Press Clippings: October 2009
Major Industry items you might have missed
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Three states approve Frontier’s acquisition of Verizon’s rural lines.
Source: FierceTelecom.
Frontier just came one step closer to establishing itself as one of the U.S.’s largest independent ILECs as state regulators in California, Nevada and South Carolina gave their thumbs up for its acquisition of Verizon’s rural wireline operations. Nevada’s Public Utilities Commission and the Public Service Commission of South Carolina separately approved the acquisition on Wednesday this week, while the California Public Utilities Commission gave their approval this Thursday.
Posted by Judith — 5:35 AM
Friday, October 30, 2009
CRTC disqualifies Globealive’s ownership structure.
Source: TeleGeography.
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has determined that start-up cellco Globalive Wireless does not meet the Canadian ownership requirements set out in the country’s Telecommunications Act. Under the legislation, a telecoms company is only eligible to operate in Canada if it is owned and controlled, in law and in fact, by Canadians.
Posted by Judith — 4:13 AM
Company managing O2 UK and Vodafone UK shared network sites is up and running.
Source: TeleGeography.
Cornerstone, the company managing the shared network infrastructure of British mobile operators O2 UK and Vodafone UK is now fully operational. Cornerstone has said that more than 100 cell sites are now live or under construction, and it is understood that a tender for maintenance of the sites could take place as early as January 2010.
The network sharing venture is part of a larger deal between the cellcos’ two parent companies, Spain’s Telefonica and UK-based Vodafone Group, announced in March 2009. The two telecoms giants have agreed to share infrastructure and deploy it jointly in Spain, Germany, Ireland and the UK in a ten-year deal.
Posted by Judith — 3:56 AM
Internet addresses set for change.
Source: BBC.
The internet regulator has approved plans to allow non-Latin-script web addresses, in a move that is set to transform the online world.
The board of Icann voted at its annual meeting in Seoul to allow domain names in Arabic, Chinese and other scripts.
Posted by Judith — 3:50 AM
New Zealand establishes Crown Fibre Holdings.
Source: Telecompaper.
New Zealand has established Crown Fibre Holdings and has appointed its inaugural board. Crown Fibre Holdings has been established to manage the Crown’s investment in ultra-fast broadband infrastructure over the next ten years. The government has allocated NZ$1.5bn. to roll out ultra-fast broadband to 75% of New Zealanders over ten years.
Posted by Judith — 3:08 AM
Thursday, October 29, 2009
SaskTel and Bell to share HSPA infrastructure.
Source: TeleGeography.
Saskatchewan-based SaskTel has reached an agreement to share 3.5G HSPA mobile network infrastructure with nationwide operator Bell Mobility. Bell and fellow national operator Telus are due to launch commercial HSPA services next month after rolling out new infrastructure under a network sharing model.
Posted by Judith — 4:09 AM
Iliad bids for fourth 3G licence.
Source: TeleGeography.
French telco Iliad (Free) yesterday submitted an application to the telecoms regulator Arcep for the country’s fourth 3G mobile network operating licence, ahead of today’s deadline. Iliad is likely to be the sole bidder for UMTS frequencies after other previously interested parties, including domestic companies Numericable, Virgin Mobile France and Bollore Group dropped out.
Posted by Judith — 3:55 AM
Benetton to exit Telecom Italia.
Source: FT.com.
Italy’s Benetton family is to quit a shareholder consortium that controls Telecom Italia in a move that could see Spain’s Telefónica raise its stake in the Italian telecoms group in spite of some political opposition to its presence.
Telefónica paid EUR2.3bn. in 2007 to take a 42% stake in Telco, giving it a 10% stake in Telecom Italia. As well as Sintonia, the other investors in Telco are the Italian financial institutions Mediobanca, Generali and Intesa Sanpaolo.
Posted by Judith — 3:42 AM
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
EC backs digital dividend spectrum for mobile use.
Source: Telecompaper.
The EC has recommended that EU countries reserve spectrum freed up from the switch to digital broadcasting for mobile and wireless broadband services. In particular, the EC recommendation calls for the 790-862 MHz sub-band, which covers long distances and travels through buildings, to be reserved for new mobile broadband services.
Posted by Judith — 6:59 AM
Cisco to buy ScanSafe for US$183m.
Source: Reuters.
Cisco Systems is buying privately held Web security company ScanSafe for about US$183m., a move that will intensify its battle with security giants Symantec and McAfee.
Posted by Judith — 4:27 AM
Massive call for mobile rate cut .
Source: BBC.
A campaign to lower charges for mobile phone calls between networks will hand telecoms watchdog Ofcom a petition with 114,259 signatures.
The Terminate the Rate campaign wants to see mobile termination rates slashed to reflect actual costs.
These rates are what mobile network operators charge to handle other networks’ traffic.
Signatories, including 258 MPs and 60 businesses, are calling for the rates to be slashed from 5p to less than 1p.
Posted by Judith — 3:53 AM
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
FairPoint, buyer of Verizon unit, files for bankruptcy protection.
Source: NYT.
FairPoint Communications has sought bankruptcy protection after struggling to absorb phone lines purchased from Verizon Communications.
Last year, the company paid US$2.72bn. for Verizon’s landlines in Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire. While taking over the network, FairPoint had problems with billing and ordering systems that cost US$28m. in the first half of this year and spurred customer complaints
Posted by Judith — 4:38 AM
Google Voice lets users keep phone number.
Source: Reuters.
Google has introduced a new feature that will allow consumers to use its Google Voice service without switching to a special phone number, potentially broadening the appeal of the nascent, and controversial, service.
The company has announced that new users of its service will be able to have the calls that they don’t answer forwarded to a special Google Voice electronic mailbox, essentially bypassing the voicemail provided by their phone carriers.
Posted by Judith — 4:08 AM
Nortel agrees to sell select packet core network components to Hitachi.
Source: cellular-news.
Nortel Networks has announced that it has entered into an agreement with Hitachi for the sale of certain assets associated with the development of next generation packet core network components (excluding legacy packet core components for Nortel’s GSM and UMTS businesses) for a purchase price of US$10m.
Posted by Judith — 3:43 AM
Telus to launch commercial HSPA+ services with iPhone 3GS on 5 November.
Source: TeleGeography.
Telus has confirmed that it will launch commercial services over a new 3.5G HSPA/HSPA+ mobile network across Canada on 5 November, offering a line-up of devices including the iPhone 3GS. Bell Mobility and Telus have partnered to build a nationwide HSPA/HSPA+ mobile network. It will cover 20,000 towns and cities across Canada, or around 93% of the population.
Posted by Judith — 3:12 AM
Amdocs acquires service delivery platform provider, JNetX.
Source: cellular-news.
Amdocs has announced that it is buying service delivery platform provider, jNetX for US$50m. net of debt and cash.
This acquisition accelerates Amdocs’ position in the SDP market by combining jNetX’s industry leading offering with Amdocs’ existing customer experience solutions and service delivery capabilities
Posted by Judith — 2:58 AM
Monday, October 26, 2009
Clearwire lays out rollout slate.
Source: TeleGeography.
US WiMAX specialist Clearwire has announced that it will launch operations in Seattle in December, with Comcast and Sprint to start selling 4G services across the network at launch. The announcement is part of a larger push by Clearwire and Sprint, which plan to offer WiMAX service in 25 markets by the end of the year.
Clearwire plans to cover 80 markets and over 120 million people by end-2010, with launches planned for cities such as New York, Boston, Washington DC, Houston and San Francisco.
Posted by Judith — 5:17 AM
Telefonica starts Movistar rebranding process in Chile.
Source: Telecompaper.
Telefonica Chile has launched operations under the Movistar brand name. All the operator’s products and services - including fixed and mobile telephony, fixed and mobile broadband and digital TV services - will now be marketed under the Movistar brand name.
Posted by Judith — 4:43 AM
Icahn resigns from Yahoo! board of directors.
Source: Telecompaper.
Financier Carl Icahn has resigned as a director of Yahoo!, saying the board no longer needed an activist investor. Icahn said that his attention was “focused on other matters” and that he did not have the time to concentrate on Yahoo’s business. Icahn joined the Yahoo board in August 2008 after settling his proxy challenge to replace the company’s directors.
Posted by Judith — 4:01 AM
Tellabs to acquire WiChorus for US$165m.
Source: InformationWeek.
With several mobile network architectures converging on the LTE standard, Tellabs is moving to tie them all together by acquiring start-up WiChorus and its mobile packet core technology. Tellabs, already prominent in Ethernet and mobile back haul solutions, said it will pay US$165m. for WiChorus.
Posted by Judith — 2:16 AM
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Universal phone charger approved.
Source: BBC.
A new mobile phone charger that will work with any handset has been approved by the International Telecommunication Union, a United Nations body.
Industry body the GSMA predicts that 51,000 tonnes of redundant chargers are generated each year.
Posted by Judith — 5:52 AM
Friday, October 23, 2009
FCC issues open internet rules.
Source: Telecompaper.
The US FCC has proposed a number of rules to limit the ability of ISPs to restrict their customers’ access to services and content on the internet. While operators could still engage in “reasonable” traffic management, such as to prevent congestion, the rules seek to limit the increasingly common efforts by ISPs to restrict customer access to services such as P2P sites, VoIP services or other high-bandwidth activities.
Posted by Judith — 3:46 AM
Numericable, Virgin bow out of French 3G auction.
Source: TeleGeography.
French cableco Numericable and MVNO Virgin Mobile France have decided not to apply for France’s fourth and final 3G mobile licence, citing unfavourable regulations and uncertainty on the project’s costs. Their decision to walk away from the process leaves French internet and broadband provider Iliad (Free) the sole declared applicant for the EUR240m. (US$358.4m.) licence.
Posted by Judith — 3:06 AM
Nokia sues Apple for patent infringement.
Source: Reuters.
Global cellphone maker Nokia has charged Apple with infringing Nokia patents, accusing the iPhone maker of trying to hitch a “free-ride” on Nokia’s technology investments.
The 10 patents in the lawsuit relate to technologies fundamental to devices using GSM, UMTS and/or wireless LAN standards.
Posted by Judith — 3:05 AM
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Microsoft, Google seal Twitter search deals.
Source: Reuters.
Microsoft and Google have secured separate agreements to access real-time content from Web phenomenon Twitter, intensifying their battle for a search market that Google dominates.
Google, and Microsoft’s 5-month-old Bing, have announced deals to access Twitter’s store of public data in real time in the latest sign of escalating competition between the two search engines.
Posted by Judith — 3:49 AM
Verizon, AT&T oppose net neutrality legislation.
Source: TeleGeography.
Verizon Communications chairman has delivered a speech slamming the FCC’s proposed net neutrality measures, branding them a ‘mistake, pure and simple’. AT&T has also openly opposed the measures, reportedly even asking its employees to weigh in on the rule using the FCC’s blog.
Meanwhile, a group of 30 business investors in technology companies has sent a letter to the FCC’s chairman praising the rules.
Posted by Judith — 3:14 AM
Equinix buys Switch & Data for US$689m. in cash, stock.
Source: Telecompaper.
Data centre operator Equinix has bought data centre and internet exchange operator Switch & Data for around US$ 689m. in cash and stock. The acquisition will extend the operator’s presence to 16 new markets across North America.
Posted by Judith — 2:59 AM
Canada sets rules for internet traffic management.
Source: Converge.
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission has set new traffic management rules for Internet Service Providers. Under the framework, ISPs should give preference to Internet traffic management practices based on economic measures whenever possible. This could mean charging more for bandwidth usuage over a certain threshold or offer discounts for big downloads during off-peak hours. The practices must be transparent and clearly identified on monthly bills.
Posted by Judith — 2:46 AM
Unicom/Telefonica share swap completed.
Source: TeleGeography.
Telefonica has carried out a planned share swap with China’s Unicom, with each company buying US$1bn.of the other’s shares. Under the terms of the deal, announced in early September, Telefonica’s stake in Unicom rises to 8.06% from 5.38%. Unicom, meanwhile, has acquired 0.9% of Telefonica.
Posted by Judith — 2:04 AM
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Furor over fourth French licence mounts.
Source: BWCS.
French construction to telecoms group Bouygues has, as expected, officially complained about the bidding process for the fourth French 3G licence.
The company’s complaint has been posted just days before the deadline of October 29th that the French telecom regulator ARCEP had set for accepting bids for the controversial fourth licence.
Posted by Judith — 4:38 AM
NZ govt. seeks partners for broadband project.
Source: Telecompaper.
The New Zealand government has released an invitation to participate in the partner selection process for the government’s NZ$1.5bn. ultra-fast broadband investment initiative. The government is seeking private sector partners who will co-invest in the project.
Posted by Judith — 3:35 AM
Svyazinvest board approves restructuring plan.
Source: TeleGeography.
Russian telecoms group Svyazinvest has announced that its board of directors has approved plans to combine its seven regional fixed line operators with long-distance operator Rostelecom into a single company which will provide fixed line telephony, broadband and mobile services across the whole country.
Posted by Judith — 3:20 AM
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Sprint agrees takeover of iPCS.
Source: Telecompaper.
US mobile operator Sprint Nextel has agreed to buy its affiliate iPCS, putting an end to the long-running legal disputes between the two companies. Pending legal suits included iPCS opposition to Sprint’s planned takeover of MVNO Virgin Mobile USA and its investment in Wimax operator Clearwire.
Posted by Judith — 4:46 AM
USA chooses mobile DTV standard.
Source: TeleGeography.
The Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) has announced that it has approved the new A/153 ATSC Mobile DTV Standard for use in the USA, defining technical specifications for broadcasters planning to provide services to mobile and handheld devices using their digital television transmissions. LG and Samsung have already announced plans to launch devices to utilise the new standard.
Posted by Judith — 4:05 AM
Big names support net neutrality.
Source: BBC.
A group of the world’s largest internet companies has written a letter of support to the US FCC.
The letter is the latest in an ongoing debate about network neutrality.
The letter, signed by the Chief Executives of Google, Ebay, Skype, Facebook, Amazon and Sony Electronics among others, says that maintaining data neutrality helps businesses to compete on the basis of content alone.
Posted by Judith — 3:42 AM
Telenor gets approval for Unitech stake hike.
Source: TeleGeography.
India’s Cabinet Committee of Economic Affairs is reported to have given the go ahead for Norwegian telecoms group Telenor to increase its stake in yet-to-launch mobile operator Unitech Wireless. The government has approved Telenor’s proposal to increase its holding to 74%, up from the 49% it currently holds.
Posted by Judith — 3:16 AM
Verizon launches quad-play bundle offers.
Source: Telecompaper.
Verizon Communications has launched its ‘quad-play’ bundle offer for customers in Northeast and Mid-Atlantic markets. The new bundles will be introduced in other Verizon markets in the future.
Posted by Judith — 3:14 AM
Monday, October 19, 2009
EC presses UK for fixed line termination regulation expansion.
Source: TeleGeography.
The Ec is reported to have called on telecoms regulator Ofcom to impose identical controls on fixed line operators in relation to wholesale fixed network termination charges. At present, Ofcom only regulates the charges of two operators, incumbent BT and Kingston Communications, the latter of which retains a monopoly in the Kingston-upon-Hull area, while smaller operators remain free to set their own fees.
Posted by Judith — 5:00 AM
TTSL earmarks an extra US$1bn. for GSM expansion.
Source: TeleGeography.
Tata Teleservices has said it aims to invest an additional US$1bn. in the rollout of its GSM-based services, which it markets under the Tata DoCoMo banner. It is understood that the additional funds will be used in those regions where it has already launched it’s GSM infrastructure, with the investment designed to allow the cellco to enhance its coverage areas in those circles of operation.
Posted by Judith — 4:48 AM
Italy prepares universal broadband plan.
Source: TeleGeography.
Italy’s minister of public administration has revealed that the government has prepared a plan to ensure broadband access for all from next year. The plan, which will require investment of around EUR800m. (US$1.19bn.) from public and private sources, aims to provide universal access to transmission speeds of at least 2Mbps.
Posted by Judith — 4:35 AM
Telecom NZ unveils new logo, branding.
Source: Telecompaper.
Telecom New Zealand has introduced a new logo and branding. Over the coming months, the company will change over its stores, websites, communications, and advertising. The brand is designed to be less about the company and more about the customers.
Posted by Judith — 4:11 AM
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Accenture completes acquisition of Nokia services unit.
Source: eWeek.
Accenture completes its acquisition of the professional services unit of Nokia, a move that will help take Accenture more directly into the business of servicing embedded and mobile operating systems.
Posted by Judith — 5:00 AM
First Microsoft store looks set to open.
Source: Reuters.
Microsoft Corp’s first store looks ready to open in an upscale Phoenix valley city in the next few days, as the software maker takes its first step in trying to match rival Apple Inc’s successful venture into retail.
Posted by Judith — 4:36 AM
Friday, October 16, 2009
Ofcom agrees to Freedom4 licence term changes.
Source: TeleGeography.
Wireless internet company Freedom4 has announced that it has been given permission by telecoms regulator Ofcom to offer WiMAX services across the UK. The company, which is a subsidiary of the Daisy Group, owns a national licence for 84MHz of spectrum in the 3.6GHz-3.8GHz frequency range, as well as three metropolitan 28GHz licences covering London, the Midlands and the North West.
Posted by Judith — 4:07 AM
Charter could emerge from bankruptcy in November.
Source: TeleGeography.
The US judge overseeing the bankruptcy of Charter Communications has announced that he will approve the cable operator’s reorganisation plan, which could see it emerge from bankruptcy as early as 2 November.
Posted by Judith — 4:01 AM
DAVE enters roaming agreement with Rogers.
Source: TeleGeography.
Canadian start-up cellco Data & Audio Visual Enterprises Wireless (DAVE Wireless) has entered into a multi-year voice and data roaming agreement with nationwide GSM/3G operator Rogers Communications.
DAVE Wireless is a Canadian wireless company led by Obelysk, a diversified Canadian holding company, and Quadrangle Capital Partners, a global investor in the telecoms and media sectors.
Posted by Judith — 3:50 AM
LG’s telecom units agree to merger with LG Telecom.
Source: Telecompaper.
LG Group’s telecommunications units have all agreed to merge operations. Mobile communications unit LG Telecom will absorb fixed-line operator LG Dacom and internet provider LG Powercomm. Earlier this year, rival KT absorbed its mobile unit KTF and it is expected that SK Telecom will follow suit and merge SK Broadband next year.
Posted by Judith — 3:33 AM
Virgin Mobile France to acquire Tele2 France for EUR56m.
Source: Telecompaper.
French MVNO Virgin Mobile France’s parent company, Omer Telecom, has agreed to acquire rival MVNO Tele2 France from Sweden’s Tele2 for approximately EUR 56m. in cash on a debt-free basis. By integrating Tele2 France’s 385,000 customers, Omer Telecom strengthens its position as the country’s biggest MVNO with 1.6m. customers, including Virgin Mobile France and smaller MVNO Breizh Telecom.
Posted by Judith — 3:20 AM
Etisalat to acquire Millicom’s Sri Lankan operation.
Source: Telecompaper.
Global mobile operator Millicom International Cellular has agreed to sell Tigo Sri Lanka to UAE-based operator Etisalat for US$155m. in cash. The transaction values the Sri Lanka operation at an enterprise value of US$207m.
Posted by Judith — 3:08 AM
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Microsoft pushes Bing in China with mobile portal.
Source: NetworkWorld.
Microsoft stepped up promotion of Bing in China with the launch of a Web services platform for mobile phones this week, a possible step toward challenging the dominance of Google and Baidu.com in the country.
Posted by Judith — 5:06 AM
Tandberg shareholder group snubs Cisco bid.
Source: Reuters.
Investors holding 24% of shares in videoconferencing firm Tandberg have snubbed a US$3bn. bid from Cisco, raising hopes the U.S. network equipment maker might offer more.
Cisco made its 153.50 crowns-per-share move for the Norwegian firm in October in a bid to dominate the fast-growing corporate video communications market, and Tandberg’s board recommended the cash offer.
Posted by Judith — 4:18 AM
Motorola, Imagine bring Wimax to Ireland.
Source: Telecompaper.
Motorola has signed a contract with Imagine Communication Group to design and deploy a Wimax network to replace Imagine’s existing wireless infrastructure in Ireland. Imagine will use Motorola’s Wimax equipment to deliver voice and high-speed data services to residential and small to medium-sized enterprise customers as well as offering mobility in city centres, using USB dongles.
Posted by Judith — 3:45 AM
TIM Brasil, Qualcomm launch multi-platform wireless apps store.
Source: TeleGeography.
Brazilian mobile operator TIM Brasil and wireless technologies developer Qualcomm today announced their plans to launch the Latin American region’s first multi-platform wireless applications store. The new TIM App Store is being supported by the vendor’s Plaza Retail suite which is designed to support a wide range of O/S and service platforms including, Java, BREW, Flash and Android, with planned support for Windows Mobile, Palm, Symbian and LiMo.
Posted by Judith — 3:01 AM
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
BT agrees GBP1bn. Openreach deal.
Source: Scotsman.
Support services firm Carillion and its joint venture partner Telent have signed a GBP1bn. deal to provide support to Openreach, BT’s local access network business.
They will offer engineering, support and maintenance services, consolidating work currently carried out by outsourced suppliers.
Posted by Judith — 5:35 AM
AT&T’s Centennial purchase nears completion.
Source: TeleGeography.
AT&T’s purchase of US and Puerto Rican telecoms operator Centennial Communications has been given approval by the US Justice Department on condition the giant divests certain properties. The US$944m. deal, which still requires approval from the FCC, was agreed in November 2008, but projections for the acquisition’s closing date have been repeatedly put back as the FCC has probed AT&T about its 23.4% stake in America Movil.
Posted by Judith — 5:12 AM
TeleCuba to lay first US-Cuba fibre-optic cable.
Source: TeleGeography.
Miami-based TeleCuba Communications has been given permission by the US government to lay the first fibre-optic cable connecting the US and Cuba. TeleCuba has said that the 8Tbps-10Tbps capacity cable could be operating by mid-2011, but added that the company still needs final permission from the Cuban government to land the cable.
Posted by Judith — 4:55 AM
MTS completes Comstar acquisition.
Source: TeleGeography.
Russia’s leading mobile operator by subscribers Mobile TeleSystems (MTS) has announced that it has successfully completed the acquisition of a 50.9% stake in fixed line operator Comstar from media conglomerate Sistema. MTS paid RUB39.15bn. (US$1.32bn.) for the stake.
Posted by Judith — 4:39 AM
German digital dividend auction to take place in Q2 2010.
Source: Telecompaper.
The German telecommunications regulator BNA will hold a large mobile frequency auction, including digital dividend frequencies, in the second quarter of 2010. The BNA said that no changes will be made to auction conditions, despite efforts of the two smaller mobile operators E-Plus and O2 Germany and the European Commission.
Posted by Judith — 4:00 AM
Court finds Telecom NZ guilty of blocking competition.
Source: Telecompaper.
A New Zealand high court has found that Telecom New Zealand used its market power to prevent and deter competition in markets involving high-speed data transmission. The Commerce Commission brought the case against Telecom which focused on Telecom’s wholesale pricing of data ‘tails’, which are parts of the connection to a customer that Telecom’s competitors must acquire from Telecom where their networks do not reach the customer.
Posted by Judith — 3:42 AM
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Cisco buys mobile broadband firm.
Source: BBC News
The world’s largest maker of network equipment, Cisco Systems, has agreed to buy mobile broadband equipment-maker Starent Networks for US$2.9bn (GBP1.8bn).
The price represents a premium of 21% over Monday’s closing share price.
Cisco is banking on the growing popularity of smartphones, which need fast internet access.
Starent will form Cisco’s new Mobile Internet Technology Group and will continue to be led by its current chief executive, Ashraf Dahod.
Posted by Judith — 2:01 PM
Vinaphone launches 3G service with Motorola.
Source: Telegeography.
Vietnamese mobile operator Vinaphone has launched 3G service with network infrastructure from Motorola. The network has been upgraded two months after the contract was signed in August. The network provides advanced high-speed mobile data services in northern Vietnam, including key areas of Hanoi. The service launch builds on Motorola’s 2G network deployment for Vinaphone. The company will be the first of the 3G licensees in Vietnam to offer the services, one month after being granted the licence. VinaPhone has concluded tests successfully for video calls, mobile TV and internet services over its 3G network.
Posted by Judith — 1:47 PM
BT Vision chief says it will miss 2010 subscriber target.
Source: Telegeography.
The chief executive of BT Vision, the IPTV service offered by British fixed line incumbent BT Group, has conceded that the service is unlikely to achieve previously announced subscriber targets, the Financial Times reports. Marc Watson said that BT Vision will not meet the two to three million subscribers by end-2010 that BT Group chief executive Ian Livingstone set in April 2008. According to figures from TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database, at the end of June 2009 there were 433,000 customers that had signed up to the company’s IPTV service, up from 282,000 a year earlier; Watson did add that he expects the subscriber base to rise to one million, although he did not provide a solid timeframe to achieve this number.
Posted by Judith — 1:46 PM
Internet Service to Be Offered on Lufthansa .
Source: New York Times.
Three years after unplugging its in-flight Internet service because of weak demand, Lufthansa of Germany said on Monday that it would reintroduce a new and improved version of the service on most of its long-distance flights by the first half of 2010.
The new high-speed offering, called FlyNet, will allow passengers to connect to the Web using a Wi-Fi-enabled laptop or hand-held mobile device like an iPhone or BlackBerry, even when flying over the ocean, thanks to a satellite-based technology provided by Panasonic of Japan.
Posted by Judith — 1:45 PM
Comcast Gets Dynamic With VoD Ads.
Source: Light Reading.
Comcast Corp. (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK) has picked Jacksonville for a small-scale deployment of a system that allows the MSO to dynamically insert advertisements into video-on-demand (VoD) content in near real time.
This is a breakthrough, as such advertising spots typically have to be added to the video content in advance, a situation that historically has hindered the growth of cable VoD advertising.
For this initial deployment, a first for the MSO, Comcast is using an advanced advertising system and campaign manager from BlackArrow Inc. , in which Comcast Interactive Capital is an investor. BlackArrow’s system has been integrated with Comcast’s video infrastructure, sourced from Tandberg Television and Motorola Inc.
BlackArrow’s system acts as a decision engine that communicates with the underlying VoD system to insert the appropriate advert into the video stream based on predetermined rules. Meanwhile, a complementary Web-based element from BlackArrow distributes and sells the ad space based on available inventory
Posted by Judith — 1:44 PM
Vodafone launches online backup services with Decho.
Source: Telecompaper.
Vodafone has signed a partnership agreement with Decho, a subsidiary of Information infrastructure technology and services provider EMC. Under the terms of the contract, Vodafone and Decho will develop cloud-based services for business customers as well as residential users. The Vodafone PC Backup service is designed to enable customers to back up work-related or personal digital content from their computer to a remotely hosted site. Once service users have backed up their digital content, they can access it anytime, even if their primary device is lost, stolen or otherwise unavailable.
Posted by Judith — 1:43 PM
T-Mobile, Microsoft Say Sidekick Data May Be Recoverable, But Sales Suspended.
Source: eWeek.
T-Mobile and Microsoft are attempting damage control after a server outage at Microsoft subsidiary Danger wiped out personal data for roughly 800,000 users of T-Mobile’s Sidekick smartphone. T-Mobile is now saying that some data may be recoverable, but the failure highlights doubts among some users about the viability of storing personal information in the cloud.
Posted by Judith — 1:41 PM
Monday, October 12, 2009
T-Mobile Sidekick U.S. users face personal data loss.
Source: Reuters.
Users of Microsoft Corp’s Sidekick mobile phone may have permanently lost data such as contacts, photos and calendar entries due to the failure of a Microsoft server computer.
T-Mobile USA, a unit of Deutsche Telekom, said in a notice available on its website on Monday that its customers who do have such data stored locally on their Sidekick devices will “almost certainly” have lost the data.
It also advised customers against resetting a Sidekick by removing the battery or letting the battery drain as this would still result in the loss of any personal content stored on the device.
Posted by Judith — 12:46 PM
Saturday, October 10, 2009
FCC To Probe Google Voice.
Source: The Washington Post.
The Federal Communications Commission said Friday it is investigating whether Google has violated telecommunications laws with its Internet phone service that has been refusing to connect some calls to rural areas.
In a letter sent to Google on Friday afternoon, the agency asks the Web search giant to explain how its application, Google Voice, works and why it is blocking calls. The inquiry follows complaints by AT&T and a group of bipartisan lawmakers, asking the FCC to take up a review of the service that blurs the line between traditional telephone and Web services.
Posted by Judith — 6:29 AM
Indian Telecom- Misunderstood Benchmarks and Growth Potential?
Source: pluggd.in
Telecom tariffs are going down and people are directly linking it to the future of ARPU. The ARPU (Average Revenue Per User) is falling every quarter and people are expecting it to fall further. The general theory prevailing is that as a result the revenues of the telecom operators will fall.
Although the first point is valid that the ARPU will fall but not the revenue. ARPU is calculated on total number of active SIMs and not on total number of active users.
Posted by Judith — 6:26 AM
Cisco Extends Unified Computing With Virtual NICs.
Source: Internet News.
The promise of Cisco’s unified computing system (UCS) is its ability to tie servers, LANs and SANs together by way of virtualization.
But while the system provides a degree of network consolidation, it also has the ability to generate more virtual server traffic than traditional network interfaces are typically designed to handle.
To that end, Cisco is now adding a Virtual Interface Card to its UCS system, a feature that enables the network interface to scale up and be more flexible to the increased virtual machine traffic.
Along with the Virtual Interface Card technology, Cisco today also announced the availability of its new UCS C series of rack mounted servers. The Virtual Interface Cards for the UCS B series of blade servers are slated to roll out in December, with the C series set to debut in 2010.
Posted by Judith — 6:25 AM
Bad economy gives mobile marketing a boost.
Source: Telephony Online.
Mobile is coming out ahead as brands reevaluate their advertising budgets. The mobile advertising and marketing market has been a long time in the making, but vendors at the CTIA IT & Entertainment show say it is making progress - thanks in large part to the bad economy. The recession has helped make a case for mobile as brands move away from generic campaigns to more personalized, relevant marketing tactics.
According to the Mobile Marketing Association, no company spent more than USD200,000 to advertise on mobile last year, but that has quickly begun to change. As of March, Land Rover and Jaguar became the first to invest in multimillion dollar mobile campaigns and many other brands are following in the car makers’ footsteps and exploring new forms of mobile interaction.
Posted by Judith — 6:24 AM
Texting and your love life.
Source: CNN
Texting has become as ubiquitous as the cell phones that birthed them, but what is it doing to our love lives?
Can you imagine what a different movie “Casablanca” would be if, instead of suavely growling, “Here’s looking at you, kid,” Rick instead texted Ilsa: ;-)
Same sentiment (sort of), yet all the romance, sexiness and possibility has been drained out of it.
Posted by Judith — 5:50 AM
Friday, October 9, 2009
Mobile data services pushed to limits
Source: Reuters
Speed increases in mobile data services will require more densely built networks, executives from wireless chip and technology supplier Qualcomm Inc said on Thursday.
The wireless industry has already pushed the limits of technology designed to increase mobile Web speeds from wireless airwaves, they said.
“We are getting to the point in the lab (where) we have done what we know how to do to optimize any given radio wave,” Qualcomm Chief Executive Paul Jacobs said at the CTIA show in San Diego.
Future speed increases will come from operators using a lot more network hardware than in today’s networks. This will mean adding so-called femtocells, or short range networks in subscribers’ homes and offices.
Posted by Judith — 11:10 AM
Unicom buys back SK stake
Source: China Trade Information
China Unicom has agreed to buy back its stake from SK Telecom for HKD10 billion (USD1.3 billion) after SK offered to cease a three-year alliance.
The country’s second-largest mobile phone carrier said it will repurchase the 3.79-percent stake held by SK Telecom at HKD11.105 per share, 1.4 percent lower than Unicom’s last close in Hong Kong trading.
Posted by Judith — 11:07 AM
Superfast broadband extends reach
Source: BBC News
An extra one and a half million UK homes will benefit from super-fast broadband by 2012, BT has said.
Originally the telecoms firm said that it could only deploy so-called Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) to a million homes because of its cost.
But it now believes 2.5 million homes can benefit because it will be cheaper to provide than it had first thought.
A further 9 million homes will receive the slower Fibre to the Cabinet (FTTC) technology by 2012.
Posted by Judith — 11:05 AM
LG to merge telecom units
Source: TELECOMPAPER
LG plans to merge its three telecommunications units to strengthen service offerings, the JoongAng Daily reports. The units LG Telecom, LG Dacom and LG Powercom will hold board meetings on the merger plans shortly. Once the companies agree, LG will apply to the Korea Communications Commission for approval. It is likely that LG Telecom will absorb LG Dacom and Powercom as it is the biggest unit and has the best financial performance. The company hopes to complete the merger before the shareholders meeting in March 2010.
Posted by Judith — 11:04 AM
Carphone will pay less for Tiscali UK after figures fail to add up
Source: TIMESONLINE
Carphone Warehouse has renegotiated the GBP236 million price it agreed to pay for Tiscali UK after accusing the Italian company of overstating its customer base.
Charles Dunstone, chief executive of Carphone Warehouse, told The Times: “They effectively overstated the figures. When we looked in the cupboard there was less than we had been led to believe.”
Tiscali UK was thought to have 1.4 million customers when the sale was agreed. Carphone Warehouse said in a trading statement yesterday that the company, which it bought in May, had 160,000 fewer customers than it had been advised.
Posted by Judith — 11:03 AM
Cisco Defends Against the ‘Dark Web’
Source: internetnews
What is the Dark Web? According to Cisco, it’s a part of the Internet landscape that enterprises security solutions have not defended against to date.
The concept of URL filtering to protect enterprises and users from malicious sites and content is not a new one. Cisco’s view is that traditional URL filtering techniques that rely on lists of malicious URLs don’t properly defend against the modern era of rapidly evolving dynamic Web 2.0 sites. In order to defend enterprises against the Dark Web, Cisco is now out with a new service called Web Usage Controls for its Cisco IronPort S-series appliances in an effort to provide more dynamic content analysis.
Posted by Judith — 10:23 AM
Thursday, October 8, 2009
DoCoMo Overtaken by Smaller Rival in Growth Stakes …
Source: BWCS
The newest and smallest mobile operator in Japan, Emobile, last month added more new customers than its giant rival NTT DoCoMo. The latest figures from the country’s Telecommunications Carrier Association show that the dominant carrier could only manage to increase its subscriber base by 66,000 net additions; this was compared to net additions of 112,900 in August. Meanwhile, Emobile ended September with 1.89 million customers up a healthy 88,200 on the month. However, the company remains dwarfed by DoCoMo’s total customer base of 55.19 million subscribers.
Posted by Judith — 11:31 AM
Telefonica bids EUR 2.5 billion for Brazilian operator GVT
Source: TelecomPaper
Telefonica, via its Brazilian subsidiary Telecomunicacoes de Sao Paulo (Telesp), has placed a bid to acquire Brazilian telecommunications operator GVT. Telefonica offered to buy all of GVT’s shares for BRL 48 per share. Telesp estimates the overall value of the transaction will reach EUR 2.55 billion, payable in cash. Telesp’s offer would be conditional on Telesp acquiring a minimum of 51 percent of GVT’s fully diluted share capital, as a result of the tender offer.
Posted by Judith — 10:59 AM
ITU Day 3: CTOs, Innovation & IMS.
Source: Light Reading
Day three here in Geneva was dominated by the CTOs from carriers and vendors, both in the public forum and behind closed doors, where the real action took place.
While a selection of CTOs took to the stage here to talk about ICT (Information and Communication Technology) and climate change, a group of 19 chief technologists and other CXOs convened at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) headquarters in Geneva to share ideas, look to the future, and tell the Union what’s bugging them.
And one of the things that’s bugging the likes of BT Group plc, Cisco Systems Inc., France Telecom SA, Fujitsu Ltd., Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. , KDDI Corp. , KT Corp. , Microsoft Corp., Nokia Siemens Networks , NTT Group, Telecom Italia SpA, Telefónica SA, and ZTE Corp., all of which were represented at the meeting, is the number of current standards groups that eat up time, money, and resources.
All agreed that standards are vitally important, but as a group they challenged the ITU, one of the telecom sector’s most influential and important standards bodies, to “streamline and clarify the standardization landscape,” according to a statement from the Union seen by Light Reading.
“The standardization landscape has become too complicated and fragmented, with hundreds of industry forums and consortia,” notes the ITU. “CTOs agreed that it has become increasingly challenging to identify and prioritize how to concentrate standardization resources.”
And with a greater number of IT standards groups becoming more and more relevant to the telecom market, the number of bodies producing technical specifications that could affect product development and deployment is likely to grow, handing the ITU a tough task.
As an initial response, the ITU is to host a Web portal to identify the standards groups and their areas of focus in an effort to “facilitate the work of industry and standards makers while promoting cooperation and collaboration and avoiding duplication.”
In addition, the CXOs agreed that more intra-industry collaboration is needed to help integrate the IT and telecom sectors, and, perhaps surprisingly, there was “broad support” to use IMS (IP Multimedia Subsystem) specifications, which are still subject to criticism in many quarters (for being too complex and costly to implement), as the foundation for IP services.
Posted by Judith — 10:25 AM
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
AT&T Opens Network To VoIP iPhone Apps.
Source: Information Week.
AT&T on Tuesday opened its 3G network to VoIP calls on the iPhone, reversing its previous position, as federal regulators consider applying proposed net neutrality rules to mobile phones.
AT&T’s decision applies only to Apple’s smartphone. The wireless carrier does not allow the use of voice over Internet protocol, or VoIP, over its 3G network on other mobile phones. Before the reversal, VoIP applications from Skype and other companies could make calls on the iPhone only over a Wi-Fi connection.
Posted by Judith — 9:56 AM
Ciena Bids US$521mn for Nortel’s MEN.
Source: Light Reading.
Ciena Corp. has bid US$521mn, US$390mn in cash and 10mn Ciena shares, for Nortel Networks Ltd. ‘s MEN (Metro Ethernet Networks) division, following its initial expression of interest earlier this week.
The move positions Ciena as the official initial bidder for Nortel’s assets, and means a competitive bidding process will now take place in about a month or so.
Posted by Judith — 9:54 AM
BT picks NetApp storage for its cloudy data centres.
Source: The Register.
BT is offering a pay-for-use virtual data centre in the cloud, using NetApp storage, but not its clustering versions of ONTAP.
The storage consists of high-end FAS6080c clusters and it is integrated with servers and networking, so that a Windows app-based server-storage-network virtue data centre (VDC) infrastructure can be set up from one console. It will have a level of resiliency and business continuity built-in. Once the VDC is operational, an existing customer will be able to deploy a virtual server in as little as 15 minutes.
Posted by Judith — 9:53 AM
Equinix Offers Global Ethernet Peering.
Source: Light Reading.
It looks as if hosting specialist Equinix Inc. will be the first company to set up an Ethernet peering exchange.
The company, which already plays host to Internet exchange points between carriers, aims to do the same for Ethernet services by launching the Equinix Carrier Ethernet Exchange platform, being announced today at ITU Telecom World 2009 in Geneva.
An Ethernet peering point has been a missing link in the industry’s attempts to spread the Ethernet services to the corners of the universe. Such a facility would make it easier for carriers to hand off services to one another, which, in turn, would let them expand the reach of their Ethernet services.
Posted by Judith — 9:51 AM
Google, Verizon Wireless: A Potent Smartphone Team.
Source: Business Week.
Move over Apple and Research In Motion. Rivalry in the smartphone market has just heated up.
For a while it seemed the bloodiest battle in smartphones would be fought between Apple, maker of the iPhone, and BlackBerry maker Research In Motion. But an emerging alliance between Google and Verizon Wireless has the potential to create a potent alternative to the BlackBerry and iPhone in the U.S. smartphone market.
On Oct. 6, Verizon Wireless and Google said they will collaborate on mobile devices, services, and software for the Android mobile operating system that’s being developed by a Google-led consortium. The pairing gives Android its largest-yet wireless industry backer and is likely to accelerate the development of Android-based devices and of applications tailored to the Android operating system.
Posted by Judith — 9:49 AM
In Rural Africa, a Fertile Market for Mobile Phones.
Source: New York Times.
In an area where electricity is scarce and Internet connections virtually nonexistent, the mobile phone has revolutionized scientists’ ability to track this crop disease and communicate the latest scientific advances to remote farmers.
Africa has the fastest-growing mobile phone market worldwide. Entrepreneurs and development organizations are eagerly seizing the opportunity presented by such growth. They are creating mobile phone applications for profitable and nonprofit ventures across the continent. Millions of Africans, for example, now use their mobile phones to transfer money, turn on water wells, learn soccer game scores and buy and sell goods.
The penetration of the mobile phone is far greater than that of the Internet in Africa, especially in rural areas, making it the most accessible communication tool
Posted by Judith — 9:47 AM
Central African Backbone project goes ahead.
Source: TeleGeography.
The World Bank has approved a new project called the Central African Backbone (CAB), which aims to increase the geographical reach and usage of regional broadband network services in up to eleven central African countries, whilst reducing access prices. The initial phase of the CAB will take place in Cameroon, the Central African Republic and Chad, where the connectivity component of the project will leverage the existing fibre-optic network laid along the Chad-Cameroon oil pipeline to form the core CAB network and support the deployment of interconnected networks to establish a regional cable infrastructure. Aside from the connectivity aims of the CAB, other components include development of e-government, strengthening of regulatory frameworks and assistance in restructuring government telecoms institutions with the aim of liberalising markets.
Posted by Judith — 9:46 AM
Google partners on device to monitor home energy.
Source: Reuters.
Google Inc is partnering with privately held Energy Inc to provide households with free energy management software, bypassing utilities’ smart meters and potentially boosting energy efficiency, the company said on its blog on Monday.
Google launched in February a Web tool called PowerMeter, which lets consumers monitor how much electricity they use at home. The catch was that they had to have a smart meter installed by their utility. For the past few months, a few hundred customers have tested the software.
Now, consumers can buy Energy Inc’s power-usage measuring device, called TED 5000, costing about US$200, and use Google’s software on top of it, without ever needing a smart meter.
Posted by Judith — 8:50 AM
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Four DT affiliates select Alca-Lu solution
Source: telegeography
French telecoms solutions provider Alcatel-Lucent (Alca-Lu) has signed new optical transport contracts with four subsidiaries of German telecoms giant Deutsche Telekom (DT). The vendor will deploy its optical transport solution for T-Mobile Austria, T-Mobile Czech Republic, Slovak Telekom and Polska Telefonia Cyfrowa (PTC) of Poland, enabling the operators to cope with increased bandwidth requirements to efficiently deliver fixed and mobile broadband data services, including mobile internet, video and multimedia, high speed internet and triple-play.
Posted by Judith — 12:47 PM
Action urged on mobiles coverage
Source: BBC News
UK mobile operators need to do more to help customers who experience coverage problems, an advisory panel has said.
It recommends a “try before you buy” period in mobile contracts to enable customers disappointed by their new handset’s coverage to switch operator.
The Communications Consumer Panel, which advises Ofcom, says about one-third of consumers and small businesses regularly experience coverage problems.
Posted by Judith — 12:45 PM
Microsoft tries to jump-start its mobile business with software that might compete with the iPhone.
Source: Forbes
Microsoft is ramping up its mobile phone efforts. The new software lets people place calls and perform tasks like emailing or surfing the Web on a revamped, touch-screen interface. It is the company’s first serious attempt at competing directly with Apple’s iPhone.
Posted by Judith — 12:43 PM
Amazon unveils payment system for smartphones
Source: The Register
Amazon has unveiled a service that allows smartphone users to pay for music, applications and other content without having to enter credit card numbers into their devices.
The service, known as Mobile Payments Service, is a set of application programming interfaces developers can plug into websites so they work seamlessly with payment information stored on the Amazon mother ship. Mobile content provider Handmark is already using the service on some 50 mobile storefronts that work with iPhones, Blackberries and handsets running Android, Windows Mobile, Palm OS and other operating systems.
Posted by Judith — 12:03 PM
Monday, October 5, 2009
Telenor and Alfa End Legal Battle and Plan Asset Merger
Source: The New York Times
Telenor, the Norwegian telecommunications company, said Monday that it had agreed to a deal that will suspend its years-long feud with Alfa Group, controlled by the Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman.
Telenor and Alfa have been embroiled in a long legal struggle to control VimpelCom, the second-largest Russian telecommunications operator, and Kyivstar, the largest cell phone operator in Ukraine. Initially, Telenor and Alfa had invested in the companies as partners. Now they will be combined in a new company under a different governance structure.
Posted by Judith — 11:40 AM
EU rubber stamps ComReg’s Eircom proposal
Source: telegeography
The European Commission (EC) has approved a plan put forward by Ireland’s telecoms watchdog ComReg to force incumbent operator Eircom to reduce the prices it charges competitors for access to its network. In a statement the European Union (EU) said Eircom would no longer charge rivals that use its network for costs associated with lines they do not actually use. In a statement the EU said: ‘This would make it easier for alternative operators to offer Irish internet consumers better prices and compete with Eircom.’
Posted by Judith — 11:39 AM
Motorola snaps up Zain network management contract
Source: telegeography
Motorola has announced the signing of a multi-million dollar managed services contract with mobile operator Zain Iraq. Under the terms of the agreement, the equipment vendor will operate and maintain Zain Iraq’s network and enhance overall network performance, allowing the cellco to improve the customer experience and enabling subscribers to enjoy feature-rich services while increasing overall productivity. The contract commences immediately and will run for three years.
Posted by Judith — 11:37 AM
Aircel signs infrastructure sharing agreement with BSNL
Source: telegeography
Indian cellco Aircel has revealed that it has signed a ten-year infrastructure sharing agreement with BSNL which will see it gain access to the latter’s 45,000 base stations. ‘Aircel will now have access to strategically located sites across BSNL’s 21 circles (excluding Mumbai and Delhi). Leveraging BSNL’s passive infrastructure will help Aircel meet its aggressive network roll out plans in addition to reducing operational cost,’ said Aircel COO Gurdeep Singh in a statement. No financial details of the agreement have been disclosed. The move follows hot on the heels of a similar deal signed recently between BSNL and Tata Teleservices (TTSL).
Posted by Judith — 11:35 AM
T-Mobile USA kicks off corporate Wi-Fi push
Source: Reuters
Deutsche Telekom’s T-Mobile USA plans on Monday to start offering a wireless service for office workers, hoping to increase its presence in the corporate market as it chases larger rivals like AT&T and Verizon.
Posted by Judith — 11:33 AM
T-Mobile: pre-merger strategy boosts growth
Source: Times Online
Richard Moat, chief executive of T-Mobile in the UK, said that the struggling mobile phone operator was showing signs of recovery after enjoying its best-ever month for subscriber growth in September.
T-Mobile, owned by Deutsche Telekom, lost 200,000 subscribers to rivals in the first six months of the year, but in September it signed up an estimated 100,000 net.
Posted by Judith — 11:32 AM
Sunday, October 4, 2009
France Telecom replaces deputy chief executive
Source: Times Online
The deputy chief executive of France Telecom stepped down today after unions blamed his aggressive management for a spate of suicides at the telecommunications giant.
Louis-Pierre Wenes, 60, will be replaced by Stephane Richard, a former French Finance Ministry adviser who joined France Telecom last month.
Posted by Judith — 9:50 AM
Telekom Austria launches FTTH services in Villach.
Source: Telecompaper
Telekom Austria has announced the launch of its fibre-optic fixed-network in Villach, which will become the country’s first GigaNetwork City. Further fibre-optic pilot projects are planned for 2010 in Klagenfurt and the districts of Fuenfhaus and Doebling in Vienna.
Posted by Judith — 9:46 AM
Your phone is winding me up.
Source: The Register
A UK firm has designed what’s thought to be the world’s first mobile phone with an integrated wind-up charger mechanism.
Wind-up chargers for a wide variety of gadgets have been available for years. But TCL - the firm behind the wind-up handset - claims a greater amount of energy will be created by cranking power directly into a phone’s battery, through an integrated ultra-thin dynamo.
“With our system the generator accesses the battery directly, and that really increases the efficiency of the system,” Tony Davies of TCL told the BBC.
Posted by Judith — 9:35 AM
Friday, October 2, 2009
EU court adviser backs roaming price caps.
Source: Telecompaper.
Mobile operators in the EU have lost a first step in their court case to have the price caps on roaming services struck down. The European Court of Justice’s advocate-general released his opinion in the case, saying the EU was entitled to regulate the tariffs in the interests of the internal market. A UK High Court referred the case brought by Vodafone, Telefonica, DT and Orange to the EU court, asking it to look at whether the EU had the power to adopt the regulations.
Posted by Judith — 2:55 AM
BT Openreach plans brownfield FTTP trials in 2010.
Source: Telecompaper.
BT’s local access network arm Openreach has announced plans to trial FTTP technology in ‘brownfield’ sites for the first time. The trial forms part of BT’s plans to deliver super-fast broadband speeds to 10 million premises by 2012 using FTTP and FTTC technology. The brownfield FTTP trials will help improve BT’s understanding of performance of the technology and the economics involved when rolling out fibre directly to premises in areas where copper services are already available.
Posted by Judith — 2:33 AM
HOL shareholders approve Vodafone Greece deal.
Source: TeleGeography.
Shareholders of Greek broadband operator Hellas Online (HOL) have approved the partnership deal agreed with cellco Vodafone Greece earlier this year, under which the latter will acquire an 18.5% stake in HOL in exchange for merging its existing DSL operations into HOL’s business.
Posted by Judith — 2:06 AM
ViaSat buys WildBlue for $568m .
Source: InformationWeek.
Rural broadband access got a shot in the arm through the US$568m. acquisition of consumer broadband provider WildBlue Communications by satellite gear producer ViaSat.
The deal will help WildBlue break out from its slowing growth and it will enable ViaSat to enter the consumer market with 400,000 WildBlue subscribers.
Posted by Judith — 1:07 AM
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Telefonica unveils LTE pilot schemes in six countries.
Source: TeleGeography.
Spanish telecoms giant Telefonica has announced that it has reached an agreement with six LTE technology providers to launch pilot schemes in six different countries with a view to rolling out commercial 4G services in the regions where it operates. The countries Telefonica has selected for testing are Spain, the United Kingdom, Germany and the Czech Republic in Europe, alongside Brazil and Argentina in Latin America. Those vendors chosen for the trials are Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson, Huawei, NEC, NSN and ZTE.
Posted by Judith — 4:41 AM
Cisco to buy Tandberg for US$3bn.
Source: Telecompaper.
Cisco has agreed to acquire videoconferencing systems maker Tandberg for US$3.0bn., expanding its lead in the telepresence market.
Cisco said it will maintain Tandberg’s Norway operations alongside its own video team in Belgium. Tandberg’s 1,500 employees worldwide will also continue with Cisco.
Posted by Judith — 4:39 AM
Nortel to sell GSM business.
Source: Reuters.
Nortel has stated that it plans to sell its global GSM business, as the bankrupt telecom equipment maker continues to auction off its assets.
Bidders will be required to submit offers by November 5, followed by an open auction November 9.
Posted by Judith — 3:45 AM
US agrees to more international control at Icann.
Source: Telecompaper.
The US government has agreed to more independence for the International Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (Icann), the main governing body for web domains. Icann’s governing agreement expired on 30 September. The agreement ends the unilateral review of the internet body by the US government in favour of independent review panels.
Posted by Judith — 2:58 AM
Bharti, MTN abandon US$23bn. merger.
Source: Light Reading.
India’s Bharti Airtel and South Africa’s MTN Group have scuttled their US$23bn. merger plans, and are pointing the finger of blame at the South African government.
The duo announced their merger intentions in May, and have been engaged in exclusive talks since then.
But, for the second time in two years (the carriers had attempted a merger in 2008, too), the deal fell apart at the last minute, with a statement from Bharti noting that the required blessing from the South African government was not forthcoming.
Posted by Judith — 2:27 AM
TTSL and BSNL ink tower sharing agreement.
Source: TeleGeography.
Indian mobile network operator Tata Teleservices, which offers both GSM-based and CDMA-based mobile voice services under the Tata DoCoMo and Tata Indicom banners respectively, has announced a 15 year agreement to share the tower infrastructure of state-owned BSNL.
Posted by Judith — 2:18 AM
UK broadband ‘not fit’ for future.
Source: BBC.
A study of the global state of broadband has put the UK 25th out of 66 countries in terms of the quality and reach of its networks.
The research found that countries such as Latvia and Bulgaria were better prepared than the UK for next-generation net applications.
The UK was listed among countries whose broadband is “meeting needs for today”.
South Korea and Japan continue to dominate the league table, largely due to their commitment to fast networks.
Posted by Judith — 2:11 AM
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