AT&T Introduces IP-based Toll-Free Service

AT&T introduced IP Toll-Free service allowing business customers to efficiently manage and intelligently route calls using IP trunks.Initially available to U.S. customers, the new service includes announcement options, routing management and reporting features that can bolster the capabilities of toll-free-number services used in contact centers, teleconferencing, voice messaging and other critical toll-free applications.The AT&T IP Toll-Free...

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AT&T Launches "Free Access to HD Programming for a Year"

AT&T is offering HD programming at no cost for 12 months to qualifying new video customers within its traditional 22-state service area. New subscribers to AT&T U-verse TV service, where it is available, or to DIRECTV Service, and AT&T | DISH Network service (which is offered through Echostar) who mail in the required redemption forms, are eligible.AT&T is offering more than 25 channels of HD programming through its AT&T U- verse TV service (where available) and up to 31 HD channels through AT&T satellite video broadcast...

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QUALCOMM Files GSM Patent Suits Against Nokia in Texas

QUALCOMM filed suit against Nokia in the Eastern District of Texas for infringement of two patents and in the Western District of Wisconsin for infringement of three patents. These cases are directed exclusively to Nokia GSM/GPRS/EDGE cellular phones. QUALCOMM said its litigation is part of a worldwide effort to prevent Nokia from using its patented innovations without paying royalties. QUALCOMM has previously filed two other patent infringement lawsuits against Nokia's GSM/GPRS/EDGE cellular phones in the United States. There are similar cases...

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Sun Licenses Multithreaded 10 GigE Tech to Marvell

Marvell will build and sell high- performance networking products based on Sun Microsytems' Multithreaded 10 Gig E networking technology, which is a network interface designed to optimize throughput between multithreaded processors and the network. Sun said its technology can bridge the gap between the high throughput of increasingly powerful multicore, multithreaded processors and 10 Gigabit-per-second networks via a multithreaded, high-performance network interface. Under the licensing agreement, Marvell will also build specific products for...

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Baynote Secures $10.75 Million for Content Guidance Software

Baynote, a start-up based in Cupertino, California, secured $10.75 million in Series B funding for its content guidance software for the business web.Offered as a suite of Web 2.0 services, Baynote's Content Guidance software uses the "wisdom of community," or the implicit, emergent behaviors of peers, experts and the greater community to guide website visitors to the products, content, and social search results that increase website conversions. The company said interest from online retailers in real-time product and content recommendations based...

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Comcast to Acquire Patriot $483 Million -- $6K per Subscriber

Comcast agreed to acquire the cable systems owned and operated by Patriot Media & Communications, a privately-held company owned by cable veteran Steven J. Simmons, Spectrum Equity Investors and Spire Capital, that serves approximately 81,000 video subscribers. Comcast will pay approximately $483 million in cash -- the equivalent of $5,963 per subscriber.The deal covers systems located in central New Jersey including Princeton and other operations in Somerset, Hunterdon, Morris and Mercer counties, which are contiguous to Comcast systems in...

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Local Governments Ask Courts to Reverse FCC Ruling on Video Franchising

Several organizations representing local governments, including the National League of Cities (NLC) and the United States Conference of Mayors (USCM), file papers in federal court seeking to reverse the recent franchising order adopted by the FCC.The groups argue that the FCC's Video Franchising order would severely restrict the ability of local governments to protect their citizens, rights-of-way, community channels and public safety networks. In addition, the groups believe that the FCC order would lead to a tremendous reduction in the revenues...

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Tellabs Adds GigE Card to its Tellabs 1000 Multiservice Access Series

Tellabs has added a new Gigabit Ethernet card to its Tellabs 1000 multiservice access platform, enabling service providers to migrate their DSL and PON-based networks to IP by replacing older ATM switches with Ethernet infrastructure. BEK Communications, a telecommunications cooperative serving 6,000 customers in south central North Dakota, is among the first service providers to trial the Gigabit Ethernet card. A long-time user of the Tellabs 1000 series, BEK will use the card to deploy IPTV in mid-2007.http://www.tellabs....

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Alcatel-Lucent to acquire Tropic Networks for Wavelength Tracker ROADM

Alcatel-Lucent will acquire Canadian-based Tropic Networks, a developer of metro optical transport systems, for an undisclosed sum. This transaction builds upon the collaboration the two companies established in July 2004 with the Alcatel-Lucent investment and global supply agreement.Tropic Networks features a "Wavelength Tracker" technology that tags each wavelength in the DWDM layer with a unique signature that tracks, monitors and reports faults...

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