Unable to sign up enough new cellphone subscribers, Sprint Nextel Corp. is betting it can outflank rivals by renting the excess capacity on its network to makers of consumer gadgets.
Sprint, which has spent billions rolling out a high-speed data network, already handles wireless book downloads for Amazon.com Inc.’s popular Kindle reader, though Sprint’s involvement is largely hidden from the public.
Vancouver taxpayers will no longer have to shell out $2-million a year for road damage caused by telecommunications companies, after a federal decision in a case between the city and a local telecom.
The ruling appears to have settled a dispute between municipalities and telecoms that has been bubbling since deregulation was introduced more than a decade ago
Telecoms Commissioner, calls on the European Parliament and the Council of EU Telecoms Ministers to be ambitious in the coming days as they enter the final negotiations on a new set of EU rules strengthening competition and consumer rights in a single market for telecoms like mobile phone services and internet connections. While consumers in all 27 Member States currently have the right to change their (fixed and mobile) phone operator while keeping their number, at the moment not everyone can expect it to happen in one day, and some face a wait of two to three weeks, reducing the impact of this important right on competition and consumer choice. On average across the EU, it takes 8.5 days for a mobile number and 7.5 days for a fixed number to be ported
IrelandOffline today received their copy of an authoritative survey published recently in Geneva by the International Telecommunications Union, The ITU is the global Telecommunications standards and information body.
Finally Ireland leads the way, at least in one field. We are now officially the Most Expensive Country in the World in which to rent a telephone line and make a few local calls. We are the 17th most expensive country in the World for prepaid mobile phone calls. 150 countries were surveyed in all.
Commenting on the survey IrelandOffline Chairperson Eamonn Wallace said ”These figures are simply disgraceful but sadly they are very much as expected. They confirm the information in our recent Press Releases that Irish Phone line Rental is the ripoff of the century.”
IrelandOffline strongly condemns this rip off , especially as we have to question the service levels we get for our exorbitant line rental cost. This report comes at a time when Ireland is facing grave challenges in maintaining a competitive environment in many areas. Wallace continued “The ITU conduct this survey every two years and we will therefore remain in this ignominious top position until 2011″.
As IrelandOffline exclusively revealed last week the number of line faults is now so great that Comreg no longer publish them. We are again calling on Comreg to publish these figures as they are required to do by the EU. Wallace added “Regulators such as Comreg must represent the interests of Irish Consumers and Irish Businesses as a starting principle and not as an optional add on package or an inconvenience. Clearly their emphasis on promoting competition has failed to deliver a competitive environment and once again Irish consumers are suffering from inflated prices”.
Wallace went on to say “it is long past time that strong legislation be brought in to direct Comreg to reduce line rental prices to the EU average immediately. There is a precedent here in Ireland for such a move, as the Minister recently directed that electricity prices also be reduced.”
IrelandOffline is also calling for a root and branch reform of the system of “gentlemanly regulation” especially in the field of telecommunications, this should include the abolition of Comreg and other regulators and a replacement system that focuses on the consumer as its primary objective be put in place. The Financial Regulator is clearly not the only Regulator in Ireland that suffers from Regulatory Capture. The consumers of Ireland simply cannot afford to pay any longer for the total failure of our “gentlemanly” regulatory systemSears, A.L.; Watkins, S.E.
Education, IEEE Transactions on
Volume 39, Issue 3, Aug 1996 Page(s):342 - 348
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/13.538757
Summary:An interactive multimedia educational manual on the Internet through the World Wide Web for commercial optical fiber telecommunications equipment is described. The Telecommunications Laboratory Manual is a vehicle for enhancing engineering education with realistic laboratory or virtual laboratory experience. The manual provides a brief system tutorial, operating instructions, online help, and multimedia experimental demonstrations. It incorporates block diagrams, photographic images, and hypertext links that are mouse clickable, allowing users to access documents or links describing components or processes in any order. An experimental section guides students through laboratory experiences, demonstrates selected equipment characteristics, and provides for direct instructor contact through e-mail. Other remote resources on the Internet are linked to create a global multimedia library. This paper describes the manual, its multimedia design, its use in the curriculum, and its further potential
Think your IP VPN bills are too high?
Then don't move to Jakarta, Indonesia, home of one of the world's most expensive 2 Mbit/s E-1 VPN ports, priced at over $11,300 per month according to TeleGeography Inc.
Yes, IP VPNs have become a staple within multinational corporations, proving a secure tunnel into the company headquarters from remote offices and locations around the world. But their popularity doesn't make them a commodity.
Now, wanna hear something really sick? You can get the same VPN service in Jakarta, via a different carrier, with the same bandwidth, for a mere $1,347 a month. The difference in price has to do, of course, with where the connection is headed.
“The foundation of price discrepancy has to do with bandwidth pricing in and out of the country,” says Greg Bryan, pricing research analyst with Telegeography. “If it’s a country that isn’t deregulated yet where bandwidth is difficult to acquire, that adds to the cost.”
So the ports are the same and the technology is the same, but the price of bandwidth coming in and out of the country is not. That’s why in places such as Indonesia, you find such a wide range of prices -- the most expensive ones are linking single locations within that area back to a more competitive western market. The cheap ones are only linking within Indonesia.
Compare that to IP VPNs in New York which consistently cost around $1,000 a month whether they link in or out of the country. There is ample bandwidth coming in and out of the city which makes proving an IP VPN a relative cinch.
Another factor in pricing discrepancy is service level agreements (SLAs). All enterprise customers want strong SLAs and providing service guarantees between remote countries is expensive.
In New York or London, cities with widely developed infrastructure and an abundance of carrier hotel facilities, a VPN that connects locations within the city will likely cost the same as one that connects elsewhere in the world. And that cost will be relatively cheap in the area of $1,000 a month.
As to who is the offending $11,300 a month carrier, TeleGeography can't say, due to a non-disclosure agreement. But it is very likely to be a large North American or European carrier trying to come into that new developing region of Jakarta. “They’re basically trying to pull more margin into their network based on these more remote sites,” says Bryan
This Frost & Sullivan research service titled Colombian Data Communications Services Markets provides an overview of these markets along with discussions on key drivers, restraints, challenges, market trends, and forecasts. In this research service, Frost & Sullivan's expert analysts thoroughly examine the following technologies: IP (VPN, MPLS, and Dedicated Internet Access), Frame Relay, Dedicated Lines, ATM, X.25, Gigabit Ethernet, and Metro Ethernet
Market Sectors
Expert Frost & Sullivan analysts thoroughly examine the following market sectors in this research:
By Applications:
- Retail Market
- Wholesales Market
- International Market
- Value Added Services
By Technologies:
- IP (VPN, MPLS, Dedicated Internet Access)
- Frame Relay
- Dedicated Lines
- ATM
- X.25
- Gigabit Ethernet and Metro Etherrnet
Technologies
The following technologies are covered in this research:
- X.25: This is a communications protocol for WAN networks that use the phone or ISDN system as the networking hardware. X.25 is a standard protocol for connecting computers and other data communications devices to packet-switched networks.
- Frame Relay: Frame relay is a packet switching protocol designed for cost-efficient data transmission for intermittent traffic between local area networks (LAN) and end-points in a wide area network (WAN). Frame relay puts data in a variable-size unit called a frame and leaves any necessary error correction (retransmission of data) up to the end-points, which speeds up overall data transmission.
- Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM): This is a cell relay network protocol which encodes data traffic into small fixed sized (53 byte; 48 bytes of data and 5 bytes of header information) cells instead of variable sized packets as in packet-switched networks (such as the Internet Protocol or Ethernet).
- Dedicated Lines: A dedicated line is a telecommunications path between two points that is available 24 hours a day for use by a designated user (individual or company). In the dedicated lines the whole bandwidth is used for transmission, no portion of the channel is set aside for control, framing, or signaling.
- IP: In IP there is no continuous connection between the end points that are communicating. Each packet that travels through the Internet is treated as an independent unit of data.
- Multi Protocol Layer Switching (MPLS): A set of protocols for provisioning and managing core networks, using a technique known as label switching to forward data through the network through a small, fixed-format label inserted in front of each data packet on entry into the MPLS network. MPLS is called 'multi-protocol' as it supports IP, ATM, and frame relay network protocols.
Market Overview
New Technologies Facilitate better Service Integration
Despite the highly competitive and fragmented nature of the Colombian data communications services markets, revenue figures showed moderate growth between 2004 and 2005. This was reflected in operators rolling out new services to existing customers while also undertaking business and network infrastructure expansion in smaller cities using last generation technology. This apart, there has been growth in the carrier segment where network infrastructure is being leased to telecommunication operators and the introduction of new technologies such as IP/MPLS, Metro Ethernet, and Gigabit Ethernet has allowed better service integration with a higher degree of efficiency and lower operational costs. Colombia’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew at 4.0 percent during 2004 and 2005 and this, along with a positive enhancement of the social and political outlook has further facilitated better conditions for foreign investments and promoted a strong growth in the stock exchange markets.
In terms of specific services, Frame Relay, with a market share of 49.0 percent, accounted for the largest revenues and had approximately 1,691 clients in 2005. While IP services overtook dedicated lines to become the second largest revenue generator in the same year, there was minimal difference in their respective market shares, which stood at 20.53 and 20.51 percent in favor of IP.A notable market trend worth highlighting is the introduction of new services such as Metro Ethernet and Gigabit Ethernet that are more efficient and flexible, notes the analyst of this research service. These services are expected to grow considerably in the short and medium term and while Gigabit Ethernet is expected to gradually displace services such as ATM, Metro Ethernet is likely to be highly linked to IP in its access portion.
Carrier Segment Likely to see Continued Growth
The carrier segment in Colombia is characterized by the leasing of data networks infrastructure among competitors and mobile telecommunication operators, fixed operators, as well as cable TV and Internet service providers. By leasing networks to mobile operators to support the explosive growth in user demand and traffics, companies in this segment was among the prominent promoters of the data communications services market in 2005. In the short and medium term, the carrier segment is expected to continue seeing one of the highest growth rates in the data business. This is due to the signing of the Free Trade Agreement with the United States with the possible entry of new operators into the market, the deployment of last-generation networks resulting in more capillarity and coverage in intermediate-sized cities, as well as the growth of national and international data traffic.
In future, the data communications services market in Colombia is expected to feature smaller growth rates as many services are expected to migrate to IP solutions, which are more flexible and cost effective. Additionally, the trend of price erosion is expected to continue due to increasing competition and is likely to have a direct impact in market revenues, says the analyst. IP is expected to become the leading technology due to its ability to enable operators to integrate more services on the same network, with higher economical benefits for the operators and the customers.
ENGLEWOOD, Colo., March 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- DISH Network® just made buying movie tickets a lot easier. Now, customers of the digital satellite television service who tune into DISH Network Ch. 100 will find an interactive Fandango application, which allows them to purchase movie tickets using their DISH Network remote control.
The new Fandango application, powered by OpenTV middleware, automatically uses customers' zip codes to search for nearby theater listings and show times. Subscribers with phone lines connected to their set-top boxes can use their DISH Network remote control and credit card to purchase tickets at Fandango-enabled theaters through a secure connection.
To redeem tickets, customers present their credit card at the movie theater as proof of purchase. No confirmation code is required. DISH Network subscribers can also search theater listings and show times outside of their set-top box zip code.
"Once again, DISH Network is leading the pack in interactivity through our award-winning set-top boxes, and with the addition of applications like Fandango, we are creating new value for our subscribers," said Michael Kelly, executive vice president for DISH Network. "Remote movie ticket purchasing via the set-top box is only the first step. In the future, we envision banner ads for upcoming titles, movie trailers and more for our interactive advertising clients."
"Partnering with DISH Network is a great opportunity for Fandango to extend our ticketing service to a new platform and to continue to provide consumers with even faster and more convenient ways to escape to the movies," Ted Hong, chief marketing officer for Fandango, said.
"We are very excited to be powering DISH Network's set-top box based movie ticket purchasing application for DISH Network and Fandango," said Tracy Geist, OpenTV's senior vice president of Market Development. "This application further demonstrates the robustness of our middleware and the advanced capabilities it can offer in launching innovative and value-added interactive services."
DISH Network's iTV service features more than 30 interactive channels, DishGAMES, DishHOME Ch. 100's six-channel mosaic and a variety of games and other features. There are more than 20 million iTV enabled DISH Network set-top boxes in the U.S.
About DISH Network Corporation
DISH Network Corporation (Nasdaq: DISH - News) provides approximately 13.678 million satellite TV customers as of Dec. 31, 2008 with the highest quality programming and technology at the best value, including the lowest all-digital price nationwide. Customers have access to hundreds of video and audio channels, the most international channels in the U.S., state-of-the-art interactive TV applications, and award-winning HD and DVR technology including 1080p Video on Demand and the DuoDVR(TM) ViP® 722 DVR, a CNET and PC Magazine "Editors' Choice." DISH Network is included in the Nasdaq-100 Index (NDX) and is a Fortune 250 company.Juniper Networks and Foundry Networks continued their good fortune today as both young networking firms announced quarterly results that blew past Wall Street expectations
The strong quarters by the two network equipment makers--as well as good showings from Sun Microsystems, Ariba and other technology firms today--could help restore investors' confidence in tech stocks. The price of technology stocks have plummeted the past several weeks.
Juniper recorded its second consecutive profitable quarter today by reporting a first-quarter net income of $10.5 million, or 6 cents a share. During the same quarter last year, the firm suffered a net loss of $5.7 million, or 13 cents a share. A consensus of analysts had predicted earnings of 3 cents a share, according to First Call.
Juniper, which competes against Cisco Systems in the market for high-end routers that send data across the Internet, earned $63.9 million in revenue, six times last year's first-quarter revenue of $10 million.
The company today also announced a 2-for-1 stock split. The stock split is expected to take effect June 16. The company's shares dropped 14 percent today, falling $29.13 to close at $175.
Argus Research analyst David Toung said Juniper's ability to grab 15 percent of the high-end router market share from Cisco has been impressive and expects Juniper to continue to do well. The company during the past quarter released a new high-end router, called the M160, which runs faster than Cisco's products.
"They introduced the M160 and had big customers right off the bat, such as UUNET and Cable & Wireless, and that's truly impressive," Toung said. "Juniper will continue to make incremental gains on market share vs. Cisco."
Foundry, whose network equipment speed Net traffic for businesses and Internet service providers (ISP), recorded a first-quarter profit of $18.1 million, or 14 cents per share, compared to net income of $1.3 million, or 1 cent a share, during the same period last year. Analysts had expected earnings of 9 cents a share, according to First Call.
Foundry's first-quarter revenue climbed 355 percent, from $15.4 million last year to $70 million this year. Today's strong quarter is Foundry's third consecutive profitable quarter since going public in September.
"There's a lot to be happy about. The company hit on all cylinders," said Foundry chief executive Bobby Johnson.
Johnson also added that the company will ship within the next few weeks a high-end Internet router to compete against Juniper and Cisco.
"When we announced it would be delivered in the second quarter, some people took that as a June date, but we're a few days to a few weeks away," he said.
In recent times, Foundry has focused on the more lucrative service provider market. Johnson said service providers now make up 65 percent of the company's sales, while 35 percent of the revenue came from selling equipment to corporations.
Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO) is the worldwide leader in networking for the Internet. Cisco news and information are available at cisco.com
Cisco, Cisco Systems, PIX, IOS and the Cisco Systems logo are registered trademarks of Cisco Systems, Inc. or its affiliates in the U.S. and certain other countries. All other trademarks mentioned in this document are the property of their respective owners. The use of the word partner does not imply a partnership relationship between Cisco and any other company. (0005R)
Cisco Systems gained a strong endorsement from a local phone company today, striking a multibillion-dollar alliance with SBC Communications for a variety of Internet equipment.
As previously reported, the alliance is significant for both companies. Cisco is focusing its sales efforts on telecommunications carriers, hoping to gain a larger share of a market with annual sales of more than $50 billion. SBC, on the other hand, has found its business driven by Internet-based data, not voice communications.
Terms of the non-exclusive, two-year marketing and sales deal were not disclosed, but SBC executives said it represented a "multibillion-dollar opportunity for both companies." SBC launched a $6 billion effort called Project Pronto intended to improve its high-speed Net strategy last fall.
"It's good news for Cisco," said Hilary Mine, analyst with industry consultants Probe Research. "It doesn't mean Lucent and Nortel won't get multibillion-dollar deals, but it's a significant foot in the door."
Cisco built its business by providing equipment for corporations and early entrants in the Internet service provider market. The company has extended that focus in recent years to include traditional telecommunications companies, such as Sprint, and a new breed of start-up carriers, such as Qwest Communications International.
Cisco has had a tougher time making inroads into the networks of the local phone companies, or "Baby Bells." The company includes US West and GTE among its customers, but it has yet to displace the significant investments the Baby Bells have made in equipment from telecommunications equipment veterans such as Lucent Technologies and Nortel Networks.
Thus, the SBC deal could represent an opportunity for Cisco to extend its current commitment to help SBC build its voice and Internet-based data networks.
"We view this as an important milestone," said Larry Lang, vice president of service provider marketing for Cisco.
Terms of the deal cover several of Cisco's data and Internet equipment technologies, including high-speed digital subscriber line (DSL) Net access and gateway gear, switching devices based on asynchronous transfer mode (ATM), dial-up access equipment, and virtual private network (VPN) technology.
One Wall Street analyst said the deal will probably be a blow to Newbridge Networks, which already has a relationship with SBC and was recently acquired by Alcatel.
Niche player Redback Networks also counts SBC as a customer for its high-speed access subscriber management technology, much of which is based on DSL.
Executives at the company said their sales to SBC are not affected by its deal with Cisco. "It's an expanding relationship going forward," said Randall Kruep, senior vice president of worldwide sales for Redback.
SBC executives said the Cisco deal does not shut out its other technology providers. "We have relationships with every other major player (in the industry)," said Tom McGrath, president of SBC's DataComm business.
SBC is the largest reseller of Cisco equipment to third parties and a significant user of Cisco technology internally, according to the company. SBC's DataComm business had about $3 billion in sales for its most recent fiscal year, according to executives, and is expected to double in three years.
Cisco and BMC Software have announced their collaboration to deliver what they call a ‘major management breakthrough’ for the new Cisco Unified Computing System.
Cisco’s Prem Jain, senior vice president of its Server and Access Virtualisation Business Unit, said today when announcing the collaboration, that the combining of BMC’s business service management and Cisco’s unified computing system represented a ‘quantum leap forward’ in enhancing customers’ ability to provision and reconfigure the entire stack of mission-critical business services, along with the supporting applications and the underlying virtual and physical resources.
“In many data centres, these manual tasks take weeks or even months to accomplish. The combined Cisco and BMC solution is designed to automate these actions through a single management console, potentially allowing these tasks to be completed in just minutes.”
Jain said Cisco’s unified computing system manager offered a deep integration with BMC bladelogic service automation and BMC atrium configuration management database (CMDB).
“The combined solution helps to enable customers to define fully configured, customised service profiles with fully provisioned application environments, and then deploy them rapidly to meet their business or computing requirements. BMC atrium CMDB gives real-time insight to the business impact of the Cisco unified computing system while BMC’s larger business service management portfolio offers performance management, service management, and IT process automation for the unified computing system or the full enterprise IT infrastructure.“
Jain said Cisco would deliver the unified computing system pre-packaged with BMC’s bladelogic service automation suite, including BMC atrium technology, when it becomes generally available to customers starting in the second quarter of 2009.Working closely with Cisco, Jain said BMC had delivered the very important pieces of software that, he claimed, made the unified computing system ‘revolution’ real.
Canada’s second-largest telephone operator, Telus Corp., has won a $7 million contract to provide the City of Vancouver with an IP-based telephone system and contact center services.
Telus has agreed to supply, install, and provide support services for the City’s new VoIP system, which will link City Hall with police, fire services, and other local government departments.
The phone system will be deployed over the next three years, according to Telus
Value-added services sold by broadband ISPs generated worldwide revenues of nearly $26 billion last year, up 62% from 2006, according to a recent study by Point Topic.
“We estimate that value added services were 10 percent of total broadband revenues, which includes subscriptions in 2003, but by the end of 2007 that has increased to over 30 percent,” explained Point Topic senior analyst, John Bosnell. “As it gets harder to make a profit in the hyper competitive line rental market, the operators and suppliers have to look to add value and revenue with their service offerings.”
VoIP and security services generated the majority (56%) of value-added revenue, followed by online gaming, home networking features, and online video services.
Israel’s Communications Ministry has granted a special license to NSR Ltd. to conduct a “marketing experiment” regarding the provision of VoIP telephone services over Wi-Fi hotspots.
The experiment will present Wi-Fi VoIP as an alternative, of sorts, to cell phone services, in specific locations such as airports, hotels, malls, and coffee shops, where wireless hotspots are available. Researchers will examine consumer motivation to use the new service, as well as operational and marketing aspects of the experiment.
“The Ministry of Communications will continue to encourage the use of innovative technologies that increase competition and cheapen costs for consumers,” said Mordechai Mordechai, Director General of the Israeli Ministry of Communications.
AT&T announced on Wednesday that it has extended its contract to provide telecommunications services to the County of Los Angeles, for an additional five years, in a deal worth $223 million.
AT&T already provides the county with telephone and data service, and will provide advanced features such as VoIP under the new contract.
Los Angeles has the option to extend the deal for up to 12 years.
Demand for VoIP services in the United States will continue to see significant growth over the next two years, with 8.5 million more Americans expected to sign-up for IP phone offerings within that time frame, according to a recent report by Pike & Fischer’s Broadband Advisory Service.
The report, entitled “Residential VoIP Market Outlook,” projects a 14% growth rate for the VoIP market over the next five years, and predicts that 30 million U.S. households will use some form of VoIP by the end of 2010.
This projection takes into account the rapid growth of digital service bundles, which offer multichannel video, high-speed internet, and home phone service for a single monthly price. Such bundles are now available from most U.S. cable providers, as well as through fiber-optic telecom networks like AT&T U-verse.
Internet search giant, Google Inc., has integrated video VoIP functionality with its Gmail web mail service, making it possible for users to speak with friends live, via video, directly from their email inbox.
In order to operate, the video chat application requires a web cam, as well as a small software plug-in. It opens in a separate ‘Google Chat’ box, which can be moved around the screen, or expanded to full-screen size.
“The idea was to make it quicker and easier to communicate with other people by whatever means is best convenient,” explained Jason Freidenfelds, a Google Spokesman. “It’s a nice alternative for businesses looking for another way for people to connect.”
Mobile WiMAX equipment revenues nearly quadruped in the third quarter of 2008 (compared to the third quarter of 2007), as carriers around the world began to invest significantly in the technology.
“With LTE still a couple of years away, WiMAX has, in fact, become the first next generation technology with commercial service,” noted Scott Siegler, a senior analyst with the Dell’Oro Group. “Mobile WiMAX revenues were very strong in the third quarter of last year, and we anticipate revenue for the fourth quarter to set another record.”
But the apparent head start enjoyed by WiMAX providers could be threatened by ongoing economic woes, according to the Dell’Oro Group’s report.
“As we look into 2009, we expect the WiMAX market to be hit rather hard by the economic downturn,” Siegler said. “Building out brand new networks from scratch requires tens, if not hundreds, of millions of dollars of capital. Compounding the tightening in the credit markets, the increasing cost of capital and the decrease in demand for broadband data as consumer spending weakens, we anticipate many network buildouts will be put on hold or delayed into 2010. With initial LTE rollouts coming in the 2010 to 2011 timeframe, these delays will shorten the time to market advantage WiMAX currently has over LTE.”
America’s transition to all-digital TV broadcasting will free up plenty of airwaves for mobile television, creating an unprecedented opportunity for the budding technology, according to a new study by ABI Research.
Rather than piggybacking on cellular data networks, the mobile TV services of the future will be independent features in their own right, available on any mobile device with a built-in digital TV tuner.
“Mobile TV users have yet to value the medium properly because it has not been validated as an independent product and service,” explained ABI senior analyst, Jeff Orr. “It has been primarily offered at the end of a long list of more preferred cellular services. However, Mobile TV will soon be positioned in a more proper role as an extension of traditional broadcast TV services.”
Once this transition is complete, “mobile TV viewing will not solely be on cellular handsets, but also on [Mobile Internet Devices], and automotive infotainment systems,” Orr continued, predicting that “once the content is available and the services launched, mobile TV will enable more classes of mobile devices that are ‘natural fits’ for mobile entertainment.”
America’s leading telecom provider, AT&T Inc., has announced plans to invest $18 billion and create 3,000 jobs during 2009, as it works to expand its broadband, IPTV, and wireless services.
About two thirds of AT&T’s 2009 investment will go towards extending and improving wireless and high-speed internet networks, the company said. Cell phone coverage with expand significantly in the next few months, as AT&T plans to add 2,100 new cell sites and roll out 3G networks in 20 additional markets by the end of the year.
The carrier will cut investment and jobs at its residential telephone division, however, as demand for fixed-line service continues to decline
Apple Inc. has invited a select group of bloggers and journalists to take a “sneak peek” at its forthcoming iPhone 3.0 operating system at a “town hall” meeting next week.
The invitation-only event will take place at 10am next Tuesday (March 17) at the hardware giant’s headquarters in Cupertino, California. It is being pitched as an “advance preview” of what Apple is building, rather than a full-scale product release.
The updated iPhone OS is expected to include additional tools for third-party application developers, and may be released alongside a new generation of the iPhone device itself.
Canada’s leading telecommunications carrier, BCE Inc., is asking Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his cabinet to reverse a CRTC ruling requiring the company to offer the same bandwidth speeds to wholesale ISP customers as it does to its own subscribers.
BCE argues that the December decision (which was reaffirmed by regulators on March 3) will cut into the revenues of top-tier carriers that own their own networks, discouraging future investment in next-generation broadband networks.
The CRTC ruling “alters the financial case for the $700 million we are investing in accelerating the deployment of our next-generation fiber over the next three years,” according to Kevin Crull, president of Bell Canada’s residential services division.
Preexisting regulations already require incumbent phone companies (including BCE) to rent network access to smaller internet service providers, so as to foster competition and keep the cost of basic internet service at a reasonable level. Applying such wide-reaching regulations to next-generation services, however, will likely suppress competition, discouraging carriers from becoming pioneers in the fiber-optic broadband business. In a truly competitive marketplace, service providers (big and small) need real incentives to out-innovate the competition.
Rather than borrowing billions of dollars in a futile attempt to “stimulate” the economy, the Conservative government should listen to productive companies like BCE, and remove regulatory barriers to innovation and economic growth.
A new wireless startup called Zer01 is promising to deliver cheap voice and data service to U.S. smartphone users, via a mobile VoIP network.
The Zer01 service will piggy-back on AT&T’s mobile data network, complimented by the firm’s own IP backbone. The unique application developed by Zer01 will ensure good VoIP call quality, even over 2G data networks.
“We’ve developed specific algorithms in our technology that address latency issues across the GSM networks,” explained Zer01 CEO, Ben Piilani.
Zer01 will offer unlimited domestic voice and data service for $69.95 per month, and will not require customers to sign a contract. The service will initially work on Windows Mobile 6 smartphones, and will later be extended to Android, BlackBerry, Symbian, and Java-based devices.
Zer01 plans to begin beta-testing its service sometime next monthThe vice president for customer operation of Comcast Corp. believes that they have to gain an edge through customers service to encourage the they current consumers to bundle up services so the company would be competitive in this year of recession. Customers of company which only receives one service like telephone will be encourage to add cable and telephone which will be much cheaper in bundles than separately through other service providers. More on the link below
The March 2009 issue of IT & Telecom News leads with a New York judge’s rejection of a legal challenge to a law requiring out-of-state companies to collect sales taxes for the state. Seattle-based Amazon.com filed the suit, joined by Utah-based Overstock.com.
Also in this issue:
* California regulators are taking aim at power-hungry television sets, preparing rules that would rquire retailers to sell only the most energy-efficient models starting in 2011.
* A new report suggests the best way to increase the spread of high-speed broadband is not federal investment of taxpayer dollars but local efforts to encourage private ownership of fiber-optic lines to individual homes.
* An Oregon law forbidding teenagers from talking on phones while driving may not be as effective as legislators had hoped, as has proven true of such bans across the nation.
* President Barack Obama’s pick to head the Federal Communications Commission is being called on to institute reforms removing unnecessary mandates.
* Experts say the market, not government mandates, is the best way to meet rural Montana’s broadband needs.
* An aggressive new law in Georgia requiring sex offenders to turn over the passwords they use on the Internet has raised concerns among privacy advocates.
* Compliance with the 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley Act is expensive and time-consuming, discouraging tech-sector startups and capitalization through IPOs.
* Thirteen states have passed laws again cyber-bullying, and others are considering similar legislation. Child-advocacy groups say parents should be more involved in helping their children deal with bullying online and in the real world.
The millions of people who use their cellphones daily to play games, download applications and browse the Web may not realize that they have an unseen companion: advertisers that can track their interests, their habits and even their location.
Smartphones, like the iPhone and BlackBerry Curve, are the latest and potentially most extensive way for advertisers to aim ads at certain consumers. Advertisers already tailor ads for small groups of consumers on the Web based on personal information. But cellphones have a much higher potential for personalized advertising, especially when they use applications like Yelp or Urbanspoon with GPS to identify a person’s location, right down to the street corner where they are standing.
Oh, the things modern mobile phones can do. They are music-playing, video-taking, direction-providing multimedia powerhouses. But many people have trouble getting them to perform their most basic functions, like making phone calls.
The underlying problem, industry analysts say, is the complex quilt of the nation’s wireless networks. The major mobile carriers have spent tens of billions of dollars on new voice and data networks that they advertise as superfast wireless express lanes. But analysts say these upgrades present major engineering challenges, and the networks often underperform.
comScore, Inc., a leader in measuring the digital world, today reported that the number of people using their mobile device to access news and information on the Internet more than doubled from January 2008 to January 2009. Among the audience of 63.2 million people who accessed news and information on their mobile devices in January 2009, 22.4 million (35 percent) did so daily; more than double the size of the audience last year.
“Over the course of the past year, we have seen use of mobile Internet evolve from an occasional activity to being a daily part of people’s lives,” observed Mark Donovan, senior vice president, mobile, comScore. “This underscores the growing importance of the mobile medium as consumers become more reliant on their mobile devices to access time-sensitive and utilitarian information.”
“Social networking and blogging have emerged as very popular daily uses of the mobile Web and these activities are growing at a torrid pace,” observed Donovan. “We also note that much of the growth in news and information usage is driven by the increased popularity of downloaded applications, such as those offered for the iPhone, and by text-based searches. While smartphones and high-end feature phones, like the Samsung Instinct and LG Dare comprise the Top 10 devices used for news and information access, 70 percent of those accessing mobile Internet content are using feature phones.”
In January, 22.3 million people accessed news and information via a downloaded application. Maps are the most popular downloaded application with 8.2 million users, while search was the overwhelmingly favored use for SMS-based news and information access, with 14.1 million users. Overall, 32.4 million people used SMS to access news and information in January.
Young males are the most avid users of mobile news and information, with half of 18 to 34-year-old males engaging in the activity. The mobile Internet is also quite popular among females in the 18 to 24-year-old demographic, with 40 percent accessing it at least once in January.
About comScoreTelstra is expected to take a major step towards its goal of being a media company early next year when it rolls out set-top boxes that allow internet customers to download films and play them on television, reports Australian IT.
The launch of a digital video recorder would put Telstra in competition with Foxtel’s iQ DVR and Home Box Office on-demand movie service after the non-competition agreement between the two parties expired last month.
The European Commission has today taken a decisive step towards the promotion of competitive Mobile TV services in the EU. It has published a set of guidelines for the authorisation of Mobile TV to accelerate roll-out of the service across Europe. Mobile TV revenues worldwide are expected to reach more than €7.8 billion in 2013. The commercial services launched before summer 2008 in some European countries show that there is an increasing consumer demand: in the Netherlands alone, 10 000 users had already subscribed to the service at the beginning of autumn. Authorisations from Member States for Mobile TV services are needed before any commercial launches by operators. Along with the addition of the DVB-H standard to the EU list of official standards in March 2008 (IP/08/451), these guidelines underline the Commission’s strong commitment to the promotion of new services for European consumers.
TV makers are engaged in an arms race to build up the internet features on their new models, adding video on-demand, GPS traffic reports, social networking and video calling on top of the basic news, weather and stock information.
A major theme of the 2009 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas is the merging of television and the internet, allowing people to access the web from the couch without having to use a keyboard and mouse or buy an additional set-top box or games console.
Soon after launching DTH cable operations, India’s largest private telecom firm Bharti Airtel is all set to start IPTV (Internet Protocol on Television) services or popularly known as triple play (voice, data and video) in the country.
In South Korea, subway riders are becoming addicted to free TV on their cellphones. But declining ad revenue and mounting debt may force cellular operators to pull the plug.
Lee Suk-hee can stomach much of the belt-tightening that South Korea’s gasping economy has asked of her, including fewer shopping sprees and more nights eating dinner at home.
But here’s where the 47-year-old homemaker draws the line: Don’t try to take away the free reality TV she watches on her cellphone while riding the subway every day.
Today its easy to find, all T-Mobile Retail and eligible Retail Partner locations nationwide offer the T-Mobile G1 - based on Google's Android OS. Because of rush of demand, T-Mobile wants to make this smartphone more widely available whether you live in a 3G market or not.
When the T-Mobile G1 debuted last fall, many positioned it as the first serious competitor to the iPhone.
The T-Mobile G1 is a consumer-oriented smartphone with support for this carrier's new 3G network. It has a highly-functional web browser, and includes tie-ins to a number of this company's online services, like Gmail and Google Maps. Recently the price is $180 less one cents when purchased with a two-year contract.
Specificatios:
- 3.2-inch HVGA touchscreen
- a QWERTY keyboard,
- a GPS
-a Wi-Fi.
- it supports a microSD card slot
- a 3.2 megapixel camera.
The T-Mobile G1 Android operating system delivers mixed experiences; the OS makes it for a virtually unlimited number of possible application and interface development as one should note that it is based on a Linux kernel.
Today the RIM BlackBerry Curve 8900, a thin and light smartphone with a relatively high-resolution screen and a full QWERTY keyboard was made available to everyone.
The Curve 8900 was formerly known as the Javelin. It includes Wi-Fi b/g and Bluetooth,HVGA+ (480 by 360 pixel) display,quad-band GSM, it has a 512 MHz processor, GPS receiver, a 3.2 MPx camera, and a 1400 mAHr battery.
A 2.44-inch claims to be the thinnest and lightest BlackBerry with a full keyboard. It also includes a microSD card slot bundled with a 256 MB card.
The Curve 8900 is currently priced at $199.99 after a 2-year commitment and mail-in rebate. It was initially released on January 27, but only to the carrier's business customers.
Consumer demand for data services on mobile phones, such as accessing email or browsing the Web on the go, is rising despite the global economic downturn, a survey released Monday found.
The survey of 50,000 consumers in Britain, France, Italy, Germany, Spain and the United States found that more than half of those who already use mobile data expect to use it more often in the next two years.
"More significantly, according to the research more than a quarter of the millions of consumers who do not use mobile data services today intend to start using them shortly," said Jesse Goranson of The Nielsen Company, which carried out the survey.
The survey was commissioned by Nasdaq-listed network gear supplier Tellabs and conducted in November, when consumers were already aware of the worsening economic outlook.
Ben McCahill, director of mobile strategy at Tellabs, said mobile data -- one of the growth drivers for telecoms operators in mature markets where nearly every consumer already has a cell phone -- was "clearly here to stay."
"Given that this was done well into the recession, I think that this is very positive news for operators -- there is a large and increasing opportunity out there," he said.
Tellabs sells gear that mobile operators use to direct traffic between cell sites.
Industry group GSMA said last week that some 100 million subscribers worldwide already use high-speed data services on mobile phone networks.
The figure reflects the popularity of "dongles" which connect laptops to the Internet via mobile phone networks, as well as phones with high-speed data connections made by Nokia or HTC or the latest version of Apple's iPhone.
Today, Huawei Technologies showcased its first Android-powered smart phone at the GSMA Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain.
The smart phone will be commercially available from the third quarter of 2009.
James Chen, Director of Huawei Terminal Marketing Department says that "Huawei is delighted to showcase its first Android-powered smart phone."
Chen also says that the new android phone will be having all the capabilities because the company has a broad knowledge about the phone's drivers, "As a terminal solutions provider with all-round capabilities, the company has an insight into the drivers of the communications industry and in-depth understanding of operators," Chen says.
Smart phones, the latest attraction for high end mobile phone users, are expected to account for more than 24 percent of the global mobile phone market by 2011, and this figure is set to exceed 30 percent by 2012.
Huawei also promise to look forward to provide a "compelling mobile communications experience for end-users whilst providing customized services to our operator partners via the Android smart phone," Chen said.
The Mobile World Congress 2009 (MWC 2009) is starting on February 16th and lasts until the 19th. Its a place where thousands of companies gathered together to showcase its newest technology in which Huawei one of them, Huawei Technologies is a global provider of next-generation telecommunications network solutions.
Sagem Communications signed a trademark licensing agreement with Xerox Corporation with the aim of developing, marketing and supporting a new line of Xerox fax devices.
According to the 4 year licensing agreement signed on February 27, Sagem is expected to bring to the market a comprehensive range of facsimile devices based on various printing technologies.
Xerox's new line of fax machines will be on display between March 3rd and 9th at CEBIT in Hanover, Germany.
According to Sagem Communications president, Patrick Sevian, the combination of the Xerox brand and Sagem Communications' technology, the company expects to strengthen its market share.
"The Xerox-branded Office Fax range will be distributed through Sagem Communications' extensive sales channels in Europe, Latin America, Africa and Middle-East, starting in the spring. Both companies' commitment to quality is recognized in the licensing agreement with provisions to maintain the highest standards throughout the product lifecycle", Sevian said.
Sagem Communications specializes in broadband communications and convergence in particular in areas such as printing terminals, digital TV set-top boxes, broadband and residential terminals, M2M communications, energy management and telecom systems and partnerships.
Sagem has a worldwide network of 6,500 employees spread over five continents with its head quarters in Paris.NEW YORK - Dan Hesse, the chief executive of Sprint Nextel Corp., topped the list of the most highly paid chief executives in the telecommunications sector.
Most of Hesse's pay was in the form of a bonus and stock and option grants related to his December 2007 hiring.
AP examined 2007 CEO pay data from the 410 companies in the S&P 500 that filed compensation disclosures with federal regulators in the first six months of this year. The following are the top earners at companies in the telecom sector.
1. Dan Hesse of Sprint Nextel Corp.: $28.3 million
2. Ivan Seidenberg of Verizon Communications Inc.: $20.3 million
3. Randall Stephenson of AT&T Inc.: $18 million
The AP's formula includes salary, perks, bonuses, above-market interest on pay set aside for later, and company estimates for the value of stock options and stock awards on the day they were granted
The Russia based Gresso, is a new entry into the luxury phone market. Their aptly name “Gresso Luxury Phone” is made of gold and African Blackwood. Apparently they will be releasing a collection of five models called the Black Aura collection, and the designer is a “well known” Italian designer. Currently there are two versions of the African Blackwood phone, one with pink gold highlights named the Gresso Blackwood Gold Edition, and one made entirely of African Blackwood. In addition to the two African Blackwood phones Gresso also make a phone made entirely of pink gold named the Gresso Gold phone. Initially, the phones will be on sale only in Russia.
The Lamborghini Nokia 8800 Sirocco is another special edition, like the previously launch Aston Martin branded Sirocco. It will ultimately be a standard 8800 Sirocco but with the addition of the famous Lamborghini logo engraved on the font and the back, plus ball bearings from the auto company to in the slider phone mechanism. The Lamborghini phone will be a limited edition with only 500 being made. It will also feature Lamborghini graphics as wallpapers, screensavers, ringtones, and even has a short documentary video about the Lamborghini.
Bang & Olufsen hooked up with Samsung to design the sleek but unconventional Serene. Its not a bad looking phone and it even has a built-in motor to assist you in opening and closing the phone. It’s not very practical however, requiring a special screwdriver to access the battery and the SIM card, and its circular keypad will take some getting used to. Also, for some strange reason they have positioned the camera lens on the side of the device, which will make it difficult to align snapshots via the viewfinder on the display
The Mobiado Professional EM, is a wood-clad upgrade of their earlier Nokia-based phone that includes a 1.3 megapixel camera, music player, FM radio, Bluetooth, and according to Mobiado it’s the first production phone with Titanium buttons. Only 200 are being made and each one has its limited number engraved on the back. At $1,900 however, you’re still paying an awfully high premium for a fairly basic phone encased in wood!
If you have $2,700 to spare, you can now buy the Nokia 8800 in 24K gold. However, be warned, if you think you’ll be getting a better phone for your extra cash, you wont! The features found on the Gold Edition are the standard 8800 features, which are pretty basic. It includes a 0.5 Mega pixel SVGA camera, 64 MB of internal memory, 64 voice polyphonic rigntones, FM Radio, Mp3 Player, video recording and 180 mins talktime. However, the Gold Edition does includes a special edition box and charging dock!
Austrian designer Peter Aloisson, has taken a standard Motorola, studded it with 1,200 diamonds and added a keyboard inlaid with 18 carat gold. The outcome is a £28,000 handset, suitable only for footballers and film stars!
The Diamond is Vertu’s premium range of high-end mobile phones. As the name suggests the handsets in the Diamond range are diamond-encrusted handsets made from platinum. Only 200 of the handsets are being produced, the most expensive believed to be worth an estimated £50,000.
Apparently the Black Diamond will be available in 2007, not from Sony Ericsson but by a company called VIPN. Initially only 5 unique numered pieces will be available for the unbelievable price of, wait for it… $300,000.
With regards to the specifications, don’t expect anything remarkable for your money. It will have Quad-band with Wi-Fi, an Intel 400Mhz processor running windows mobile 5, and a touch sensitive 2″ screen. It will also include internal memory of 128mb and will come with a 2Gb SD card for external storage, plus a respectable 4 Megapixel camera.
The designer Jaren Goh has used some pretty impressive materials for the build, featuring titane with polycarbonate, mirror-finish cladding and diamonds
Vertu is now taking orders for the Signature Cobra, designed by French jeweler Boucheron, but you had better be quick as only 8 are being made! The Cobra will feature one pear-cut diamond, one round white diamond, two emerald eyes and 439 rubies. Vertu will also be offering a “cheaper” version, ruby free, at $115,000 (£62,162)
A PR stunt it may be, and they surely can’t be expecting to sell any, but the Goldvish “Le million” is officially the most expensive mobile phone in the world, according the Guiness Books of Records. There’s even been talk of a $1.3million phone, but this has fewer diamonds than the Goldvish so I can’t see where the extra expense comes from! The “Le million” is a one off, featuring a blinding 120 carats worth of VVS-1 grade diamonds, according to designer Emmanuel Gueit. If $1 million is out of your price range. the Geneva-based Goldvish also offer several other diamond-encrusted 18k gold models in your choice of rose, yellow, or white, starting at a much more reasonable $25,600 (£13,837).
Until recently, the vast majority of mobile phones had been priced between £100 and £300, with only Vertu, a division of Nokia, manufacturing uber-premium phones. With prices starting at around £4,000 Vertu phones are only for the filthy rich, and the super famous.
However, Vertu’s monopoly of the luxury phone market is coming to an end with the launch of several new luxury mobile makers, including Gresso, Mobiado and GoldVish. Other mobile phone manufacturers are also partnering with luxury brands to produce a range of premium mobile phones, such as LG and Prada, D&G and Motorola, and now Tag Heuer and Modelabs. Finally, there are the ridiculous, super-expensive one-offs, made purely for headline grabbing, such as Goldvish’s “Le million”, worth a cool $1,000,000,
The sale of world's most expensive mobile phone number has earned a Qatar telecom company a place in the new edition of Guinness Book of World Records.
The phone number 6666666 of Qtel, which was sold for $2.75 million (Qatar Riyal 10 million) to an anonymous buyer in an auction at a charity event last year, will appear in the 2009 edition of the book, it was announced.
The previous record price for a phone number was made in China where the number 8888-8888 sold for $480,000 (Qatar Riyal 1.75 million).
"Qtel has a long track record of innovative campaigns for the local community and we are very proud to have the mobile number auction commemorated this way," Qtel's Executive Director of Group Communications, Adel Al Mutawa, said.
The Guinness Book of World Records is published in more than 100 countries and 25 languages every year and sells more than three million copies annually around the world.
The book contains collections of internationally-recognised records, including human achievements and extremes of the natural world.
