* Alvarez means business at RCN
Felipe Alvarez has been appointed president of RCN Business Solutions, the commercial services division of RCN Corp.
The appointment follows RCN’s acquisition of Consolidated Edison Communications, where Alvarez served as CEO.
* PMC-Sierra closes on FTTH chipmaker
PMC-Sierra has sealed a deal to buy Passave Inc., a silicon maker for the fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) access sector.
Under the deal, PMC-Sierra has picked up all outstanding shares of Passave in a stock-for-stock deal valued at $300 million.
Passave makes PON (passive optical networking) chips for optical line terminals and central office equipment.
* More Euro-DOCSIS gear makes the grade
A batch of gateways, modems and multimedia terminal adapters won Euro-DOCSIS certification following wave 22.
Based on tests conducted by tComLabs, the ECL Certification board awarded Euro-DOCSIS 2.0 certs to Thomson (CableHome Gateway TCW710), Scientific Atlanta (WebStar Euro-DOCSIS Gateway EPR2325r3, the WebSTAR Euro-DOCSIS VoIP Gateway EPC2434, WebSTAR Euro-DOCSIS EMTA EPC2203, and the WebSTAR Euro-DOCSIS Gateway EPR2320r2), Electroline (DHT-PS-NA-006 modem), Ambit (E08C009 e-MTA), and Sagem (ICDD80 set-top/cable modem).
The board also awarded Euro-PacketCable 1.0 certification to the SA WebSTAR EPC2203 eMTA, and the Ambit E08C009 e-MTA.
* Cox commits $250K in cash and services to Boys and Girls Clubs
Cox Communications of Fredericksburg, Va., has committed $250,000 in cash and in-kind contributions to the area’s Boys and Girls Clubs branch.
The MSO will donate $100,000 in operating support and $150,000 in programming support over a five-year span. Cox will also provide free high-speed Internet access to the Club.
* Kasenna beefs up board
Kasenna Inc. announced the appointment of new members to its board of directors. Dr. Satish Menon, co-founder and former chief technology officer of Kasenna, has been appointed to the board, and Howard Bubb, chairman and chief executive officer of Ambric, an early stage fabless semiconductor start-up, also joins as a new board member.