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23
Feb 2009 |
ISPs in Ireland are being asked by the Irish Record Music Association (IRMA) to begin blocking access to filesharing sites, and at least one is already going along with the request. Ireland's largest ISP, Eircom, has entered into an agreement with IRMA, saying that it will begin blocking access to sites that allow users to swap files and that it will not oppose any court action mandating that such action must be taken.
Eircom entered into the agreement with the recording industry due to a recently-settle... |
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21
Feb 2009 |
Telephone service providers added a total of 15.26 million new connections - wire line as well as wireless - during January 2009 as compared to 10.66 million connections in December 2008, taking the total to over 400 million.
The total number of telephone connections reached 400.05 million as of end-January 2009 as compared to 384.79 million in December 2008. This takes the overall tele-density in the country to 34.50 per cent as of end-January 2009 as against 33.23 per cent in December 2008.
The tota... |
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20
Feb 2009 |
Some more details on Comcast's (CMCSA) forthcoming Web video service:
- Comcast will launch the service, tentatively called 'OnDemand Online', later this year.
- It's not directly going after Hulu, because Hulu is mostly TV shows from broadcast networks like NBC and Fox, its owners.
Comcast's 'OnDemand Online', on the other hand, is mostly new content from cable networks that isn't online yet. (Cable networks haven't put as much content on Hulu yet or on the Web at all.)
Sure, everyone is always... |
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19
Feb 2009 |
Verizon Communications' chief technology officer dished out details Wednesday on the company's soon-to-be-built 4G wireless network that's set to go live in 2010.
Verizon will begin testing the service this year and launch it commercially in at least 25 to 30 markets in the United States in 2010, CTO Dick Lynch said during an interview with CNET News after his keynote speech Wednesday at the 2009 GSMA Mobile World Congress here.
"We are modeling the roll-out after our EV-DO deployment. So we expect to... |
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19
Feb 2009 |
Capable of downloading a 90-minute, broadcast-quality movie in just 15 seconds, Charter Communications' Ultra60 Internet service is the nation's fastest broadband connection. It is also one of the most expensive. The service, launched earlier this month in St. Louis, costs an eye-popping $140 per month, which is nearly double the price of Charter's next-fastest product.
Unlike Charter's (nasdaq: CHTR - news - people ) cheaper, slower connections, Ultra60 allows unlimited downloading of music, TV and movi... |
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18
Feb 2009 |
After acquiring Kenya’s oldest telecommunications company 14 months ago in what was billed as one of the biggest takeover deals in the country, France Telecom now has to tackle the hard part.
The telecommunications giant is recasting its strategy and shaking up its management, aiming to put in the right places people and ideas that will help the business cross over to the profit-making territory.
People familiar with on-goings at firm say the shake- up, which was concluded last week, has not only caus... |
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17
Feb 2009 |
Telstra has launched what it claims is the world's fastest mobile broadband service, with peak download speeds of 21Mbps and with the intention of increasing it to 42Mbps later this year.
A new modem jointly developed by Telstra, Ericsson, Qualcomm and Sierra Wireless -- the Telstra Turbo 21 -- is required to access the service which is delivered over the company's NextG HSPA+ mobile network.
Speaking at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Telstra CEO Sol Trujillo said the new mobile broadband rat... |
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16
Feb 2009 |
Plans to liberalize India's voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) market are likely to unfold only after the government finalizes its auction for the country's 3G spectrum, which has also been postponed indefinitely.
In August 2008, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI)--the country's telecom regulator--submitted its recommendations to allow unrestricted VoIP services. However, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), which is housed under the Ministry of Communications and Information Techno... |
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15
Feb 2009 |
Seven months after launching its commercial brand, Orange, and launching services on the GSM network, Telkom-Kenya is now revamping its Cable Division Multiple Access (CDMA) network, commonly known as Telkom Wireless.
The network, which offers voice and data services, was rolled out in 2006 and had slowly grown subscriber base to about 200,000 but faded from the limelight after Telkom-Kenya’s acquisition by France Telkom, and the subsequent launch of the GSM network.
The company is, however, banking o... |
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12
Feb 2009 |
Telstra has made further investments in China, snapping up mobile and music businesses to bolster its plans to reach US$1 billion in revenue from its Chinese media assets by 2013.
The telco this morning revealed it had acquired a 67 per cent interest in China M--a mobile content supplier to 350,000 customers daily--andSharp Point, which provides technical services for China Mobile's mobile music platform. The combined value of the two acquisitions will be US$302 million over the next few years.
Both b... |
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12
Feb 2009 |
UK carrier BT posted a whopping 81 per cent drop in pre-tax profits for the last three months of 2008, and warned of the possibility of further "substantial" write downs in the coming year.
Profit for the quarter to end December 31 came in at £113m, compared to £601m in the same period a year earlier, while revenue climbed 5 per cent year on year to £5.4bn.
As expected, given the company's earlier profit warning, BT Global Services caused much of the trouble, taking a hit of £336m due to financial and... |
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11
Feb 2009 |
In a victory for cable, an appeals court has denied the latest attempt by Verizon Communications Inc. to overturn an Federal Communications Commission (FCC) order that prevents the telco from engaging in some controversial phone service retention tactics.
Verizon filed its petition with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, seeking to stay an FCC decision finding that the telco was using illegal methods to keep phone subs who were trying to switch to a competing cable service provider.... |
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11
Feb 2009 |
There are now more than 4bn mobile phone users worldwide, according to the GSMA, a worldwide association of mobile operators. This figure will reach 6bn by 2013, just four years from now, the association says.
The growth is will be driven by two primary factors: the integration of mobile into previously unconnected devices and subscriber additions in emerging markets, it says.
The GSMA says there are more than 100m mobile broadband users worldwide � compared 1,1bn fixed-line broadband users.
At t... |
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10
Feb 2009 |
An appeals court judge agreed with an earlier Federal Communications Commission ruling that found Verizon used illegal tactics in trying to retain phone customers who decide to switch to another service provider.
Bright House Networks, Comcast and Time Warner filed the initial complaint against Verizon, arguing that the operator runs afoul of the Telecommunications Act when it contacts customers to offer them incentives to stay rather than switch operators.
At issue is how Verizon knows the customers ... |
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6
Feb 2009 |
Communications networks in Zimbabwe are crumbling. A chronic lack of investment has plunged the country's fixed-line network, operated by state-owned TelOne, into serious disrepair.
It's often difficult for people outside the country to get a connection to Zimbabwe.
The country's three mobile operators - Econet Wireless (1m customers), state-owned NetOne (400 000) and Telecel (250 000) - are struggling to keep their networks operational amid a dire shortage of foreign currency.
A former executive a... |
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