| |
 |
|
9
July 2008 |
In recent months, US electronics retailer Best Buy paid $2.5bn for a 50pc stake in Carphone Warehouse. This may result in Ireland’s first 4,000sq m Best Buy store this year, says Stephen Mackarel (pictured), chief executive of Carphone Warehouse Ireland
What impact has the Best Buy merger had on Carphone Warehouse so far?
Best Buy is the largest electronics retailer in the world and is Sony’s largest customer, for example. As a result, this merger has given Carphone Warehouse some serious purchasing ... |
| |
|
|
8
July 2008 |
O2, the U.K. carrier of the iPhone, had hoped to deflect some of the expected demand for Apple's new iPhone, scheduled to launch Friday, by taking preorders for the phone. It sent text messages to existing O2 customers Monday morning informing them of a chance to upgrade to the iPhone 3G. But that prompt overwhelmed O2's Web site Monday, forcing the carrier to halt the upgrade process just minutes after it began, according to a report in The Register. The carrier was likewise forced to pull a separate preor... |
| |
|
|
8
July 2008 |
Bangladesh is gearing up to issue Broadband Wireless Access licenses in the country and has just published draft guidelines for national licenses being proposed - two in the 2.3Ghz band and one in the 2.5Ghz band.
Three national licenses of 30 MHz each will be awarded, comprised of two licenses in the 2.3 GHz frequency, and one license in the 2.5 GHz band, which can provider “high-speed mobile wireless Internet access and the subscribers will be allowed to use their equipment as fixed, nomadic or mobile.... |
| |
|
|
8
July 2008 |
The world's biggest telecoms companies are rushing to add capacity on inter-continental routes, to keep up with booming demand fuelled in part by consumers downloading bandwidth-hungry video content from YouTube, iTunes and other sites over broadband networks.
Demand is also being driven by fast-growing telecom and internet markets in some developing countries, and by the need to build additional "redundancy" into the network undersea cables to protect against damage and failure.
This year, internet s... |
| |
|
|
8
July 2008 |
Enraged YouTube users are protesting a controversial court ruling last week by uploading homemade "Viacom sucks" videos, and calling for mass boycotts of Viacom entertainment vehicles such as Paramount Pictures and MTV.
"Boycott Viacom! Fight back for your privacy rights!" proclaimed one video found by BetaNews on the YouTube site early this evening.
"Don't let Viacom wipe [out] the Constitution on Independence Day!" urged another, which hadn't been taken down either by YouTube or the user who cre... |
| |
|
|
8
July 2008 |
Three of Apple's favorite journalists have weighed in on iPhone 3G and reckon the device to be a major -- though not perfect -- improvement on its predecessor. We break down the highlights of each review.
Walt Mossberg | The Wall Street Journal
* iPhone 3G "is much, much faster at fetching data over cellphone networks" than the original version.
* Overall, the new phone "mostly keeps its promises."
* Surfing the net was typically between three and five times as fast on AT&T's 3G netw... |
| |
|
|
7
July 2008 |
A third of British businesses don't think British broadband is fast enough to meet their needs, according to a new survey.
More than a third of British firms predict they'll need speeds of 100Mb/sec or greater to compete in the future, according to a study by the Communications Management Association (CMA), which was compiled in association with Ofcom and BT's Openreach division.
Yet, already a third are complaining that they don't have satisfactory access to today's internet.
The CMA - which repre... |
| |
|
|
7
July 2008 |
The rapid take-up of mobile broadband could help spur the arrival of super-fast fiber broadband networks in the United Kingdom, says telecoms regulator Ofcom, which has set out plans for a pro-investment regulatory framework that will guarantee operators who plough cash into fiber a fair rate of return.
Speaking at a conference hosted by U.K. trade association for technology, Intellect, Ofcom chief executive, Ed Richards, said mobile broadband's rapid rise in popularity could help encourage fixed line op... |
| |
|
|
7
July 2008 |
Google Inc. says Bell Canada Inc. is breaking Canadian telecommunications law by slowing certain internet traffic, and is urging the CRTC to take action against the company.
"Bell claims its throttling of peer-to-peer applications is a reasonable form of network management. Google respectfully disagrees. Network management does not include Canadian carriers’ blocking or degrading lawful applications that consumers wish to use," the company wrote in a 15-page submission to the Canadian Radio-television an... |
| |
|
|
7
July 2008 |
Telecommunications companies are suing cities around the nation to stop the construction of publicly owned fiber optic systems to bring high-speed Internet, telephone and cable television to communities far from metropolitan centers.
Attorneys for cities say the telecommunications suits, whether brought under state law, the Federal Telecommunications Act or other laws, are veiled attempts to stop construction of competing public systems providing an essential utility in the digital age.
"It's a nation... |
| |
|
|
7
July 2008 |
A 14-year examination of broadband Internet in Palo Alto — stretching from the pre-Google era to the Web 2.0 present — may soon end with ultra-high speed services citywide.
A consortium of Web firms led by Canadian Axia NetMedia is proposing to expand the city's current fiber network, completed in 1997, to create an ultra-high-speed system with video, voice and data capabilities.
The cutting-edge network would give Palo Alto an upper hand in attracting businesses, as well as bringing social and politi... |
| |
|
|
4
July 2008 |
Mobile service provider Vodafone plans to expand its 3G mobile network by investing $500 million in New Zealand as it aims for a nationwide mobile broadband network with a target to reach 97 % of New Zealand by 2010 as compared to 63% coverage at present.
"The broadband service will be available on customers'' mobiles and it can be used as a cost effective home solution especially in areas where no land line based broadband is available," said Vodafone Corporate Affairs head Tom Chignell.
Apart from 3... |
| |
|
|
3
July 2008 |
As part of its $1 billion lawsuit against user-video site YouTube, Viacom will receive a complete log of all users’ activities, which will include a list of usernames, IP addresses, and videos that each account has viewed in the past.
Viacom says it wants to use the data to prove that copyright-infringing videos draw higher amounts of traffic than user-generated and fully-legal content. If Viacom’s hypothesis turns out to be true, it could increase penalties against YouTube if found liable for contributo... |
| |
|
|
3
July 2008 |
There seems to already be a bit of a hiccup in Virgin Media's campaign to educate file-sharers. Last month, Virgin Media and the BPI joined forces in an effort to educate those suspected of uploading on P2P networks. This effort involved Virgin Media sending letters from both Virgin and the BPI informing suspected P2P pirates the dangers and alternatives to their activities. Virgin assured the Internet community that this was not part of a "three strikes" policy to disconnect users.
So imagine the surpri... |
| |
|
|
3
July 2008 |
Deployment of fiber-optic broadband service has broken out for the first time, passing cable and DSL Internet service users, according to a survey of the world's broadband subscribers by Point Topic.
The U.K. market research firm said 4.2 million high-speed Internet users received fiber in the first quarter of 2008 versus 2.5 million who received cable. "It's a significant milestone for fiber-optic broadband," Point Topic CEO Oliver Johnson said in a statement Wednesday. "Where it is available, consumers... |
|
