Bahrain's Batelco Seeks Stake in India's S-Tel

Bahrain-based Batelco will acquire a 49% equity stake in S-Tel, a GSM operator based in Chennai, India, for $225 million. S-Tel has licenses to operate in six circles in Bihar, Orissa, Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, North East and Assam. http://www.batelcom....

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Mformation: Mobile Data Services Are Too Complex

Complexity is preventing uptake and usage of mobile applications and services, according to a survey of US and UK consumers commissioned by Mformation a supplier of mobile device management (MDM) solutions. The research was undertaken by independent research house Coleman Parkes, which asked 4,000 people in the UK and US about problems related to mobile usage. Some key findings of the survey:95% of consumers surveyed indicated that they would be...

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Nuvont Continues on UTOPIA Fiber-Optic Network

Nuvont Communications will continue to offer broadband Internet and VoIP services as an independent provider on The Utah Telecommunication Open Infrastructure Agency (UTOPIA) network. In 2008, Nuvont had considered a potential merger with Broadweave Networks, who acquired the iProvo municipal fiber-optic network in Provo, Utah."Nuvont's strategic decision to remain as an independent service provider on UTOPIA and other open networks provides further...

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ADC Announces New Leadership for Two Business Units

ADC announced the appointments of Richard B. (Dick) Parran, Jr. as president, Network Solutions Business Unit and Christopher Jurasek as president, ADC Professional Services Business Unit. Parran, a 25-year veteran of the telecommunications industry, joined ADC in November 1995 in a strategic marketing leadership role and has played an instrumental role in defining ADC's wireless business strategy. Jurasek was named chief information officer for ADC in May 2007 and has been responsible for increasing and improving the strategic alignment of ADC's...

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Teknovus Pursues 10 Gbps EPON

Teknovus presented a paper on "10G EPON -- The Next Step in FTTx Deployments" as part of FOE's (Fiber Optics Expo) Technical Conference on Next Generation PON. Teknovus is also demonstrating its 10G EPON solutions during the exhibition. The demonstration features triple-rate EPON MACs with support for 10Gbps, 2.5Gbps and 1.25Gbps downstream data rates as well as 1.25Gbps and 10Gbps upstream data rates, enabling carriers to reduce costs by supporting coexistence of 1.25G, 2.5G and 10G ONUs on a single fiber plant. "Japan is the leader in fiber...

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Skype and IBM collaborate on LotusLive Integration

Skype is working to integrate its functionality with LotusLive, IBM's new cloud services. Specifically, Skye's voice and video calling will add rich, real-time communications capabilities to LotusLive, making it even easier for enterprises to collaborate in the cloud. Employees of companies using LotusLive will be able to use Skype to initiate voice and video calls, simply by clicking on their contacts' Skype names or phone numbers within LotusLive. Future possibilities include the ability to import Skype contact information into IBM cloud services...

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Intelsat Signs Global Maritime Deal with KT

Intelsat has signed KT a distribution partner for the Intelsat Network Broadband Global Maritime service. KT Corporation's maritime customers will benefit from Intelsat's service that offers an always-on broadband connection and automatic beam switching technology all for a flat monthly fee. These features differentiate Intelsat's platform from most narrow band-based services or Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) solutions currently offered in the maritime industry.Intelsat's Network Broadband Global Maritime platform, part of Intelsat's GlobalConnex...

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Qwest Announces Tax Treatment for 2008 Dividends

Qwest Communications announced the expected tax treatment for its 2008 dividends. During 2008, Qwest paid quarterly dividends on its common stock that amounted to $0.32 per share. For United States federal income tax-reporting purposes, the company will report the 2008 dividends as non-taxable distributions.Qwest said non-taxable distributions are generally treated as a return of capital to the extent of a shareholder's basis in his or her shares. Accordingly, these non-taxable distributions reduce that tax basis. Once a shareholder's basis is...

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Pacific Crossing Supplies 160 Gbps Capacity to XO

XO Communications and Pacific Crossing, which operates an undersea cable system, reached a deal for connecting XO's nationwide network and Pacific Crossing's privately owned sub-sea fiber ring. Specifically, XO has linked to Pacific Crossing's PC-1 network at the company's Grover Beach, Calif., landing station. The station carries data to and from Pacific Crossing landing stations in Shima and Ajigaura Japan, where customers may access major Asian...

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Level 3 Selected by Blue Cross and Blue Shield

The Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association (BCBSA) has selected Level 3 to be a national provider for telecommunications services. Under the terms of the multi-year agreement, Level 3 will continue to extend its telecommunications services - including voice, video and data offerings - to all 39 Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies across the nation. Financial terms were not disclosed.The 39 Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies collectively provide healthcare coverage for more than 102 million Americans. http://www.Level3.com http://www.BCBS....

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Sprint Mobile Broadband Gets New Sierra USB Modem

Sprint is launching a new Sierra Wireless USB 598 modem for access over its Mobile Broadband Network. The 598U by Sierra Wireless is optimized for the Sprint Mobile Broadband Network, and supports EV-DO Rev. A technology where available. The Sprint Mobile Broadband Network offers average download speeds between 600 kbps and 1.4 Mbps and upload speeds average 350 to 500 kbps. http://www.sprint.com/coveragehttp://www.sierrawireless....

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TI Unveils Solar-kit for Wireless Sensor Networks

Texas Instruments unveiled a solar energy harvesting (SEH) development kit that converts ambient light into power for industrial, transportation, agricultural and commercial applications, including wireless sensor network systems. The credit card-sized eZ430-RF2500-SEH kit combines Cymbet's EnerChip thin-film battery technology with TI's MSP430 microcontrollers (MCU), CC2500 radio frequency (RF) transceivers and the eZ430-RF2500 development tool....

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COLT Activates First 8Gbits/s Fibre Channel Service with ADVA

COLT has launched the first 8 Gbits/s Fibre Channel (FC) service over distance. The COLT services is using ADVA Optical Networking's ADVA FSP 3000 8Gbps FC card, which provides a point-to-point link that stretches beyond 135km. Connecting two data centers with an 8Gbps FC link across this distance was dependent upon the ADVA FSP 3000's Raman amplification capabilities to eliminate the need for mid-span huts and the associated operations and maintenance...

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Verizon Business Deploys Mesh Expansion to Singapore

Verizon Business has deployed a mesh advanced network configuration in Singapore, ensuring additional network paths for rerouting traffic in the event of a cable cut or other network disruption. This Singapore expansion complements the Pacific mesh network deployment the company began in 2007. Specifically, Verizon Business deployed a seven-way mesh network across the Pacific Ocean using the newly activated Trans-Pacific Express cable network and...

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Nortel Receives Approvals from U.S. Bankruptcy Court

The United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware granted approval to Nortel Networks for a number of motions requesting certain relief. Those first day motions included, among other things, (1) a motion for authorization to continue making payments relating to employees' wages, salaries, commissions and benefit programs in the ordinary course; (2) a motion for authorization to continue the U.S. Debtors' current cash management system and related relief; and (3) a motion to impose certain restrictions on trading in common shares of...

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