TelecomWeb News Digest back issues from January 2006:
Local Franchise Flap Surfaces In Jersey.
Jan 03, 2006 ... Last year's hotly contested battles over telco-lobbied local video- franchising bills are getting a fresh start in 2006 with a state-wide franchise measure currently under consideration in New Jersey as the legislature reaches the final stages of its current lame-duck session. ...
Motorola Readies Converged VoIP/Cellular Gear.
Jan 03, 2006 ... Motorola is coming to market with its first significant play in converged voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP)/cellular telephony - an in-home system to support dual-mode handsets that allow users to make both VoIP-over-Wi-Fi and regular cellular calls, and to roam between the two if ...
Cisco/Scientific-Atlanta Merger Passes Legal Milestone.
Jan 03, 2006 ... Cisco Systems and Scientific-Atlanta today said the waiting period for U.S. review of their proposed $6.9 billion merger under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act was terminated Dec. 30, 2005, ostensibly meaning there are no significant federal objections to the ...
Research: M&As, Deal Values Up In 2005.
Jan 03, 2006 ... Mergers and acquisitions were the stronger exit option for U.S.-based, venture capital-backed companies in 2005, especially on the information technology side. At least, that's what industry tracker VentureOne says. The company, owned by Dow Jones & Co., adds M&A dollar ...
Pacific Internet Targets China.
Jan 03, 2006 ... Singapore's Pacific Internet (Hong Kong) Limited, in its first foray into the mainland China market, inked a joint venture deal with Zhong Ren Telecom to market integrated IP communication applications in southern China. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed, ...
SkyCross Nabs New R&D Funding.
Jan 03, 2006 ... Fla.-based SkyCross, a developer of advanced wireless antenna solutions, just closed on a $14 million round of financing led by investment firm TL Ventures, which focuses its funding on companies involved in communications, IT and semiconductors. The company says it will use ...
BellSouth To Test IPTV Via Satellite.
Jan 04, 2006 ... BellSouth, which has been carefully feeling its way into IPTV, has added satellite content delivery to the technologies it's testing in a deal with SES Global American subsidiary SES Americom. Under terms of a pact disclosed earlier today, BellSouth is going to trial ...
SpectraLink's KIRK Purchase Ends Up Costing More.
Jan 04, 2006 ... Wireless system vendor SpectraLink Corporation wrapped its acquisition of Denmark-based counterpart KIRK telecom A/S for approximately $62 million in a move the Boulder, Colo., company says "significantly increases its international reach for integrating Voice over Internet Protocol ...
Orbcomm Earmarks New Funds For Next-Gen Birds.
Jan 04, 2006 ... Narrowband data-communications satellite operator Orbcomm has picked up more than $110 million in new equity financing to spiff up its aging fleet of 30 low-earth orbit (LEO) satellites with new birds now under development. The biggest chunk of the new financing comes from ...
NTT DoCoMo Eyes Philippine Telco Stake.
Jan 04, 2006 ... Japan's NTT DoCoMo, which has made a series of international investments in recent months, reportedly is on the verge of investing in the largest telecom company in the Philippines. According to local Filipino press reports, NTT DoCoMo is set to invest some $300 million for a ...
8x8, QDI Ink Distribution Pact.
Jan 04, 2006 ... Broadband service provider 8x8 Inc. just signed an agreement with QDI Quality Distributors LLC, a master distributor of cellular products and services in the United States and a major T-Mobile reseller, to market the company's Packet8-branded VoIP and Internet-based videophone offerings ...
TI Chips Go 'Hollywood'.
Jan 04, 2006 ... While some still disparage the idea of watching sitcoms and soap operas on a tiny screen, major players continue to buy into the mobile-TV concept. Today, Texas Instruments Incorporated unveiled its "Hollywood"-brand DTV single- chip solutions for mobile phones, and the tiny widgets now ...
Finnish Carrier Fights 'Surprising, Contradictory' License Decision.
Jan 05, 2006 ... TeliaSonera Finland is fighting the decision made yesterday by the Finnish Communications Regulatory Authority (FICORA) to transfer rights of use to 19 of the carrier's channels related to its just-renewed P-GSM 900 radio license to another carrier by the end of the year. The ...
Belgacom Wins Telindus Takeover Battle.
Jan 05, 2006 ... Belgium's state-controlled telephone company, Belgacom, apparently won the takeover battle for network equipment maker Telindus - at a price of $719 million - following the withdrawal of France Telecom from the fray early this morning. France Telecom had appeared as a ...
Indiana Ponders Update For Antique Telecom Law.
Jan 05, 2006 ... Telecom-reform legislation proposed yesterday in the Indiana General Assembly would, among other things, mandate a statewide system for video franchising and would impose new conditions on the establishment of municipal government-owned and -operated access and communications networks. ...
Under New Management: 3G Chip House.
Jan 05, 2006 ... Qualcomm snapped up four-year-old radio frequency IC (RFIC) fabless semiconductor house Berkana Wireless, paying $56 million in cash. What the buyer is getting for its money is RF CMOS intellectual property, including a portfolio of 37 filed/21 granted patents in CMOS RF ...
New FCC Commissioner Staffs Up.
Jan 05, 2006 ... Commissioner Deborah Taylor Tate, the newest member of the Federal Communications Commission, yesterday added Aaron Goldberger as one of her legal advisors in what is expected to be the first in a series of appointments in the Tennessee regulator's Washington, D.C., staff. ...
The Three Prongs For Applications-Market Success.
Jan 05, 2006 ... There are three prongs for success in the applications market: Increase revenue, lower costs, and improve time to market for new and innovative end-user applications. In a new feature story written by Keith Chappell, managing vice president and global practice leader at ...
Done Deal: Verizon and MCI Close Merger.
Jan 06, 2006 ... Verizon Communications and MCI today closed their $8.5 billion merger transaction, with one of the first orders of business being the formation of a new operating unit encompassing enterprise and government customers, and related functions of the former MCI as well as similar activities ...
Motorola Googles As Nokia Yahoos!
Jan 06, 2006 ... Motorola and Google signed a pact under which users will be able to access Google services directly from Motorola cellular handsets. Not to be undone, Yahoo! announced its own cellular service, including everything from search to video, available on Nokia handsets. Both Yahoo! ...
Lame-Duck Legislature Delays N.J. Franchise Bill.
Jan 06, 2006 ... A proposed cable-TV franchise bill in New Jersey pitting Verizon Communications against the state's cablecos has been dropped from the current lame-duck session of the legislature, but it is expected to be resurrected again in a month or so sometime after the Garden State's lawmakers ...
ntl Wins Opal Telecom Deal.
Jan 06, 2006 ... U.K. cable provider ntl inked a five-year, $17.6 million contract with Opal Telecom, beating BT and other competitors for the lucrative deal to supply national Ethernet services via its spanking new Multi Protocol Label Switching (IP/MPLS) backbone. Upon the completion of its ...
Telecom Cambodia Slated For Privatization.
Jan 06, 2006 ... The Cambodian government has set up the government-owned wireline phone network in the country's capital, Phnom Penh, as a separate company named Telecom Cambodia, with plans to privatize the company by 2008, according to reports trickling out of the country. Privatization is ...
Survey: Phoenix Motorola Continues To Beat Nokia.
Jan 06, 2006 ... New research from ChangeWave Research says Motorola has the most market share among current cellphone owners, gaining two points since its last user survey on this topic. Motorola also is the top choice among those who plan to buy a cellphone in the next six months - up four points in ...
India, Pakistan Agree To Overland Fiber Link.
Jan 09, 2006 ... Despite their continuing hostility, India and Pakistan have agreed to establish what will be the first direct land fiber link between the two neighbors. According to reports out of Islamabad, state-run Pakistan Telecommunications Company Limited (PTCL) has signed memorandums ...
Cesky Telecom Reports Explosive Broadband Growth.
Jan 09, 2006 ... Czech fixed-line operator Cesky Telecom, reporting phenomenal growth in the broadband arena, said that, during the first week of January, it reached 275,000 ADSL subscribers, a 175-percent year-over-year increase. During the last 12 months, Cesky has made broadband available ...
Network Installation, Spectrum Communications Divorce.
Jan 09, 2006 ... Here's a divorce story you don't hear every day: Two small U.S. companies in the communications/computer installation-and-supply business have completely reversed their merger transaction that closed more than two months ago - apparently due to irreconcilable differences. ...
CWA Cries The Blues Over Big Blue's Benefits.
Jan 09, 2006 ... The Communications Workers of America, which for months has been critical of a number of employment policies and practices at Verizon Communications and the new AT&T combination with SBC Communications (TelecomWeb news break, Dec. 12, 2005), recently turned its guns on IBM, saying Big ...
Nokia To OEM Israeli 3G Backhaul Gear.
Jan 09, 2006 ... Israeli wireless backhaul manufacturer Ceragon has grabbed the brass ring - Nokia is going to resell its products under the Nokia brand name. Under an OEM pact disclosed today, Nokia will take on Ceragon's FibeAir family of microwave radios, renaming the widget the Nokia ...
BT Makes Gartner's 'Magic Quadrant'.
Jan 09, 2006 ... BT has been listed in the leader quadrant in Gartner's 2005 Magic Quadrant for Global Network Service Providers (NSPs). The quadrant evaluates eight Global NSPs on such criteria as "ability to execute" and "completeness of vision." Gartner defines vendors listed in its ...
Ethernet Alliance Is Born.
Jan 10, 2006 ... The broadband industry gave birth to yet another trade group last night - the Ethernet Alliance, a combine of industry players created with the avowed goal of supporting Ethernet standards of all ilk, rather than just one flavor or another of what's become the world's de facto and de ...
Motorola Purchases BI's Cable-TV Assets.
Jan 10, 2006 ... Motorola today said it has acquired cable TV-oriented radio frequency (RF) and digital technology assets from Broadband Innovations (BI), a privately held San Diego-based developer. Terms were undisclosed. According to Motorola, the next-generation cable-network technologies ...
Telenor Tunes Top Management.
Jan 10, 2006 ... Telenor announced a handful of management changes, starting with key executives named to head newly created business units for Eastern/Central Europe and Asia, where Telenor has strong mobile commitments. The operator says two of its most experienced executives, Arve Johansen ...
Nokia, Kyocera Settle CDMA Patent Fight.
Jan 10, 2006 ... Finland's Nokia, and Japan's Kyocera Corporation and its Kyocera Wireless Corp. subsidiary today said they have resolved a nearly two-year-old patent- litigation dispute over wireless mobile telephone products and technologies via new two-way patent licensing agreements. ...
WildBlue Scores $200M In New Financing.
Jan 10, 2006 ... Satellite broadband provider WildBlue says it nailed down a secured credit facility of more than $200 million to help pay for its planned launch of a second satellite in the fourth quarter of this year. The credit facility - whose exact terms were not disclosed - is being ...
Corpus Christi Ramps Up Wireless Broadband Project.
Jan 10, 2006 ... The city of Corpus Christi, Texas, awarded Northrop Grumman a $23 million contract to complete deployment of what was once touted as potentially the largest municipal wireless broadband network in the United States - a 147-sq.- mile network whose primary "excuse" for existence is cutting ...
Boeing Next-Gen Trio Set For 2009-10 Launch.
Jan 11, 2006 ... It's been nine long years between mammoth deals, but Boeing has signed what is calling its largest such satellite order since 1997 with Mobile Satellite Ventures, which is purchasing three next-gen satellites and associated ground systems for an undisclosed sum. Under the new ...
Optus Takes Control Of Virgin Mobile Australia.
Jan 11, 2006 ... Optus, in a significant move to put the heat on archrival Telstra in the Australian mobile market, is paying $22.5 million to acquire the 74.15 percent of Virgin Mobile Australia it doesn't already own plus roughly $50 million during the next 15 years for a license to continue use of ...
TDC Buyout In Doubt.
Jan 11, 2006 ... The tender period for what would be one of the largest leveraged buyouts in the history of telecommunications - the $15.3 billion takeover of Danish telco TDC - is expected to be extended tomorrow following the refusal of TDC's largest shareholder to sell its shares. The ...
Indiana Committee OKs Telecom Bill.
Jan 11, 2006 ... During its hearing yesterday, the Indiana Senate's Homeland Security, Utilities and Public Policy Committee approved by a 8-2 vote proposed telecom- reform legislation that reportedly could go before the full State Senate for a vote as early as next week. The deadline for bills to ...
MTNL Looks East To Expand.
Jan 11, 2006 ... India state-controlled telco Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) is in talks to buy a stake in an unidentified Chinese carrier in what would be the first-ever investment by an Indian company in the explosive Chinese telecom market, according to reports in the local Indian press. ...
Martin Names Interim FCC IG Personnel.
Jan 11, 2006 ... Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin J. Martin yesterday named Dr. Kent Nilsson as acting inspector general to replace longtime IG Horace Walker Feaster III, who retired Jan.3. Another FCC staffer, Jon Stover, also was named as acting deputy inspector general, but there was ...
$15.3B TDC Buyout Back On Track.
Jan 12, 2006 ... With a little fancy footwork, the venture-capitalist consortium trying to take over Danish telco TDC in a $15.3 billion leveraged buyout looks to have nailed down the deal by modifying the terms of its offer to match the number of shares so far tendered, which fell almost 5-percent ...
Georgia Eyes Telecom Deregulation.
Jan 12, 2006 ... During its 2006 session, the Georgia General Assembly will be considering at least two key pieces of communications legislation currently in the hopper: One effectively deregulates voice telephony regardless of technology and another prevents wireless companies from imposing contract ...
Swisscom Ramps Up Broadband Speeds.
Jan 12, 2006 ... Swisscom's Fixnet Wholesale broadband unit is jacking up the speed of most of its ADSL offerings - in some cases more than tripling the download bandwidth that will be available to users - as it battles against the cable side of the broadband industry. Swisscom says its goal ...
Missouri Court Foils Rural Access Charges.
Jan 12, 2006 ... The Missouri Supreme Court has ruled that rural local exchange carriers (LECs) can't impose access charges on wireless operators on the termination of calls originating within the same geographical boundaries. In a unanimous judgment favoring a case brought by Cingular ...
40% Of Finns Ready To Cut The Wires.
Jan 12, 2006 ... A massive 40 percent of Finns who used traditional fixed-line phones now plan to eventually cut the wires, according to a new study by the Finnish Ministry of Transport and Communications released today. The ministry interviewed almost 2,100 telecom customers in October and ...
VOCEL Apps Poke Through The Deck Abyss.
Jan 12, 2006 ... The perennial problem for mobile-content providers is not just discovery but rediscovery. It's hard enough for users to locate and understand the content offers they want. But even if you get that initial buy-in from a customer, your application may just sit languishing a couple of ...
S&P Downgrades The Telephone Industry.
Jan 13, 2006 ... Standard & Poor's this morning downgraded the credit ratings of a majority of U.S. Tier One wireline carriers - a move it says affects more than $100 billion in aggregate debt held by the likes of Verizon, the "new" AT&T, BellSouth and others - citing the challenge of Voice over Internet ...
Grassroots Group Fights Online Cellphone-Account Sales.
Jan 13, 2006 ... In response to stories in the two Chicago news mainstays, in the Washington Post and to a blogger's successful purchase, MoveOn.org is asking for signatures on its petition to stop the sale of personal cellphone records by parties operating on the Internet. MoveOn.org, a ...
Vonage Claims 'Breakneck' 911 Progress.
Jan 13, 2006 ... In tracking its nationwide progress to meet the Federal Communications Commission order that Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service providers handle 911 emergency services, Vonage says, as of yesterday, it's turned up enhanced 911 services in more than 1,900 official public-safety ...
Missouri Senate Maintains Laptop Ban.
Jan 13, 2006 ... A Missouri State Senate committee recently decided to continue its ban on the use of laptops by elected officials while they are conducting official business, including debates and votes in the Senate chamber. The Senate Rules Committee, in a 5-2 vote, defeated SR 1695, which ...
Hungary's Magyar Plans To Double Broadband Subs.
Jan 13, 2006 ... Hungarian carrier Magyar Telecom has taken out a $230 million loan to finance investment in a broadband expansion it believes will more than double its customer base to some 600,000 in only one year. The service provider, majority owned by Deutsche Telekom (DT) and doing ...
A Note From The Editors.
Jan 13, 2006 ... Due to the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday on Monday (Jan. 16), there will be no daily news update ....
ntl Sweetens Virgin Mobile Bid.
Jan 17, 2006 ... ntl, in its continued quest of the fabled quadruple play, upped its bid for U.K wireless operator Virgin Mobile by 15 percent to $1.7 billion in an unusual takeover bid that would see billionaire Sir Richard Branson accepting less than other shareholders for his 71.3-percent stake in ...
Meanwhile, BT Unveils IPTV Content Deals.
Jan 17, 2006 ... BT, which is launching Internet Protocol TV (IPTV) services in the U.K. later this year, has announced a series of major content deals in hopes of better attracting viewers as the venerable British carrier prepares to do battle on the video front with the likes of ntl and BSkyB. ...
Motorola Buys Swedish IPTV Developer.
Jan 17, 2006 ... Motorola today signed an agreement to acquire Kreatel Communications AB, a Swedish developer of digital set-top systems and software for Internet Protocol television (IPTV). Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the U.S. giant says the deal should close during the first ...
Qualcomm-Flarion Deal Gets DoJ OK.
Jan 17, 2006 ... Qualcomm and Flarion Technologies say their proposed $600 million merger (TelecomWeb news break, Aug. 11, 2005) cleared a federal-government approval hurdle Jan. 13 when the U.S. Department of Justice's Antitrust Division terminated its review of the deal under the Hart-Scott-Rodino ...
Vatican Turns To Israel For Ethernet.
Jan 17, 2006 ... The Telephone Service of the Vatican State has turned to Israel's RAD Data Communications for Ethernet access solutions for the Holy See's fiber-optic network. The Vatican installation is said to include RAD's ETX-102 and ETX-202 Ethernet media converters, its Egate-20 ...
States Could Face Regulatory Pre-Emption From The Feds.
Jan 17, 2006 ... One Washington, D.C.-based researcher believes individual states will be seeing more legislative action on three communications fronts this year: telecom deregulation, franchise changes, and Internet and e-commerce-oriented bills. According to Kent Lassman, research fellow and ...
Insurgents May Have Kidnapped Cellphone Team.
Jan 18, 2006 ... Reports at press time are sketchy but Iraqi insurgents are said to have killed as many as 10 security guards and drivers, and to have kidnapped two engineers working for Egyptian telco Orascom's wireless subsidiary Iraqna early this morning. As of press time, the fate of the ...
Customer Records Resale Draws FCC Fire.
Jan 18, 2006 ... The nefarious practice of obtaining and brokering what were thought to be private wireline and wireless customer calling records for subsequent marketing lists and databases drew new fire this week as two Federal Communications Commission members called for strong action to tighten ...
Siemens Wins Nationwide Indonesia Wireless Deal.
Jan 18, 2006 ... Hong Kong's Hutchison Telecommunications International Limited today said PT Hutchison CP Telecommunications (HCPT or Hutchison Telecom Indonesia), its joint venture with Indonesia's CP Group, selected Siemens as its supplier for a nationwide turnkey 2G/3G wireless network plus managed ...
Sprint Nextel Throws Another $10M At IPWireless.
Jan 18, 2006 ... Sprint Nextel says it has made an additional $10 million investment in mobile product and technology developer IPWireless following the $4 million the pre-merger Nextel threw into the San Bruno, Calif.-company in July 2005. Sprint Nextel - also based on the Nextel half's ...
Turkcell On Track For 30 Million Subs.
Jan 18, 2006 ... Turkish wireless provider Turkcell believes it will break the 30-million- subscriber barrier for mobile customers this year. The carrier ended 2005 with 27.9 million customers, an almost 20-percent increase compared with the end of 2004, when it had 23.4 million subscribers. ...