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10
March 2008 |
Discussions of broadband strategy between telcos, financiers, policymakers and ICT industry luminaries in Auckland this month reached no startling conclusions or clear consensus on solutions, say participants.
But there was a valuable airing of different points of view and consensus at least on the key aspects of the challenge, says Xero’s Rod Drury. Some media commentators’ hopes of a quick agreement between telcos on cellsite co-location were not fulfilled.
Businessman and Growth and Innovation Advis... |
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10
March 2008 |
Verizon Business has long said that it viewed 40Gbps network capability as a mere stepping stone to an eventual 100Gbps network. Fred Briggs, Verizon Business' executive vice president of operations and technology, says the company will deploy 100Gbps network capabilities over all its major routes within the United States, which include routes connecting cities such as New York, Washington D.C., and Chicago, in the first quarter of 2009.
Verizon first tested its 100Gbps capabilities last year when it tr... |
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9
March 2008 |
BROADBAND firms are having to restrict customers’ usage because of the unprecedented success of the BBC’s iPlayer, the online viewing service.
The news will raise fears that Britain’s broadband network is struggling to cope with the growing demand for TV programmes that can be viewed online after they have aired.
Thousands of broadband users face breaching their usage limits as a result and will have to fork out more for superior packages.
The iPlayer – which was launched in December and allows ... |
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7
March 2008 |
As the popularity of the cheap broadband offered by LLU shows no signs of waning, the Office of the Telecoms Adjudicator announced that 4.086 million lines had been unbundled by the end of last month.
By installing their own technology in the local BT exchange, companies are able to reduce the monthly cost for broadband users, or as in the cases of TalkTalk (www.TalkTalk.co.uk) and Tiscali (www.Tiscali.co.uk), to offer “free broadband” and “free line rental” respectively.
However, there have been ongo... |
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7
March 2008 |
The number of PCs, smartphones, PDAs and other mobile devices that accessed the Internet via U.S. cellular broadband networks more than doubled in 2007, according to research released early this week. The majority of those machines were corporate-issued machines.
Specifically, the number of devices that used mobile broadband cellular connections to surf the Web in the fourth quarter of 2007 jumped to 2,168,000, a 157 percent increase compared to the same period the previous year, according comScore, a m... |
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7
March 2008 |
there’s one thing we were hoping to get from yesterday’ iPhone SDK event, it was VoIP support. I really didn’t expect Apple to support VoIP, as their agreement with AT&T is already showing its weaknesses, and letting customers forgo the network entirely seemed unlikely. Luckily, Apple went ahead and proved us all wrong, announcing that developers would have access to VoIP technology over WiFi on the iPhone.
What’s the catch? Apple will only allow VoIP to function if the iPhone is connected to a WiFi ne... |
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7
March 2008 |
In an unusual move, the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry has asked NTT Corp. to further cut the fees it charges carriers for access to its fiber-optic network, according to sources.
The ministry hopes to promote competition in the fiber-optic business by lowering the costs imposed on NTT's rival companies, the sources said.
NTT, however, is opposed to the ministry's request, the sources said.
In January, NTT submitted an application to the ministry outlining new rates for other carri... |
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6
March 2008 |
Back in early January, the Nikkei business daily announced that Sony and Skype had reportedly joined forces, so that Sony’s PlayStation Portable to come with Skype’s software. At that moment, Nikkei’s report seemed simply a rumor, taking also into account that the business daily claimed that the brand new PSPs would be available at the end of January.
But rumors proved to be true after all, as Sony later admitted that such a project existed, although its launch was not scheduled for January. The Japanes... |
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4
March 2008 |
TELSTRA is likely to put some of its investment plans on hold until it knows the outcome of the tender process to build a national high speed broadband network.
The telco also revealed today that it had received a request from the Federal Government for the provision of information about its existing network.
The Government wants the information to assist in its development of a national high-speed, fibre to the node (FTTN) broadband network.
"In view of the FTTN process now commencing, we will rev... |
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4
March 2008 |
comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today released the results of a study of U.S. Internet usage via mobile broadband. The study examined the usage and characteristics of mobile broadband users through data collected from computers where Internet access via mobile broadband Internet service providers (ISPs) occurred. Mobile broadband employs cellular networks, where users pay subscriptions for access and the connection is made with a PC card, built-in adapter, or connect... |
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3
March 2008 |
The latest annual survey of broadband subscribers conducted by online discussion forum Whirlpool has shown that respondents are strongly opposed to letting Telstra operate the nation's broadband infrastructure.
Conducted over four weeks from 31 December 2007 to 1 February 2008, Whirlpool's 2007 Australian Broadband Survey collated the input of more than 17,000 broadband subscribers.
Of those respondents, a mere 5.7 percent supported a Telstra-led next generation infrastructure build (such as fibre-to-th... |
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3
March 2008 |
Three companies have unveiled new broadband products for the Irish market.
Smart Telecom has launched a new range of high-speed products for the residential market, ranging from 4Mb up to 15Mb. The costs, including line rental, go from €40.36 a month to €70.36.
The company says its new services area available to 550,000 people on its 'next generation network'.
AdvertisementMeanwhile, cable company Chorus NTL is offering a new 12Mb service for €40 a month. This will be available to 408,000 homes, ma... |
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3
March 2008 |
The number of countries with fibre to the home (FTTH) connections is continuing to expand, according to an updated global ranking issued by the Fibre to the Home (FTTH) Councils of Asia Pacific, Europe, and North America.
Last week, an Informa report said there were already one million FTTH broadband connections in Europe.
The new ranking was released at FTTH Council Europe's annual conference in Paris and lists 14 economies where more than one per cent of households are connected directly into high s... |
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29
Feb 2008 |
Tiscali has ditched its CEO and is mulling options to sell off its broadband business, including its two-million-strong UK subscriber base.
As expected, Tomasso Pompei has been replaced in the chief executive's chair by board member Mario Rosso. According to Italian reports, Rosso is seen as an ally of Tiscali's founder and biggest shareholder Renato Soru.
Pompei had been aiming to turn the firm's first ever profit this year, making it a ripe time to cash in, as bigger European rivals with deeper pock... |
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28
Feb 2008 |
O2 has been publicly criticised by telecoms regulator Ofcom for not rolling out its 3G network fast enough. According to Ofcom, O2's 3G network currently only covers 75.69% of the UK population, when it was obliged to have reached the 80% mark by December.
Doesn't sound like a big shortfall? Ofcom says that amounts to around 2.5 million people who should be in O2 3G coverage, but aren't. If the operator doesn't pass the 80% mark by the end of June, Ofcom will reduce its 3G licence by four months, meaning... |
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