| |
 |
|
27
Oct 2010 |
Verizon is trying LTE to deliver its FiOS fibre optic service to customers in remote areas. The US operators mobile division, Verizon Wireless, will be launching LTE in 30 markets before the end of 2010 and a link between this 4G mobile technology and optical fibre could enable it to win customers in remote areas.
The LTE trial of FiOS delivery is being conducted in two states in the US, Virginia Ruesterholz, president of Verizon services operations, told Global Telecoms Business at the Broadband World F... |
| |
|
|
27
Oct 2010 |
Virgin Media is set to turn up the dial on its cable network, offering users speeds of up to 100Mbps (megabits per second).
It aims to provide the service to over 50 percent of the UK by mid-2012, beginning in December with 200,000 homes in London, the Home Counties and West Yorkshire.
It is the latest move in the race to bring super-fast broadband services to the UK.
It will give new impetus to rival BT's super-fast broadband rollout.
Neil Berkett, chief executive of Virgin Media described the ... |
| |
|
|
3
Oct 2010 |
Verizon Wireless said Sunday it will pay up to USD90 million in refunds to 15 million cell phone customers who were wrongly charged for data sessions or Internet use, one of the largest-ever customer refunds by a telecommunications company.
The companys statement came as Verizon Wireless held talks with the Federal Communications Commission about complaints of unauthorized charges and after questions from about a possible settlement of an F.C.C. investigation into the issue.
Verizon said in its state... |
| |
|
|
1
Oct 2010 |
Broadband outfit Virgin Media is witnessed to centre on the trick to offer faster upload speeds in a view to slip in traffic management of its broadband services. With the latest focus on peer-to-peer traffic for its cable network, it will join the long queue of DSL broadband providers.
In a phased revelation that is slated to conclude by next summer it will lower the bandwidth available to peer-to-peer protocols and Usenet at heavy traffic times for all customers.
However, till now the company had pr... |
| |
|
|
29
Sept 2010 |
The Big Red Internet services, launched on Wednesday, are available at a slight premium over Virgin Media Business's (VMB) previous fibre offers, which involved restrictions. The new services are uncontended and synchronous, and are only available through VMB itself, not through third parties or bandwidth aggregators.
A customer who has been paying GBP12,000 a year for a managed 20Mbps service on a line capable of 100Mbps will now receive the full speed for GBP13,000. A customer paying GBP22,000 for a ma... |
| |
|
|
29
Sept 2010 |
Two-thirds of UK landline phone owners use it only for incoming calls and broadband access, and nearly one in three hasn't used it for voice calls in the past six months, according to a survey.
Mobile price comparison website rightmobilephone.co.uk polled nearly 2,000 UK landline users on their usage habits.
It discovered that 28 percent of respondents with a landline phone haven't used it in the past six months, while 64 percent said it was only for incoming calls.
Nearly a quarter (24 percent) sa... |
| |
|
|
28
Sept 2010 |
Between January and August over 11,000 people helped contribute data points for a survey Broadband Expert was taking and the results are in: Vodafone has the fastest network with an average download speed of 1.78 Mbps, compared to 3 with 1.76 Mbps, Orange with 1.46 Mbps, O2 with 1.42 Mbps, and T-Mobile with 1.07 Mbps.
When it comes to customer satisfaction however the rankings are practically in reverse.
T-Mobile customers are the happiest with 71% satisfaction, then 3 with 69%, Vodafone with 68%, O2... |
| |
|
|
23
Sept 2010 |
MTN Group Ltd.s Rwandan unit temporarily cut the cost of mobile-phone text messages by as much as 67 percent amid increased competition, the New Times reported, citing Yvonne Makolo, a senior marketing officer.
MTN Rwanda subscribers will pay 10 Rwandan francs (2 cents) to send messages to other MTN customers, compared with 30 francs previously, while an SMS to a rival network will be reduced to 25 francs from 53 francs, the Kigali-based newspaper said.
Rival Rwandatel SA charges 10 francs for message... |
| |
|
|
23
Sept 2010 |
Competition in the internet data market is set to intensify after Telkom Kenya reduced internet costs by half on Thursday, in a one-month promotion.
Speaking at the companys head office in Nairobi, Mr Mickael Ghossein the CEO, said customers will have their bundles doubled, in a move industry experts see as meant to maintain leadership in the data segment.
The promotion starts today and runs up to October 25.
"If you were spending Sh150 to buy an internet bundle of 50MB, you will now get 100MB for ... |
| |
|
|
21
Sept 2010 |
The number of broadband subscriber lines installed worldwide passed the 500 million mark in July 2010, according to the Broadband Forum and research from Point Topic.
As of the end of Q2 2010, global broadband subscribers reached 498 million lines (497,768,162), representing a 2.63 percent growth in the quarter and 11.99 percent in the last 12 months to end of Q2 2010. The number of IPTV subscribers has risen to 38.5 million, up by 2.3 million new IPTV subscribers in Q2 2010.
In some markets, the numb... |
| |
|
|
21
Sept 2010 |
Led by a surge of broadband users in China, worldwide broadband subscriber lines have passed the 500 million mark, according to a report released Monday by the Broadband Forum.
The Broadband Forum said that China is the "powerhouse" of broadband with 43 percent of new broadband subscriptions added in the second quarter ending in June. According to market researcher Point Topic, broadband gains in the U.S. and Canada have slowed significantly to levels not seen in a decade.
Interop 2007 was a turning p... |
| |
|
|
18
Sept 2010 |
Broadband provider BT has announced that it will allow its Total Broadband customers to upgrade to next-generation broadband for no additional cost.
However, the company remained tight-lipped about when it would make the next-generation broadband service available to the Total Broadband customers.
BT said that those customers who will sign up to one of its bundled services will be provided with an opportunity to upgrade to BT fibre services without any extra charges when they go live. The phone and br... |
| |
|
|
16
Sept 2010 |
Dan O'Connell is taking over as president of the North American Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) Council in the best of times -- and, potentially, the worst of times.
The telecom veteran, who will leave his position as National Sales Director of Verizon Communications Inc. Enhanced Communities on Oct. 1 to become the only fulltime employee of the FTTH Council, is inheriting an organization that his predecessor, Joe Savage, reshaped and, to a large extent, resuscitated during his five-year tenure. David Russell o... |
| |
|
|
13
Sept 2010 |
Ofcom wants to know just how broad mobile broadband is, and has commissioned a four-month study of the subject with a full report expected to go public next January.
The UK regulator has appointed Cardiff-based Epitiro to carry out a study of the UK's mobile operators, logging average connection speeds and latency on 3G networks, so we can see the kind of service customers are getting and compare it to what they were promised.
Epitiro will carry out the study using fixed and moving laptops running det... |
| |
|
|
13
Sept 2010 |
Safaricom has moved to pre-empt a November deadline set by the telecoms industry regulator that could see the average cost of a short message service (SMS) fall to under one shilling.
The mobile firms announced lower rates that will see the cost of SMS on its network significantly fall, with charges dropping to Sh0.20 per SMS, but consumers will have to commit to spending a certain amount before they can enjoy the cheap rates.
Announcing the rate cut, outgoing Safaricom CEO Michael Joseph hinted that ... |
|
