Press Clippings: August 2009
Major Industry items you might have missed
Monday, August 31, 2009
Bell, Microsoft to end online partnership.
Source: Globe and Mail.
Two powerhouses in the Canadian online world will end their five-year marriage next week and begin competing with each other for the same advertising dollars.
Microsoft and BCE’s Bell Canada will close their Web portal, sympatico.MSN.ca, on Tuesday and refresh their own sites: MSN.ca and sympatico.ca.
Posted by Judith — 4:24 AM
Nortel hit with US$3bn. tax claim by IRS.
Source: FierceWireless.
The IRS has filed a claim against the insolvent Canadian vendor for US$3bn. in back taxes, interest and other penalties, further complicating the breakup of the company.
Nortel’s asset sales—including the proposed sale of its CDMA and LTE assets to Ericsson for US$1.13bn.—are expected to fetch around US$5bn. in total. That will be applied against more than US$10bn. from creditors around the world. If the IRS claims go through, it will mean that creditors will get less money on the dollar for their claims.
Posted by Judith — 3:33 AM
Friday, August 28, 2009
Orange Group buys UK digital ad network Unanimis.
Source: Telecompaper.
Orange/France Telecom Group has announced the acquisition of UK digital advertising network Unanimis. The combination of the Unanimis premium advertising network with Orange’s mobile and internet assets will allow advertisers, buyers and media agencies to reach over 71.5% of the UK online population and over 66% of the online population across the UK, France, Spain and Poland.
Posted by Judith — 3:56 AM
China signs deal to sell iPhones.
Source: BBC.
Mobile operator China Unicom has signed a deal with Apple to launch the popular iPhone into the world’s largest mobile phone market. The phones are expected to go on sale in China later this year.
State-owned Unicom would be the first Chinese phone company to formally support the iPhone, although many unlocked iPhones are already in use.
Posted by Judith — 3:32 AM
FCC launches mobile wireless competition inquiry.
Source: Converge.
The FCC has launched an inquiry that seeks to enhance its analysis of competitive conditions in the mobile wireless market.
The FCC said that it is seeking to ensure that competition in the mobile wireless market continues to bring substantial benefits to American consumers.
Posted by Judith — 3:11 AM
India sets terms for 3G auction.
Source: Telecompaper.
The Indian government has set the terms of the long-awaited auction of 3G licences. The minimum price for each licence will be INR35bn. (US$716.2m.), and there will be four licences available in each regional circle, plus one licence in each circle for the state-owned operators BSNL/MTNL.
Posted by Judith — 3:09 AM
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Nokia sets strategy for mobile financial services.
Source: Converge.
Noting that there are now over 4bn. mobiles phones worldwide but only 1.6bn. people with their own bank account, Nokia announced plans to launch a “Money” service that will provide consumers with mobile device with access to basic financial services.
The Nokia Money service will be operated in cooperation with Obopay. Nokia made an equity investment in the firm earlier this year.
Posted by Judith — 5:04 AM
China Telecom, Reliance launch China-India cable.
Source: Telecompaper.
China Telecom and India’s Reliance Communications have launched their first terrestrial broadband cable transmission system between China and India. The cable system, with an initial capacity of 20G, is connected through Tibet to India.
Posted by Judith — 3:28 AM
Amazon launches private cloud service.
Source: InformationWeek.
Amazon Web Services, hoping to address some of the security concerns of cloud computing, has launched a new service for creating private clouds. The Amazon Virtual Private Cloud provides business customers with their own, “isolated” computing resources in the Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud, accessible by a virtual private network.
Concerns about security and control are causing some businesses to move cautiously with cloud computing, or avoid it altogether. Amazon hopes the new offering will address those concerns and attract businesses that view private clouds as a more viable alternative to public ones.
Posted by Judith — 2:47 AM
Nokia establishes unit to tie phones, services.
Source: Reuters.
Nokia has announced that it will establish a new business unit to bring its handset operations and new mobile Internet services closer together.
Nokia has been looking for business opportunities from offering services like music downloads or games to cellphone users as the handset market itself is maturing, but so far its offerings have gained limited traction.
Posted by Judith — 1:44 AM
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
AT&T expands Wi-Fi footprint to 125,000 hotspots.
Source: Converge.
AT&T announced the addition of nearly 25,000 new Wi-Fi hotspots in countries across Europe and in China. The new locations bring the total of worldwide hotspots available to AT&T users to 125,000, representing a nearly 30 percent expansion of its global Wi-Fi footprint since the beginning of the year.
Posted by Judith — 4:56 AM
VeriSign sells messaging business for $175m.
Source: InformationWeek.
VeriSign has agreed to sell its messaging business to mobile services provider Syniverse Holdings for US$175m.
Syniverse said the deal would help it boost its advanced messaging hub, which provides SMS, MMS, voice, and e-mail services to mobile operators, third-party content creators, and enterprises.
Posted by Judith — 4:12 AM
UK mobile content providers profit from booming US market.
Source: cellullar-news
UK based mobile billing supplier, Bango says that the lure of the growing US mobile market is proving to be rewarding for many of the UK’s mobile content brands. UK market leaders including Flirtomatic, Mobile Streams and Animation FC have all launched in the US and are profiting from the availability of mobile search and advertising inventory along with mobile web payments covering both on-bill and credit cards to maximize revenues.
Mobile payments have transformed in the US over recent years, with Bango also launching WAP payments with AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Virgin Mobile US.
Posted by Judith — 3:35 AM
Level 3 requests federal stimulus funding.
Source: Converge.
Level 3 Communications has applied for federal stimulus funding to expand broadband access under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The applications propose US$15m. in grant funding and an additional US$5m. in Level 3 matching funds to create new access points or “middle mile” connections to the Level 3 network in more than 50 rural markets in six states.
Posted by Judith — 3:14 AM
SCT updates mobile licence concessions.
Source: TeleGeography.
The Mexican telecoms regulator is reported to have modified the licences held by mobile operator Movistar and iDEN operator Nextel. Under the changes Nextel will be allowed to offer traditional mobile voice services and Movistar will be permitted to offer trunking services.
Posted by Judith — 2:57 AM
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Nokia plans to enter the market for netbooks.
Source: NYT.
Nokia, the world’s largest maker of mobile phones, has announced that it will make and sell its own netbook computers, expanding into the fastest-growing segment of the PC market.
The company, which is struggling to keep up with the iPhone from Apple and the BlackBerry from Research In Motion in the smartphone market, has not made a computer since the 1980s.
Posted by Judith — 4:24 AM
RIM acquires Torch Mobile.
Source: InformationWeek.
In an effort to boost the browsers in its BlackBerry smartphones, Research In Motion has acquired Torch Mobile for an undisclosed amount.
Torch Mobile is best known for the Iris mobile browser, which is built upon the WebKit rendering engine. The browser also has a Web widget platform for things like Google Gadgets, Yahoo widgets, and other content providers.
Posted by Judith — 3:50 AM
Sprint-Virgin Mobile deal gets U.S. antitrust nod.
Source: Reuters.
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has announced that Sprint Nextel Corp’s proposed US$483m. merger with Virgin Mobile USA has received antitrust clearance.
In July, Sprint said it planned to buy out small wireless carrier Virgin Mobile in a deal that pushes Sprint, the No. 3 U.S. mobile service provider, deeper into the low-end prepaid mobile market.
Posted by Judith — 3:44 AM
Monday, August 24, 2009
Deutsche Telekom owns 17% of Indian operator Devas.
Source: Telecompaper.
Deutsche Telekom has acquired 17% of the shares of Indian telecommunications operator Devas Multimedia, which will provide mobile video services in India from 2010. Bangalore-based Devas is a niche satellite-based multimedia services company with plans to deliver content via a hybrid satellite-terrestrial network to mobile devices.
Posted by Judith — 3:39 AM
Verizon Wireless completes key phases of Alltel integration.
Source: Converge.
Verizon Wireless, which acquired Alltel in January, has completed key milestones in converting former Alltel customers to its service in Florida.
More than 700 former Alltel cell sites and several large switching facilities across Florida are being upgraded and reconfigured to work as part of the larger and more advanced Verizon Wireless EV-DO Rev A network. The Alltel-to-Verizon Wireless network conversion is expected to be completed throughout the state by 2011.
Posted by Judith — 2:27 AM
WildBlue surpasses 400,000 rural BB customers, adds 3rd satellite.
Source: Converge.
WildBlue Communications now has over 400,000 customers of its satellite broadband service. WildBlue initially launched its service four years ago.
The company recently activated services on a third satellite in early August, and has applied for federal stimulus money to help fund a next generation satellite with the ability to serve an additional 1.5 million customers in the rural U.S.
Posted by Judith — 1:31 AM
AT&T to launch 3G across 850MHz band.
Source: TeleGeography.
US-based cellco AT&T Mobility has announced that it is in the process of switching on 3G services in the 850MHz frequency band in certain markets across the country, boosting its network coverage and capacity.
Posted by Judith — 1:05 AM
Saturday, August 22, 2009
AT&T can block cheap net calls on iPhone.
Source: The terms in AT&T’s exclusive US contract to provide connections for Apple’s iPhone give the telecommunications giant the power to veto online store applications that use AT&T to launch cheap calls through the Internet. The comments came in response to…
The terms in AT&T’s exclusive US contract to provide connections for Apple’s iPhone give the telecommunications giant the power to veto online store applications that use AT&T to launch cheap calls through the Internet.
The comments came in response to questions from to the US Federal Communications Commission, which is investigating whether such partnerships as the AT&T-Apple tie-up unduly restrict access to smartphones.
Posted by Judith — 4:59 AM
Friday, August 21, 2009
BT outsources upkeep of local network.
Source: FT.com.
BT has decided to outsource maintenance of its local telephone line network to a joint venture of Carillion and Telent, in a GBP1bn. deal expected to be agreed in the next two months.
The joint venture has signed a letter of intent with BT Openreach, the subsidiary responsible for maintenance of the copper wires that run from phone exchanges to homes.
Posted by Judith — 4:48 AM
U.S. wants to define broadband, opens wireless inquiry.
Source: Reuters.
U.S. telecommunications regulators have sought public comment on how to define “broadband,” a step that could impact how the industry delivers Internet services to consumers.
The FCC issued a fact-finding notice on its website seeking the public’s input as it drafts a national broadband plan that is to be submitted to Congress in mid-February.
The FCC also said it plans to issue another public notice on its website to study the competitive nature of the U.S. wireless industry and how to “encourage further innovation and investment.”
Posted by Judith — 4:12 AM
Oracle gets US go-ahead to buy Sun.
Source: BBC.
The US Justice Department has given its approval for business software firm Oracle to take over computer hardware software maker Sun Microsystems.
The US$7.4bn. (GBP4.5bn.) deal was agreed by the two in April this year, but still needs approval from the European Commission before it can be concluded.
Posted by Judith — 3:14 AM
Datacom and TTSL sign tower sharing deal.
Source: TeleGeography.
Datacom Solutions, the telecom services arm of the Videocon Group, has inked a ten-year infrastructure sharing agreement with mobile operator Tata Teleservices. Under the deal it is understood that Datacom will lease both bandwidth and towers across the country from TTSL. Wireless-TT Infoservices, a joint tower venture between TTSL and Quippo Telecom, is expected to provide passive infrastructure, while TTSL itself will provide transmission services.
Posted by Judith — 3:11 AM
Thursday, August 20, 2009
MySpace to acquire music service .
Source: BBC.
MySpace is tol acquire the popular music discovery service iLike that allows users listen to and share music across social networks.
iLike reportedly turned down an offer from rival Facebook, where it is the top music application.
The company has 55 million registered users and has been prominent on most social networks apart from MySpace.
Posted by Judith — 3:22 AM
Chunghwa Telecom enters e-book market with HTC, Microsoft.
Source: Telecompaper.
Taiwan’s Chunghwa Telecom has entered into an alliance with handset maker HTC, Microsoft Taiwan, and local publishing companies to launch e-books. In September, the parties will launch the Hami Bookstore, which will offer e-books for smartphones such as the iPhone and phones based on Android and Windows Mobile.
Posted by Judith — 3:05 AM
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Qwest to stop providing wireless service.
Source: WSJ.
Qwest Communications International will no longer provide wireless service as of Oct. 31 as the company looks to complete its exit from the wireless business.
Last year, the company began a transition of its standalone wireless customer base to Verizon Wireless, a joint venture between Verizon Communications and Vodafone Group.
Posted by Judith — 3:41 AM
Daisy adds Redstone Telecoms to chain of recent acquisitions.
Source: TeleGeography.
UK-based telco Daisy Group has announced yet another acquisition, having agreed to pay GBP17m. (US$27.9m.) for the telecoms division of Redstone. Under the terms of the deal Daisy will purchase fixed line and mobile operator Redstone Telecom, along with its wholly owned subsidiary Symphony Holdings, a mobile service provider and distribution business.
Posted by Judith — 3:07 AM
EU to invest EUR18m. in LTE advanced technology project.
Source: Converge.
The European Commission will invest EUR18m. on LTE Advanced technology research.
In September, the Commission will start to negotiate the details with project consortia, including the flagship ARTIST4G that builds on the achievements of the WINNER projects and unites 4G industry and researchers from Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Sweden and the UK.
Posted by Judith — 3:02 AM
O2 (Germany) allows mobile VoIP use.
Source: TeleGeography.
German mobile operator O2 Germany has announced it has started to allow VoIP use on its wireless network. Previously all four of the country’s mobile network operators have tried to block VoIP applications such as Skype, which allow customers to make cheap long-distance calls via broadband internet connections.
Posted by Judith — 2:55 AM
ComReg orders Eircom to slash LLU costs.
Source: TeleGeography.
Ireland’s national regulator has published a decision compelling former monopoly Eircom to cut the cost of an unbundled broadband connection from EUR8.41 (USD11.87) per month to EUR0.77. The move is expected to make the domestic broadband market more competitive by substantially reducing the wholesale rate charged for LLU.
Posted by Judith — 2:35 AM
Idea to demerge overlapping licences to new companies.
Source: TeleGeography.
Mobile operator Idea Cellular is planning to divest six wireless licences into two separate entities, with a view to selling the concessions at a later date. The moves comes after Idea obtained six overlapping licences following its acquisition of Spice Communications; under existing legislation no operator can own more than one licence per telecom circle.
Posted by Judith — 2:20 AM
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Verizon tests LTE.
Source: TeleGeography.
Verizon Wireless, has announced that it has successfully completed the first stage of testing over its LTE networks in Boston and Seattle. The cellco reports that it has ten LTE cell sites up and running on the 700MHz spectrum in Boston and Seattle, and the firm has made its first data calls over the networks.
Posted by Judith — 5:22 AM
Qualcomm becomes minority shareholder in Pantech.
Source: Telecompaper.
Mobile handset manufacturer Pantech has entered into a debt-to-equity conversion agreement with Qualcomm. Under the terms of the agreement, Qualcomm will become a minority shareholder in Pantech and Curitel Communications. Qualcomm will hold no more than 15% of the outstanding common shares of each company.
Posted by Judith — 4:32 AM
Bharti Airtel launches global wholesale services.
Source: Converge.
India’s Bharti Airtel is making a bid to become a top tier, global wholesale carrier with a network that will reach 50 countries across the continents of Europe, North America, Africa, Asia and Australia. The company said it has invested of US$500m. on building cable capacity, network infrastructure and international Points of Presence.
Posted by Judith — 4:03 AM
Monday, August 17, 2009
Dell, China Mobile hook up on smartphone.
Source: WSJ.
U.S. personal computer maker Dell is entering the smart phone market for the first time through a cooperation deal with China Mobile, the world’s biggest mobile handset maker by subscribers.
Dell joins other PC makers, including Hewlett-Packard, Taiwan’s Acer and Asustek Computer, that have launched handsets in an effort to diversify their product offerings and launch devices that fetch higher margins.
Posted by Judith — 7:13 AM
Windstream sells distribution business.
Source: FierceTelecom.
Until this year, network equipment supply and distribution units represented an interesting sideline business for both Embarq and Windstream Communications, two of the largest independent telcos around. But, Embarq sold Embarq Logistics to KGP Communications in advance of its acquisition by CenturyTel being completed, and now Windstream has sold its distribution unit to Walker & Associates.
Posted by Judith — 6:21 AM
Chinese cellcos to spend US$66bn. on 3G over next three years.
Source: TeleGeography.
It is reported that China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom will spend RMB450bn. (US$66bn.) on the deployment of next generation networks and services by the end of 2012. The Minister of Industry and Information Technology said that they are confident about China’s homegrown TD-SCDMA standard and that it has already begun to explore 4G technologies.
Posted by Judith — 6:04 AM
Friday, August 14, 2009
RIM Losing Bid To Stop Nortel-Ericsson Deal
Source: InformationWeek
Research In Motion’s plea to the Canadian government to block Ericsson’s $1.13 billion purchase of Nortel’s prized LTE and CDMA unit appears to be fading with reports that Prime Minister Stephen Harper won’t block the deal.
Posted by Judith — 4:35 AM
China’s ZTE Advances In U.S. Market
Source: Forbes
ZTE is making more inroads in the U.S. The company announced Thursday its first product with Verizon Wireless—a USD79.99 mobile broadband modem. The deal also marks ZTE’s second agreement with a top or “tier 1” U.S. carrier. ZTE struck an alliance with Sprint Nextel last fall by providing a modem that works with WiMax, the fourth-generation (4G) wireless technology that Sprint favors.
Posted by Judith — 4:33 AM
Turk Telekom launches fixed-mobile voice service
Source: TelecomPaper
Turk Telekom has launched a new service dubbed Wirofon. Service users can make calls with their mobile phones via home lines from Wi-Fi spots. Call charges are included in the home line billing. Wirofon service users can also make calls from PCs with internet connections. To use the Wirofon service, customers need a Turk Telekom fixed line and Wi-Fi compatible mobile phone supporting SIP protocol or running the Windows Mobile OS, or a computer with internet connection.
Posted by Judith — 4:03 AM
Thursday, August 13, 2009
China scales back internet censorship plans
Source: The Register
The Chinese government is scaling back plans for compulsory net filtering for all citizens.
China’s minister of industry, information and technology said Green Dam Filtering software would be compulsory for all computers in schools and public internet cafes, but not for individual PCs.
Posted by Judith — 7:42 AM
Orange repeals unpopular price changes
Source: The Register
Orange has scrapped plans to increase out-of-bundle call rates, as well as the cost of web access from handsets, after customers started deserting the network in droves.
The changes included almost tripling the cost of minutes beyond the bundle, from five pence to 14.7 pence, as well as changing the way web access was charged.
Posted by Judith — 7:40 AM
Microsoft and Nokia team up for smartphone
Source: TimesOnline
Microsoft and Nokia announced an alliance to bring advanced business software to smartphones in an attempt to counter the dominance of Research in Motion’s BlackBerry devices and the growing threat from the Apple iPhone.
The partnership between the world’s largest software company and the largest mobile phone maker means that the latest online versions of Microsoft’s dominant Office suite of applications, including Word, Excel and PowerPoint, will be available on a range of Nokia handheld devices.
Posted by Judith — 3:08 AM
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Royal Group to buy MIC’s Cambodian operations
Source: TeleGeography
Luxembourg-based telecoms group Millicom International Cellular (MIC) has announced it has signed an agreement with the Royal Group of Cambodia for the sale of its Cambodian operations. For USD346 million in cash, the Royal Group will acquire MIC’s 58.4% stake in CamGSM, which provides mobile services in the country under the Mobitel banner, as well as its holdings in Royal Telecam International and Cambodia Broadcasting Services.
Posted by Judith — 5:41 AM
Hutchison sells Partner Communications for USD 1.38 billion
Source: Telecompaper
Hutchison Telecommunications International has agreed to sell its controlling interest in Israeli mobile operator Partner Communications, which oeprates under the name Orange Israel. The Hong Kong-based company will sell its 51.3 percent equity interest for USD 1.381 billion to Scailex, an Israeli holding company also active in distributing Samsung handsets.
Posted by Judith — 5:08 AM
Ofcom mulls what to do with 8MHz of prime spectrum
Source: The Register
Ofcom is seeking opinions on what to do with 8MHz of prime spectrum, with everything from selling to the highest bidder to allowing unlicensed usage on the agenda.
The spectrum is in two blocks of 4MHz; one starting at 827MHz and the other at 917MHz. These are perilously close to the spectrum used by Vodafone and O2 for their GSM services, and capable of interfering with those networks if high-power use is permitted.
Posted by Judith — 5:07 AM
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Facebook buys social media start-up FriendFeed.
Source: Reuters.
Facebook, the world’s largest social networking site, has announced that it will buy FriendFeed, netting a group of prized ex-Google engineers in the fast-growing Internet business.
FriendFeed, an up-and-coming social media startup, lets people share content online in real time across various social networks and blogs.
Posted by Judith — 4:11 AM
Sprint looks to raise US$500m.
Source: InformationWeek.
Sprint Nextel is planning to raise US$500m. in a public offering. The third-largest U.S. carrier said the half-billion dollars would go toward general business expenses, which could include paying for acquisitions, debt services, network expansion.
Posted by Judith — 3:17 AM
Globalive gets Wind.
Source: TeleGeography.
Canadian start-up mobile operator Globalive Wireless will offer services under the ‘Wind’ name used by its sister companies in Italy and Greece. Set to launch 3G services in early 2010, Globalive is part-owned by Egypt’s Orascom Telecom, itself majority owned by Weather Investments, which wholly controls two full-service alternative telecoms operators, Italy’s Wind Telecomunicazioni and Greece’s Wind Hellas.
Posted by Judith — 3:00 AM
Monday, August 10, 2009
Nortel CEO to step down.
Source: Reuters.
Nortel Networks has announced that its chief executive will step down immediately and its board will shrink from nine directors to three as the bankrupt telecom equipment maker works to sell off all of its major assets.
Posted by Judith — 12:47 PM
Microsoft to sell advertising arm.
Source: BBC.
Microsoft is to sell its digital advertising arm Razorfish to French advertising company Publicis.
Under the deal, estimated to be worth US$530m. (GBP318m.), Microsoft has to make minimum future spending with Razorfish.
Posted by Judith — 3:11 AM
F.C.C. weighs need for new cellphone handset rules.
Source: NYT.
The federal government has always been involved in wireless networks, notably with auctioning off the public airwaves that cellular companies use. But until now it has rarely been involved in oversight of the devices themselves.
Now the commission is asking whether wireless carriers should be able to sign deals that allow them to offer certain cellular handsets exclusively. For example, AT&T’s deal with Apple to sell the iPhone has been contentious, particularly for consumers who use other cellular carriers.
Posted by Judith — 3:05 AM
Tata Communications to invest INR100bn. over three years.
Source: TeleGeography.
Indian fixed line and broadband provider Tata Communications has announced it has set aside INR100bn. (US$2.11bn.) for capital expenditure over the next three years. It is understood that Tata plans to use the funds to enhance the core areas of its service, including voice and data solutions, although it has not detailed any specific plans for the investment.
Posted by Judith — 3:01 AM
BSNL to offer 3G services in 760 cities at end of first deployment phase.
Source: TeleGeography.
Indian state-owned telco BSNL has revealed it aims to provide 3G services in 760 cities in the first phase of its deployment of the technology. Detailing its investment and rollout plans to the Union Parliament, BSNL also noted that it expects to spend INR27bn. (US$570m.) on the first phase of the project, noting that it had already launched commercial 3G services in 111 cities.
Posted by Judith — 1:55 AM
Italy’s Wind and FASTWEB sign network sharing deal.
Source: Converge.
Wind and FASTWEB, both broadband operators in Italy, announced a network sharing agreement concerning LLU exchanges and fiber-optic infrastructure. The aim of the agreement is to rationalize network costs following recent decisions on unbundling fees.
Posted by Judith — 1:44 AM
Saturday, August 8, 2009
U.S. government will not get secret company Internet data.
Source: Reuters.
Telecommunications providers will not have to give the government sensitive revenue and Internet speed data for a program to map broadband use in U.S. homes and bring high-speed Internet service to more people.
The U.S. Commerce Department said that companies such as Verizon, Comcast and AT&T do not have to share how much money they make from each Internet subscriber. Nor must they say how fast their Internet connections typically run.
Instead, they will provide data by the block, usually about a dozen homes depending on the size of the block. They also will share the speed of Internet service that they advertise.
Posted by Judith — 5:33 AM
Friday, August 7, 2009
Hacker attacks silence Twitter, slow Facebook.
Source: Reuters.
Twitter and Facebook suffered service problems from hacker attacks on Thursday, raising speculation about a coordinated campaign against the world’s most popular online social networks.
Posted by Judith — 3:05 AM
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Canadian House to hold emergency meeting over Nortel’s bankruptcy auction process.
Source: FierceTelecom.
The Canadian House of Commons industry committee called for an emergency meeting scheduled for tomorrow to discuss the auction process that ended with Ericsson successfully walking off with Nortel’s CDMA and LTE assets for US$1.13bn.
Posted by Judith — 10:34 AM
DAVE contracts Ericsson to build network for 3G launch in early 2010.
Source: TeleGeography.
Canadian start-up mobile operator Data & Audio Visual Enterprises Wireless (DAVE Wireless) says it will launch commercial 3G services in early 2010, following the award of a network rollout contract to Sweden’s Ericsson. The five-year deal covers the building of infrastructure in the five most populous markets in DAVE’s licence footprint, namely Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton and Ottawa.
Posted by Judith — 4:40 AM
Sistema approves Comstar-MTS deal.
Source: TeleGeography.
The board of Russian conglomerate Sistema AFK has approved the takeover of its Moscow-based fixed line carrier Comstar United TeleSystems by Mobile TeleSystems (MTS), also a subsidiary of Sistema. MTS has agreed to pay US$1.28bn. for a controlling stake in Comstar.
Posted by Judith — 4:14 AM
Google buys On2 Technologies.
Source: Telecompaper.
Google has agreed to buy On2 Technologies, a developer of video compression technology, in a stock swap valuing the company at US$106.5m. On2’s technology is used in desktop and mobile applications, and the company counts among its customers Adobe, Skype, Nokia, Sony and Brightcove.
Posted by Judith — 3:54 AM
Deutsche Telekom increases stake in OTE.
Source: Telecompaper.
Deutsche Telekom has purchased another 24.5m. shares in Greek operator OTE for EUR 674m. from the Greek government. The German operator now has a 30% stake in OTE.
Posted by Judith — 3:49 AM
3 UK plans mobile Wi-Fi service launch by Christmas.
Source: Telecompaper.
3 UK will launch a mobile Wi-Fi service called MiFi in time for Christmas, allowing customers to use Wi-Fi to access the 3 network with a small wireless modem. The wireless modem allows users to create their own personal mobile Wi-FI connection and connect various Wi-Fi-enabled devices to the internet. No fixed-line internet connection is required, with the service working across 3 UKs 3G mobile network.
Posted by Judith — 2:49 AM
Singapore Telemedia raises bid for eircom parent.
Source: Reuters.
Singapore Technologies Telemedia has made a revised bid worth a total of A$230m. (US$194m.) for Eircom holdings, the Australian based majority shareholder of Irish telecoms group eircom.
Posted by Judith — 2:13 AM
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Microsoft deal will pay Yahoo more after 5 years.
Source: Reuters.
Yahoo will get slightly more revenue from Microsoft during the second half of the companies’ recently announced 10-year Internet search partnership.
The share of revenue that Microsoft pays to run search ads on Yahoo’s network of sites will increase from 88% to 90% in the second five years of the partnership.
Posted by Judith — 3:31 AM
EFSA rejects France Telecom appeal over Mobinil bid.
Source: Telecompaper.
France Telecom said the Egyptian stockmarket appeals committee has rejected the group’s appeal regarding its bid to buy all the shares it doesn’t yet control in Egyptian mobile operator Mobinil and that it would launch an appeal of that decision before the country’s supreme court for public affairs.
Posted by Judith — 3:13 AM
Daisy blooms through acquisitions.
Source: TeleGeography.
Daisy Group, the UK-based telco created last month after Freedom4 Group completed a reverse takeover process and subsequently listed the new company on the AIM, has announced the acquisition of two more British telecoms companies. Daisy has purchased Yorkshire-based Eurotel for GBP13.5m. (US$22.9m.), also issuing 585,000 warrants exercisable at GBP0.855 a share as part of the acquisition. Daisy has also picked up AT Communication for a cash sum of GBP7m., issuing 1.17m. warrants exercisable at the same price as those for Eurotel.
Posted by Judith — 2:55 AM
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
PaysafeCard, BT launch mobile money service.
Source: Telecompaper.
International payment provider PaysafeCard has signed a contract with BT to launch a mobile money service for e-commerce. The service will enable mobile users to buy online by charging the purchase to their mobile phone. The scheme launches with all the UK’s mobile operators, including Vodafone, O2, Orange, T-Mobile and 3. Mobile users will be able to spend at any of PaysafeCard’s 2,700 integrated websites.
Posted by Judith — 3:44 AM
Telstra, Nortel trial long-distance 100 Gbps transmission.
Source: Telecompaper.
Telstra and Nortel have successfully completed trials of 100 Gbps and 40 Gbps transmission over the longest distances ever attempted. A continuous 2,038 kilometre fibre optic link between Adelaide and Sydney was used for the 100 Gbps trial, while the 40 Gbps trial took place over 3,370 kilometres on a looped-back section of the Sydney to Adelaide route.
Posted by Judith — 3:05 AM
Clearwire targets Texas.
Source: TeleGeography.
US-based WiMAX specialist Clearwire has revealed plans to launch eight new networks in Texas on 1 September 2009. The firm will roll out its mobile broadband services in Abilene, Amarillo, Corpus Christi, Killeen/Temple, Lubbock, Midland/Odessa, Waco and Wichita Falls by the end of the month, along with parallel deployments in Boise; Idaho and Bellingham; Washington. The company intends to bring its ‘Clear’ WiMAX brand to 80 markets covering up to 120 million people by the end of 2010.
Posted by Judith — 2:05 AM
Monday, August 3, 2009
Legal battle puts Skype’s future in jeopardy.
Source: CNN.
A legal battle has put the future of Skype in jeopardy, according to eBay, which owns the online communications system.
If Skype loses the right to use a key part of its software and can’t create an adequate replacement, “Skype’s business as currently conducted would likely not be possible,” eBay said.
But the battle with Joltid, the company that created the piece of technology at issue, shows no sign of being resolved anytime soon, either.
Posted by Judith — 3:39 AM
France to sell fourth 3G licence at knock-down rate.
Source: BWCS.
France Telecom is to challenge the government’s decision to sell a fourth mobile licence at a reduced rate. The government announced yesterday that it plans to offer the fourth licence to supply 3G services across France for EUR240m. (US$338.7m.). Previously it had planned to put the franchise up for sale for EUR206m.
Posted by Judith — 3:20 AM
Saturday, August 1, 2009
FCC seeks details on Google app rejection for iPhone.
Source: Reuters.
The FCC is seeking additional information about Apple’s decision to reject Google’s voice application for the iPhone.
The Google application is seen by some as a competitive threat to the voice services that come with the iPhone, which is carried exclusively in the United States by AT&T Inc.
The FCC sent letters of inquiry to Apple, Google and AT&T after Apple failed to approve the Google Voice app and removed a similar application from the App Store.
Posted by Judith — 3:09 AM
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