Vonage turns a double play.

Source: Light Reading.

Vonage has announced that it is teaming with Covad Communications Inc. to sell DSL services to its customers. The service will be branded Vonage Broadband and will offer maximum downstream speeds between 3 Mbit/s and 6 Mbit/s by the end of this year.
It was an obvious move for Vonage, which faced a tough competitive landscape against incumbents and cable MSOs offering triple play services.

Posted by Judith — 5:31 AM

Cablevision plans wireless broadband network.

Source: NYT.

Cable TV provider Cablevision Systems Corp. has disclosed plans to offer high-speed wireless Internet service across its coverage area in the New York region.
The service will be built out over the next two years or so and offer Cablevision’s existing Internet customers online access through mobile devices such as the iPhone, BlackBerry handsets or laptop computers.

Posted by Judith — 2:42 AM

CopperGate acquires Conexant’s HomePlug AV powerline technology.

Source: Converge.

CopperGate Communications has acquired Conexant Systems’ HomePlug AV business.
CopperGate is already the leading provider of HomePNA compliant chipsets, the dominant coax and phone wire standard for IPTV installations. The company said the acquisition makes it the first semiconductor company with home networking technologies supporting all three wire types — coax, phone and power lines.
G.hn is the working group name for the next generation global home networking standard being created within the ITU-T. With G.hn, coax, phone wires and power lines will all be supported by a single standard. Today, there are twenty-five active global members of G.hn including AT&T, Verizon, France Telecom, Intel and TI.

Posted by Judith — 2:22 AM

Best Buy plans new investment in U.K. retailer

Source: WSJ.

Best Buy Co. will form a joint venture with Carphone Warehouse PLC, Europe’s largest cellphone retailer, involving a GBP1.1bn. (US$2.15bn.) investment by the U.S. retail giant.
Carphone Warehouse will put its European and U.S. retail businesses, or more than 2400 stores, into the joint venture, in return for the cash payment from the electronics retailer.

Posted by Judith — 4:13 AM

Google forces Verizon’s hand on open access.

Source: Telecoms.com.

Google has forced a guarantee from Verizon Wireless that the US carrier will abide by the open access requirements on its recently won 700MHz spectrum.

Posted by Judith — 3:26 AM

Sweden sells service-neutral spectrum.

Source: BWCS.

Sweden has followed Norway’s example and auctioned off a series of technology neutral blocks of wireless spectrum. The Swedish telecoms regulator completed the auction of spectrum in the 2.6GHz band this week. In total the sale raised SKr2.1bn. (EUR225.4m.) for the government. In the end, five companies were successful -mobile operator 3, Intel, Tele2, Telenor and TeliaSonera.

Posted by Judith — 3:26 AM

Tiscali expecting eight bids.

Source: TeleGeography.

Tiscali is expecting to receive eight non-binding offers for its assets. The bidders are named as BSkyB, BT Group, Carphone Warehouse, the Virgin Group, Fastweb, Vodafone, Telecom Italia and Wind. Only Vodafone is believed to be interested in the whole of the group, while the others are only interested in either the UK or Italian businesses.

Posted by Judith — 3:20 AM

Comcast reaches for a cap as it feels the heat.

Source: TeleGeography.

Comcast, the US’s second-largest internet service provider, has confirmed the company is considering introducing a monthly download cap. It has been reported that the limit will be set at 250GB with excess usage fees for those that excede the limit.

Posted by Judith — 2:24 AM

European Commission considers SMS roaming price cap.

Source: NYT.

Caps on the price of sending an SMS from a mobile phone while abroad came a step closer when the EC launched a two-month public consultation into its rules on mobile phone roaming charges.
As well as seeking general feedback on the impact of the European Union law on roaming charges for voice calls that came into force last year, the Commission also asked stakeholders whether regulation is necessary for data roaming services and SMS in light of current retail prices and market developments.

Posted by Judith — 2:14 AM

Sprint and Clearwire to Combine WiMAX Businesses, Creating a New Mobile Broadband Company

Clearwire Corporation and Sprint Nextel Corporation today announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement to combine their next-generation wireless broadband businesses to form a new wireless communications company.

Posted by Penny — 4:42 PM