FCC Not to Pursue Enforcement Against VoIP Providers over 911

The FCC announced that it will not pursue enforcement action against interconnected VoIP providers regarding the deadlines to obtain customer acknowledgements of the limitations of their 911 service.


The FCC said it was pleased by the industry efforts to contact VoIP subscibers in this matter. Specifically, by repeatedly prompting subscribers through a variety of means, the majority of VoIP providers submitting September reports to the FCC have obtained acknowledgments from nearly all, if not all, of their subscribers. For example, the September reports indicate that at least 21 providers have received acknowledgments from 100% of their subscribers and at least 32 others have obtained acknowledgements from 90% or more of their subscribers.

http://www.fcc.gov

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Virtela Provides VPN for National Center for Missing & Exploited Children

Virtela is providing a managed VPN services to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children to speed communications between its employees and law-enforcement agencies nationwide. NCMEC is using Virtela's network-based SSL VPN and broadband VPN solution to connect approximately 250 employees across six branch offices and enable thousands of federal and local law enforcement around the world to quickly and easily access NCMEC's national clearinghouse of child information anywhere, anytime via a standard web browser.


Virtela's SSL VPN solution is replacing a self-managed IPsec VPN client environment at NCMEC that became increasingly difficult to deploy and manage as their global reach expanded.
http://www.virtela.net

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Telcordia Introduces its "Maestro" IMS Portfolio

Telcordia introduced its "Maestro" IMS portfolio of wireless, wireline and converged products, services and applications designed to enable carriers to offer "any service, over any network, via any device."


Telcordia describes its Maestro IMS portfolio as a major initiative to help operators fully exploit the emerging capabilities of the IMS architecture and the wide interest and deployment of service delivery environments.


Using its "Elementive" open product strategy, Telcordia said it provides an IMS-compliant and ready-to-deploy portfolio that incorporates its access independence, strong knowledge of OSS systems integration, and exceptional reliability and flexibility in service platforms.


The Maestro portfolio includes new and upgrades of existing products, complemented by Telcordia's professional services capabilities to enable operators to develop and launch converged services at their own pace.


Telcordia Maestro portfolio products, including the Telcordia Converged Application Server and Telcordia Converged Real-Time Charging, are already deployed globally at Oi, Telus, Swisscom, Tata Teleservices and Virgin Mobile USA, among others.
http://www.telcordia.com

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Qualcomm Shows its FLO Technology

QUALCOMM announced the first live, over-the-air demonstration of "FLO" (Forward Link Only) Technology delivered to a wireless handset. The demonstration will feature over-the-air delivery and viewing of multiple channels of wireless multimedia content, both streaming video and multicast packet data on a form factor accurate (FFA) handset. The demonstration will take place at this week's CTIA I.T. & Entertainment 2005.


FLO Technology is an air-interface technology designed to increase capacity and coverage and reduce cost for multimedia content delivery to mobile handsets. QUALCOMM said FLO technology offers several advantages over other OFDM-based mobile multicast technologies, including higher-quality video and audio, faster channel switching time, superior mobile reception, optimized power consumption and greater capacity than other multicast technologies. Specific performance features of FLO Technology include:

• Low power consumption, 4 hours of viewing time on a standard 850 mAh battery, without unacceptable degradation to talk or standby time



• An average channel switching time of 1.5 seconds without buffering or progress bars

FLO Technology is independent of the cellular network but complements CDMA2000 1X, 1xEV-DO and WCDMA cellular network data and voice services.
http://www.qualcom.com
http://www.mediaflo.com

• In July 2005, QUALCOMM and other key members of the wireless industry announced the establishment of The FLO Forum, a new non-profit industry association that promotes the development of products and services related to the delivery of advanced multimedia services to wireless devices around the world using "FLO" (Forward Link Only) technology.



• In March 2005, QUALCOMM announced plans to make the air interface specification for its FLO (Forward Link Only) technology available to an industry-led group for the purpose of bringing a cooperative specification to standards bodies for ratification. The FLO technology was designed specifically for a mobile multimedia environment and exhibits performance characteristics suited ideally for use on cellular handsets.

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GSM Association Selects Motorola for Emerging Markets

The GSM Association (GSMA) selected Motorola to serve for a second phase as the sole supplier of handsets for the Emerging Market Handset (EMH) program. Motorola will deliver low-cost mobile handsets based on its C11x mass market handset platform that are specifically designed to meet the unique needs of mass market consumers, including unparalleled battery life for increased talk and standby times, large displays and durable design.


The GSMA estimates that despite 80% of the world's population having wireless access, only 25% are able to use it, with cost identified as the single biggest barrier to mobile communications usage in emerging markets. The partnership with Motorola will aim to extend the reach of mobile telephony and connect the unconnected in countries such as India, South Africa, Russia, Egypt, Philippines and Indonesia.
http://www.motorola.com/

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XM Satellite Radio Tops Five Million Subscribers

XM Satellite Radio has passed the five million subscriber milestone. the company expects to have six million subscribers by the end of this year.
http://www.xmradio.com/

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AT&T Expands Internet Data Centers and Services

AT&T is opening two additional Internet Data Centers (IDCs) in San Jose, California and Shanghai, China, and augmenting its existing presence in the New York City center by 27% . With this added capacity, AT&T will be able to provide managed hosting services from 28 IDCs worldwide -- 14 within the U.S.; 14 outside of the U.S.


The new and expanded IDC's in the U.S. will offer the full breadth of AT&T's application performance management capabilities, for example, CRM or ERP management. The Shanghai IDC will offer the full suite of application performance management capabilities in early 2006.


In addition to the IDC expansion, AT&T introduced three enhancements to its Managed Hosting portfolio:

• AT&T Server and Operating System Support (SOSS) Service, which provides a collaborative solution for customers who want to retain control over their applications. The service tracks changes made to the customer's environment (including restoring previous configurations), provides global support for hardware "break/fix;" keeps security patches up to date; and provides support for troubleshooting operating systems-related applications problems.



• AT&T's new server virtualization capability, which lets customers run multiple applications and multiple operating systems on a single server.



• AT&T's Managed Utility Computing Pay-Per-Use offer, which lets customers pay for hosting resources as they need them. This service, which uses Sun Microsystems' hardware, is especially attractive to customers whose businesses experience seasonal demands.
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http://www.att.com

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JDSU Claims Leading Share in ROADMs

JDSU has shipped more than 1,200 reconfigurable optical add/drop multiplexers (ROADMs) based on planar lightwave circuit (PLC) technology, giving it the leading market share. The company attributed its success to the unique design of its PLC chip that enables a high level of integration of the various ROADM functions, including filtering, power measurement, power balancing, switching and control system. JDSU's PLC ROADM provides high channel count and full day-one access for all channels spaced at 100GHz in either C or L band.
http://www.jdsu.com

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Kodak Ships First Wi-Fi Consumer Digital Camera

Eastman Kodak Company announced commercial shipments of the world's first Wi-Fi consumer camera.



Kodak said its 4-megapixel EASYSHARE-ONE camera combines the power of sharing, taking, organizing, and printing pictures into a single product.


Kodak's EASYSHARE-ONE camera has the ability to send e-mail from the camera, to connect to the KODAK EASYSHARE Gallery at home and on-the-go from thousands of hotspots worldwide, to store up to 1,500 favorite pictures, and to optimize viewing and operation via touch screen and graphical menus.


Kodak is working with leading wireless hotspot companies to make sharing pictures across town, across the country, or across the globe as easy and convenient as possible.


EASYSHARE-ONE camera purchasers receive a complimentary, camera-specific trial service in conjunction with major hotspot providers.


Current preferred service providers include T-Mobile USA, with more than 6,000 T-Mobile HotSpot locations across the United States; T-Mobile International, with over 5,000 hotspot locations in Germany (in conjunction with T-Com) and more than 800 hotspot locations in the United Kingdom; and Telstra, with over 850 Telstra Wireless Hotspot locations in Australia.
http://www.kodak.com

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Qwest Denies Rumors of New MCI Bid

Qwest Communications issued a statement denying published reports that it might reconsider bidding for MCI Corp.
http://www.qwest.com

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Lucent Launches Hosted Custom Applications Center

Lucent Technologies is launching a Hosted Custom Applications Center designed to help wireless and wireline service providers rapidly deliver innovative and personalized new services.


Lucent's hosting capabilities will be managed from one of Lucent's four carrier-grade Global Network Operations Centers (GNOCs) in Denver, Colorado, Hilversum, The Netherlands, Sydney, Australia, and Hamilton, New Zealand.


The Lucent Hosted Custom Applications Center leverages Lucent's applications product portfolio, including the Lucent Intelligent Services Gateway (ISG) and the Lucent iLocator location-based services platform. The Lucent ISG will serve as the foundation of the hosted custom application center's Service Delivery Platform and provide a common environment for creation and execution on new blended services.


Lucent's Hosted Custom Applications Center will also incorporate Bell Labs technology such as identity binding, advanced anti-spam technologies, and authentication capabilities associated with the Mail Delivery Gateway and Lucent's Vortex service personalization. Part of the Lucent Bell Labs Service Enhancement Layer in Lucent's IMS-based solutions, Lucent Vortex enables personalization and rapid service customization of end user services via a new rules engine -- distributed throughout the network -- that enables network operators to quickly modify network behaviors to target particular customer segments or offer quality of service guarantees.


Phase 1 of the Lucent Hosted Custom Applications Center rollout includes:

• Video Greetings: Enables the subscriber to create personalized video greeting cards for family members and friends by animating a character or picture with an audio message generated using text-to-speech technology or a recorded audio track. The greeting can then be sent to the recipient's handset via Multimedia Messaging Services, Short Message Services, Instant Messaging web or e-mail.



• Media Delivery Solution: Enables subscribers to purchase and download entertainment greetings to personalize their voice mailboxes. It also lets subscribers purchase and send celebrity greetings and other greeting cards to the voice-mail boxes of friends and family.



• Location-Based Services (LBS) applications: Based on iLocator, which was developed by Bell Labs and is a component of Lucent's blended lifestyle applications for IMS-based networks. LBS applications enabled by Lucent's iLocator platform include Friend Finder, Driving Directions and Points of Interest, which can be deployed as revenue-generating subscriber or per-use services that capitalize on user presence, location and availability.



• Inter-Modal Messaging: Enables service providers to increase SMS and MMS traffic and revenue by allowing subscribers to securely send SMS or MMS messages from computer email accounts with full authentication and billability.

http://www.lucent.com

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Lucent to Integrate Pulse's Avatars and Animation into IMS-based Video Messaging

Lucent Technologies will integrate animation technology from Pulse Entertainment into its portfolio of Hosted Custom Applications for wireline and wireless carriers. Pulse's software transforms standard digital images (photos and illustrations) into interactive, animated avatar characters. Subscribers select a character then create customized content that blends messages and greetings into video services. These characters/avatars can deliver messages, perform greetings, and stand in for a subscriber during conversations or online meetings.


Lucent said service providers could offer their subscribers the ability to enhance and personalize their greetings by adding video as an option to their voice and text messages. These enhanced video greetings applications could be offered either as a standalone service, or as part of an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS)-based solution for blended lifestyle services.


Lucent's Video Greetings application leverages current messaging and communications methods including Short Message Services (SMS), Multimedia Messaging Services (MMS), Instant Messaging (IM), web messaging and email and accommodates the uplink speeds of current 2.5G and 3G mobile networks.
http://www.lucent.com/http://www.pulse3d.com/

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Motorola Invests in July Systems for its Mobile Storefront

Motorola Ventures has made an equity investment in July Systems, a developer of smart mobile retailing technology that enables the rapid creation of mobile storefronts to give consumers the convenience of "virtual mall" browsing and shopping on their handheld devices.


July's Integrated Mobile Marketplace will be integrated with Motorola's Global Applications Management Architecture (GAMA) to help to handle all dimensions of mobile services retailing, from content mobile network operators handle all the aspects of value chain management, service creation and provisioning to retailing, delivery and operations.


The new solution called Motorola GAMA Integrated Mobile Marketplace allows all the players in the mobile content value chain-mobile operator, retailer, content provider, and consumer-to collaboratively and dynamically participate in establishing, managing and leveraging mobile content services. Through the use of GUI-based tools for the operator, retailer, and content provider, advanced retailing models such as subscriptions, rentals, pay- per-use and try-before-you-buy, along with personalized real-time promotions for consumers can be managed effectively on mobile devices. The solution supports all mobile content types including games, tones, pictures, streaming, and music and video clips.
http://www.julysystems.com/http://www.motorola.com/

• July Systems is based in Santa Clara, California, with R&D in Bangalore, India, and European offices in Germany and UK.

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NAVTEQ Joint Venture Provides Maps for Nokia

NAVTEQ's Chinese joint venture, NAV2, is providing Nokia with map data for its newly launched Nokia Wireless GPS Module. The solution integrates the hardware, software and digital map data needed for a navigation experience using all smartphones based on the Nokia Series 60 platform, and a wide range of compatible PDAs or PCs. The Nokia LD-1W will be available in China in the fourth quarter of 2005.

The Nokia LD-1W provides users with an easy-to-use mobile navigation solution. Its standard sales package includes the GPS module and a 256MB multimedia card (MMC) that contains a mobile navigation application from ROUTE 66 and the map of Greater China provided by NAV2. Users can use the navigation application by inserting the MMC card into a compatible smartphone and launching the application. The device then establishes a Bluetooth connection between the phone and the Nokia LD-1W.
http://www.navteq.com
http://www.nokia.com

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VeriSign Provides Roaming, SMS Connectivity to SingTel

VeriSign announced a contract to provide roaming and short message capabilities between SingTel and operators in the Americas. Additionally, VeriSign will be able to leverage SingTel's Signaling System 7 (SS7) network in the Asia-Pacific region, gaining access to SingTel's extensive connectivity and voice transport for its joint venture companies and associates around the world. This enables VeriSign to extend its telecom signaling network to the Asia Pacific region. VeriSign already owns and operates the largest independent SS7 network in the Americas, with access to carriers throughout North, Central and South America.


SingTel will use VeriSign ANSI-41 and GSM-MAP transport services, which enable feature-rich and secure seamless roaming regardless of a customer's location. These services facilitate wireless call validation, call completion in out-of-area markets and access to advanced databases such as Wireless Calling Name, E-911 and Wireless Number Portability.


SingTel will be able to terminate Short Messaging Service (SMS) text messages to GSM and CDMA operators in the Americas using VeriSign's network capabilities. The technology operates as a service bureau to connect wireless carriers' messaging systems and to route messages between carriers using standard messaging protocols such as MAP to Short Message Peer-to-Peer Protocol (SMPP) conversion.
http://www.verisign.com
http://www.singtel.com/

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Tatara Systems to Integrate Boingo as part of FMC Solution

Tatara Systems will integrate the Boingo Roaming System Wi-Fi network into its converged mobile services solutions for carriers worldwide. The integration will provide Tatara's service provider customers the ability to offer their customers a branded Wi-Fi service that includes access to the Boingo Roaming System network of more than 22,000 Wi-Fi hot spots globally, including 188 airports and 4,300 hotels.


To date, Boingo has announced Platform Services partnerships with BT Infonet, EarthLink, Fiberlink, Nextel Communications, MCI, Telecom Italia and Skype. Tatara's announced service provider partners include Vodafone, British Telecom, Telus Mobility, VeriSign and JiWire.
http://www.tatarasystems.com
http://www.boingo.com/

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Verizon Gains Franchise for FiOS TV in Fairfax County, VA

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors in Virginia voted to authorize Verizon to offer its fiber-optic powered FiOS TV Service in the county.


With its 351,000 households, Fairfax County is the largest jurisdiction to date to grant Verizon a cable franchise. The 15-year agreement authorizes Verizon to offer FiOS TV throughout the county, except for independent municipalities like the towns of Clifton, Herndon and Vienna, and the cities of Fairfax and Falls Church. http://www.verizon.com/

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Microsoft and Intel Back HD DVD

Microsoft and Intel threw their support to the HD DVD format developed by the DVD Forum, joining such companies as NEC, SANYO Electric Co. Ltd. and Toshiba as well as content providers such as Universal Studios and Paramount Pictures.


Microsoft and Intel cited the following reasons for their decisions:

• Managed Copy: This feature within HD DVD that gives consumers the freedom to make copies of their discs to a hard drive or home server, including Media Center PCs using Intel Viiv technology, and enjoy them in every room of the house over their home networks. HD DVD discs also will allow copies of the movie to be played on portable devices.



• "Future-proof" compatibility. Using proven HD DVD "hybrid disc" technology, a single disc can store both high-definition and standard-definition versions of a film, allowing consumers to enjoy
  the standard-definition movies stored on these discs on today's DVD
  players, while HD movies can be replayed later on the HD DVD platform.



• Low-cost, high-volume manufacturing. HD DVD discs use essentially the same manufacturing equipment as existing DVDs, meaning that production of HD DVD can ramp up easily and with lower costs.



• High capacity. HD DVD-ROM discs will offer dual-layer 30GB discs at launch, compared with BD-ROM discs, which will be limited to 25GB.



• Interactivity. HD DVD discs will offer interactivity using iHD technology, allowing for enhanced content, navigation and value-added functionality for high-definition films. For example, HD DVDs can offer advanced picture-in-picture capability so that other video, such as a director's commentary, could play on top of the movie.



• Superior format for notebook PCs. The compatibility of HD DVD with
  standard DVD facilitates and simplifies development of slim disc drives
  for integration in notebook PCs, one of the fastest-growing segments of
  the PC market.

http://www.intel.com/http://www.microsoft.com/

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