allow customers to keep their phone numbers regardless of which network they sign up with. HP and Yael will offer a joint solution to enable Partner's 054 network based on products of US-based software company TIBCO, for which Yael is the sole distributor in Israel. Another Israeli company spreading its international wings, broadband solutions provider Metalink is collaborating with Daewoo Electronics to incorporate its WLANPlus chipset into Daewoo's next-generation set-top box. The new set-top box delivers wireless multiple high-definition video streams based on Metalink's 802.11n-draft compliant chip-set. The product will be presented for the first time at the IFA consumer electronics trade fair in Berlin during the week of September 1-6. Israeli video service provider BestTV has expanded its operations by opening a branch in Amsterdam, the first stage in a strategy to expand into Western Europe. The company's first task at the new branch will be to carry out an Internet video project for Dutch watch magazine "Watchtime." BestTV said it also is planning to establish distribution channels in France and Germany. The rising trend towards using the Internet for communications has also boosted Israeli-founded Kayote Networks business in the first quarter of 2006. The company reported a 44 percent increase in the minutes of calls running through its VoIP (voice over Internet Protocol) network in the second quarter over the first quarter of the year, and a 470% increase over the same period in 2005. Kayote signed up 16 new customers for hosted VoIP services in the quarter bringing the number of service providers currently outsourcing their VoIP back-end through Kayote to 33. Other Internet-related companies also reported positive earnings for the second quarter of the year this week. Internet portal Walla credited the continued rise in Internet advertising for its high profit margins for the quarter. The company posted a 43% rise in sales to NIS 25m. in the second quarter over last year. Net profit was 70% higher at NIS 4.7m. Walla said its own sales and marketing expenses increased 46% in the quarter to NIS 8m. Interactive content provider Tapuz People said its business grew in the second quarter despite high investments the company made to bring new products such as BlogTV to its customers and added expenses due to options granted to its workers. The company had revenue in the second quarter 36% higher than last year at NIS 6.1m. and net income growth at the same rate to NIS 790,000. Tapuz said its Internet and cellular operations were the main drivers of growth in the quarter. Finally, Radcom Ltd. has presented a new Correlation Module for wireless network operators. The company said the new tool is a sophisticated addition to the Omni-Q converged monitoring system and, in addition to enabling operators to trace a problematic call over various interfaces within the same domain, the system will allow for tracking of inter-domain activity.