TelecomWeb News Digest articles from September 2004

TelecomWeb News Digest archives from September 2004

DirecTV Plans to Use Spaceway Satellite for HDTV.(Brief Article)
September 13, 2004... El Segundo, Calif.-based DirecTV Group has taken the mystery out of its plans for providing high-definition (HD) satellite TV services by announcing that it would use the Spaceway satellites now under construction by its Germantown, Md.-based...

FCC Attempts to Assume 'Kid-Friendly' Posture.(Brief Article)
September 13, 2004... In case you haven't seen it already, check out the FCC's latest attempt to cast itself as a "kid friendly" agency. The federal regulator on Thursday (Sept. 9) launched a new section on its Web site called "Kidzone" at...

Why Telecom New Zealand entrusts its Network to Lucent Technologies.(Brief Article)
September 13, 2004... For Telecom New Zealand (TNZ), the decision to turn over the management of the island nation's leading telecom service provider's network to Lucent Technologies had little, if anything, to do with reducing workforce numbers, says Stephen...

CDT Honcho Rails against FBI Oversight of CALEA.
September 13, 2004... Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT) Executive Director Jim Dempsey on Wednesday (Sept. 8) told the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications that the FBI ought not to be in charge oversight of the technology design for Internet telephony...

APCO Officials Press House, Senate Panels on Spectrum Issues.(Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials)
September 13, 2004... Representatives of the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO) International, in appearances Wednesday (Aug. 8) before committees of both houses of Congress, urged lawmakers to immediately address key issues related to...

Special Access Debate Heats Up; U.S. Businesses Enter the Fray.(Brief Article)
September 13, 2004... The Bell Operating Companies (BOCs) have long argued that the market for special access is highly competitive. In fact, Qwest, in its recent successful effort to win FCC approval to raise its rates for special access services, made that precise...

Motive Wins in Japan, Juniper in Central America.(Brief Article)
September 13, 2004... Motive has snagged a contract with Japan's Softbank BB for Motive's broadband management software. Softbank, which touts its "Yahoo! BB" as Japan's largest broadband service and its VoIP service also as the largest in Japan, is buying Motive's...

Call for Entries: Telecom Marketing Awards Competition Begins.(Brief Article)
September 13, 2004... Have you developed and executed a marketing campaign during the past year that increased your sales, your brand's recognition, your reach to the media and analysts, your advertising impressions, your incoming sales calls? Then you need to...

Consumer Advocates Decry Monopoly Nature of Upcoming Wireless Merger.(Brief Article)
September 20, 2004... Now that FCC Chairman Michael Powell has fast-tracked the agency's consideration of the pending Cingular Wireless/AT&T Wireless merger, Mark Cooper, director of research at the Consumer Federation of America, and Gene Kimmelman, senior director...

BT Northern Ireland Completes Acquisition.(Brief Article)
September 20, 2004... BT Northern Ireland has spent 17 million euros (US$20.7 million) to boost its position in the information communications technology (ICT) market place. It has acquired B.I.C. Systems Group, which will help BT create one of the largest ICT...

Intelsat Takes $30 Million Charge on Hong Kong Venture.(Brief Article)
September 20, 2004... Intelsat on Friday (Sept. 17) said it would end its 51 percent participation in Galaxy Satellite TV Holdings Limited, a company with a Hong Kong direct-to-home (DTH) satellite television subsidiary, Galaxy Satellite Broadcasting Limited. The...

DirecTV Alleges Piracy in Suit against Utah Couple.(Brief Article)
September 20, 2004... DirecTV has prosecuted bars and individuals for stealing its satellite TV signals and now it is pursuing legal action against a married couple that the company alleges set up false subscription accounts and illegally activated receivers. ...

Judiciary Committee Leaders Urge Ashcroft to Oppose Bells' Mandamus.(Brief Article)
September 20, 2004... Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, and Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.), the panel's ranking Democrat, have fired off a joint letter to U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft urging the Department of Justice...

Post AT&T Wireless, Rogers Divulges Microcell Plans.(Brief Article)
September 20, 2004... Here's something from our "We Told You So" department: Early last week when Canada's Rogers Communications reached an agreement with AT&T Wireless Services to pay nearly $2 billion for AT&T Wireless' 34 percent stake in Rogers Wireless,...

Appropriations Amendment Seen as Win for Rural Telcos.(Brief Article)
September 20, 2004... Rural telcos won a major victory last Wednesday (Sept. 15) when the Senate Appropriations Committee agreed to an amendment to the FY 2005 commerce, justice, state, judiciary appropriations bill barring the FCC from giving further consideration...

European Data Retention Framework Troubles U.S. IT Sector.(Brief Article)
September 20, 2004... The U.S. information technology sector, represented by the Arlington, Va.-based Information Technology Association of America (ITAA), told the European Commission (EC) that it is deeply concerned about the costs and technical difficulties of...

California Regulators Levy Multi-Million Dollar Fine against Cingular.(Brief Article)
September 27, 2004... The California Public Utility Commission (CPUC) has approved a measure that levies a $12 million-Plus fine against Cingular Wireless for violating state law and orders the carrier to make restitution to its customers for wrongfully charging...

NCTA, NAB Honchos Rail against Measure Purportedly Favoring EchoStar.(National Association of Broadcasters)(National Cable and Telecommunications Association)
September 27, 2004... The heads of two major communications sector trade associations have fired off a joint letter to the leadership of the Senate Judiciary Committee objecting to the so-called "digital white area" provisions contained in S. 2644, the Satellite...

Congress Passes Research and Development Tax Credit Extension.(Brief Article)
September 27, 2004... Both the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives have voted to pass a seamless, 18-month extension of the research and development tax credit as part of a package of tax cuts. The Middle Class Tax Extenders bill, HR 1308, late Thursday...

House Telecom Subcommittee to Examine Wireless Directory Assistance.(Brief Article)
September 27, 2004... Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet, has scheduled a hearing on the controversial issue of wireless directory assistance for Wednesday, Sept. 29, at 10 a.m. in...

SBC's UNE Rates Continue to Rise throughout Its Region.
September 27, 2004... SBC Communications got far less than what it was asking for in Michigan when regulators in that state last Tuesday (Sept. 21) granted the Baby Bell a marginal increase in the wholesale rates it charges its competitors for access to SBC's...

Qwest Tasked with Equating N.M. Wireline, Wireless Buildouts.(New Mexico)(Brief Article)
September 27, 2004... The New Mexico Public Regulation Commission may be give Bell regional holding company Qwest a break when it comes to the carrier's five-year commitment to build communications networks in that state, but Qwest now has some research to perform....

NASUCA Calls for Limits on Telecommunications Surcharge.
September 27, 2004... The National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates (NASUCA) weighed in Thursday (Sept, 23) at the FCC and with Congress in support of limiting the dramatic growth in the federal Universal Service Fund (USF), which is paid for by all...

Hollings, Burns Amendment Would Clear TV Spectrum for Emergency Officials.(Brief Article)
September 27, 2004... An amendment aimed at clearing broadcasting channels so that police, fire, and public safety officials can use the spectrum has passed the Senate Commerce Committee by a 13-9 vote as part of the Save Lives Bill. Sponsored by Sens. Ernest...