FCC Schedules Meeting on Video Competition for Feb.10 in Texas

The FCC will hold an Open Meeting on Friday, February 10, 2006 in Keller, Texas to discuss the status of competition in the video delivery. The meeting begins at 11:00am CST and will include presentations on video competition from a panel of industry, governmental and public parties.http://www.fcc.govThe town of Keller, Texas is the first market where Verizon launched its FiOS TV service. In its most recent quarterly report, Verizon noted that it reached 21% market penetration for the service in the first four mont...

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Western Union Exits Telegraph Business after 155 Years

Western Union ceased offering its signature telegram service as of January 27, 2006. Western Union now focuses exclusively on money transfer services.http://www.westernunion.com/info/osTelegram....

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Alcatel Posts Strong Q4 Sales and Profit

Alcatel saw Q4 sales rise by 7.6% to EUR 4.094 billion compared with EUR 3.806 billion (up 5.9% at constant EUR/Dollar exchange rate) in the same period last year. The gross margin was 34.8%. Operating profit amounted to EUR 541 million, a 13.2% operating margin.Serge Tchuruk, Alcatel Chairman and CEO, said: "Alcatel has turned in a record fourth quarter, with revenues and profitability at significant levels and a strengthened net cash position of EUR 1.5 billion resulting from a strong free cash flow generation of EUR 0.9 billion. By mid year...

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Comcast Targets 1 Million New VoIP Subscribers in 2006

Comcast is expecting to significantly accelerate its VoIP rollout, hoping to add 1 million new customers by the end of the year. Comcast added 202,000 Comcast Digital Voice (CDV) customers in 2005, reflecting the rollout of the service to 25 new markets including Boston, Chicago, Seattle and Atlanta. At year-end 2005, CDV was being marketed to 16 million homes. Meanwhile, the decline continues in the number of circuit-switched telephone customers it serves, as Comcast transitions to VoIP. As a result, Comcast Cable reported 98,000 net new phone...

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France Telecom and ST Enter R&D Partnership

France Telecom and STMicroelectronics announced an partnership to utilize their respective and complementary business strengths and technical R&D competencies to jointly analyze and define end-to-end services and platform requirements, to enable faster service deployments and greater end-user satisfaction.The first joint R&D project addresses the analysis of end-to-end advanced security for mobile devices and services. The goal of the project is to define architectural solutions for the next generation of mobile platforms able to support...

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ECI Telecom Revenues Rise to $169 Million

ECI Telecom reported Q4 2005 revenues of $169 million, a 21% increase from the $140 million recorded in the fourth quarter of 2004 and compared to $162 million recorded in the third quarter of 2005.For the entire year 2005, revenues rose 27% to reach $630 million.Net income for the fourth quarter of 2005 reached $7.6 million, or $0.06 per share on a fully diluted basis, compared with fourth quarter 2004 net income of $8.9 million, or $0.08 per share, prior to the acquisition of Laurel Networks, which was completed in June 2005. In the third quarter...

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Fujitsu Enters North American GPON Market

Fujitsu Network Communications is expanding its North American access by introducing its widely deployed Gigabit Ethernet Passive Optical Networking (GEPON) systems from the Asian market. These systems will be complemented by its Multi-Service Access Node (MSAN) solution and IP Digital Subscriber Line Access Multiplexers (DSLAMs) from its U.K. deployment programs.Fujitsu said its GPON architecture is designed to significantly lower the cost of deploying and operating passive optical networks, while providing seamless integration with both existing...

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iBasis Carries 2.3 billion minutes in Q4, up 15% Sequentially

iBasis carried 2.3 billion minutes of traffic in Q4 2005, a 15% increase over Q3 2005. Revenue for the fourth quarter of 2005 was $107.6 million, compared to $75.1 million for the fourth quarter of 2004. Net income for the fourth quarter of 2005 was $0.6 million, or $0.01 per share, as the company returned to profitablility.http://www.ibasis....

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First Avenue Prices 100 Mbps Wireless Service at $2,000/Month

First Avenue Networks, a fixed wireless services provider, introduced a flat-rate plan structured to provide Carrier Ethernet services up to 100 Mbps as well as NxDS-1, DS-3 or OC-3 connections to government agencies and suppliers for $2,000 per month.First Avenue Networks said it will deliver government-grade connectivity over licensed spectrum with high availability (99.995%).The fixed wireless transport service utilizes the company's nationwide, multi-channel 24 GHz and 39 GHz licensed spectrum holdings. The company serves major metro mark...

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AOL Reaches ISP Marketing Deal with Charter

AOL announced a partnership with Charter Communications to offer consumers the AOL service using Charter's cable modem service at the competitive price of $25.90 per month.http://www.aol.comhttp://www.charter....

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3Com Acquires Majority Ownership of Huawei-3Com Joint Venture

3Com has purchased from Huawei an additional two percent interest in Huawei-3Com, Ltd. (H-3C), a China-based joint venture formed by 3Com and Huawei in November 2003. The sale was completed on January 27, 2006 following final approval from the government of the People's Republic of China, resulting in 3Com owning 51 percent of the joint venture and Huawei owning the remaining 49 percent."When the joint venture was formed in 2003, we had three key objectives: First, to establish a substantial presence in China, the world's fastest growing market;...

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CapRock Completes $200 Million for Global Satellite Communications

CapRock Communications, a global satellite communications provider to extreme and remote locations, completed a $200 million recapitalization through a majority share sale to Boston private equity firm ABRY Partners. "CapRock has enjoyed a strong 25 year history, but the last four years have seen dramatic double digit compound annual growth fueled by globalization and vertical market expansion," CapRock CEO Peter Shaper, said.http://www.caprock....

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Sprint's Local Spinoff to be Named "EMBARQ"

Sprint Nextel's local communications company, which is expected to be spin-out from the parent company in Q2 2006, will be called "EMBARQ". EMBARQ expects to trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "EQ". A key partner in the development of the brand strategy, name and logo was SALT Branding, based in San Francisco. EMBARQ is expected to have approximately $6 billion in annual revenues, rank among the Fortune 500 and serve as...

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Widevine Offers Application Level Encryption for Video Content Protection

Widevine Technologies introduced an Application Level Encryption method for protecting video content, eliminating the need to integrate with downstream video infrastructure equipment. The company said its patent-pending encryption system significantly reduces the capital and operational costs normally required to integrate content protection with VOD and nPVR/nDVR systems and expands video operators' flexibility to securely deploy a variety of video consumer devices, business models and service offerings.Unlike traditional DRM/CAS solutions, Widevine...

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Centillium Posts Q4 Revenue of $20.3 Million

Centillium Communications reported Q4 revenues of $20.3 million, compared with net revenues of $20.0 million in the third quarter of 2005. The gross margin in the fourth quarter of 2005 was 59.7 percent, compared with 56.5 percent in the prior quarter. The net loss in the fourth quarter of 2005 was $394,000, or $0.01 per share, compared with a net loss of $822,000, or $0.02 per share, in the third quarter of 2005. For the year ended Dec. 31, 2005, net revenues were $76.1 million, compared with $71.2 million in 2004. The company noted that 2005...

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The Cloud Raises Funding for Wi-Fi Expansion

The Cloud, the largest hot spot operator in Europe, raised closed its third round of funding, bringing total investment in the firm to EUR 20 million. The funds will be used to expand The Cloud's UK network through initiatives such as its recently announced plan to provide wide area outdoor coverage in nine cities in the UK, and its deployments in rail stations, hotels, airports, universities and a wide variety of other public spaces. The Cloud will also use the funds to build on its existing presence in Germany and Sweden, both markets where the...

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