Google Lowers Fee to Break Nexus One Contract by $200
eTaiwanNews
Google Inc. has lowered by $200 the fee it charges customers who break a standard two-year contract for its new Nexus One phone on the T-Mobile USA Inc. network.
Topics: Google, Nexus One, telecom, Taiwan
SingTel Profits Rise 24%
Business Standard
Singapore’s leading telecom firm SingTel today reported 24 per cent increase in net profit at 991 million Singapore dollars (about $699 million) for the three months ending December 31, 2009, fuelled by strong growth in regional telecom businesses.
Topics: SingTel, telecom, IPO, Malaysia, Singapore, Sydney, Indonesia
Cox Finding Ethernet Success in Verticals
Light Reading
Cox Communications Inc. has long been the cable industry’s leader in delivering Carrier Ethernet services, but even with other cable operators now focusing more on business services, Cox actually widened the gap in the Vertical Systems Group ’s 2009 Global U.S. Business Ethernet Leaderboard.
Topics: Cox Communications, Ethernet, carrier
Bolton’s Bottle Being Sued for $2.6 Million
Sydney Morning Herald
According to a website that has sprung up to track Alla’s business deals, the men behind the company have racked up debts to Optus, Primus and NEC via third-party intermediaries such as Bottle Infrastructure.
Topics: Australia, Google, Optus, Primus, Sydney, telecom
SES World Skies Developing New Satellite Slot
SYS-CON Media
SES WORLD SKIES has announced that it has reached an agreement with the Andean Community of Nations (Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru) regarding the long-term use of the 67 degrees West orbital position. The 67 degrees West orbital position offers an extensive Ku-band satellite frequency range and excellent viewing angles for coverage of the Americas and the Caribbean.
Topics: satellite, orbit, SES WORLD SKIES, broadband, Ku-Band
Telefonica Wants Google To Pay Up
New Zealand Herald
Spanish telecoms operator Telefonica says it is considering charging internet search companies like Google and Yahoo for network use. In comments from a press conference in the northern city of Bilbao, President Cesar Alierta said companies like Google use a lot of network bandwidth for free, something which was good for them but not for Telefonica.
Topics: Internet, New Zealand, New Zealand Telecom, telecom, telecoms, Telefonica
Zain Getting No Offers for African Assets
Wireless Federation
No offers have been received by Kuwait’s Mobile Telecommunications Co., better known as Zain for its Africa assets. Earlier it was reported that France’s Vivendi, France Telecom and the U.K.’s Vodafone Group are holding talks with Zain to buy the company’s Africa operations.
Topics: Africa, France Telecom, telecom, telecommunications, wireless, Zain
Telefonica Raising Stake in China Unicom
Wireless Federation
Telefonica SA has revealed that it wants raise its current stake of 8.37% in China Unicom (Hong Kong) Ltd. According to Telefonica Chairman Cesar Alierta, the synergies with Telecom Italia SpA are working out very well, and that the company is satisfied with the current situation.
Topics: China, China Unicom, Hong Kong, telecom, Telefonica, wireless
DiGi Expanding 3G Network in Malaysia
Wireless Federation
The HSDPA-enabled 3G network has been expanded by Malaysian mobile operator DiGi Telecommunications, offering theoretical downlink speeds of up to 14.4Mbps, in Sarawak, in line with its previously announced expansion plans.
Topics: 3G, DiGi Telecommunications, HSDPA, launch, telecom, telecommunications, wireless
Nokia Denies Fraud Allegations
Fierce Wireless News
Nokia said it will “vigorously” defend itself against allegations that its top executives committed securities fraud by misleading U.S. investors about product delays and price cuts in 2008. “Nokia has reviewed the allegations contained in the complaint and believes that they are without merit,” the company said in a statement.
Topics: fraud, handset, launch, laws, Nokia, smartphone, WiMax, wireless
Fring Luring Mobile VoIP Users From Skype
Bloomberg
Israeli startup Fring, backed by founders of instant messenger ICQ, is bringing free video calls to mobile phones and offering wireless services similar to those of Skype Technologies SA.
We overlap with what Skype does, but our starting point is different. We don’t even have a computer solution. We believe in mobile and that mobile is where the growth will be.
- Fring Chief Executive Officer Avi Shechter
Topics: Skype, telecom, Israel, Avi Shechter, Fring
Qtel Wants Into Iraq, Algeria; ‘Gives Up’ on Africa
The CEO of Qatar Telecom (Qtel), Nasser Marafih, says the company is looking into increasing its investments in the Iraqi and Algerian telecoms markets because of the potential for expansion in the two countries, according to a report in The Peninsula.
Topics: Iraq, telecom, telecoms, Morocco, broadband, Africa, Qatar
Apple Bans Location-Based Mobile Ads
Apple will prevent third party developers from using its iPhone platform to enable location based advertising, in a move which is perhaps designed to protect its own future plans in the mobile ad space.
Topics: wireless, telecoms, Google, telecom, iPhone, server, Apple, T-Mobile, SMS, ISP
BSNL Expanding 3G to 760 Indian Cities by October
State-owned Indian telco Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) aims to have 3G mobile coverage in more than 400 cities by the end of March 2010, Dow Jones Newswires reports. The telco has announced that at present it has 856,000 3G subscribers in the 318 cities where it currently offers third-generation services.
Topics: telecommunications, telecom, GSM, government, telecoms, UMTS, BSNL, India, 3G
EFF Wants VoIP Patent Revoked
FierceVoIP
The Electronic Frontiers Foundation (EFF) has requested that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) re-examine the VoIP patent it granted C2 Global Technologies (formerly Acceris) in 2001. The patent describes a “method and apparatus for implementing a computer network/Internet telephone system” and the EFF argues that prior patents and reference materials existed that described the technology before C2 ever made the claim on the patent.
Topics: Electronic Frontiers Foundation, telecom, patent, voip
FairPoint Reorganization Plan Slashes Debt by 75%
ABC News
The debt load of telecommunications provider FairPoint Communications Inc. will be cut by nearly two-thirds under its bankruptcy reorganization plan. The document filed Monday calls for FairPoint’s debt to be reduced to about $1 billion from nearly $2.8 billion.
Topics: Fairpoint, Vermont, telecom, North Carolina, Maine, DSL, Verizon
Cell Network Congestion Growing In U.S., but Remains Difficult to Track
IT Business Edge
The use of mobile bandwidth is exploding, which is stressing cell site capacity. The challenge is exacerbated by the fact that mobile cell sites are more difficult to monitor than traditional wireline networks.
Topics: voip, telecom, USA, broadband, T-Mobile, Skype
Investors Launch Lawsuit at Nokia
Phone+ News, USA
Mobile phone maker Nokia, facing a class-action lawsuit in the United States, vows to “vigorously” defend itself against claims that it hid information about price cuts and production delays.. The filing says Nokia did not tell shareholders that it had slashed average retail prices to keep market share.
Topics: USA, fraud, United States, telecommunications, laws, lawsuit, telecom, Nokia
AT&T, Union Reach Deal in Southeast
Marketwatch
AT&T Inc today announced that it has reached a new tentative agreement with the Communications Workers of America in core wireline contract negotiations in CWA District 3 (AT&T’s Southeast Region), covering approximately 30,000 employees in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee.
Topics: telecom, AT&T, Communications Workers of America
New Song Targets Telecom XT
Wellington, New Zealand
Local radio station X105 in Wellington comes up with new jingle mocking Telecom’s recent wireless outage. Although a few bad words are bleeped out, just as many seem to have made it on to the air.
