TelecomWeb News Digest articles from June 2004

TelecomWeb News Digest archives from June 2004

D.C. Circuit Rejects Stay Extension; Bush Faces Tough Decision.(Bell Operating Companies)
June 7, 2004... The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit late Friday (June 4) rejected requests by the FCC and others to extend a stay of its March 2 order vacating pro-competition elements of the FCC's Triennial Review Order. While not unanticipated,...

Survey Respondents Get Free Access to Premium Content.
June 7, 2004... As a visitor to TelecomWeb, your opinion matters very much to us -- which is why we would like you to take a few minutes to respond to our survey, and tell us where you think the telecom industry is headed. In return for giving us just three...

FCC Advisory Panel Slated to Meet June 14.(Brief Article)
June 7, 2004... The FCC's Advisory Committee on Diversity for Communications in the Digital Age is scheduled to meet on Monday, June 14. The meeting will begin at 2 p.m. in the Commission Meeting at FCC headquarters, 12th Street, S.W., Washington, D.C. ...

Lucent Executive Steve Smith to Present at CIBC Conference.(Brief Article)
June 7, 2004... Lucent Technologies on Friday said that Lucent Worldwide Services Vice President Steve Smith will give a presentation at the CIBC Communications & Technology Food Chain Conference on Monday (June 7), at 10:20 a.m. EDT. Investors and others can...

MCI, Qwest Reach Commercial Agreement for Wholesale Services.
June 7, 2004... MCI Inc. and Qwest Communications International Inc. on Monday (May 31) reached a landmark agreement on wholesale pricing and services that provides both carriers with certainty and stability at a time when the regulatory landscape is...

Qwest Deal Makes MCI Attractive Acquisition Target.
June 7, 2004... The relatively quick deal MCI struck with Qwest Communications in order to gain access to Qwest's local telephone networks may be something MCI President and CEO Michael Capellas wanted to achieve in order to make MCI a more attractive...

CLECs' Trade Groups Angered Over FCC's 'Secret" Negotiations.(competitive local exchange carriers)(United States. Federal Communications Commission held a close door meeting with Bell Operating Companies)
June 7, 2004... The heads of trade groups representing competitive local exchange carriers (CLECs) are hopping mad at the FCC for entering "secret" negotiations with the Bell Operating Companies (BOCs) and a handful of major competitors, including AT&T, to...

Mobile Entertainment Forum Comes to America.
June 7, 2004... (This article first appeared in TelecomWeb's sister publication, Electronic Gaming Business. To get a free trial subscription to this hot new publication, go to www.electronicgamingbusiness.com) In phone-based entertainment, the U.S....

ITU to Move Telecom Show from Geneva to Hong Kong.
June 7, 2004... The UN-backed International Telecommunication Union (ITU) on Thursday (June 3) announced plans to move its Telecom World trade show and exposition from its longstanding home in Geneva, Switzerland, to Hong Kong in 2006. The ITU's decision...

ICF Fails to File Access Reform Proposal with FCC.(Brief Article)
June 7, 2004... Talks involving major local exchange carriers (LECs) and interstate long distance carriers aimed at producing a plan to reform the interexchange access regime are continuing this week, despite a split among the entities involved in the...

FCC Shows Hesitance in Resolving Nextel Spectrum Swap.
June 9, 2004... Last March when TelecomWeb's sister publication, Telecom Policy Report, addressed the issue of the Nextel spectrum swap, the publication said the FCC was leaning largely in favor of the so-called "Consensus Plan" supported by Nextel and...

New America Foundation to Present Lawmakers with Forward-Thinking DTV Transition Proposal.
June 9, 2004... The Senate Commerce Committee on Wednesday (June 9) will convene a hearing on "Completing the Digital Television [DTV] Transition." The Committee will hear testimony from spectrum policy experts, including the New America Foundation's Michael...

AT&T Announces Global VoIP Telework Trials.
June 9, 2004... AT&T on Tuesday (June 7) announced it is conducting trials in Asia and Europe for a global Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) "telework" service, targeted to multinational companies, that it expects to introduce in 2005. The service is...

New Skies Satellites to be Acquired by Blackstone.
June 9, 2004... New Skies Satellites N.V., the global satellite communications company, on Sunday (June 6) announced that it signed a definitive agreement for the sale of the company to affiliates of The Blackstone Group, a private investment firm, for $956...

Sprint to Cut 1,000 Jobs at Call Center.(Sprint Corp.)(Brief Article)
June 9, 2004... Sprint Corp. has decided to close a major customer service call center in Bolingbrook, Ill., and, in the process, will eliminate 1,000 jobs. The move is aimed at reducing costs, a company spokesman told TelecomWeb. Sprint earlier this year...

European Connection Inc. Acquires VoipAge Telecommunications LLC.(Brief Article)
June 9, 2004... European Connection Inc. has acquired VoipAge Telecommunications LLC of Mobile, Ala., a global provider of wholesale and retail Voice over Inter Protocol (VoIP) services to individuals and business customers. European Connection Inc. (ECI)...

Verizon Wireless Expands Digital Service in Los Angeles.(Brief Article)
June 9, 2004... Verizon Wireless has expanded its digital, high-speed network in Los Angeles by adding a new cell site in the city of Westchester, Calif.. The site includes Verizon Wireless' standard network redundancy features to ensure reliability. The...

Survey Respondents Get Free Access to Premium Content.
June 9, 2004... As a visitor to TelecomWeb, your opinion matters very much to us -- which is why we would like you to take a few minutes to respond to our survey, and tell us where you think the telecom industry is headed. In return for giving us just three...

Former Qwest Executive Faces New Indictment.(Brief Article)
June 14, 2004... A former Qwest executive Thomas Hall, the ex-senior VP of sales who is facing a second trial in connection with allegations of involvement in a scheme to improperly book almost $34 million in revenue, has been named in a new indictment. ...

Bush Administration Decision a Defeat for Consumers, MiACT says.
June 14, 2004... More than 1.2 million Michigan families and businesses that have chosen alternatives to SBC or Verizon may soon be forced to return to their old monopoly phone company -- likely at a higher price and receiving a lower quality of service --...

Pac-West Telecomm Sees No Direct Impact From FCC Triennial Review Actions.(Brief Article)
June 14, 2004... Commented on the U.S. Solicitor General's decision not seek Supreme Court review in support of the FCC's Triennial Review Order (TRO), a senior executive with Pac-West Telecomm Inc., a provider of broadband communications services to service...

Politics and the Broken Promise of the 1996 Telecom Act.
June 14, 2004... With respect to the Telecommunications Act of 1996, the Supreme Court has largely been right on target in interpreting so-called congressional intent. (The term "so-called" is appropriate here in that "congressional intent" is frequently a...

NTIA Explains Administration's Position on Refusal to Appeal D.C. Circuit Case.(National Telecommunications and Information Administration)
June 14, 2004... The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), the agency that serves as the voice of the Bush administration in matters concerning telecom policy, has issued a prepared statement further articulating the President's...

Survey Shows Concern Growing about Management of Next-Generation Networks.
June 14, 2004... According to the results of a survey conducted by TelecomWeb, 46 percent of respondents believe that network management is becoming more complex as enterprises continue to migrate their telecom traffic using Internet Protocol (IP)-based...

FTTP Arena to See a Pair of Important New Players.(fiber-to-the-premises)(Brief Article)
June 14, 2004... A pair of new players soon will throw their hats into the fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) ring, both chanting the same mantra: That the technology they're touting is far better than the dominant broadband passive optical network (BPON) in use in...

Covad Completes Acquisition of GoBeam.(Brief Article)
June 14, 2004... Covad Communications Group Inc. has closed of the acquisition of GoBeam, Inc., a privately owned provider of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) solutions to small- and medium-sized businesses. Under the terms of the agreement, Covad will issue...

FCC Shows Hesitance in Resolving Nextel Spectrum Swap.(Federal Communications Commission)
June 14, 2004... Last March when TelecomWeb's sister publication, Telecom Policy Report, addressed the issue of the Nextel spectrum swap, the publication said the FCC was leaning largely in favor of the so-called "Consensus Plan" supported by Nextel and...

Tarifica Launches New Online Store for Tariff Data.(Brief Article)
June 14, 2004... Responding to the growing need for tariff data accessible over the Internet, UK-based pricing consultant Tarifica on Tuersday (May 7) announce that its tariff services are now available online. The store provides access to Tarifica's entire...

New America Foundation Present Lawmakers with Forward-Thinking DTV Transition Proposal.
June 14, 2004... The Senate Commerce Committee Wednesday (June 9) convened a hearing on "Completing the Digital Television [DTV] Transition." The Committee heard testimony from spectrum policy experts, including the New America Foundation's Michael Calabrese,...

AT&T Announces Global VoIP Telework Trials.
June 14, 2004... AT&T on Tuesday (June 7) announced it is conducting trials in Asia and Europe for a global Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) "telework" service, targeted to multinational companies, that it expects to introduce in 2005. The service is...

Vonage Completes One Billion Minutes Across its SIP Network.(Brief Article)
June 14, 2004... Customers of Vonage, a leading broadband telephony service provider, have completed 1 billion minutes of calling over it's the company's Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) network, the company said. The noteworthy milepost makes Vonage is the...

Handset Memory Architecture on the Move, says ABI Research.(Application Binary Interface )(Brief Article)
June 21, 2004... It is well known that applications such as digital imaging, Web browsing, video and audio streaming, MP3 music downloads, video conferencing, 3D and interactive gaming are all coming to cellular handsets in the near future. Less well-known are...

Wi-LAN, InfoMine Celebrate One Year of Successful Operations.(Brief Article)
June 21, 2004... Wi-LAN Inc., a provider of broadband wireless communication products and technologies, and InfoMine of the Rockies Inc., a computer network solutions company headquartered in Helena, Montana, are celebrating one year of uninterrupted service...

CANARIE Taps Nortel Networks for Optical Networking Solution.(Optical Multiservice Edge 6500)(CANARIE Inc.)(Brief Article)
June 21, 2004... CANARIE Inc., Canada's advanced Internet development organization, has selected Nortel Networks Optical Multiservice Edge 6500, an optical convergence solution that provides resilient, secure and scalable broadband connectivity. CANARIE will be...

ITAA ITS Board Adds Members.(Information Technology Association of America)
June 21, 2004... The Information Technology Association of America (ITAA) IT Services Division has elected new members to its board of directors. Executives newly elected to serve on the ITS Division Board are: Doug Ortega, pesident, Adea Solutions; Chell...

Battle Over UNE Provisions Now Goes to States.(unbundled network elements)
June 21, 2004... U.S. Solicitor General Ted Olson's refusal to join the FCC in its motion to the Supreme Court seeking a further stay of the D.C. Circuit's March 2 vacatur of the Commission's unbundling rules does not immediately spell the end of government...

China Commerce Ministry Rules Corning Dumped Fiber.(Brief Article)
June 21, 2004... China's commerce ministry has ruled that U.S. fiber optics manufacturer Corning Inc. dumped some fiber products into China. Corning disputes the findings and instead contends China's Ministry of Commerce is merely responding reports of...

Nortel Unveils Wireless Access Technology for Cable Operators.(Brief Article)
June 21, 2004... Nortel Networks has introduced Wireless LAN Cable Access Point 6220, a wireless access solution that offers cable operators a low-cost alternative for extending the reach of high-speed data services to small and medium enterprises. Using...

Alcatel Signs Multi-Million Dollar Fiber-to-the-User Contract With EATEL.
June 21, 2004... Alcatel has announced the signing of a multi-million dollar contract to provide EATEL with a complete fiber-to-the-user (FTTU) network to deliver a full range of voice and data communications services in Louisiana. This is Alcatel's second FTTU...

WilTel Enhances Local Access Offering.(Brief Article)
June 21, 2004... WilTel Communications is teaming with Covad Communications to enhance its local access offering. The agreement complements WilTel's already strong local access offering, which provides high-speed and cost-effective broadband access to...

Survey: Concern Growing About Management of Next-Generation Networks.(Brief Article)
June 21, 2004... According to the results of a survey conducted by TelecomWeb, 46 percent of respondents believe that network management is becoming more complex as enterprises continue to migrate their telecom traffic using Internet Protocol (IP)-based...

Powell Boards Nextel Consensus-Plan Train.(Brief Article)
June 28, 2004... FCC Chairman Michael Powell, who had been wavering, apparently has come down on the side of the Nextel Consensus Plan, which will reband channels in the 800 MHz band to benefit public-safety entities and to resolve massive congestion in metro...

AT&T, Z-Tel Withdraw from Selected Markets.
June 28, 2004... Two major competitive local exchange carriers (CLECs) -- AT&T and Z-Tel Communications -- have announced that they will no longer be offering competitive telecom services is some key states. These decisions to withdraw from the marketplace...

AT&T Revises 2004 Full-Year Financial Outlook Following Withdrawal from Markets.
June 28, 2004... AT&T is revising its 2004 full-year outlook, citing ongoing pricing pressure, recent changes in FCC policies and new product initiatives. The company is also providing an update on its Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) roll out for...

California ISPs Cite AT&T Pullout from Local Phone Markets as Natural Response.(Brief Article)
June 28, 2004... The head of the trade association representing California's Internet service provider (ISP) industry says decisions this week by AT&T and Z-Tel Communications to stop competing for new residential local and long-distance customers in key states...

Court Rejects FCC's Media Ownership Rules.
June 28, 2004... The U.S. Appeals Court for the Third Circuit on late last week largely rejected the FCC's new media ownership rules, remanding the agency's order to the Commission for further work. The new rules, which have generated tremendous controversy...

Allegiance Telecom Acquired by XO Communications.(Brief Article)
June 28, 2004... XO Communications Inc. has completed its acquisition of Allegiance Telecom Inc., a national local exchange carrier providing competitive telecom services to business. The combination of the two companies creates the nation's largest provider of...

Joint Technology Development with Lucent's Bell Labs to Support Technoprises.(Brief Article)
June 28, 2004... Technoprises, Ltd., a provider of end-to-end cross-media integration for "seamless computing", has signed a licensing and development agreement with Lucent Technologies relating to several new platforms for a wide range of Internet Protocol...