Fiber, FTTH, and FTTx News 1

Thursday Evening Links -

Thu, 09 Sep 2010 15:30:11 -0700

AT&T touts network improvements under hail of criticism fiercewireless.com
Qualcomm studying use of MediaFLO technology to mitigate network traffic fiercebroadbandwireless.com
'Internet censorship is trade barrier', says Google exec theregister.co.uk
Internet video: broadband service provider threat or opportunity? fiercetelecom.com
Broadband Update: A call to support "Network neutrality" examiner.com
Jailbreakers find hole in Apple's iOS 4.1 just hours after release broadbandgenie.co.uk
No Verizon, not antenna, is iPhone 4's big problem msnbc.com
Mobilicity Sues Rogers Wireless Over Competition Law cellular-news.com
Acer: Apple products are "mutant viruses" electronista.com
Windows Phone 7 launching 11 October pocket-lint.com
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CEOs Head To DC To Threaten Neutrality Job Cuts - \'Don\'t impose neutrality rules or we\'ll fire people we already fired!\'

Thu, 09 Sep 2010 15:17:29 -0700

Threatening job losses or reduced investment if regulators do X (X being anything from new consumer protections to price controls) has been a staple in the incumbent telecom lobbyist playbook for years. The threats are never actually tied to reality, and in fact the data used to push these memes is often completely made up by paid PR magicians. Still, that doesn't seem to matter in Washington DC -- and according to The Hill, ISPs are headed to Congress next week to again threaten job cuts if faced with net neutrality rules:

The Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) will fly in the leaders of more than 15 companies to meet with House Commerce committee leaders, including Reps. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and Rick Boucher (D-Va.), and FCC commissioners. The CEOs will come from companies such as AltaCom, Tellabs and Alcatel-Lucent, among others, according to Danielle Coffey, vice president of government affairs at TIA.

The problem is, carriers have already been cutting CAPEX and slashing jobs for a variety of reasons, none of which have a damn thing to do with net neutrality or even regulatory actions. In fact, outside of a few vague regulatory threats about high wireless bills and ETFs, the FCC has been a marginally-impotent entity in the telecom sector, completely unwilling to make tough decisions that could truly impact carrier economics.

All the same, AT&T and Verizon have already frozen their next-gen broadband deployments for several reasons, including the sour economy, their hope of cashing in on USF "reform" and broadband stimulus, and the simple fact they continually place short-term investor satisfaction above long-term company health. They've also been busily slashing tens of thousands of jobs, predominately thanks to the slow but steady death of the landline.

These fairly myopic job loss predictions never bother to include the potential jobs saved by protecting an Internet that isn't dominated by the nation's wealthiest carriers (AT&T, Verizon), striking prioritization deals with the nations' wealthiest ad and content empires (Google). It's not entirely clear how these kinds of threats keep working for companies who are continually slashing jobs and CAPEX; perhaps that's just one of the mysteries of our time.
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Frontier Clarifies Fiber Comments - By \'all across the country\' we meant \'a few rare occasions\'

Thu, 09 Sep 2010 13:37:02 -0700

Intentionally muddying the line between core and last-mile fiber is a misleading tactic many ISPs use to confuse consumers into thinking DSL or cable are as robust as fiber to the home (tip: they aren't). But while these ads are misleading, very rarely does a company intentionally lie about running fiber to the home nationally when they don't. As we noted yesterday, Frontier CEO Maggie Wilderotter this week told The Oregonian the company "deploys fiber to the home all across the country," a claim that's stretching the truth. Frontier tried to clarify in a follow up statement to the paper:

We do offer Fiber-to-the-Home or premise in cases of businesses in a number of our communities. Prior to the acquisition close we had about 10,000 locations with FTTH capabilities in the 8 West Region states we serve. We offer high speed internet and voice services over the network under our Frontier brand name. In all our new neighborhood development projects (green field locations) we build with FTTH capabilities.

Our mistake: we were wrong yesterday in saying they offer FTTH nowhere. They actually do offer it to a scattered number of small businesses. Still, scattered greenfield deployments "in cases of businesses" isn't the same thing as claiming you're deploying fiber to the home "all across the country," and Frontier has been very busy in recent weeks trying to downplay the reality that the fastest speed available to the majority of Frontier customers is a paltry 1.5-3 Mbps.
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Verizon Tops In Call Quality (Again) - ATandamp;T Last In Call Quality Country Wide (Again)

Thu, 09 Sep 2010 10:45:21 -0700

According to the latest J.D. Power And Associates study on wireless call quality, Verizon Wireless again performed very well, coming in first place in three of the six geographic regions (Northeast, West, Mid-Atlantic). Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon wireless tied for first in the Southeast, U.S. Cellular came in first in the North Central Region, and T-Mobile came in first place in the Southwest. One consistent dismal performer in all regions continues to be AT&T, who came in last place (or tied for last) in every geographical region. That's probably not what AT&T wants to hear on the same day they launch a new PR barrage highlighting how much money they've been spending on their wireless network.
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\'A Special Message From ATandamp;T\' - ATandamp;T continues to insist they\'re working on their 3G network

Thu, 09 Sep 2010 08:06:52 -0700

Ever since AT&T finally decided to address how iPhone demand was crushing their unprepared wireless network (particularly in NYC and San Fran), the company's been essentially giving the same speech. In it, AT&T repeatedly insists they're fixing the problem, ramping up investment, and adding backhaul capacity and towers. AT&T this week continued that campaign, sending out an e-mail to users entitled "A Special Message From AT&T," that promises users the same things they've been promising since the i-pocalypse began:

We've already upgraded our cell sites to enable faster mobile broadband speeds when paired with expanded backhaul, and we plan a similar upgrade at the end of the year that will enable even faster speeds. We're not stopping there. We are also adding thousands of new cell sites, expanding mobile broadband coverage to millions of customers, installing enhanced fiber backhaul, and increasing the capacity of our data network.

As Techcrunch notes, users who have received this message have been heading to AT&T's Facebook Page to send AT&T "special messages" of their own, many of which aren't particularly sweet. Says one user:

AT&T is to iPhone What Ice Cream Trucks With No Air Conditioning are to Delivery in the Sahara Desert.

You might recall that this is essentially the same thing that happened last year at this time in response to AT&T's damage control efforts. In fact, this year's damage control efforts so closely mirror last years -- we're seeing some of the same videos re-posted with new date stamps. While AT&T absolutely has made progress in many markets, research shows dropped calls and spotty coverage continue to be a problem.
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Verizon invests in home automation company 4Home

Thu, 09 Sep 2010 07:42:57 -0700

While it may be years before we see a truly automated home where all appliances are controlled remotely, Verizon is looking ahead to this future and has invested an undisclosed amount in connected home services provider 4Home.

Verizon Investments, part of the Verizon Venture Group, participated in 4Home's Series-B round of financing in the first quarter of 2010, according to a company release.

"Verizon has been among the more aggressive telcos in pursuit of home monitoring and management capabilities as various solutions based on wireless technologies like Z-Wave and ZigBee have come to light," writes Dan O'Shea at Connected Planet.

4Home's ControlPoint software is a key part of its home networking services which can potentially enable a customer to monitor and manage energy consumption, home security, media and home health.

Overall, 4Home raised a total of $6.8 million in Series-B financing in which Verizon Investments played a part.

For more:
- see the release here
- Connected Planet also has this article

Related articles:
Verizon's Q2 wireline losses offset by broadband, business service gains
MoCA, HomePlug Alliance to compare notes
MoCA, DirecTV brewing up more trouble for cable
MoCA wants to tap into Europe's home network market
IEEE sets foundation for global powerline network standard
Untangling the home network wiring debate

New Zealand\'s Crown Fiber whittles down fiber provider candidates for broadband plan

Thu, 09 Sep 2010 06:54:12 -0700

Crown Fibre Holdings, the holding company charged with building out New Zealand's Ultra-Fast Broadband Initiative, is getting close to finalizing contracts with three regional fiber service providers.

After whittling down the proposals it received to a shortlist of fourteen, Crown Fibre has chosen NorthPower (Whangarei area), the Central North Island Fibre Consortium (Hamilton, Tauranga, Cambridge, Te Awamutu, Tokoroa, New Plymouth, Hawera and Wanganui), and Alpine Energy (Timaru) to negotiate final network contracts.

At the same time, Telecom New Zealand, which previously considered spinning off its network to participate in the UFB initiative and has also made the shortlist for all markets that the UFB initiative will reach, reiterated its nationwide proposal. In addition to structurally separating its company, Telecom New Zealand said that it would be willing to work any public and private fiber network owners, including the three finalists

For more:
- Telecompaper has this article

Related articles:
New Zealand wants help with its broadband initiative
New Zealand proposes ambitious broadband plan
Telecom New Zealand considers network spinoff to participate in broadband initiative
Telecom New Zealand advances AAPT fiber network, considers demerger

Verizon Now Crippling Androids Like ATandamp;T - May force Bing as the default for all Android phones

Thu, 09 Sep 2010 06:44:13 -0700

Verizon and Google's newfound romantic entanglement appears to be facing a new obstacle: namely, a giant bag of Microsoft money. According to The Droid Guy, Verizon may be pulling Google as the default search option moving forward, replacing it with Bing on all future Verizon Android releases. According to the report, users can switch back to Google via some phones -- but not on others; like the Samsung Fascinate, which comes with Bing as default, and you can't do a damn thing about it:

Verizon has adjusted the Fascinate so that it's impossible to change the default search engine away from Bing (at least, without performing some advanced and potentially warranty-voiding hacks). The carrier even appears to have gone as far as to hide the downloadable Google Search app from the Android Market.

The Fascinate's fascination with irritation doesn't end with search, by the way. The phone is also configured to use Verizon's VZ Navigator service -- a feature that costs $10 a month -- instead of the free and arguably superior Google Maps Navigation service typically associated with Android. And there's a host of other tough-to-remove bloatware preloaded on the phone, too.

This of course mirrors similar decisions by AT&T to cripple Android phones in order to make a buck, a practice that's only avoidable for many if they're willing to root their phones. For both companies, these kinds of decisions fly in the face of endless proclamations that they're dedicated to open platforms and consumer choice.
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Antennagate Hurt iPhone Sales... - But not as much as the ATandamp;T exclusive partnership

Thu, 09 Sep 2010 06:04:46 -0700

Ignoring the fact the study cited has a ridiculously-tiny sample size of just 258 users, Fortune cites a study from Piper Jaffray's Gene Munster claiming that Apple's "antennagate" (aka that still unfixed flaw in the iPhone 4 antenna Steve Jobs and his disciples insist isn't real) cost the company an estimated 20% in sales. According to the survey however, nearly three times as many customers have yet to buy an iPhone because it isn't available on Verizon. On the plus side, Apple's new iOS 4.1 update includes the ability to put the phone into field test mode, which will allow you to watch your signal strength degrade in numeric form, just like on a big boy phone!
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Thursday Morning Lnks -

Thu, 09 Sep 2010 05:43:37 -0700

US live online streaming video sees 600% growth rapidtvnews.com
MediaFLO gets useful: data-casting next step says Qualcomm slashgear.com
1.5 Billion Mobile Broadband Subscribers Predicted By 2015 informationweek.com
Police in File-Sharing Raids Across Europe, WikiLeaks Host Targeted torrentfreak.com
Music Industry Rejoicing For Google vs. Apple Music War getconnectedmedia.com
Can Google Be a TV Star? multichannel.com
EU Parliament Rejects ACTA: Will It Matter? techdirt.com
USDA rescinds broadband stimulus award to Texas firm charged with securities violations fiercebroadbandwireless.com
Bing, Yahoo combine for 25% of market in first week seattlepi.com
Google Changes Coming Tomorrow: AJAX Results, 30 Results Per Page, Streaming Results & More? seroundtable.com
Safari and Firefox updates plug critical holes theregister.co.uk
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T-Mobile Confirms G2 - \'Limited quantity\' pre-orders begin later this month

Thu, 09 Sep 2010 05:36:02 -0700

Hinted at for some time now, T-Mobile has officially announced the HTC G2 -- the first smartphone to operate over their HSPA+ upgraded network. The device sports a 3.7-inch screen, QWERTY keyboard, ~~Snapdragon~~ Qualcomm MSM7230 processor running at 800 MHz, 5 camera with LED flash and 720p video, Android 2.2 (Froyo), 4 GB of memory and a 8 GB micro-SD card. While T-Mobile made the device official, the couldn't be bothered to state its official launch date or price, only saying the device will be available for pre-order "in limited quantities later this month." It's the first U.S. smartphone to run via HSPA+ -- theoretically capable of speeds up to 21 Mbps.
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One Communications considers its next move

Thu, 09 Sep 2010 04:00:37 -0700

One Communications, a multi-regional competitive service provider, is now set on plotting out its own future.

Although it did not give any specific details, the multi-regional service provider has asked Blackstone Advisory Services L.P. to be its advisor as it considers its own possible merger and acquisitions.

"The process surrounding these transactions further solidified our belief that strategic consolidation is important in our business," said Howard Janzen, Chief Executive Officer in a release. "The market expressed strong interest in our extensive network assets, stable on-net customer base and positive cash flow and we believe that continued transaction activity is an attractive option with a number of qualified partners."

This latest move follows One's sale of its FiberNet business to NTELOS and Fibertech, a company where it owns a minority interest, announced its sale to Court Square. The proceeds of these deals, which are both expected to close in Q4, will be used to reduce One's debt.

For more:
- see the release here

Related articles:
NTELOS buys FiberNet from One Communications
FiberNet could be heading to the auction block
Fibertech sold to Court Square for $500 million

Verizon Keen On Offering Home Automation Services - Endless new possibilities for strange new fees...

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 15:25:41 -0700

Verizon has made no secret of their interest in expanding beyond broadband and eventually becoming a company that offers you, well, everything -- including home automation and security services. To that end, Verizon has invested in home automation outfit 4Home, continuing a long-standing partnership (the two showed off home automation services for LTE back at CES Last January). Of course maybe before Verizon gets into smart refrigerators they can offer FiOS users that 802.11N-capable router they told us was supposed to arrive last month? We've asked for an update on that, but in the mean time you can check out some of what 4Home offers here.
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Minnesotans Surprised To Learn They Have Fast Broadband - Questions Ookla stats, which show different picture from Connected Nation

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 13:22:44 -0700

Minneapolis and St. Paul local paper The Star Tribune this week was shocked to learn that the two cities are the eighth and first fastest U.S. cities respectively, at least based on speedtest data from speedtest firm Ookla. According to the paper, "some local experts" aren't buying Ookla's numbers, given that data collected by controversial mapping organization Connected Nation suggests much slower regional speeds:

The local experts suspect that Ookla's survey of residential Internet speeds is flawed because it accidentally included some high-capacity corporate Internet connections, whose speeds far exceed anything available to consumers. In response, Ookla, which makes a living providing speed test information to corporations, questioned the low speeds found by the state task force.

Connected Nation you'll recall got the inside track on Minnesota broadband mapping money, and was accused of using their political influence to bypass open public discussion and beat out the University of Minnesota for state funds. If their data undershoots Ookla's -- it's ironic, given they're usually criticized for being little more than an incumbent ISP (AT&T, Verizon, Comcast) policy vessel, tasked with "shining up" broadband stats to keep government regulators from imposing policies aimed at ramping up competition.

Of course as the paper discovers as the story's written, Comcast's 50 Mbps service with "Powerboost" was launched in this market back in 2008, and even traditionally-slow Qwest started offering a 40 Mbps VDSL product in portions of the market in response in 2009 (which as the paper's commenters note, accounts for the upward-trending Ookla speed data on the city and state level).
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Ciena tightens up Q3 2010 losses, but remains cautious about Q4

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 12:57:18 -0700

Ciena (Nasdaq: CIEN) may have narrowed its Q3 losses, but with the global economy still in a fragile state, the company is being conservative about its Q4 revenue forecast.

The company forecast that fourth quarter revenue of $409.2 million, falling short of analysts' estimate of $423.9 million.

"We see increasing levels of customer activity and continued strength in the fundamental demand drivers of our business; however, we remain cautious in the face of continuing macroeconomic uncertainties," said Gary Smith, Ciena's CEO in a release. "We currently expect a sequential increase in our fiscal fourth quarter revenue of up to 5%, and expect as-adjusted gross margin to be in the low 40s range."

During the third quarter, Ciena lost $109.9 million, or $1.18 per common share, versus the $26.5 million, or $0.29 per common share, loss it saw in Q3 2009.

Despite the less than compelling Q4 outlook and Q3 losses, there were some bright spots. In particular, Ciena's purchase of Nortel's Metro Ethernet Networks (MEN) business has service and professional services helped double company revenue to $389.7 million.

For more:
- see the earnings release here
- Reuters has this article

Brazil\'s Anatel adds fuel to its universal telecom service plan

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 11:21:31 -0700

Brazil's telecom regulator Anatel has debuted PGMU III, a new policy document that is set on enabling the country to meet its universal service access goals.

Although the plan will cost participating service providers $1.7 billion to put in place, Anatel said there will be a $968.3 million bonus due to adjustments made between the PGMU II and PGMU III's goals.

Overall, the goal of PGMU II and PGMU III, which will cover network infrastructure and maintenance costs between 2011-2015, is to improve telecom services in the country's rural and economically challenged areas.

For more:
- TeleGeography has this story

Related articles:
Brazil's Anatel puts kibosh on forced phone/data bundling
Telefonica's Telesp will invest $519 million in Brazil broadband network
Brazil plots out national broadband plan

E-book:
Latin America's Next Generation Networks

Comcast Offers Support By SMS - Get account balance or put in a support request by text

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 10:59:45 -0700

Comcast today announced that the company is deploying support via SMS, allowing users to get account help by sending a text to COMCAST4U (short code 266278). Users can send a variety of messages (listed in the link above) like CALLME, which prompts a call from Comcast support, NOAPPT, which cancels scheduled service calls, or BAL, which provides users with their account balance. Users can sign up for or deactivate the service via the COMCAST4U portal. The service is launching today in Philadelphia, the Philly suburbs, New Jersey and Northern Delaware. According to Comcast, it will be available to all Comcast users "by the first half of 2011."
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Iowa: Broadband is plentiful, but not everyone wants it

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 08:47:05 -0700

With 95 percent of Iowa's residents and businesses being able to get a broadband connection, broadband availability is not a problem in the state.

Despite the near-ubiquity of broadband in Iowa, a new Iowa Utilities Board illustrated that "45 percent of households did not want broadband, 31 percent did not own a computer and 21 percent claimed broadband access was too expensive."

The study also revealed that only 10 percent of the households surveyed in the study revealed that availability was an issue. However, that 10 percent was primarily relegated to rural areas where availability gaps were larger than in more urban areas.

Of course, there are various ways to define broadband. Even though the Utilities Board study defines a 768 Kbps connection as broadband, the reality is that 3 Mbps is the more relevant speed standard.

Given the new applications that broadband can enable, Iowa's study could be another sign that states overall need to better educate the residential and business community on how broadband can be used to enable services such as job searching, medical and education applications.

For more:
- The Telegraph Herald via AP has this article

Related articles:
Cable MSOs, AT&T enter the broadband stimulus race
Broadband stimulus: An enabler, not a panacea
Broadband stimulus: Clarity is needed, say service providers

Fujitsu\'s Santitoro maintains spot on Metro Ethernet Forum board

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 08:13:54 -0700

Ethernet veteran Ralph Santitoro, currently the director of Carrier Ethernet market development at Fujitsu Network Communications, has just been reelected to the Metro Ethernet Forum's (MEF) board of directors.

An original founding member of the MEF, Santitoro will not only continue to serve on the MEF board but will continue his work as the co-chair of the industry group's Professional Certification sub-committee where he is charged with developing a new Carrier Ethernet professional certification program and co-developing a new technical specification that defines Ethernet access services.

In addition, Santitoro participates in the Global Interconnect Working Group to help simplify and accelerate the deployment of Ethernet services through standardized External Network to Network Interconnection (ENNIs) arrangements and the emerging Carrier Ethernet Exchanges segment.

For more:
- see the release here

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Ethernet NNI-keeping services consistent!
Stimulating carrier Ethernet sales
MEF pursues mobile backhaul standards
How MEF mobile backhaul initiatives help wireline operators

Swisscom acquires remaining stake in FastWeb for $326 million

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 07:52:55 -0700

Seeing Italy's telecom market as a major growth spot, Swisscom is going to acquire the remaining piece of competitive last mile service provider FastWeb for about $326 million.

Swisscom's growth instincts are spot on. After Swisscom acquired a major stake in the company in 2007 for $5.3 billion, FastWeb's broadband customer base has grown to about 1.7 million subscribers as of the end of June.

Already owning 82.1 percent of the Italian service provider, Swisscom will offer $23 per share once it receives Italian stock exchange regulator CONSOB's approval. It will fund the deal with a mix of its own assets or an existing credit line.

What's contributing to FastWeb's growth is its customer's thirst for broadband access. In addition to its ADSL and ADSL2+ offerings, the service provider is going to launch its Fibre 100 service that will give about two million homes and businesses 100 Mbps data connection.

Going forward, Swisscom plans to maintain growing its presence in Switzerland and Italy.

For more:
- Telecompaper has this article

Ericsson acquires inCode to bolster its North American professional service capabilities

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 07:02:17 -0700

Ericsson's (Nasdaq: ERIC) acquisition of key assets of inCode's Strategy and Technology Group shows the company's ongoing strategy to capitalize on the ever-growing professional services segment.

Although neither company revealed the financial details of the deal, Ericsson will gain about 45 strategy, business and technical consultants based in the U.S. and Canada along with contracts technology and related intellectual property.

Magnus Mandersson, Senior Vice President and Head of Business Unit Global Services, Ericsson said in a release that "inCode adds unique expertise in complex, strategic and technical consulting engagements that will enable us to immediately enhance the value that we bring to our customers."

One of the most significant pieces Ericsson instantly gains from the acquisition is inCode's North American customer base-a market the Ericsson has been trying to establish a larger foothold through its acquisitions of Nortel's CDMA/LTE wireless assets and the former PON vendor Entrisphere.

On the professional services side, Ericsson has been no less aggressive. Last July, the European vendor struck a major coup when it won a large professional services and network outsourcing deal with Sprint.

Upon completion of the deal, inCode will retain its brand as part of Ericsson's Strategy Consulting Group of North America.

For more:
- see the release here

XO Communications expands Los Angeles network reach

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 04:27:35 -0700

XO Communications is once again hard at work expanding its West Coast network presence with emphasis on deepening its presence in the Los Angeles metro market.

Targeted at multi-location enterprise customers, XO is not only expanding the reach of its 19,000-mile nationwide network, but is also establishing new points of presence in the Los Angeles market. In a single stroke, XO will expand its 350-mile route fiber metro reach across the northern suburbs of Los Angeles County in Burbank, Glendale and Pasadena.

Los Angeles is just one of many XO's Southern California network expansion efforts. Last November, XO announced plans to expand its Inland Empire network. Similar to its Inland Empire network effort, the new Los Angeles network expansion represents a broader strategy where the company will invest in existing networks while also moving into new markets.

For more:
- see the release here

Related articles:
XO increases So Cal network reach
XO extends network reach in Seattle
Don MacNeil, vice president of XO Carrier Services Operations - Wholesale allstars

Connecting candidates, voters remotely

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 13:50:08 -0700

When Charles Rudnick, a candidate for the Massachusetts state senate, held a recent town hall meeting with residents in the Newton, Mass. area, he did so from the comfort of his home office thanks to a large-scale conference calling service known as a tele-town hall meeting.

For about 90 minutes, Rudnick and consultant Ed Marin fielded live questions from potential constituents on a range of topics.

"We thought it would be a good way to do outreach to the community," says Ed Marin, consultant to the Rudnick campaign. "Voters who wanted to talk to Charles but couldn't do it any other way. ...You know, Charles goes door-to-door, but you can't get to all the residents."

Instead, area voters received two phone calls: one, an automated phone message a few days before the event providing the date, time, and instructions for participating on the call; and two, an automated phone call at the start time of the event. Voters who wanted to listen in simply stayed on the line once they were called; those who wanted to ask a question simply pressed a number on their telephone keypad.

Those with questions were routed to a call center at Rudnick's campaign office in Newton, where his staffers cued up questions and forwarded them to Rudnick at his home office. Rudnick then connected with each caller in turn and answered their question live.

Marin added, "What was cool was at the end of the call, if you didn't get to ask a question during the call, you could leave a voice mail...and Charles called them back personally."

An audio file of the conference call was also made available at the candidate's website.

The large-scale conference call was made possible by a company named, not coincidentally, Tele-Town Hall, which developed a patent-pending automated dialing system and combined it with cloud-based services that since 2006, has enabled clients to conduct calls easily--as long as they have a broadband connection.

Tele-Town Halls (TTHs) aren't without their share of critics, who point out that candidates can control what questions get asked and that the candidate can avoid meeting the public face to face--limiting "real" discourse and perhaps distorting a candidate's view of his or her constituency.

But the technology itself is a good example of real-world applications of cloud-based communications that go beyond simple phone calls or data transfer and meet a specific need.

TTH's mass automated variable speed dialing system uses a VoIP connection to dial out to thousands of phone numbers from a preselected list, and can initiate several hundred automated calls simultaneously.

"We have a number of data centers located across the US, and we utilize multiple carriers to create a high level of security and system dependability," TTH Director of Marketing & Advertising Chris Elizondo told FierceTelecom.

In this case, Tele Town Hall's service connects candidates to voters at a more convenient time and place for both.

"That's the other great thing about TTH. There might be crappy weather, you might be stuck in traffic...and can't make the meeting. With a Tele-Town Hall all you have to do is take the call," says Marin.

Price is another factor in using the service. For $2,000, the Rudnick campaign was able to auto-call "tens of thousands" of voters, Marin says, with several hundred staying on the call to participate in the meeting.

Elizondo points out the value of the service compared to other methods of getting a candidate's message out to voters. "I've seen mailouts that are $695 to send to 200 people... For around that same price, we could contact twice that amount. For $2000 we can contact a lot more."

An October 2007 report by the Congressional Institute found that, despite some initial reluctance to communicate with their representatives via conference call, constituents of U.S. House and Senate members expressed a preference for TTHs by a nearly two to one margin over traditional, in-person town hall meetings. But a 2010 report noted that TTHs are still underutilized, with only 16.8 percent of constituents responding to a CI poll saying they'd received a TTH invitation in 2009.

But, Rudnick's spokesperson says, the state senate candidate sees the potential that TTHs have to directly communicate with constituents. If he's elected, Marin says, "Charles plans on using the TTH as outreach for his constituents."

For more:
- see this Congressional Institute study
- this PolHudson blog post

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Telefonica Chile to build nationwide FTTH network

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 13:49:15 -0700

Telefónica Chile is enamored with fiber to the home (FTTH) so much so that it plans to plunk down $2.5 billion over the next four years to build a nationwide, 700,000-home network.

Initially, the new FTTH network will connect 50,000 homes in the Biobio region, including the cities of Talcahuano, Los Ángeles, Chillán and Concepción, the region's capital.

"With this investment, Chile will be at the technological vanguard and the equal of countries such as South Korea and Australia, which now have high-speed fibre-optic networks on a massive scale," said César Alierta, President of Telefónica Chile. "We have symbolically decided to start in Concepción as we visited the region in the days after the recent earthquake, and what we saw there affected us deeply."

In addition to enabling speeds between 40 to 100 Mbps, Telefónica Chile's FTTH network will support an IPTV service that it said it has nearly completed preparations for.

For more:
- ipTV news has this article

Download the E-Book:
Latin America's Next Generation Networks

Telekom Austria\'s \'GigaNet\' network reaches 1.5 million homes, businesses

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 08:52:45 -0700

Telekom Austria (NYSE: TKA) had set a high rollout bar for its Fiber to the X (FTTX)-based 'GigaNet' network, but the service provider reports that it has surpassed that goal by reaching 1.5 million, or 36 percent, of homes and businesses within the country. This latest milestone surpasses Telekom Austria's initial 750,000 homes and businesses goal.

"One year ago, we started the implementation of a nation-wide broadband rollout plan targeting 750,000 households and commercial businesses until year-end 2010," said Hannes Ametsreiter, CEO of the Telekom Austria Group in a release. "As of today, we have already exceeded this target and reached the 1.5 million mark."

Going forward, Telekom Austria expects to have two million homes and businesses connected to the GigaNet network by 2013.

To stay on pace with its broadband goals, Telekom Austria just updated another 190 switching centers in its densely populated urban areas with its VDSL@CO technology, bringing it to 687 VDSL@CO locations. In August, Telekom Austria said it would expand its FTTX footprint with VDSL2 to cover 40 percent, or 1.59 million of the country's homes by the end of the year. Complementing its VDSL2 deployment will be its FiberCities project. Initially set to be rolled out in Villach and Klagenfurt, Telekom Austria expects to reach 97,000 homes.

For more:
- see the release here
- TeleGeography has this article

Analysys Mason: Copper, not FTTH, is the best near-term broadband strategy

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 08:26:16 -0700

Fiber to the home (FTTH) may hold great promise with an unlimited bandwidth capacity, but a new report from Analysys Mason argues that service providers should take a conservative approach to last mile fiber and instead try to squeeze more out of their existing copper networks.

Analysys Mason points out that consumer's ongoing adoption of mobile services and devices will make it challenging for wireline operators to recoup their FTTH investments. In the near-term, the research firm suggests that service provider should continue to conduct FTTH trials, while leveraging hybrid copper/fiber technologies including VDSL2.

Of course, service providers remain divided on this issue. While AT&T (NYSE: T), Telekom Austria (NYSE: TKA), BT (NYSE: BT) and Qwest (NYSE: Q) are deploying a mix of both VDSL2 and FTTH, Verizon (NYSE: VZ) has taken an all FTTH approach for its broadband future.

However, even within these two camps there are various shades of grey. While Telekom Austria and BT are keen on leveraging their existing copper with continued investments in ADSL2+ and VDSL2, they are simultaneously rolling out FTTH in both Greenfield and Brownfield markets. And while Verizon has been FTTH's lead advocate, the service provider earlier this year announced that it would focus its attention on either areas where it currently has its FTTH-based FiOS service or where it agreed to provide the service through a previously arranged franchise arrangement with a city or town.

For more:
- Telecompaper has this article

Related articles:
Verizon's 10, 15 Mbps DSL service is great if you can actually get it
Verizon FiOS deployment drive to focus on established communities
AT&T boldly goes to the edge of the, well, U-verse: A conversation with U-verse VP Jeff Weber

Lightower wraps up Veroxity purchase

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 07:45:06 -0700

Competitive service provider Lightower has completed its acquisition of Veroxity Technology Partners, a provider of fiber based data and Internet connectivity.

Lightower's acquisition comes with a number of benefits. Not only will Lightower immediately expand its fiber footprint and customer base in the Boston metro market, but also expand its New England and New York City network presence and national long haul network that connects major U.S. cities.

Specifically, Lightower will add 2,000 network route miles to its current 4,500 network route mile network and fiber connectivity into major data centers and commercial buildings. In total, the combined Lightower network will cover over 6,500 network route miles with service to over 2,000 commercial buildings.

While the Veroxity purchase is its most recent deal, Lightower is no stranger to the acquisitions game. Currently owned by both M/C Venture Partners and Pamlico Capital, Lightower previously acquired both DataNet Communications and Keyspan Communications in 2008.

For more:
- see the release here

SEC settles suit with Qwest\'s former CEO Joseph Nacchio

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 07:21:04 -0700

Joseph Nacchio, Qwest's (NYSE: Q) former disgraced CEO, won another battle as the Securities and Exchange Commission settled their case with the once high-flying executive.

In its lawsuit, the SEC claimed that Nacchio and other executive colleagues falsified what percentage of the service provider's revenue from 1999-2002 was one-time and recurring.

While the settlement still needs a federal judge's approval, documents that were filed last Thursday in a Denver federal court revealed that Nacchio would not admit guilt, but that he would never hold an executive post at another public company.

Nacchio, who is currently serving a six-year prison stint which a judge in June reduced by two months, was required to pay a $19 million fine and forfeit $44.6 million related to his insider-trading activities.

For more:
- abcnews has this article via AP

SingTel considers bid for Cable and Wireless Worldwide

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 04:31:50 -0700

SingTel, according a report in The Independent, could be making a run at Cable & Wireless Worldwide (LSE: CWP.L).

Although the report did not reveal any sources, SingTel has talked to Asian and European banks about what it could do with CWW. This new development comes little more than a week after rumors emerged that AT&T could make a bid on CWW as a way to possibly expand its own international reach.

News of a potential marriage with AT&T and now SingTel has boosted CWW's stock standing. Since Cable & Wireless split itself up into two companies--an enterprise unit and Cable & Wireless Communications, which provides consumer services in the Caribbean--CWW's shares have struggled. CWW's stock problems were exacerbated when it revealed in July that the UK government, which consists of 12 percent of CWW's revenue, was making cutbacks.

Regardless of near-term stock issues, one unidentified London-based analyst said that SingTel could leverage CWW's assets to expand their Asian presence. "SingTel has quite a well-developed data business in India and South East Asia, which are areas of focus for C&W. So it would be sensible in terms of the mix," he said in a Reuters article.

Indeed, $3.5 billion of CWW's revenue in 2009 came from its India, Middle East, Africa and South East Asia holdings.

For more:
- Reuters has this article

France Telecom dismisses Deutsche Telekom merger rumors

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 03:56:40 -0700

France Telecom (NYSE: FTE) may be looking for ways to diversify through acquiring assets in emerging markets, but one deal it's not going to make is a merger with Deutsche Telekom (XETRA: DTE.DE).

Rumors about a potential marriage of the two European telecom superpowers emerged yesterday after Deutsche Bank (NYSE: DB) increased its stake in France Telecom to over 5 percent.

The CFE-CGC/UNSA union said in a Reuters article that the Deutsche Bank's move was a "profound change in the current balance of the shareholding" and "perhaps a precursor to consolidation operations that are liable to change the world of telecoms in Europe."

Given France Telecom's employee morale issues--a problem that spurred multiple suicides at the service provider in the past year--the union wanted to hold extraordinary meeting with management to discuss shareholder structure and how it will "protect France Telecom's independence."

However, a France Telecom spokeswoman immediately dismissed rumors of a potential deal between the two service providers, while Deutsche Bank would not comment.

"There is no plan to bring together France Telecom and Deutsche Telekom," the spokeswoman said.

For more:
- Reuters UK has this article

Related articles:
Prosecutor to investigate France Telecom suicides
Report: Deutsche Telekom searching for U.S. partners
Orange dropped T-Mobile UK takeover to push through merger deal

Broadband Bytes for 2010-09-04

Sat, 04 Sep 2010 21:00:00 -0700

Unsurprisingly, the young watch less of their TV live. http://tcrn.ch/doUXuL # DOJ smells an anti-trust rat in the online video space. http://bit.ly/bhezyf # Lithuania on-track for FTTH in over 50% of the country. http://bit.ly/cdvQxv # Canada pulls an about-face, mandates open access. http://bit.ly/9VMpBh # Verizon says that FTTN is a dead-end. http://bit.ly/bUNhQZ # FCC asked [...]

Telefonica gives subscribers free wireline, wireless broadband speed upgrades

Fri, 03 Sep 2010 07:41:20 -0700

Who says there's no such thing as a free lunch? Well, if you're a Telefonica (NYSE: TEF) wireline or wireless subscriber, you're going to get a free bandwidth upgrade.

By the end of 2011, the Spanish-based incumbent operator said it will increase the speeds of its ADSL service from 6 Mbps to 10 Mbps all at no expense to the subscriber. In addition, Telefonica will also double mobile broadband speeds for subscribers that reside in Madrid and Barcelona from 21 Mbps to 42 Mbps.

Telefonica is betting big on mobile broadband. The service provider forecasts that during the 2008-2012 period, the number of mobile broadband subscribers will increase 6-fold and mobile broadband traffic will multiply by 17.

For more:
- Telecompaper has this article

Related articles:
Telefonica Brazil achieves 3 million broadband subscribers milestone
Telefonica's O2 offering VoIP calls

China Telecom Americas deepens U.S. Ethernet presence through CENX

Fri, 03 Sep 2010 07:08:57 -0700

China Telecom Americas (NYSE: CHA) is looking to gain a stronger foothold in the U.S. Ethernet market and it has found that solution in Ethernet exchange provider CENX. Initially, China Telecom Americas will connect with CENX at its New York and Los Angeles exchanges.

"Connecting with CENX enables China Telecom Americas to extend our reach through a diversified platform." commented Donald Tan, president of China Telecom Americas in a release. "As an additional way to interconnect with our partners, we are able to respond to our customers' needs in a more scalable and efficient manner."

Indeed, by establishing a connection with CENX, China Telecom Americas and its parent could tap into new revenue opportunities for both American and Chinese-based MNCs that want more Ethernet connectivity for their satellite locations. In turn, U.S.-based service providers could also connect into other domestic business sites, and more importantly, to China and the 73 other countries China Telecom serves.

Given that the majority of CENX's publicly announced connection arrangements outside of Verizon have been with competitive carriers, the agreement with CTA also gives CENX, which is operating in a still nascent market, another sound proof point with a another large carrier.

While the release announcing the agreement with China Telecom is focused on its American subsidiary, it's likely China's dominant telco will leverage the CENX connections for its own domestic and international Ethernet expansion plans.

For more:
- see the release here

Related articles:
CENX, Equinix launch global Ethernet exchange services
CENX: Simplifying the interconnection process - Global Ethernet Report
Verizon expands Ethernet presence through CENX
Ethernet NNI-keeping services consistent!
Reliance, China Telecom complete cable linking China and India

BT applies Onevoice product to large business market segment

Fri, 03 Sep 2010 04:40:38 -0700

BT (NYSE: BT) has found that its acquisition of Ribbit, one that gave the provider its Google Voice-style Onevoice product, could also have utility for its large business customers.

As part of its Onevoice expansion drive, BT is going to bring its SIP trunking service to a number of new European countries and the U.S. Providing connectivity between its Onevoice VPN and its domestic voice services, BT's SIP trunking service is a migratory service that allows a business to leverage its existing PBX with VoIP capabilities so users can place and get calls through the PSTN, on their respective local area network (LAN).

BT will extend the SIP trunking service, which is currently available in the UK, to a number of European countries including the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France and the U.S. In addition, BT plans to bring the service to other countries such as Spain in the next few months.

Set to be a foundation for emerging Unified Communications and Collaboration (UCC) services, BT's SIP trunking product has received global Microsoft qualification of BT Onevoice for Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2.

Although the global economic meltdown has prompted large multinational corporations (MNCs) to cut back on services, the new service could resonate with these companies as they look for ways to consolidate, integrate and optimize their voice infrastructure.

For more:
- see the release here
- Computer Weekly has this article

XO conducts coherent 100 Gbps optical network trial

Fri, 03 Sep 2010 03:59:11 -0700

XO Communications (OTC BB: XOHO.OB) has just completed its trial of 100 Gbps coherent optical transmission on a 1348 km route on its U.S. network.

During the trial, XO leveraged Infinera's (Nasdaq: INFN) 500 Gbps photonic integrated circuits (PICs), which integrate five 100 Gbps channels. The Infinera 500 Gbps PICs transmitted and received a 100 Gbps signal on a 1348 production network between the Denver and Dallas segments of its fiber network.

Built with Infinera's 100 Gbps-ready ILS WDM line system that it claims can scale up to 8 Tbps of fiber capacity, the system simultaneously carried 10 Gbps and 100 Gbps channels. To gain error-free urepeatered transmission over ultra-long haul distances like XO's Denver to Dallas route, the 100 Gbps channel was transmitted using PM-QPSK modulation and coherent detection.

Not surprisingly, XO, an aggressive advocate of optical-based network services that's been leveraging Infinera in its optical network, sees the trial as s proof point to leverage 100 Gbps systems to meet its business and carrier customer needs.

"XO Communications looks forward to the increased capacity and superior efficiency we anticipate these 100G systems will deliver, as we work to meet growing bandwidth demands from our enterprise and wholesale service provider and mobile wireless customers," said XO Communications Chief Technology Officer Randy Nicklas in a release.

For more:
- see the release here

ATandT U-verse brings FTTP services to Illinois apartment community

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 19:53:50 -0700

AT&T U-verse continues its growth in the multi dwelling unit (MDU) space as it announced a new agreement with Regency Apartments to bring triple play services to the new Windsor West Apartments in southwest Champaign, Ill.

The agreement is part of AT&T's Connected Communities program, which forms strategic marketing relationships with regional and national builders, developers, home owners associations and so on to deploy U-verse services--including voice, high-speed Internet and television--to residents.

Windsor West Apartments is one of the first Illinois communities to receive next-generation services via fiber directly to its 316 apartment units.

Canada\'s incumbent telcos must pay rebates to urban users

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 19:08:31 -0700

Canada's incumbent fixed line operators, including Bell Aliant (Toronto: BA-UN.TO), Bell Canada (NYSE: BCE), Telus (Toronto: T.TO) and MTS Allstream, must pay back residential phone customers located in urban areas who were charged too much between 2002 and 2006--a total amount of CAD $311 million ($295 million) the CRTC (Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission) ruled Tuesday.

The overpayments were part of a program created by telecom regulators in 2002 that kept incumbent operators' residential phone rates artificially high to entice new, lower-priced competitors to enter the market. In a scheme which conjures up images of a recent beer commercial with two dapper gents yelling "Brilliant!" at each other, premiums imposed by the CRTC on these rates were collected and funneled off into funds to support various communications initiatives, Canada.com reports.

After the program ended in 2006, operators, consumer groups and the CRTC battled over the remaining funds in the surplus account.

Under the ruling, the operators must rebate phone customers in urban areas up to CAD $90 ($85) each. In addition, the incumbents will spend millions more dollars to deploy broadband networks across the country. Bell Aliant will bear the brunt of the repayment and broadband expansion--paying nearly CAD $250 million ($237.1 million) in rebates and taking on 55 percent of the broadband deployment, which adds up to 112 communities in Ontario and Quebec at a cost of CAD $306 million ($290.2 million).

For more:
- Telegeography has this story
- see this story

Free employs Cisco for its IPv6 rollout

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 08:28:37 -0700

French competitive broadband carrier Free is making an aggressive IPv6 push with Cisco (Nasdaq: CSCO) that will serve more than four million of its broadband customers.

By deploying Cisco's IPv6 6rd Border Relay technology solution, Free is preparing for and mitigating the impending exhaustion of IPv4 addresses, while preparing its network to support the ongoing growth of Internet-connected devices users are attaching to its network.

According to potaroo.net, a site that tracks IPv4 address allocation set by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA), IPv4 address exhaustion is forecasted to occur sometime next year.

Since the movement to IPv6 will be done in a migratory fashion, Cisco claims that by deploying 6rd, service providers such as Free will be able to offer IPv6 capabilities to customers via their existing IPv4 access network and backend systems. The obvious benefits of a dual-stack IPv4/IPv6 approach is that service providers can reduce IPv6 deployment lead time, while protecting existing network investments.

For its IPv6 deployment, Free is leveraging Cisco's ASR 1000 Series Aggregation Services Routers, which incorporates the three-step framework of "Preserve, Prepare and Prosper" the vendor launched last fall for its routing portfolio.

"Free is committed to providing the latest innovations for its customers, including full support today for the IP Next-Generation Network, IPv6," said Maxime Lombardini, chief executive officer, Free (Iliad Group, France) in a release. "We have chosen the Cisco Series Aggregation Services Routers ASR 1000 router for their support of an integrated high-performance IPv6 Rapid Deployment or 6rd technology, which allows us to supply IPv6 to our users in a remarkably simple and cost-efficient manner."

While Free did not provide its IPv6 deployment timeline, the announcement will likely gain the attention of other incumbent and competitive providers that are also making their own migration to IPv6.

For more:
- see the release here

Australian alliance proposes new version of National Broadband Plan

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 08:06:20 -0700

With approval for a National Broadband Plan being punted around by Australia's ruling body like a muddy football, a group of network and Internet companies have taken matters into their own hands and published a manifesto calling for a market solution to broadband expansion--not an "infrastructure monopoly."

The Alliance for Affordable Broadband's open letter, titled "NBN 3.0," was signed by the CEOs of Allegro Networks, BigAir, Vocus Communications, AAPT, Eftel, Polyphone, and Pipe Networks, Telecompaper reports.

"We believe, generally markets are better managers of capital and technology risk than government. We believe in infrastructure based competition--not infrastructure monopolies with retail competition--as the path way to deliver affordable broadband with a great customer experience," the Alliance wrote.

The letter proposed an alternative National Broadband Plan, dubbed "NBNv3," that would feature "a mix of technologies and a market based approach" to bring broadband to 98 percent of Australians. Alternate solutions included 4G wholesale network coverage nationally at up to 100 Mbps; fiber or high-speed broadband to schools, hospitals and businesses at 1 Gbps speeds; and satellite coverage for remote areas at up to 12 Mbps.

The letter cited solutions that U.S. companies are taking as part of their broadband stimulus plan and said that building a national 4G wireless network using a mix of public funds and private investment could cost only AUD $3 billion ($2.7 billion).

For more:
- Telecompaper has this article
- ComputerWorld published the Alliance's open letter

Telmex to up Mexico\'s broadband speeds to stay competitive with cable

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 07:49:16 -0700

With Carlos Slim's consolidation of his Telmex Internacional (NYSE: TII) and America Movil (NYSE: AMX) holdings now complete, Telmex is going to turn its attention to upgrading its wireline broadband network with up to 20 Mbps speed capabilities to more effectively compete with cable competitors.

To make this speed jump, Telmex will leverage the majority of its 2010 $765 million investment budget to bring fiber closer to homes.

Telmex may have a monopoly on the traditional telecom wireline market, but savvy cable competitors such as Megacable Holdings SAB (Mexico: MEGACPO.MX) that offer triple play voice, video and data service packages continue to lure away more of the incumbent's customers. By the end of 2010, Telmex plans to offer 10 Mbps, which is Megacable's fastest speed. Right now, Telmex is conducting tests on the 20 Mbps speeds in three cities.

"We're positioning ourselves perfectly well to compete with the cable carriers," said Andres Vazquez del Mercado, residential markets director for Telmex, in a Bloomberg article.

For more:
- Bloomberg has this story

Frontier commits $40 million to improve Illinois\' broadband reach

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 06:56:49 -0700

Frontier (NYSE: FTR) has made Illinois its latest broadband investment target with plans to commit over $40 million to expand service in the state over the next year.

Maggie Wilderotter, CEO and Chairman of Frontier, who spent this past week meeting with customers and employees in the Midwest, set an aggressive broadband rollout goal that will give users in central Illinois the same experience they would get in Chicago.

"One of the commitments we have made to the state of Illinois is that we want to get a minimum of 80 percent reach for broadband over the next two years," Wilderotter told The State Journal-Register. "And our goal would be to get somewhere between 85 to 90 percent in a three-year window."

Wilderotter estimated that only an estimated 65 percent of Illinois residents can actually get broadband, meaning that there's a remaining 35 percent who still can't get a broadband connection today.

Frontier's new commitment to beefing up Illinois' broadband availability follows a similar promises Frontier made to both Ohio and West Virginia. The provider plans to spend $50 million each year to bring broadband to 85 percent of Ohio residents by 2013, while in West Virginia it will spend $231 million to improve that state's voice network and another $48 million to increase broadband availability by 2013.

For more:
- see this State Journal-Register article

Megapath, Covad, Speakeasy complete 3-part merger

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 13:45:53 -0700

With the completion of their previously announced merger, the newly combined trio of MegaPath, Covad and Speakeasy will create yet another new category for the SMB and wholesale telecom segment--the Managed Services Local Exchange Carrier (MSLEC).

Retaining the MegaPath name, the new company will have over 85,000 business customers and over 4,500 carrier partners in the U.S. As a privately held company, MegaPath did not reveal the financial terms of the deal.

MegaPath will provide a suite of voice, access, private networking and managed security services through their new Wholesale Markets and their Business Markets divisions. The company has also retooled its management team with D. Craig Young, former CEO of MegaPath, as the company's Chairman and CEO; Pat Bennett, Covad's former CEO, as Chief Strategy Officer and Head of Wholesale Markets; and Bruce Chatterley, former CEO of Speakeasy, as President of the Business Markets.

Young said in a release announcing the completion of the deal that the value of the newly combined company is that they can provide SMBs with similar services and support typically only delivered to larger enterprise clients. "Small, medium and large enterprises will now benefit from a new service provider that is willing to invest in advanced services, while remaining heavily focused on customer service," he said.

For more:
- see the release here

VSG: Orange Business Services tops global Ethernet service charts

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 05:44:40 -0700

Vertical Systems Group mid-2010 global provider Ethernet Leaderboard results illustrated that the demand for global Business Ethernet services was solid in the first six months of 2010.

Similar to Vertical's year-end 2009 global Business Ethernet services Leaderboard, Orange Business Services (NYSE: FTE) was followed again by Colt (Nasdaq: COLT) a U.K. company, U.S. companies Verizon (NYSE: VZ) and AT&T (NYSE: T), Japan's NTT (NYSE: NTT), and Tata (NYSE: TCL) in India, making the list for the first time in the sixth position.

Not surprisingly, what drove the growth of global Ethernet ports during this period was the service provider's response from multinational corporations (MNCs) that need to have connectivity at any location.

"If you're a multinational company, you're looking for a provider with global presence," said Rosemary Cochran, Principal and co-founder of Vertical Systems Group. "If you're a manufacturing or a financial company, the network is critical and that's an area where you look to the major companies that can provide that type of service and technical support."

It was hands-on customer service and support enabled Orange in addition to its network presence that helped the provider maintain the top spot on the Leaderboard. Last November, Orange debuted its International Ethernet Link, which is supported by a next-gen Virtual Private LAN Service (VPLS) network, doubled its Ethernet presence in 32 countries.

"Orange Business is everywhere and they do have a solid presence and have aggressively built out their network presence," Cochran said, adding that "their service centers and the ability to service customers directly and be more hands on and not do hand offs in a lot of places" was another significant factor.

Measuring global provider retail business Ethernet ports installed at enterprise customer's sites outside of their home country, every service provider cited on the Mid-2010 Global Provider Leaderboard held 4 percent or more of market ports as of mid-year 2010.

Tata's presence on VSG's Leaderboard was not the only standout trend in the first half of this year. Verizon, which has been aggressively building out its Pan European and Pan Asian network presence to serve MNC customers, saw the largest share gain among providers listed on the Global Provider Leaderboard for the first half of 2010.

"Verizon had the largest gain amongst the providers," Cochran said.

Overall, what drove the growth of all of the Ethernet market were aggressive Pan European and Pan Asian rollouts. To get there, service providers are either using their own available fiber and copper-based Ethernet.

"We're seeing a lot of Pan European and Pan Asian Ethernet rollouts," Cochran said. "Another issue in terms of roll out and providing services is copper-based Ethernet, which is something we have seen in the U.S. as well."

In addition to leveraging copper-based Ethernet, service providers are leveraging their well-established External-Network to Network Interconnection (E-NNI) agreements with partner service providers or joining the emerging Ethernet exchanges to extend their respective Ethernet footprints.

"Every global provider is relying on these bilateral agreements that they have established over a number of years in order to serve multinational customers," Cochran said. "They are dealing with customers that have sites all over the world in major business centers and in some cases more remote sites, but no provider is everywhere. The first path is to look at their specific footprint and ability to serve the customer through fiber and then proceed down the chain to use an agreement to get to a specific customer endpoint."

Correction: The Vertical Systems Group chart has been replaced with the correct mid-2010 global Ethernet provider rankings chart.

For more:
- see the release here

Related articles:
Vertical: Global Ethernet interconnect market rises up
Rapid investment returns fuel Ethernet over Copper growth
Vertical Systems cites Ethernet exchanges as new trend to watch
COLT offers flat rate Ethernet pricing to European businesses
Orange fans out its international Ethernet reach
Orange Business Services: Weaving the Ethernet fabric - Global Ethernet Report

Pac-West Telecomm expands voice origination service footprint

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 03:47:36 -0700

Pac-West Telecomm, a wholesale provider to traditional carriers and service providers, has expanded the footprint of its voice origination (Dial Access) service.

Offering U.S. access to local telephone numbers and connectivity to the PSTN, Pac-West's origination service has resonated well with carriers and service providers because it provides unmetered session pricing via one interconnection point.

Set to begin carrying traffic by early Q4 2010, the additional footprint will raise coverage to over 40 states and 62 percent of the U.S. population. Specifically, Pac-West will extend services across the southeastern United States, including Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia.

"Adding to the expansion that we did earlier this year, we see the southeastern United States as being a key region for our customers," said Robert H. (Hal) Turner, chief executive of Pac-West Telecomm in a release.

Right now, Pac-West provides origination services in over 30 states, with a concentration on the West Coast, Texas, and the Northeast.

For more:
- see the release here

Related articles:
Pac-West offers new service options for voice termination
GoogleVoice has 1.4M users; reveals partner companies
SPOTLIGHT: Pac-West acquires Tex-Link

ATandT wraps up sale of Japan outsourcing operations to IIJI

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 03:04:28 -0700

AT&T (NYSE: T) has put its sale of its domestic Japanese outsourcing services operations to Internet Initiative Japan Inc. (IIJI) (Nasdaq: IIJI) to bed.

The deal, which was originally announced in June, calls for AT&T to transfer about 1,600 domestic Japanese business customers and about 245 customer support employees to IIJI.

Regardless of the sale, AT&T plans to maintain a strong presence in Japan. The service provider already maintains its own domestic Japanese AT&T Global Network infrastructure, which includes four global network service nodes, remote access infrastructure for corporate clients, an Internet Data Centre and significant international subsea cable capacity. Over this infrastructure, AT&T will continue to offer multinational corporations (MNCs) its portfolio of wireline managed connectivity such as Ethernet, mobile, cloud and unified communications applications.

"Japan is an important market for AT&T, and we are focused on providing a world-class level of service to our multinational customers with a presence there," said Bernard Yee, vice president AT&T Asia Pacific in a release

While AT&T is selling off its Japan outsourcing operations to IIJ, AT&T will continue sell IIJI products to the MNCs it serves that have Japanese operations. In turn, IIJ will buy global connectivity services from AT&T to support its Japan-based customers'.

Selling off IIJ is just one of two major divestitures AT&T has recently completed in an effort to focus its attention on its core telecom business. In addition to IIJ, AT&T reached a deal to sell its Sterling Commerce business to IBM (NYSE: IBM) in May.

For more:
- see the release here

Sonus gets invited to 360networks\' IP voice network migration party

Tue, 31 Aug 2010 14:29:59 -0700

360networks has found that Sonus Networks' NBS-9000 Network Border Switch is the right transition platform for its IP voice network.

The wholesale network provider, which provides a mix of Private Line Transport VoIP, IP Transit, and local access ervices, will deploy the Sonus NBS-9000 Network Border Switch that's based on the GSX9000 platform and the PSX Call Routing service in a centralized fashion. In addition, 360networks will leverage Sonus' Insight Element Management System for centralized network management and reporting.

"We needed to be able to scale to meet this growth cost effectively with an integrated solution for both TDM and VoIP services," said Brady Adams, CTO of 360networks in a release. "The Sonus GSX9000 media gateway has proven reliable for 360networks and we look forward to adding the NBS functionality as a catalyst for our continued expansion of services."

Deploying Sonus' NBS-9000 is just one of many upgrades 360networks is making on its overall network. As it continues to move through its cap/grow equipment and service mission, the provider is simultaneously creating a purpose-built Ethernet-centric that will run along with consolidating the amount of long-haul optical DWDM and IP routing platforms it runs on its network.

And while it does not have the same legacy cannibalization problems of a large ILEC like Verizon, 360networks is a 20-plus year old service provider that's currently in the process of capping/growing legacy optical and voice platforms as its customers migrate over to more IP-centric service offerings.

"Basically, we're using these step functions to not get caught in the trap of continuing to barnacle on solutions to build upon a dinosaur, but rather we're burying the dinosaur," Adams revealed in an interview with FierceTelecom.

For more:
- see the release here

Related articles:
Brady Adams, CTO of 360Networks on wholesale services and making the legacy to next-gen network transition
360networks takes VoIP services to the Sacramento market
Rick Coma, Senior Vice President, Business Development, 360 Networks
360networks takes VoIP footprint into Northern Cal.
Bridging the rural telco middle mile divide

SingTel lays out FTTH service pricing

Tue, 31 Aug 2010 12:48:20 -0700

Starting this month, Singapore's broadband consumers will be able to access SingTel's new Fiber to the Home service with an aggressive price plan and of course higher speeds in a market typically known for slow speeds and high prices.

This week the service provider introduced a basic and a premium service package. Priced at $63.40 a month, the introductory package comes with 150 Mbps/75 Mbps connection and 15 Mbps international link. For $10 more a month, users can get the premium package with 200 Mbps (100 Mbps upload, 25 Mbps international) speeds for about $70.

Previously, Singtel offered a 100 Mbps/10 Mbps service package for about $64.00 a month.

Singapore itself has made some major strides in the broadband access arena with its own nationwide FTTH network, which includes StarHub as the OpCo (operating company), SingTel as the NetCo (network company). By the end of the year, Singapore expects the network will reach 60 percent of the country's homes and every home by 2012. When this network is complete, Singapore will unseat Japan and South Korea as the world broadband leader.

For more:
- TeleGeography has this article

Canada\'s CRTC mandates carriers open their last mile fiber to competitors

Tue, 31 Aug 2010 11:23:32 -0700

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), Canada's telecom regulator, has laid the groundwork of a new open access last mile network environment.

Under the CRTC mandate, competitive service providers will soon be able to get their hands on the same fiber-based network speeds that incumbent telcos--Bell Canada (NYSE: BCE), Bell Aliant (Toronto: BA-UN.TO), and Telus (Toronto: T.TO), which are all aggressively building out their own FTTX networks--and cable MSOs--Rogers, Shaw, Videotron and Cogeco--offer to their own retail customers.

Of course, the catch for competitive service providers is that they'll be required to pay a 10 percent markup on premium services including services based on direct fiber connections (Fiber to the Home and Fiber to the Business), and VDSL/VDSL2-based Fiber to the Node (FTTN). Existing wholesale service prices will remain unchanged.

"Requiring these companies to provide access to their networks will lead to more opportunities for competition in retail Internet services and better serve consumers," Konrad von Finckenstein, CRTC Chairman said in the decision.

Before this ruling was issued, Canadian incumbent providers could slow down any competitor's service that ran over their respective last mile networks.

While Canada's two main incumbent carriers, Bell Canada and Telus have already expressed their disagreement with the ruling, a Broadband DSL Reports study cited a Harvard University Berkman Center study that revealed that countries such as the UK that have put in an open access mandate created highly competitive broadband markets.

For more:
- Reuters has this article

Related articles:
Telus Q2: Cost cutting, video service growth offsets line loss
Bell Aliant extends FTTH network to Nova Scotia
Bell Canada lays out its FTTN service plans
BT is fulfilling its Fiber to the X dreams

Sprint scales up Partner Interexchange Network with its termination-only service

Tue, 31 Aug 2010 08:39:39 -0700

Sprint Wholesale's (NYSE: S) Partner Interexchange Network (PIN), a service that provides business-to-business wholesale exchange of voice traffic to any kind of service provider (MSOs, ILECs, CLECs, etc), has been quite a hit after being initially launched last October. Since Sprint began passing PIN traffic in April, the PIN partner base has grown to 67 million telephone numbers, a figure Sprint forecasts will grow to 100 million by the end of 2010.

To help new members lower their voice termination costs, Sprint has introduced its termination-only PIN, a service that allows customers to establish interconnection arrangement with Sprint's on-net PIN community and their off-net routes. In addition to lowering costs Sprint says the new offering can serve as a migration path for service providers to become an on-net PIN partner.

As a service provider community initiative, Sprint PIN service creates a community of partners to exchange VoIP service between each other while operating on Sprint's global Tier 1 IP network. While Sprint's traditional TDM-based long-distance voice traffic has continued to decline, the PIN could create a foundation for the growing base of VoIP services.

"Sprint's new termination-only PIN offering positions Sprint to capture growing demand for wholesale VoIP termination. ATLANTIC-ACM's recent survey of U.S. wholesale customers, indicated buyers expect spending on wholesale VoIP termination and wholesale VoIP interconnection to grow the fastest among all long-haul wholesale products," said Aaron Blazar, vice president, ATLANTIC-ACM in a release.

For more:
- see the release here

Telecom consumers dislike foreign customer care

Tue, 31 Aug 2010 08:09:36 -0700

U.S.-based service providers may be improving their bottom line by outsourcing their customer care capabilities offshore, but it comes with the cost of lower customer satisfaction.

According to CFI Group's latest study, call support satisfaction is only 58 percent out of 100 if the call is handled by a foreign customer representative versus 79 percent for U.S.-based representatives. In addition, CFI revealed that U.S. support personnel are 34 percent more likely to rectify the issue on the first call than those handled offshore.

At a time when service providers are trying to retain customers, putting customer care into the hands of a foreign agent could tarnish the consumer's view of the service provider especially if they have a bad experience. "If a customer hangs up mad, it isn't the agent they are going to blame, it's the company that put them in that position in order to save a buck by sending their call overseas," warns Sheri Teodoru, CFI Group's CEO and the report's author.

The study did reveal one glimpse of hope for customers. Only nine percent of consumers reported that their most recent call center experience was handled by an offshore agent, down from 15 percent in 2008.

For more:
- see the CFI release here (PDF)

Ridgemont Equity Partners buys big piece of United Private Networks

Tue, 31 Aug 2010 07:42:45 -0700

United Private Networks (UPN), a Midwest-based regional fiber-based provider, has decided to put its trust in a larger partner Ridgemont Equity Partners which will acquire a majority stake in the company.

Although neither company would disclose the financial terms of the deal, UPN's existing management team and day-to-day operations will remain unchanged. Currently operating in 12 states, UPN has primarily focused on providing data communications networks and related services to schools, government, carriers, data centers and enterprise business customers

UPN sees the Ridgemont pact as a means to scale the company. "Our partnership with Ridgemont will help ensure that UPN has continued access to capital for growth and provide broader access to strategic and financial resources," said Kevin Anderson, CEO of UPN in a release.

Set to be completed in Q4 2010, the deal still needs the obligatory federal and state regulatory approvals.

Private investment firms have been busy snapping up large pieces or buying regional service providers operators outright lately. Over the past week, ABRY Partners completed its acquisition of RCN, while Court Square bought up regional fiber service provider Fibertech.

For more:
- see the release here

tw telecom wins multi-year voice, data contract from Andrews Air Force Base

Tue, 31 Aug 2010 07:25:34 -0700

tw telecom (Nasdaq: TWTC) can now put another public sector customer into the win column as the U.S. Air Force will leverage the competitive provider's local voice and Internet services at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland.

Under the terms of the agreement, tw telecom will provide a mix of analog and digital services, including 30,000 phone lines and data services.

This is a high profile public sector win for tw telecom, as Andrews Air Force Base is the home of the 89th Airlift Wing and Air Force One. The base supports more than 20,000 military and civilian main users and plays host to the President and Vice President, congressional delegations, and various foreign heads of state.

tw telecom has continued to grow its presence in both the state, local and federal government arenas. In addition to Andrews Air Force Base, the service provider won similar contracts last year with both Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs and Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas.

For more:
- see the release here

Frontier pledges improving service, expanding broadband in Ohio

Tue, 31 Aug 2010 04:49:42 -0700

With Frontier's (NYSE: FTR) integration of the rural phone lines it acquired from Verizon's (NYSE: VZ) in 14 states moving along, the service provider is now turning its attention to Ohio.

Speaking during a business community luncheon at The Ohio State University at Marion, Maggie Wilderotter, Frontier's Chairman and CEO, highlighted the ILEC's commitment to expand broadband, service improvements and job retention/creation in the state. Frontier had to agree to these commitments to gain the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio's (PUCO) permission to acquire Verizon's rural phone lines.

Similar to commitments Frontier has made in other states such as West Virginia, Frontier said that it will make broadband available to 85 percent of Ohio's homes by the end of December 2013. Over the next three years, Frontier will invest $50 million each year to meet its broadband expansion plans. If it fails to meet gain 80 percent penetration by 2012, Frontier will have to invest an additional $50 million to improve broadband availability.

"Our local engineering and operations teams have been identifying locations for broadband deployment, with the first new areas scheduled to come on line starting the fourth quarter of this year," said Wilderotter in a release, adding that the service provider will reveal the initial upgrades in the next few weeks. "To accomplish the roll-out, we are already upgrading our physical plant and equipment and training employees so that we can bring high-speed Internet to the underserved and unserved in Ohio."

No less important will be improving and maintaining quality service metrics on the existing phone lines that Verizon all but abandoned. Given that consumers have a lot of choice for their phone and data services, especially hungry cable operators, Frontier faces the obvious challenge of convincing Ohio consumers that it can live up to its promises of expanding broadband and improving service.

For more:
- see the release here

Nortel puts multiservice switch unit on the auction block

Mon, 30 Aug 2010 08:05:50 -0700

Does anyone remember when Nortel snapped up multi-service switch provider Shasta Networks in the late 1990s? Well, now Nortel Networks is going to sell its Multiservice Switch (MSS) unit, to PSP Holding-a special purpose entity supported by Marlin Equity Partners (Marlin) and Samnite Technologies--for $39 million in cash.

Although it's possible another group could make a competing bid for the unit, PSP will buy all of Nortel's MSS assets in North America, Caribbean and Latin America (CALA) in addition to Nortel's Data Packet Network and Shasta product groups patents. When the sale is completed, PSP expects to retain current MSS employees.

Despite the sale being another sad chapter in the demise of Nortel, the PSP deal will at the very least ensure that existing Nortel MSS enterprise and service provider customers will continue to get service and support for their equipment.

Nortel will seek Canadian and U.S. bankruptcy court permission to begin the MSS auction. This latest auction follows Nortel's previous sales of its CDMA and GSM business (Ericsson), Optical/Ethernet (Ciena) and its carrier voice business (GENBAND).

For more:
- see the release here

New Zealand\'s commerce commission wants to deregulate wholesale market

Mon, 30 Aug 2010 07:30:35 -0700

Competition in New Zealand's telecom market appears to be good, so good that the Commerce Commission has recommended that the business data and bundled resale service market shouldn't be subject to regulations set by the Telecommunications Act of 2001.

What's driving the country's Commerce Commission to consider such a move are the introduction of new competing services and low take-up.

Telecom New Zealand currently provides wholesale network services to competing service providers. When a competitor and TNZ can't agree on terms, the Commerce Commission would work as an arbitrator to come up with an agreement.

"The commission's view is that regulatory intervention in telecommunications markets should be scaled back in areas where we consider there is effective competition, or when alternative services are available to access seekers.," said Dr. Ross Patterson, New Zealand's Telecommunications Commissioner in a statement. "Regulation should not impose or maintain burdens which are unnecessary, and it is the commission's objective to reduce regulation of telecommunications markets as effective competition develops."

For more:
- TeleGeography has this article

Related articles:
Telecom New Zealand advances AAPT fiber network, considers demerger
Telecom New Zealand sells AAPT's consumer division, other assets
New Zealand's AAPT suitors have until end of week to finalize bids
Telecom New Zealand considers network spinoff to participate in broadband initiative
New Zealand wants help with its broadband initiative

Texas residents, businesses held back by limited broadband access

Mon, 30 Aug 2010 07:01:15 -0700

Chances are if you live or do business in Chireno, Texas, any online activity you conduct is over a slow dialup or slow satellite connection.

Case in point is Chireno's city-operated natural gas provider. It takes several days for the utility to file mandatory state reports because City Hall's satellite connection is too slow versus the minutes it takes other utilities.

Although 45 percent of Texas does not have broadband access, the majority of those areas are in sparsely populated areas whereas Chireno is surrounded by larger cities such as Houston and San Augustine. And while Chireno is a small city with only five businesses, residents and city government leaders believe that if broadband was more readily available, it would be able to attract more businesses.

The slow Internet connection speeds aren't not only keeping new businesses from coming to Chireno, but even that of its own people. City Administrator Steven Spencer abandoned his own Web-based business idea due to the slow Internet speeds. "If you want to surf the Web here," Spencer says in a Houston Chronicle article, "you type in a Web address and then go make a cup of coffee. If the page isn't loaded when you get back, you go do something else and check back five minutes later."

For more:
- Houston Chronicle has this story

RCN divvies up business segments and names new management team

Mon, 30 Aug 2010 05:29:42 -0700

RCN begins a new chapter this week as new parent ABRY Partners completes its $1.2 billion acquisition with a new management team and a realigned company structure.

Under the new company structure, RCN's residential and business services segments will become standalone businesses.

Jim Holanda, the former president of Patriot Media and current CEO of Choice Cable TV of Puerto Rico, will become the CEO of RCN's traditional residential and small business video, voice and data segment. Current chairman of Choice Cable TV of Puerto Rico and former Patriot Media CEO Steven J. Simmons will become the company's chairman.

Meanwhile, Mike Sicoli, the previous CEO, Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer of RCN Corporation, will run the RCN Metro business.

Dividing up the residential and business segments makes sense as it will enable RCN Metro to establish a greater brand identity with its increasingly-growing set of business and wholesale carrier customers. While it had been gaining prominence in the education, government, healthcare market segments, RCN Metro struggled a bit with setting itself apart from its traditional residential-focused parent.

"Separating RCN Metro will help us realize the full potential of our business through dedicated investments in our network and focused resources serving our carrier and enterprise customers," Scioli said in a release.

For more:
- see the release here

Related articles:
RCN officially under new management
Abry partners to acquire RCN for $1.2 billion

ATandT gets $800 million boost from Sterling Commerce deal

Mon, 30 Aug 2010 04:45:54 -0700

With AT&T's (NYSE: T) $1.4 billion sale of Sterling Commerce to IBM (NYSE: IBM) now complete, the telco will record a one-time pretax gain of $800 million in Q3 2010. AT&T said that the after-tax value of the sale would be revealed when it reports Q3 2010 results.

In May, IBM crafted a $1.4 billion deal to purchase the Sterling Commerce business from AT&T, which sells business process software to the financial services, manufacturing and retail verticals. Sterling's software allows businesses to transfer various electronic documents, including purchase orders, company payroll and healthcare claims--activities that are not exactly core to AT&T's business.

SBC Communications, prior to purchasing its old parent AT&T in 2005, acquired Sterling Commerce for $3.9 billion in 2000--a time when dot-com companies were the talk of the Internet town.

For more:
- Reuters has this story

Related articles:
AT&T sells off its Sterling Commerce unit to IBM
Polycom, IBM team on consumer video chat product
VoiceCon: IBM and ShoreTel team on Lotus Foundations collaboration

Broadband Bytes for 2010-08-28

Sat, 28 Aug 2010 21:00:00 -0700

Always wanted to be a LPB? A UK ISP will let you buy your way to the head of the line. http://bit.ly/bCMf0w # Behold, the $60 quadruple play… in France. http://bit.ly/bCmbHW # Dish serves up streaming. http://bit.ly/ce7Qq1 # Does your Sprint signal suck? Maybe you can get a free femtocell. http://bit.ly/bMrUCa # Cord-cutting goes from [...]

Qwest brings cloud-based application recovery to SMBs

Fri, 27 Aug 2010 07:04:53 -0700

With the launch of its Real-Time Application Recovery service, Qwest (NYSE: Q) wants to give SMBs the same access to its cloud computing capabilities that are currently offered to its large business customers.

As a cloud-based service, Qwest's Real-Time Application Recovery allows SMBs to maintain business operations when a system fails at a price point that it claims is much lower than traditional network backup solutions. Part of the savings come from the fact that the service is managed completely by Qwest in one of its CyberCenters, meaning that the SMB does not have to retain in-house expertise to implement the service.

Through a partnership with Recovery as a Service (RaaS) provider Geminare, Real-Time Application Recovery protects an SMB's every day applications such as e-mail and databases. Traditionally, these services were only available to large business customers that were designed to serve custom-built network and software systems.

"We've been providing a suite of disaster recovery-type services through our hosting centers and a number of our network transport products and stitching those things for customers, but this is the first thing that gets us into application recovery," said Eric Bozich, VP of Product Management for Qwest in an interview with FierceTelecom. "This service really addresses what is mission critical to every company these days, which is your messaging platform and your database environment."

Bozich added that because the application is fully automated, if a network or a service disruption does occur, users will have access to their e-mail, file and database server content from any location.

"It puts that small and medium-sized business in a position where worst case scenario happens or it's a snowstorm or hurricane and people can't get into the office where the server is their business keeps running and they don't experience any downtime," he said.

Cloud computing may be all the rage these days especially by large enterprises that want to focus more on their core business functions, but extending these services to the SMB segment Qwest is helping to expand a market segment that Tier 1 Research says will grow from "$500M in 2009 to $4B by 2013."

For more:
- see the release here

Related articles:
Qwest's Q2 revenue down due to increased landline loss
Qwest enhances its cloud-computing capabilities
Qwest adds cloud enhancements to its call center applications
Qwest's Heavy Duty Internet ties the broadband dots together
CenturyLink invites four Qwest executives to stay

Week In Research: VoIP revenue skyrockets; global service delivery gets more attention

Fri, 27 Aug 2010 06:56:40 -0700

SBC burning: VoIP is growing by leaps and bounds with IP-to-IP connectivity continuing to overtake IP-to-TDM connectivity, Infonetics Research reports. "The session border controller market is on fire," says Diane Myers, directing analyst for service provider VoIP and IMS. Worldwide revenue has risen 27 percent sequentially and 70 percent compared to the same quarter in 2009. That growth is carrying over into IMS equipment sales, which jumped 33.5 percent between the first and second quarters of 2010. News release.

Demand for new services rises: Global service delivery platforms will continue to get lots of attention in the near future, Analysys Mason predicts, with its 2009 mark of $3.4 billion in revenue doubling to $6.8 billion by 2014. Rising subscriber numbers and a corresponding growth in demand for new services are a major factor in revenue growth. News release.

No big surprise here: A report from Research and Markets finds that the 50 largest telecommunications service providers in the U.S. generate about 90 percent of revenue. The report, profiling wireline and wireless carriers as well as cable operators, points out that the country has over 11,000 companies generating a combined annual revenue of $520 billion. News release.

Landline voice hangs on: Bundled services are apparently the way to go for telecom services as revenue from local landline service declines, according to Plunkett Research's latest findings. Their Telecommunications Industry Almanac, 2011 edition, gives a comprehensive overview of major trends affecting the industry. News release.

Leading edge (routers, that is): North America's carrier router and switch market is driving growth in the sector as other regions struggle to pull out of the economic quagmire, Infonetics reports. Europe is still in a "holding pattern" where equipment spending is concerned while sales in EMEA remain flat. While Asia-Pacific showed a respectable 10 percent sequential increase in router revenue, North America's IP core and edge router sales jumped 15 percent sequentially and 39 percent year over year as operators put equipment back on the priority list to meet explosive traffic demands. News release.

ATandT lets U-verse users control account from the couch

Fri, 27 Aug 2010 06:21:24 -0700

AT&T (NYSE: T) thinks that their U-Verse customers shouldn't have to go online or call their local service representative to look at the status of their account, but rather right on the television screen via its U-verse Account Manager.

With U-Verse Account Manager, an on-screen application, users can upgrade their TV service package, compare package prices, view their account summary, view product overviews and ordering information on U-verse High Speed Internet and U-verse Voice.

Users that want to know more about a TV service package or want to check out a show on a channel they don't subscribe to can just upgrade their account on the screen instead of having to call up an AT&T customer service representative. Set to be rolled on a market-by-market basis, users can access the Account Manager feature on channel 9910 for free.

Given the competitive war that telcos like are fighting with cable and satellite to get more eyes onto its screen, simple features like the U-Verse Account Manager are easy ways to help retain customers and potentially upsell other services that might be of interest to the user.

"Our new Account Manager app is one more way we're mobilizing the customer experience across service channels and giving customers more control over their TV experience," said Jeff Weber, vice president of video services for AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets in a release. "We want to reach out to customers in the ways that they want to interact with us, and Account Manager offers U-verse TV customers a simple self-service option directly from their TV screen."

For more:
- see the release here

Related articles:
AT&T's Q2: IPTV, business services save the wireline day
AT&T boldly goes to the edge of the, well, U-verse: A conversation with U-verse VP Jeff Weber
AT&T U-Verse VoIP service hits 1 million mark

Orange Business beefs up UC play by acquiring Alsy

Fri, 27 Aug 2010 04:56:15 -0700

Orange Business Services is upping the ante of its integrated network and IT enterprise services ambitions by acquiring French-based communications solutions integrator Alsy.

Already distributing Microsoft's standard online services offer in 21 countries, Orange's acquisition of Alsy makes strategic sense.

As one of the dominant Microsoft integrators in France, Alsy reported $17.8 million in revenues in 2009 and a staff of 140 employees. Alsy primarily targets large French and France-based international businesses.

"This acquisition is part of our strategy to develop our service activities around Microsoft solutions both in France and internationally," said Paul Molinier, Senior Vice President Integrated Services at Orange Business Services. "It also confirms our position as the leading player in the market for unified communications and collaborative applications. The excellent quality of the services offered by Alsy brings genuine added value to our offer."

Another benefit of the Alsy acquisition is that it will add even more capabilities to Orange's cloud computing strategy. Initially offering its IT Plan (desktop virtualization) and Flexible Computing (hosted virtualized infrastructure), Orange plans to launch a "dozen of new cloud computing services in the coming 24 months," covering six areas including real-time applications, collaboration, security, infrastructure, cloud-ready networking and vertical solutions for specific industries.

For more:
- see the release here

Sonus restructures company once again

Fri, 27 Aug 2010 04:05:42 -0700

Sonus (Nasdaq: SONS) is once again tightening up its operations. This time, the VoIP equipment vendor is going to close offices in Ottawa, Canada and Darmstadt, Germany, while relocating its Freehold, N.J. facility to a smaller space in the area.

Out of this process, 12 employees, or about 1 percent of its global workforce will be laid off from the company. Through this process, Sonus said it will save between $2.0 to $2.3 million, while incurring about $3.5 million to $4.0 million in the second half of fiscal 2010 for lease terminations, severance and other related costs.

Set to be completed by the first quarter of fiscal 2011, this is the second restructuring exercise Sonus has taken in the past year. Last August, Sonus dismissed 93 people, or about 10 percent of its workforce.

"These initiatives follow the restructuring activities we undertook last year and are consistent with our ongoing efforts to further strengthen Sonus' operating efficiencies and more closely align the Company's cost structure with our market opportunities," said Richard Nottenburg, president and chief executive officer of Sonus, who announced previously this year that he would step down from the company, in a release.

For more:
- see the release here

iProvo, the Media, and Fake News

Mon, 23 Aug 2010 18:53:54 -0700

Both the Salt Lake Tribune and Daily Herald have run articles about closed-door meetings between Provo Mayor John Curtis and members of the municipal council. These meetings included only a few council members at a time so as to avoid the requirement to hold open meetings. An e-mail from the mayor indicated that these meetings [...]

Broadband Bytes for 2010-08-21

Sat, 21 Aug 2010 21:00:00 -0700

Some good thoughts on Net Neutrality from @SenatorSteveU. http://bit.ly/9erXb2 # Verizon is really, REALLY close to doing gigabit on FIOS. http://bit.ly/aqWw3n # Broadband stimulus winners are saying "no thanks" to the money. http://bit.ly/cUpELs (via @CJSettles) # Surprise! Marketed broadband speeds nowhere near the actual. http://bit.ly/bCXWm8 # Need a primer on the state of broadband? InformationWeek [...]

What does the broadband stimulus mean for UTOPIA?

Wed, 18 Aug 2010 13:48:14 -0700

Now that UTOPIA has $16.2M in federal funding, the question is what it’s going to do. The money itself is specifically to hook up “anchor institutions” such as schools, libraries, healthcare facilities, and government buildings. This money will be used to run fiber to over 400 buildings in Perry, Payson, Midvale, Murray, Centerville, Layton, Orem, [...]

BREAKING: UTOPIA Scores $16.2M in Stimulus Funding

Wed, 18 Aug 2010 09:34:19 -0700

The Obama Administration announced today a new round of broadband stimulus funding that includes $16.2M for UTOPIA. That money can go a really long way towards deploying more of the network in UTOPIA’s footprint and can, at the average install cost, cover around 5400 additional homes. UTOPIA plans to hold an event at the state [...]

Broadband Bytes Working Again

Sun, 15 Aug 2010 22:42:55 -0700

As you may have seen, the Broadband Bytes feature is working again. I finally got Twitter Tools to start posting the weekly digests. Unfortunately, it went back a bit further than just the last week and made a ridiculously long post. It should be back to normal next Saturday.

Broadband Bytes for 2010-08-14

Sat, 14 Aug 2010 21:00:00 -0700

Square says that the future of the console looks a lot like what PlayOn is doing. http://is.gd/57SWs # Skype wants to partner with carriers. http://is.gd/58vCl # Many CND letters sent to filesharers are using faulty data. And they still want “three strikes” policies. http://is.gd/58vW7 # Stick a fork in Gears, it’s done. http://is.gd/596fR # CleareWire [...]

Press Release: National provider PAETEC joins the UTOPIA network

Wed, 11 Aug 2010 19:17:21 -0700

WEST VALLEY CITY â August 10, 2010 â The Utah Telecommunication Open Infrastructure Agency (UTOPIA; http://www.utopianet.org) today announced that PAETEC (http://paetec.com) is that most recent service provider to join the fully-fiber, open access network. PAETEC offers business-class customers a comprehensive suite of data, voice, and IP services, as well as enterprise communications management software, network [...]

Itâs not just XMission: Qwest hurting other providers too

Tue, 03 Aug 2010 11:31:28 -0700

Salt Lake City Weekly just ran a story on Qwest’s attempts to limit competition and it looks like XMission isn’t alone. The CFO of Fibernet, Lee Livingston, says they have also experienced getting cut off from newer infrastructure and getting their customers poached. Tellingly, the Qwest PR flack tasked with responding refused to dispute the [...]

Fiber Cable Products - Fibre Patch Cables, Fibre Trunk Cables

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 04:45:49 -0700

All our fibers cables are made to meet EIA/TIA standards and in fact some network manufactures use our cables for performance testing. Our fiber cables come with a part & serial number at each end.

Gigamon GigaVUE-2404 Network Data Access Aggregation Tool

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 04:45:24 -0700

Data Access Aggregation Tool for 10G data center networks. Aggregates, replicates & filters traffic flows across multiple passive monitoring tools.

Dual Bi-Directional WAN Emulation and Network Simulation

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 04:44:57 -0700

Gigabit WAN emulation and network simulation. Network emulator accommodates the following IP interfaces: 10/100 Ethernet, 10/100/1000 Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet T1, E1, DS3, OC3, and OC12. More...

Storage Emulation for Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE), Fibre Channel and SAS

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 04:43:23 -0700

The industryâs most advanced storage emulation solutions for Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE), Fibre Channel & SAS. Highly configurable systems have unique ability to emulate actual storage devices.

Gigabit Network Access TAP System

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 04:42:52 -0700

Network TAPs, Fibre TAPs, Copper TAPs, Aggregation TAPs - The 2U High Density Chassis provides the high density of TAPs and the configurable flexibility you need in an enterprise Access Solution.

Gigamon GigaVUE-420 Network Access Aggregation Data Access Tool

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 04:42:32 -0700

A cost effective way to secure/monitor data centers. Network Engineers who have problems of multiple network segments to monitor, many tools to deploy, too few SPAN ports/TAPs can solve these issues.

NextGig Systems, Inc.

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 04:41:44 -0700

NextGigSystems.com provides industry leading network connectivity, monitoring and test solutions for IT professionals and storage development engineers.

Free Testing FCoE Designs Webinar Series

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 17:00:00 -0700

Course: 20 Oct 2009 - 3 Nov 2009, Web Based All Are Welcome, United States.

4 Channels BNC To Fiber Video Converter

Tue, 15 Sep 2009 01:13:13 -0700

4 Channels BNC To Fiber Video Converter

8 Channels BNC To Fiber Media Converter

Tue, 15 Sep 2009 01:12:30 -0700

8 Channels BNC To Fiber Media Converter

Fiber, FTTH, and FTTx News 1

Thursday Evening Links -

CEOs Head To DC To Threaten Neutrality Job Cuts - \'Don\'t impose neutrality rules or we\'ll fire people we already fired!\'

Frontier Clarifies Fiber Comments - By \'all across the country\' we meant \'a few rare occasions\'

Verizon Tops In Call Quality (Again) - ATandamp;T Last In Call Quality Country Wide (Again)

\'A Special Message From ATandamp;T\' - ATandamp;T continues to insist they\'re working on their 3G network

Verizon invests in home automation company 4Home

New Zealand\'s Crown Fiber whittles down fiber provider candidates for broadband plan

Verizon Now Crippling Androids Like ATandamp;T - May force Bing as the default for all Android phones

Antennagate Hurt iPhone Sales... - But not as much as the ATandamp;T exclusive partnership

Thursday Morning Lnks -

T-Mobile Confirms G2 - \'Limited quantity\' pre-orders begin later this month

One Communications considers its next move

Verizon Keen On Offering Home Automation Services - Endless new possibilities for strange new fees...

Minnesotans Surprised To Learn They Have Fast Broadband - Questions Ookla stats, which show different picture from Connected Nation

Ciena tightens up Q3 2010 losses, but remains cautious about Q4

Brazil\'s Anatel adds fuel to its universal telecom service plan

Comcast Offers Support By SMS - Get account balance or put in a support request by text

Iowa: Broadband is plentiful, but not everyone wants it

Fujitsu\'s Santitoro maintains spot on Metro Ethernet Forum board

Swisscom acquires remaining stake in FastWeb for $326 million

Ericsson acquires inCode to bolster its North American professional service capabilities

XO Communications expands Los Angeles network reach

Connecting candidates, voters remotely

Telefonica Chile to build nationwide FTTH network

Telekom Austria\'s \'GigaNet\' network reaches 1.5 million homes, businesses

Analysys Mason: Copper, not FTTH, is the best near-term broadband strategy

Lightower wraps up Veroxity purchase

SEC settles suit with Qwest\'s former CEO Joseph Nacchio

SingTel considers bid for Cable and Wireless Worldwide

France Telecom dismisses Deutsche Telekom merger rumors

Broadband Bytes for 2010-09-04

Telefonica gives subscribers free wireline, wireless broadband speed upgrades

China Telecom Americas deepens U.S. Ethernet presence through CENX

BT applies Onevoice product to large business market segment

XO conducts coherent 100 Gbps optical network trial

ATandT U-verse brings FTTP services to Illinois apartment community

Canada\'s incumbent telcos must pay rebates to urban users

Free employs Cisco for its IPv6 rollout

Australian alliance proposes new version of National Broadband Plan

Telmex to up Mexico\'s broadband speeds to stay competitive with cable

Frontier commits $40 million to improve Illinois\' broadband reach

Megapath, Covad, Speakeasy complete 3-part merger

VSG: Orange Business Services tops global Ethernet service charts

Pac-West Telecomm expands voice origination service footprint

ATandT wraps up sale of Japan outsourcing operations to IIJI

Sonus gets invited to 360networks\' IP voice network migration party

SingTel lays out FTTH service pricing

Canada\'s CRTC mandates carriers open their last mile fiber to competitors

Sprint scales up Partner Interexchange Network with its termination-only service

Telecom consumers dislike foreign customer care

Ridgemont Equity Partners buys big piece of United Private Networks

tw telecom wins multi-year voice, data contract from Andrews Air Force Base

Frontier pledges improving service, expanding broadband in Ohio

Nortel puts multiservice switch unit on the auction block

New Zealand\'s commerce commission wants to deregulate wholesale market

Texas residents, businesses held back by limited broadband access

RCN divvies up business segments and names new management team

ATandT gets $800 million boost from Sterling Commerce deal

Broadband Bytes for 2010-08-28

Qwest brings cloud-based application recovery to SMBs

Week In Research: VoIP revenue skyrockets; global service delivery gets more attention

ATandT lets U-verse users control account from the couch

Orange Business beefs up UC play by acquiring Alsy

Sonus restructures company once again

iProvo, the Media, and Fake News

Broadband Bytes for 2010-08-21

What does the broadband stimulus mean for UTOPIA?

BREAKING: UTOPIA Scores $16.2M in Stimulus Funding

Broadband Bytes Working Again

Broadband Bytes for 2010-08-14

Press Release: National provider PAETEC joins the UTOPIA network

Itâs not just XMission: Qwest hurting other providers too

Fiber Cable Products - Fibre Patch Cables, Fibre Trunk Cables

Gigamon GigaVUE-2404 Network Data Access Aggregation Tool

Dual Bi-Directional WAN Emulation and Network Simulation

Storage Emulation for Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE), Fibre Channel and SAS

Gigabit Network Access TAP System

Gigamon GigaVUE-420 Network Access Aggregation Data Access Tool

NextGig Systems, Inc.

Itâs not just XMission: Qwest hurting other providers too