TelecomWeb News Digest articles from May 2005

TelecomWeb News Digest archives from May 2005

CRTC Studies Local Exchange Deregulation.(Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission)(Brief Article)
May 2, 2005... The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) issued a public notice seeking comment on how to reduce the regulation of residential and business local exchange telephone services. The CRTC had said, in a three-year...

PFF To FCC: Let Public Safety Sell/Lease Spectrum.(Progress and Freedom Foundation, United States. Federal Communications Commission)(Brief Article)
May 2, 2005... According to comments submitted to the Federal Communications Commission from the Washington, D.C.-based Progress & Freedom Foundation, "the soundest approach for protecting public safety through spectrum is to give public-safety officials...

BT Taps Suppliers For $19B Network Project.(contracts between British Telecommunications PLC and telecommunications equipment industry)
May 2, 2005... U.K. carrier BT Group today disclosed its long-term selection of the suppliers for its 21st Century Network (21CN) project, an ambitious transformation of its public switched telephone network (PSTN) to converged services via widespread...

Research House Predicts FTTP Growth Spurt.(fiber-to-the-premise)(Brief Article)
May 2, 2005... The availability of Fiber-to-the-Premise (FTTP) in the United States will grow from 1.9 million premises in 2004 to 11.8 million in 2009, according to new estimates by research house In-Stat. Still, in a report on the state of the FTTP...

Is Marconi Toast?(mergers, acquisitions and divestments of Marconi Communications)
May 2, 2005... Marconi's failure to win even a small piece of British Telecom's massive $19 billion 21st Century Network (21CN) project (TelecomWeb, April 28) has brought the survival of the company into question. Marconi, currently BT's primary supplier...

Microsoft Jumps Into Ultra Wideband.(membership at WiMedia Alliance)
May 2, 2005... Microsoft is the first software house to become a "promoter member" of the WiMedia Alliance, joining the elite group of 14 top-level members of the trade group devoted to the development of ultra-wideband technology. It also is behind the...

Aramiska Questions Consumer Satellite Broadband.(Brief Article)
May 2, 2005... Aramiska CEO Philippe Bodart tells TelecomWeb's sister publication Satellite Today that he is unsure whether a consumer satellite broadband play will work in Europe. Bodart, speaking just after WildBlue Communications announced it's getting...

iBasis Boosts VoIP Capacity In Europe.(Voice over IP)(Brief Article)
May 2, 2005... Voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP) carrier iBasis today said it is adding capacity to its international transit and switching facilities in its London point of presence in order to expand VoIP call-handling traffic for customers - including...

Want The Latest White Paper On Managed Services For FREE?
May 2, 2005... Just visit TelecomWeb's Managed Services Report at www.telecomweb.com, fill out the form and download Hosted Enterprise VoIP Services: A New Model for Today's Market. It's THAT EASY! Specifically written for service providers, this...

Verizon Trumps Qwest In MCI Takeover Battle.(Verizon Communications Inc.)(Qwest Communications International Inc.)(MCI Communications Corp.)(Brief Article)
May 5, 2005... Having let a Friday-at-midnight deadline and the weekend pass before making its counter move (TelecomWeb, April 29), Verizon Communications early today said it will raise its offer for interexchange carrier MCI to at least $26 per share in...

Qwest Still Hopes For Acquisition End Game.(Qwest Communications International Inc.)
May 5, 2005... The top executive at Qwest Communications today suggested the company still might have acquisition pickings after government regulators and antitrust authorities review the proposed Verizon Communications-MCI and SBC Communications-AT&T...

Tower-Leasing Houses In Mega-Merger.(Brief Article)
May 5, 2005... American Tower Corporation and SpectraSite - both microwave and mobile radio tower-leasing specialists - today disclosed that the boards of directors of both companies unanimously approved an agreement to merge in a proposed $11.3 billion...

Vonage Contracts With Verizon For E911 Services.
May 5, 2005... Vonage signed a contract of undisclosed size with Verizon that will allow the voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) carrier provide E911 emergency service to its customers in all areas served by Verizon - delivering both a caller's address and...

$14B Disaster: France Telecom Bails Out Of mobilcom.
May 5, 2005... France Telecom has exited its expensive foray into the German mobile market - selling all but a tiny piece of its stake in mobilcom and licking its wounds to the tune of almost $14 billion after a half-decade trying to take on Deutsche...

Yankee Report Probes Municipal Wi-Fi.(Brief Article)
May 5, 2005... With more than 100 U.S. municipalities at various stages in the decision- making process, there is no one model for successfully deploying municipal broadband networks, yet there are market strategies the industry to find success, according...

Congress Takes Another Stab At The FET.(Federal Excise Tax)(Brief Article)
May 5, 2005... Rep. Gary Miller (R- Calif.) introduced H.R. 1898 last week aimed at repealing the 107 year-old Federal Excise Tax (FET). No text of the bill is available as yet, due to the long line at the Government Printing Office, but it has been...

AT&T Readies Integrated IP Service Portfolio.(Internet Protocol)
May 5, 2005... AT&T is integrating a portfolio of Internet Protocol communications services to combine network-based VoIP, conferencing, messaging and related offerings. The new AT&T Dynamic Network Applications (DNA) is aimed at next- generation business...

Want The Latest White Paper On Managed Services For FREE?
May 5, 2005... Just visit TelecomWeb's Managed Services Report at http://www.telecomweb.com, fill out the form and download Hosted Enterprise VoIP Services: A New Model for Today's Market. It's THAT EASY! Specifically written for service providers,...

The Big MVNO Opportunity: 'Seamlessness'.(mobile virtual network operators)
May 9, 2005... The coming wave of mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) could be as massive as one major launch a month during the next 12 to 15 months, according to industry insiders who are consulting with many of these nascent carriers. What is most...

VoIP Revenues May Soar To $20B In '09.(Brief Article)
May 9, 2005... North American VoIP service revenues topped $1.3 billion in 2004, and they are expected to soar 1,431 percent to $19.9 billion in 2009, according to a recent report by market study/consulting company Infonetics Research. With VoIP revenues...

BT Snaps Up Cisco LAN Specialist.(SkyNet Systems)(BT Group PLC)(Brief Article)
May 9, 2005... The UK's BT Group has acquired LAN solutions provider SkyNet Systems (SkyNet), bolstering its position in the UK LAN market. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. SkyNet, a relatively small 59-staff outfit, is an independent...

DirecTV LatAm Prez: IPTV No Threat.(Bruce Churchill)(president)(Internet Protocol TV)(Brief Article)(Interview)
May 9, 2005... Bruce Churchill, president of DirecTV Latin America, believes the satellite pay-TV carrier is unlikely to see much of a competitive threat from telcos in the region in terms of Internet Protocol TV (IPTV) services. Churchill also is confident...

Lucent Nails Massive-Managed Services Pact.(Lucent Managed Services)(Capgemeni Energy)(Brief Article)
May 9, 2005... Lucent Managed Services inked a nine-year, $187 million contract to provide managed network services for Capgemeni Energy. The contract, believed to be the largest single managed-services deal so far booked by Lucent - and one of the largest...

U.S. Wireless, Lightyear In Resale/Wholesale Pact.(US Wireless Online Inc.)(Lightyear Network Solutions)(Brief Article)
May 9, 2005... Fixed wireless broadband operator U.S. Wireless Online and national, value-added- services sales/marketing organization Lightyear Network Solutions disclosed signing a three-year, wholesale marketing agreement. The deal calls for Lightyear...

ConEd Broadband Sale Short-Circuits.(Consolidated Edison Company of New York Inc.)
May 9, 2005... It looks like New York's giant Consolidated Edison power company isn't going to exit the broadband business quite as quickly as it had expected - the deal under which it was to sell its Con Edison Communications (CEC) subsidiary to FiberNet...

Sprint Joins Intel's WiMAX Juggernaut.(Brief Article)
May 9, 2005... Sprint - already on the WiMAX Forum board - has become the latest company dragged onto Intel's private little WiMAX bandwagon, announcing an agreement to jointly develop WiMAX broadband mobile technologies based on IEEE 802.16e standards....

Want The Latest White Paper On Managed Services For FREE?(Brief Article)
May 9, 2005... Just visit TelecomWeb's Managed Services Report at http://www.telecomweb.com, fill out the form and download Hosted Enterprise VoIP Services: A New Model for Today's Market. It's THAT EASY! Specifically written for service providers,...

Alcatel Wins China Data Deal.(China Telecom subsidiary Guangdong Telecom)(Brief Article)
May 12, 2005... Alcatel, in a key deal that boosts its prospects in China, has signed a deal with China Telecom subsidiary Guangdong Telecom to expand and optimize its metropolitan area network (MAN) offerings. Alcatel says the MAN upgrade will enable...

Israel's Two Biggest Telcos Change Hands Overnight.(Apax Investment Group)
May 12, 2005... Ownership of Israel's two largest phone companies changed hands in fewer than 24 hours, due to the privatization of the nation's national carrier Bezeq and the exit of BellSouth from Israel with the sale of its stake in wireless carrier...

VCs Beef Up Vonage War Chest.(venture capital)(Brief Article)
May 12, 2005... Vonage has picked up yet another $200 million in venture capital, bringing its total to date to a breathtaking $408 million - the kind of VC funding that's not been seen since the dot-com bust and reportedly the seventh largest VC round of...

Global Crossing Nets $57M From Divestitures.(Brief Article)
May 12, 2005... Global Crossing says it is generating $22 million in net cash proceeds from the completed sale of its trader voice business, and it is expecting to generate another $35 million net cash proceeds from the pending sale of its small business...

Qwest Sneaks Into VoIP.
May 12, 2005... Qwest quietly has begun offering residential voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) phone service in its 14-state service area - with no public announcement - but at prices far higher than most non-telco VoIP providers. Qwest's move looks...

U.S. FTTx Count Swells.
May 12, 2005... The number of places in the United States with fiber to the home installed has grown to 398 communities in 43 states - up 83 percent from 217 communities the last time a count was done, just six months ago in October. Fiber now passes...

French Operators Merge In Challenge To France Telecom.(Vivendi Universal SA and Neuf Telecom)(Brief Article)
May 12, 2005... Vivendi Universal SA is merging its Cegetel fixed-line and Internet divisions with Neuf Telecom, creating a company both hope will be large enough to have the critical mass needed to challenge France Telecom. The combined company, to be...

Cisco Lands Swisscom, British Airways Contracts.
May 12, 2005... Cisco Systems has disclosed two European contracts from incumbent telecom carrier Swisscom and airline carrier British Airways for Internet Protocol-based hardware and software. The Swisscom deal involves Cisco's CRS-1 carrier routing system...

SBC Joins VoIP E911 Club.
May 16, 2005... SBC has become the latest - and last - of the so-called Baby Bells to publicly agree to provide E911 services to VoIP carriers. The Baby Bells run the vast majority of all E911 services in the United States. SBC had been known to be...

CompTel/ALTS Finally Finds A New President.
May 16, 2005... CompTel/ALTS, which has been looking for a new leader since November, has named Earl Comstock as its new president and CEO. Comstock is a Capitol Hill insider, just the kind of person that the telecom trade group needs to push its agenda....

Interoute Launches Voice Trading Business.
May 16, 2005... Pan-European voice/data carrier Interoute today disclosed it has launched a voice trading exchange called "Arena" for the telecom industry on a commission-free basis (meaning no per-minute transaction charges). Implemented as an extension to...

VoIP Wholesaler iBasis Links With Pan-African Operator Econet.
May 16, 2005... Global VoIP wholesale carrier iBasis today said it has cut over long distance network interconnections with Econet Satellite Services (ESS), a major facilities-based, pan-African service provider to Econet Wireless International and other...

FCC Dockets VoIP E911; Mandate Could Come Next Week.
May 16, 2005... The FCC has published its agenda for its May 19 meeting and, as widely expected (TelecomWeb May 5, 2005), a motion to make it mandatory for VoIP providers to provide E911 service has made it on the calendar. It remains unclear exactly...

Nextel Launches Unlimited Wi-Fi Service.
May 16, 2005... Wireless carrier Nextel Communications - currently readying for a merger with Sprint - today disclosed that it is launching a Wi-Fi service offering unlimited broadband Internet access for laptop computers at a flat monthly fee. The new...

Aussie Fund To Light Up Urban Broadband Blackspots.
May 16, 2005... The Australian government has allocated $38 million to subsidize Internet Service Providers extending their networks into metropolitan areas where it is currently impossible to access a broadband service. The Australian effort, called...

Cisco Lands British Airways VoIP Pact.
May 16, 2005... Cisco has landed a contract to supply VoIP gear to British Airways for what will be the largest VoIP deployment in the airline industry worldwide. The contract, under which 8,500 VoIP phones will be provided for the use of British Airways'...

Verizon Closes Slim's MCI Agreement.
May 19, 2005... Verizon Communications closed on the agreement to purchase approximately 43.4 million shares of MCI common stock - representing approximately a 13.4 percent ownership stake in the interexchange carrier - from eight holding companies...

Recycling: California Does Well By Doing Good.
May 19, 2005... RecycleForCalifornia.com, a Folsom-based, industry-funded, statewide cellphone recycling initiative, has processed more than 1,000 old cellphones in its first week of operation. More than 150 enterprise, municipalities and nonprofits have...

VoIP Regulatory Battle Brews In Canada.
May 19, 2005... A full-scale battle between incumbent telcos and the Canadian Radio- television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has broken out over a CRTC decision to regulate the prices ILECs charge for VoIP services - but not to regulate the...

So, Who Treats Folks The Best?
May 19, 2005... Research and consulting firm The Customer Respect Group released results of a 2Q05 study and survey it says rates how North America's largest telecom and networking firms treat online customers. Using a rating system called a "Customer...

BBC Readies Broadband-Delivered TV Trial.
May 19, 2005... The BBC's New Media unit is set to begin a three-month, 5,000-user trial of its interactive Media Player (iMP) in the U.K. this September. The player is part of a broadband video delivery system the BBC's cooked up, but it isn't streaming IP...

Vivendi Sues DT Over Polish Deal.
May 19, 2005... Claiming about $2.8 billion in damages, France's Vivendi Universal filed a lawsuit against Germany's Deutsche Telekom for pulling out of an agreement to purchase Polish mobile company Polska Telefonia Cyfrowa (PTC) last year. The legal...

Teleglobe, Accuris Partner On Mobile Apps.
May 19, 2005... Canadian wholesale carrier Teleglobe International Holdings Ltd will team with software vendor Accuris Limited to deliver messaging and hosted roaming application services to mobile operators on worldwide basis. Under an agreement with...

Broadband Video Takes Flight.
May 19, 2005... The first delivery ever of in-flight IP video directly to viewers' laptops has been scheduled to take off this summer on Singapore Airlines, using the Connexion by Boeing satellite-based in-flight broadband service. Initially, the service...

Mobile Marketing: It's In the Mix.
May 23, 2005... The first stage in mobile marketing's inevitable evolution is officially over, and it is time to bring the industry forward into its next era of integration with larger branding initiatives. So say companies that are in the process of...

AT&T Rebuffed On Calling-Card Appeal.
May 23, 2005... AT&T was rebuffed by a federal court in its initial efforts to get a judicial review of a Federal Communications Commission ruling that the interchange carrier acted unlawfully in avoiding universal service fund (USF) contributions and...

Satellite Providers Eye Nascent Mobile-TV Arena.
May 23, 2005... Satellite operators think that broadcast television content soon could see a new market for their services -- facilitating the delivery of broadcast content to mobile phones and other portable devices. Already, TU Media Corp. in South Korea...

WildBlue Sets Official Satellite Broadband Launch Date.
May 23, 2005... As expected (TelecomWeb, April 26), startup satellite broadband vendor WildBlue, the first to offer Ka-band satellite service - at prices not much higher than DSL or cable in contrast to the pricey satellite broadband available until now -...

What The GAO Told Congress About Fed Wireless Security.
May 23, 2005... According to a report to Rep. Bill Clay (D-Mo.) submitted by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), federal agencies haven't fully implemented the kinds of controls needed to make their wireless networks less vulnerable to outside...

Broadcom Sues Qualcomm Over Mobile Patents.
May 23, 2005... Broadcom, in a pair of lawsuits filed in federal court and in a complaint filed with the International Trade Commission (ITC), has charged Qualcomm with infringing on 10 of its patents covering various wired and wireless communications, and...

First Multi-Town Rural WiFi Ready In Louisiana.
May 23, 2005... A pair of small towns in Louisiana - Ruston, with a population of about 21,000; and nearby Grambling, population 5,000 - has installed what they are touting as the first U.S. rural multi-city Wi-Fi network. The network, which will go live...

Flipper Phones Home.
May 23, 2005... South African researchers have announced plans to strap cellphones on dolphins in the Cape Town area next month in order to track their location. The FishPhones (yes, TelecomWeb is well-aware that dolphins aren't fish, but we just...

Italtel Sneaks To Top Of Softswitch Market.
May 26, 2005... Italtel quietly zoomed to the top of the heap in the EMEA softswitch market in the course of a single quarter, muscling aside Huawei and Cirpack, according to new numbers compiled by research house Dittberner Associates. The findings now...

Qwest's Quest For MCI Ends - Time For 'Plan B'.
May 26, 2005... At the company's annual shareholder meeting earlier this week, Qwest CEO Richard Notebaert said the company's attempt to buy MCI is completely over - squelching speculation that the ILEC might make yet another attempt to convince MCI...

Equant Shares Suspended.
May 26, 2005... Global accounts carrier Equant requested the suspension of the trading of its shares on both the New York Stock Exchange and Euronext Paris earlier this week as the result of the its agreement to sell all of its assets and liabilities to...

Motorola Enters BPL Business.
May 26, 2005... Motorola unveiled an offering that mates its Canopy wireless broadband offering with in-building delivery of broadband over powerlines (BPL) using the HomePlug standard. Motorola's offering, called Powerline LV (the LV stands for low...

802.11n Wireless Standard Deadlock Continues.
May 26, 2005... The IEEE committee attempting to hammer out and agreement on the new 802.11(n) wireless standard yet again failed to agree on what the high-speed wireless standard should look like. The two remaining warring camps were in a voting deadlock...

Facing Chapter 22, McLeod Gets Another Brief Lease On Life.
May 26, 2005... Creditors handed CLEC McLeodUSA - which has been desperately searching for a buyer, merger partner or other solution to its financial ills - until July 21 to come up with the cash to pay an estimated $18.1 million in principal and interest...

CEOs: Africa, Asia Key Emerging Satellite Markets.
May 26, 2005... Africa and Asia will provide the best growth opportunities for satellite networks in the next decade, industry CEOs said during a May 23 roundtable at Intelsat's Global Telecommunications Meeting 2005. "There are areas around the world...

Cisco, Fujitsu Unveil First Joint Systems.
May 26, 2005... Cisco Systems and Japan's Fujitsu Limited introduced their first router product, the CRS-1, which was jointly developed under a December 2004 strategic alliance. The new, high-end, eight-slot system - available later this quarter -...