FCC Notifies on 1755-1780 MHz Band Auction Plans

The FCC officially notified the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) at the U.S. Department of Commerce that it plans to commence the auction of licenses in the 1695–1710 MHz band and the 1755–1780 MHz band as early as September 2014. The FCC is required to give notice at least 18 months prior to the commencement of any spectrum auction. NTIA recently identified the 1695-1710 MHz band as the 15 megahertz of spectrum...

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MSF: Interoperability Forum Folds, Leaves Impact on Industry

By Jim McEachern, Communications Consultant The maturity of today’s multiservice network architecture owes a lot to initiatives like the MultiService Forum (MSF) Global MSF Interoperability (GMI) events over the past decade. These events, in partnership with GSMA, ETSI and ATIS, provided an effective vehicle for bringing together service providers and equipment suppliers to conduct proof of concept testing for emerging technologies. The MSF didn't initially...

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IBM Discovers Atomic Technique to Charge Memory Chips

Researchers at IBM have discovered a new technique to charge memory chips by manipulating tiny ionic currents. The discovery could pave the way for a new class of non-volatile memory and logic chips that would use less power than today's silicon based devices. IBM has demonstrated that it is possible to reversibly transform metal oxides between insulating and conductive states by the insertion and removal of oxygen ions driven by electric fields...

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NTT DOCOMO Tests Solar Base Stations

NTT DOCOMO is launching field tests of three conventional mobile-network base stations that have been installed with solar panels, high capacity rechargeable batteries and green power controllers. NTT DOCOMO will install 10 green base stations in the Kanto-Koshinetsu region of Japan by late summer, including the first three in Tokyo, Kanagawa and Yamanashi prefectures. The equipment was already by tested at its R&D Center from March 2012...

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NTT Comm Selects ALU's 7750 Edge Router

NTT Communications has selected Alcatel-Lucent's 7750 Service Router for its VPN enterprise services in Japan and worldwide. Previously such services were supported by independent networks, but the move to a single, converged IP infrastructure provided by Alcatel-Lucent will simplify and streamline network management, cut the cost of network operations and help lower NTT Com's operational expenditure through a measurable decrease in energy consumption. "In...

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MetroPCS Stockholders to vote on T-Mobile Deal on April 12

MetroPCS stockholders are expected to vote on April 12, 2013 on the proposed combination of MetroPCS with T-Mobile.  The deal has already cleared all regulatory reviews.  If the stockholders approve, the merger will be completed soon thereafter. http://www.metropcs.c...

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Broadcom Adds Internet Streaming to Cable Set-top Boxes

Broadcom introduced two low cost, high definition (HD) digital cable set-top box SoCs with integrated Full-Band Capture and IP video server technology. The new devices, which are aimed at entry-level HD and HD-DVR platforms for cable MSOs, support Internet video streaming capabilities to multiple video devices simultaneously.  The SoCs integrate a high-performance CPU, 3D graphics and Full-Band Capture technologies.  In addition, the new...

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Communications Workers of America Reject Contract with AT&T West

Wireline employees represented by the Communications Workers of America District 9 rejected a new labor contract that had been negotiated by the union and AT&T West.  The contract would have covered more than 17,000 AT&T employees in California and Nevada. AT&T said it regretted this outcome as the new contract would have provided annual wage and pension increases.  Similar contracts had been accepted by CWA membership in...

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