telecommunications

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Internet Access Now a Legal Right in Finland

Telecom companies must bring speedy broadband to all

(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’...

EBay to Spin Off Skype in IPO Next Year

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

(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...

Skype Guys Trying to Buy It Back From eBay

(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, but...

New Google Voice Offering a 'Dutiful but Klutzy Secretary'

Features like voicemail transcription are great, but far from flawless

(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...

Google Voice Buggy but Brilliant
Google Voice Buggy
but Brilliant
TECH REVIEW
Mar 13, 2009 7:05 AM CDT

Google Voice Buggy but Brilliant

Impressive new VoIP service could soon sideline Skype

(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...

Free Market Rings Up 4B Cell Phones Worldwide
Free Market Rings Up 4B
Cell Phones Worldwide
ANALYSIS
Mar 3, 2009 2:37 AM CST

Free Market Rings Up 4B Cell Phones Worldwide

6 in 10 connected, thanks to private biz

(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...

Iran Launches First Satellite

Says it will be used for research, telecom

(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...

Sprint Nextel to Cut 8K Jobs
 Sprint Nextel to Cut 8K Jobs 
Jan 26, 2009 8:13 AM CST

Sprint Nextel to Cut 8K Jobs

3rd-largest wireless outfit has lost millions of subscribers

(Newser) - 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...

Obama to Name Tech Adviser as FCC Chair

Genachowski choice praised by media reform movement

(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...

Dolly Gives Google Static in Airwaves Feud

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

(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,...

China Tops US With More High-Speed Lines

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

(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."

AT&T Rivals Pounce on iPhone Glitches

Dropped calls ring up a marketing opportunity for other networks

(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...

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

6th straight quarterly loss for troubled telecom giant

(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...

Infinite Bandwidth Is Coming
 Infinite Bandwidth Is Coming 
Apr 24, 2008 4:29 PM CDT

Infinite Bandwidth Is Coming

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

(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...

Google Accused of 'Gaming' FCC Auction

Lawmakers say firm made fake bids to trigger open access

(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...

FCC Boss Nixes Bid to Open Up Wireless Networks

Systems already 'open enough,' he says

(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...

TV Newbie Verizon to FCC: Help Cable Users Switch

Move highlights telecom turf war

(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...

Kosovo Eager for Freedom's Ring
Kosovo
Eager for
Freedom's Ring
Mar 27, 2008 10:23 AM CDT

Kosovo Eager for Freedom's Ring

New nation resents being stuck with Serbian dialing code

(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...

Icahn Ups Ante in Motorola Battle

Billionaire investor sues for board documents in proxy fight

(Newser) - Billionaire Carl Icahn is turning up the heat on Motorola in his battle for more control, filing a lawsuit for access to board documents. The move follows his rejection of the company’s offer of two board seats—instead of the four he's seeking—and calling its refusal to seat...

Hopes for Wifi Cities Fizzling Fast
Hopes for
Wifi Cities Fizzling Fast
Mar 22, 2008 12:48 PM CDT

Hopes for Wifi Cities Fizzling Fast

Earthlink, other providers pull out amid rising costs

(Newser) - Hopes for wireless cities are flickering out one by one as Internet providers run up against mounting logistics and small profits, the New York Times reports. Ambitious plans to provide free or cheap high-speed service to poor residents of cities such as Philadelphia, Houston, and San Francisco have ground to...

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