SBC buys Palo Alto's Callisma   Callisma was founded in 1999 and employs 125 people in the planning, design and implementation of advanced communications networks.

From ATT website:

Callisma is a division of AT&T which specializes in delivering managed communications offerings and professional network consulting services to enterprise business customers. Callisma focuses on assisting larger businesses with some of their most complex communications challenges, including operations management, Voice over IP (VoIP), Internetworking, security, and storage solutions. Callisma consultants enable corporations to design and deploy infrastructure which will enhance their service and business performance.

  Acquisition of professional services and managed services providers:

Infrastructure and equipment vendors, network service providers, and professional services firms sense (appropriately in our view) accelerated adoption of business managed services due to ever-more mobile, IP based networks.

  Look for Verizon to make acquisitions in the professional services space to keep pace with AT&T’s
acquisition of Calisma (a deal previously closed by SBC, but has been influential and several high profile,mega deals).

  We expect AT&T to continue to seek deals in the content delivery and managed applications
space. And we anticipate one or two deals from Alcatel to help it penetrate this fast-growing market space.
  Advances in Ethernet-over-Copper (EoC) and Pseudo-Wire technology will allow the Tier 2 carriers
the opportunity to more aggressively pursue Ethernet services, especially in SMB markets. This will
cause Tier 1 carriers to adopt these technologies at a more aggressive rate in order to protect their
installed base. The net effect of this will be that Ethernet services will see significant growth in
2007-2008. There is potential upside for Lucent, which has a pseudo-wire solution, and Hatteras,
which has a contract with Bell South for its recently announced mid-band Ethernet solution.
  Given the growing emphasis around security, In-Stat expects acquisitions from AT&T and Verizon
in this pure-play space to continue. Similar to IBM’s 2006 acquisition of ISS (Internet Security
Systems), EMC’s purchase of RSA Security, and BT’s acquisition of Counterpane, firms whose
core business does not revolve around security will need to enhance their portfolio through organic
growth or, more likely, similar strategic acquisitions in order to ensure legitimacy in the market.
  Longer term than 2007, there will be a backlash against so-called "network neutrality" as the rising
amount of rich media content on the Internet slows down other traffic. Today's proponents of net
neutrality will begin to plead for tiered service—the option of paying more money for priority on the
backbone.
  In 2007, the focus of service providers will shift toward IMS service bundles for the enterprise and
SMB.