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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: telecommunications

telecommunications stories: 42 news summaries

1 - 20 of 42 Stories | 1 2 3 Next >>

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 Swine Flu-Wary 
 Telecommuters 
 Could Floor Internet 

Report finds surge in demand might make telecommuting unfeasible

Oct 28, 09 6:06 AM CDT
(Newser) - Telecommuters hunkering down at home because of swine flu could overwhelm Internet networks in the coming weeks, a federal watchdog reports. The report earlier this week found that no guidelines are in place to deal with any surge in demand caused by a spike in workers telecommuting and students going... More »

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Internet • Department of Homeland Security • Government Accountability Office • telecommunications • Internet service providers • pandemic • telecommuting • swine flu • H1N1 virus

 Cell Refuseniks 
 Hail Independent Life 

They don't respond to every beck and call

Oct 23, 09 3:36 AM CDT
(Newser) - Most of the remaining few Americans who don't have cell phones are elderly or unable to afford one—but a tiny minority within that minority actively refuse to get one. Life without interruptions and being a slave to a tiny screen is preferable, the "refuseniks" tell the New York ... More »

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technology • cell phones • telecommunications • cell phone industry

Internet Access Now a
Legal Right in Finland

Telecom companies must bring speedy broadband to all

Oct 15, 09 8:57 AM CDT
(Newser) - In Finland, broadband access isn’t a privilege, it’s a right. The Ministry of Transport and Communications has pushed through a law requiring telecom companies to offer speeds of at least 1 megabit per second to all of the country’s 5.3 million citizens. While 96% of Finland’... More »

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broadband Internet • Finland • telecommunications • Internet access

 EBay to Spin Off Skype 
 in IPO Next Year 

Company aims to end 'marriage from hell' through stock offering

Apr 15, 09 5:00 AM CDT
(Newser) - Ebay plans to end its uneasy relationship with Skype by offloading the ill-fitting acquisition through an IPO early next year, Bloomberg reports. Analysts say the move could raise up to $1 billion for eBay, depending on how much equity the auction powerhouse wants to give up. The company declined to... More »

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eBay • IPO • Skype • telecommunications • stock offering

(Newser) - The European wunderkinds who gave the world Skype have been approaching private equity firms in an attempt to buy their creation back from eBay, the New York Times reports. Niklas Zennstrom of Sweden and Janus Friis of Denmark sold the Internet phone service for $2.6 billion in 2005,... More »

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eBay • VoIP • mergers and acquisitions • Skype • telecommunications

TECH REVIEW

New Google Voice Offering a 'Dutiful but Klutzy Secretary'

Features like voicemail transcription are great, but far from flawless

Apr 6, 09 8:28 AM CDT
(Newser) - Google’s Voice feature, offered in free beta for now, bundles all your phone numbers into one “Google number,” and records, transcribes, emails, and archives voicemails, allowing you to respond via texts sent from your computer. It “has some brilliant features,” Courtney Banks writes in the... More »

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Google • cell phones • reviews • telecommunications • Google Apps • voicemail • Google Voice

TECH REVIEW

Google Voice Buggy
but Brilliant

Impressive new VoIP service could soon sideline Skype

Mar 13, 09 7:05 AM CDT
(Newser) - Google's new VoIP service could be more of a "life-changing experience" than a mere Skype substitute, Larry Magid writes in CNET. Google Voice—currently only available to former GrandCentral users but expected to soon cause sleepless nights for the whole telecom industry—offers users a single number to which... More »

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Google • cell phones • VoIP • Skype • telecommunications • Google Voice

ANALYSIS

Free Market Rings Up 4B
Cell Phones Worldwide

6 in 10 connected, thanks to private biz

Mar 3, 09 2:37 AM CST
(Newser) - The global explosion in cell phone use is a timely reminder of what free markets can achieve, David A. Gross writes in the Christian Science Monitor. There are now more than 4 billion mobile connections worldwide, two-thirds of them in developing countries, according to a new UN report. This leap... More »

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cell phones • globalization • communication • telecommunications • cell phone industry • free markets • mobile phones

 Iran Launches 
 First Satellite 

Says it will be used for research, telecom

Feb 3, 09 7:39 AM CST
(Newser) - Iran last night sent its first domestically built satellite into orbit, the BBC reports, timed to coincide with the 30th anniversary of its revolution. The program's aims are peaceful, said state TV, with the satellite intended for research and telecommunications. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said it was meant to promote... More »

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Iran • Mahmoud Ahmadinejad • nuclear program • research • satellite • telecommunications

 Sprint Nextel to Cut 8K Jobs 

3rd-largest wireless outfit has lost millions of subscribers

Jan 26, 09 8:13 AM CST
(AP) - Sprint Nextel is eliminating about 8,000 positions in the first quarter as it seeks to cut annual costs by $1.2 billion. The third-largest US wireless provider said it will complete the layoffs, about 14% of its 56,000 employees, largely by March 31. About 850 of the reductions... More »

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cell phones • layoffs • Sprint Nextel • telecommunications • job cuts • wireless industry • Dan Hesse

Obama to Name Tech Adviser
as FCC Chair

Genachowski choice praised  by media reform movement

Jan 13, 09 2:25 PM CST
(Newser) - Barack Obama is expected to announce Julius Genachowski as his FCC chairman, and media reform groups are enthusiastic about the choice, Ars Technica reports. Genachowski served in the FCC during the Clinton administration and in the dot-com industry before becoming Obama’s technology adviser. He helped craft the President-elect’s... More »

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Barack Obama • FCC • diversity • telecommunications • media ownership • Federal Communications Commission • deregulation • President Obama • Julius Genachowski

Dolly Gives Google Static in Airwaves Feud

FCC to decide today who gets rights to 'white spaces'

Nov 4, 08 7:17 AM CST
(Newser) - Singer Dolly Parton has added her powerful country-music lungs to a battle against Google over an unused chunk of radio spectrum that will be settled by an FCC vote today, the New York Times reports. Tech companies have been pushing for the spectrum to be opened up for public use,... More »

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Google • FCC • airwaves • WiFi • telecommunications • Dolly Parton • unused spectrum • TV 'white space'

China Tops US With More High-Speed Lines

Nation's rise in broadband technology 'a major milestone'

Sep 27, 08 3:41 PM CDT
(Newser) - China's broadband network is now bigger than America's, InformationWeek reports. In fact the Asian nation has the planet's biggest high-speed network—which "means a lot more for building a modern, hi-tech economy" than China's spacewalk yesterday, one expert said. "This is a major milestone for China." More »

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China • technology • broadband Internet • United States • competition • growth • regulation • telecommunications

AT&T Rivals Pounce on iPhone Glitches

Dropped calls ring up a marketing opportunity for other networks

Aug 29, 08 4:48 AM CDT
(Newser) - Glitches have plagued the new iPhone since its release and AT&T's rivals are gleefully capitalizing on customers' griping, the New York Times reports. It's still unclear whether Apple or the wireless network is to blame, but companies like Verizon aren't letting the opportunity slip by. “A phone is... More »

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Verizon • iPhone • telecommunications • wireless service • AT&T • AT&T Wireless • iPhone 3G

EARNINGS

Alcatel-Lucent CEO, Chair to Quit After 6th Straight Loss

6th straight quarterly loss for troubled telecom giant

Jul 29, 08 6:46 AM CDT
(Newser) - Patricia Russo, the CEO who led the merger of Alcatel-Lucent, will step down by the end of the year after the troubled telecom giant released yet another grim quarterly report, posting a net loss of $1.73 billion. That figure was much larger than analysts had predicted, and almost double... More »

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France • CEO • earnings reports • telecom • Patricia Russo • telecommunications • Alcatel Lucent

 Infinite Bandwidth Is Coming 

Tech prophet sees many predictions in 2000 made real, forecasts Ethernet bump

Apr 24, 08 4:29 PM CDT
(Newser) - In 2000, technology watcher George Gilder argued in a book called Telecosm that infinite bandwidth and instant communication were on the way, thanks to booming construction of fiber-optic cable. Eight years later, post-bust (both dot-com and telecom), the “telecosm” is not far from what Gilder predicted, writes Mark Williams... More »

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Internet • telecommunications • bandwidth • Ethernet • telecosm • George Gilder

Google Accused of 'Gaming'
FCC Auction

Lawmakers say firm made fake bids to trigger open access

Apr 16, 08 3:31 PM CDT
(Newser) - Republican lawmakers are charging that Google manipulated an FCC bandwidth auction to get a free ride on the airwaves, PC World reports. The internet giant is accused of bidding purely to bump up the price to a level where rules trigger open access—and then walking away, leaving Verizon to... More »

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Google • FCC • Verizon • radio spectrum • telecommunications • spectrum auction • 700 Mhz

FCC Boss Nixes Bid to Open Up Wireless Networks

Systems already 'open enough,' he says

Apr 2, 08 6:42 AM CDT
(Newser) - The head of the FCC has rejected a request from Skype to open up wireless networks to outside devices, AP reports. The Internet phone provider wanted wireless operations included in a 1968 FCC decision that required AT&T to open up its network beyond its own devices that paved the... More »

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FCC • wireless • Verizon • Skype • telecommunications • Michael Copps • Kevin Martin • wireless industry • networks

TV Newbie Verizon to FCC: Help Cable Users Switch

Move highlights telecom turf war

Mar 27, 08 1:26 PM CDT
(Newser) - As Verizon rolls out its subscription-TV service, the company has asked the FCC to make the switch from cable easier for consumers, the Washington Post reports. In its petition, Verizon asked for the authority to shut off its customers’ cable services on their behalf, arguing that the switchover process is... More »

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television • FCC • Verizon • telecommunications • wireless service • cable operators • cable industry • FiOS

Kosovo
Eager for
Freedom's Ring

New nation resents being stuck with Serbian dialing code

Mar 27, 08 10:23 AM CDT
(Newser) - Kosovo has won recognition as an independent state from three dozen countries, but a call to the world's newest nation is a reminder of its history. Telephone numbers in Kosovo still begin with the old Serbian dialing code, and the breakaway republic now wants its own international prefix. It's not... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Serbia • Kosovo • independence • Yugoslavia • telecommunications • Kosovar independence • dialing code • country code

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