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Telecom Peek

by On Rad's Radar? in November 10th, 2008   
Topics: , Earthlink, economy, isp, mergers, telco, telecommunications     

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Where Does AT&T Get the Money?

by On Rad's Radar? in November 10th, 2008   
Topics: , AT&T, channel, mergers, telco     

Fresh off of buying Wayport for global wi-fi expansion, AT&T buys Centennial Wireless - $944M for 1.1 million cell subs.  AT&T is either at the point that they have to keep buying to keep the growth going or they have Monopoly Madness.

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One More Race: Wi-Fi

by On Rad's Radar? in November 6th, 2008   
Topics: Wi-Fi, Wireless, mergers     

Well, AT&T wanted to be known as a wireless company, so that explains AT&T buying Wayport today for approximately $275 million in cash.  Wi-Fi is the new battle ground between Sprint and the Pivot posse and the RBOC’s.  Wayport manages about 12,000 hotpsots including McDonald’s.

AT&T figures with millions of devices utilizing a wi-fi signal, they should own that transit. Before cable does or Sprint/Clearwire/Xohm does. 

If you want the snarky post about this, go here.

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FCC Voted Today too

by On Rad's Radar? in November 5th, 2008   
Topics: Broadband, CLearwire, Sprint, Wireless, alltel, cableco, cellular, fcc, inter-carrier compensation, mergers, telco, usf, vzw     

The FCC voted today too. They took the Inter-Carrier Compensation and USF off the agenda, much to Martin’s dismay.

“Federal regulators have approved a plan to open up unused, unlicensed portions of the television airwaves known as “white spaces” to deliver wireless broadband service.” [Y! news] [fcc.gov]

FCC approved, with conditions, the mergers of Sprint-Nextel/Clearwire and  Alltel-Verizon. [fcc.gov]

FCC opened an investigation into the pricing policies of major cable operators and Verizon. “The agency wants to ensure the companies’ customers are getting treated fairly, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said in an interview with The Associated Press.” [Y! news]

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Logitech buys SightSpeed

by On Rad's Radar? in October 29th, 2008   
Topics: , Logitech, SightSpeed, Video, conferencing, mergers, video conferencing     

SightSpeed is a great video conferencing tool. No software to download. Just plug in your webcam and go. It is based on SIP and offers 30 frame-per-second video with an integrated IM service.

Logitech makes webcams. Apparently to sell more of them, they need people to actually use them. (To use them for more than amateur porn that is). So Logitech bought SightSpeed.

Logitech, a Swiss maker of computer peripherals has acquired video conferencing software maker SightSpeed of Berkeley, Calif. for approximately $30 million in cash. The deal is expected to close sometime in November. [NY Times]

Congrats to

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Every Where But Here

by On Rad's Radar? in October 28th, 2008   
Topics: , China, international, mergers, telco, telecommunications     

There is a lot of activity in the International arena. Here are some highlights:

  • Vodacom is acquiring Gateway Communications in West and Central Africa. 
  • C&W is partnering with Vietnam Data Communications Company and BSNL in India.  
  • France Telecom (Orange) acquired 51% of Telkom Kenya. 
  • Telefonica now has a 9.9% stake in China Netcom. 
  • XO reaches into China with China Netcom. 
  • Google, Liberty Media and others are launching 03b, a satellite internet service that will consist of a cluster of 16 satellites delivering wholesale internet access to Asia, Africa, Mid-East, and Latin America.
  • Verizon and Google are launching  Trans-Pacific cable (separately).

That’s the round up in a nutshell (thanks to Capacity magazine).

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FCC Doing Heavy Lifting

by On Rad's Radar? in October 23rd, 2008   
Topics: VoIP, White Spaces, Wi-Fi, carrier, duopoly, fcc, inter, inter carrier, inter-carrier compensation, martin wants, mergers, phone, rural, telco, telecommunications, wireline     

The FCC is holding a meeting on Nov. 4. On the agenda: Inter-Carrier Compensation, Alltel-VZ merger, Clearwire-Sprint merger, and a vote of White Spaces. Lots of heavy lifting on this agenda. Martin wants to give his pals at VZ one more gift before he goes.

The VZ-Alltel merger is big, but the topic that can really rock telecom is the Inter-carrier Comp issue, which has been a stagnant FCC docket for years.

If companies can show high costs, they will continue to benefit from the subsidy program. Martin also wants to eliminate wireless providers’ right to claim government subsidies for offering service in hard-to-reach areas. Martin wants all companies, wireless included, to show they have incurred losses in providing rural service before they can collect the subsidy. Without those changes, Martin worries that the subsidy fund will collapse of its own weight and rates will go up anyhow. [CNN]

It depends want the Compromise looks like — and it will be a large compromise. Democrats want one thing. Republicans another. Cellcos versus Wireline. Rural versus Urban. Inter-Carrier Comp even bleeds into the USF issue. How? Because rural carriers count on both Universal Service Fund subsidies AND rather high call termination charges to keep afloat.

Why now? The ISP inter-carrier comp rule has been in court for six years. Earlier this year, the DC Court ruled that the FCC had to get off the pot:

The court set the deadline for an order from the FCC at November 5, 2008, six months from the date of oral argument, stated it will not grant an extension and warned that if an appropriate order is not timely issued, it will vacate the interim inter-carrier compensation rules.

Consumer groups are against another largess for the monopolies at the expense of the ratepayers.

The head of the Federal Communications Commission wants a massive overhaul of the fees that phone companies pay each other when they connect calls. Supporters say the reforms will help fund improved broadband Internet access for rural America, but consumer advocates question how much the plan will raise people’s phone bills. “This could be potentially a billion-dollar giveaway to phone monopolies, paid for out of consumers’ pocketbooks,” said Chris Murray, an attorney with Consumers Union. [AP]

Intercarrier comp is how the various phone companies pay each other for traffic. VoIP providers and cellular carriers, especially Sprint, would like a fairer shake. The old RBOCs would like the Rural LEC’s to stop getting so much money. (see Free Conference services not getting paid by RBOCs).

The National Telecommunications Cooperative Association, which represents small phone carriers, told FCC officials earlier this month that a new rate of $0.0007 per minute puts many of their members’ livelihoods at risk.

And then there is the White Spaces issue. When broadcasters make the DTV transition in 1Q09, there will be unused spectrum that the Wireless World would like to use for its own bandwidth needs. However, due to bleed over (interference) with cordless microphones and other broadcasting devices, the NAB is opposed. [see dailywireless]

All of this is at one meeting while America votes.

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Is Nuvox Buying One?

by On Rad's Radar? in October 21st, 2008   
Topics: , mergers, nuvox, shrinking, telco     

Nuvox is out kicking tires to see who they can buy. Rumor has it that Greenville-based Nuvox is looking to buy One Communications in the Northeast to expand their footprint, especially their MPLS reach. (I didn’t know Nuvox sold MPLS. I thought they were just a cheap Integrated T1 supplier).

Rumor also has it that One Comm. is having problems. Provisioning being one of them, which usually leads to sales declining. Customers don’t like install issues and neither do agents, since it costs them time - time they need to be out selling to make up for the shrinking commissions. (The shrinking commissions correlate to the shrinking prices).

Nuvox is coming off its merger with FDN last year that created a good amount of internal strife as former Nuvox folks didn’t relate well to FDN people. Maybe that has been straightened out. Here’s hoping another merger will have better integration.

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Cisco is Jabbering

by On Rad's Radar? in September 20th, 2008   
Topics: Chat, Cisco, VoIP, XMPP, apps, im/chat, jabber, mergers, phone     

In 2007, Cisco integrated Jabber components into its conferencing platform. Today, Cisco buys Jabber, “an open-source IM and presence protocol used by Google Talk and Gizmo, for an undisclosed sum”.  On our panel at IT Expo, The Role of Apps in VoIP, we talked about Gen Y not liking to talk on the phone. My conclusion is that you will need to incorporate XMPP and XML to enable chat, instant messaging, SMS messaging to IP phone - all to communicate with employees, customers, vendors - without talking on a phone.

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