Brazil's Telecom Regulator Lifts Ban on New Mobile Sales

Brazil's National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel) lifted its ban on the sale of new mobile subscriptions in certain regions, clearing the way for Claro, Oi and Tim to resume normal sales activity.Late last month, Anatel prohibited the nation's mobile operators with the worst customer service from selling new lines in regions with the most problems.Anatel president João Rezende said the remediation proposals submitted by the carriers were considered...

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AT&T Plans to Deactivate 2G by 2017, Refarm Spectrum

AT&T plans to discontinue service on its 2G networks by approximately January 1, 2017. In an SEC filing, AT&T said the plan woud help address the spectrum crunch it sees in the years ahead, presumably as the 2G spectrum could be reused.As of June 30, 2012, approximately 12 percent of AT&T's postpaid customers were using 2G handsets.Some other notes:As of June 30, 2012, AT&T served 105.2 million wireless subscribers, an increase...

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AT&T and CWA Extend Contract Talks till Aug 9

AT&T and the Communications Workers of America failed to reach an agreement by the 11:59 p.m. EDT Aug. 4 expiration of the core wireline contract in the Southeast region. However, the parties agreed to a five-day extension of the contract and negotiations are continuing.The contract covers more than 22,000 wireline employees in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. ...

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U.S. Opposes Changes to International Telecommunications Regulations

The U.S. State Department has submitted its first group of proposals to the World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT), which will be held at the end of this year in Dubai. WCIT intends to review and potentially revise the treaty-level International Telecommunications Regulations (ITRs), which govern the flow of traffic between nations and which have not been amended since 1988.The U.S. proposals include: Minimal changes...

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CWA Sees Threat in Verizon-Cable Deal

If the FCC and DOJ fail to bar the cross marketing deal between Verizon and the cable companies the outcome will be lost jobs, higher prices for consumers and a continuation of the digital divide, according to the Communications Workers of America. The union said it appears the FCC is no longer focusing on the role of competition in keeping the industry healthy.In a press statement on Friday the FCC stated:"Regulators are demonstrating a real disconnect...

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Sprint to Deploy Alcatel-Lucent's lightRadio Metro Cells

Sprint will deploy Alcatel-Lucent's lightRadio Metro Cells to boost coverage in high-traffic areas. Sprint's initial deployment will focus on indoor applications, including entertainment venues, transportation hubs and business campuses. The deployment will help Sprint to deliver a better broadband experience to more of its subscribers in these high-traffic areas and will help reduce costs in the process. Financial terms were not disclosed."Sprint...

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Vitesse Builds Momentum with 1588v2 Timing for Backhaul

Vitesse Semiconductor has captured multiple design wins with nine of the market share leaders in the IP Edge microwave/millimeter-wave backhaul networking equipment space. The company calculates that these OEM customers account for nearly 60% market share in the microwave backhaul and 75% in the millimeter-wave backhaul segments.Vitesse's VeriTime distributed timing technology ensures the highest accuracy IEEE1588v2 timing for IP Edge networks. Vitesse's...

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IEEE Launches 802.11 Patent Pool Exploratory Forum

IEEE has launched and 802.11 Patent Pool Exploratory Forum to bring together owners of patents essential to IEEE 802.11 standards. The forum will discuss licensing practices, options for licensing administration and other issues related to launching a patent pool for IEEE 802.11-20121 and appropriate extensions to the standard.Thirteen companies are participating in the forum. http://www.ieee.org 06-Aug-12...

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Broadcom Offers Full-Band Diagnostics for Cable Operators

Broadcom introduced a suite of remote monitoring and diagnostic capabilities based on its Full-Band Capture digital tuning technology. The solution captures the entire 1GHz cable spectrum, providing real-time performance visibility into a user's home coax network to quickly troubleshoot customer service issues. The technology can be implemented on the company's entire cable set-top box, gateway and modem platforms using Full-Band Capture digital...

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Alteryx Tunes its Strategic Analytics for Communications

Alteryx, which develops analytic solutions for a range of industries, introduced a Communications Edition that provides actionable intelligence for operators by integrating network performance data with third-party insight. It brings critical data about network, customers, prospects, and market conditions from Business Support Systems (BSS), Operational Support Systems (OSS), and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems into a common analytics...

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IBM Wins $280 Million Project with Saudi Arabia's Mobily

IBM was won a 5-year agreement worth approximately $280 million to provide comprehensive IT solutions for Saudi Arabia's Etihad Etisalat (Mobily).Mobily is the fastest growing telecommunications company in Saudi Arabia.Under the contract, IBM will provide Mobily with faster, targeted access to new technologies and expertise in order to build a strong infrastructure to keep pace with the company's business growth. One area of collaboration will build...

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Dror Bin Takes Over at RAD Data Communications

RAD Data Communications has announced that Dror Bin has assumed his responsibilities as the company’s President and CEO, replacing Effi Wachtel, who has retired after 15 years in that position. Mr. Bin, 45, was most recently a venture partner at Carmel Ventures. Prior to that he had served for over nine years at Comverse Technology in a series of positions, including President of Global Sales, President of the Products Group, and other key roles...

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