telecom industry
telecom industry news stories
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Though limits affect only 1% now, high-def video will change that
ABC News Sep 2, 08 4:33 PM CDT
(Newser) -
With Comcast setting a limit on Internet usage beginning next month, the end of the Internet as we know it may be at hand, as ISPs move toward usage-based models like public utilities. Comcast, the second-largest US Internet provider, was careful to say that the bandwidth limit is so high—250 gigabytes per month—it won't affect 99% of customers. But "today's bandwidth hog is tomorrow's average user," one critic tells ABC.
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OPINION
Analyst argues metered service will halt innovation and stunt growth
GigaOm Jun 5, 08 5:05 PM CDT
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Cable companies are wooing Wall Street by saying they’ll offset expensive implementation of a new, high-speed software protocol by metering broadband Internet access. Bad move, Om Malik writes on GigaOm. Flat-rate high-speed access has enabled recent revolutionary innovation in the telecom business, which led to almost 70 million broadband subscriptions in 2007, and a cash cow for the cable companies.
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French telco looks to expand into Turkey and Russia
New York Times Jun 5, 08 7:26 AM CDT
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France Telecom’s long-anticipated takeover bid of Swedish telco TeliaSonera finally landed today—with a thud. TeliaSonera immediately rejected FT’s $42 billion cash-and-stock offering—worth some $10.33 per share—as too low, reports the New York Times. Investors appeared to disagree, pushing France Telecom stock down 4% in Paris as analysts worried the buy was too big.
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Verizon partnership, growth will be at the top of Colao's to-do list
Wall Street Journal May 28, 08 9:20 AM CDT
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A slowing global economy and continued investor unease over Vodafone’s 45% stake in Verizon Wireless will likely provide a turbulent welcome for new CEO Vittorio Colao when he takes the reins of the wireless provider in July, the Wall Street Journal reports. Colao will succeed Arun Sarin, who's set to leave in July—earlier than previously expected.
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Wireless carrier reportedly ready to give up on troubled acquisition
Wall Street Journal May 6, 08 8:03 AM CDT
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Sprint is considering selling or spinning off its Nextel division, signaling the end of a troubled, disappointing merger, the Wall Street Journal reports. Talks are already under way with Nextel founder Morgan O'Brien, who would integrate the unit into his new wireless public-safety network, and other prospective buyers, including private-equity firms.
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earnings report
Company posts 22% increase in net income for Q1 despite dip in landline earnings
Wall Street Journal Apr 22, 08 2:43 PM CDT
(Newser) -
AT&T posted a 22% increase in net income during the first quarter, thanks to strong growth in its wireless unit. Its wireless earnings nearly doubled, while landline earnings dropped 2.1%. The company’s net income was $3.46 billion (57 cents a share), compared to $2.85 billion (45 cents a share) a year ago, reports the Wall Street Journal .
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Pipeline for intercepted data raises red flags
Washington Post Apr 8, 08 12:00 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Congressional Democrats are questioning the cozy relationship between the FBI and telecom companies, the Washington Post reports. Thanks to a 1994 law, all telecom firms have “Quantico circuits”—little-known electronic lines straight to the FBI technology office in Virginia. Telecom technicians can instantly send data over those lines, telling investigators who’s calling whom and from where.
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Deal for 20% of Greek phone co. conditional on management control
Wall Street Journal Mar 17, 08 1:03 PM CDT
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Deutsche Telekom plans to buy a 20% stake in Hellenic Telecommunications Organization (OTE) of Greece, for $3.92 billion. The deal is conditional on the German carrier getting management control, and the company will open talks immediately with the Greek government, the only larger shareholder. The OTE stake will let Europe’s biggest telephone company expand into Eastern Europe, reports the Wall Street Journal .
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In for a tough battle with better positioned telcos, cable companies
Wall Street Journal Feb 28, 08 9:26 AM CST
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Closing Liberty Media’s $12 billion deal for a 41% share of DirecTV took more than a year, but positioning the satellite-TV service to rival telcos and cable companies offering triple-play packages of TV, phone, and broadband could be a bigger test, reports the Wall Street Journal today. The deal with News Corp was finalized yesterday after the FCC OK’d it.
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New plan follows hard on news of wireless price war
Wall Street Journal Feb 21, 08 3:00 PM CST
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T-Mobile is giving an extra push to the millions contemplating ditching their landlines. The low-cost wireless carrier is launching a new dirt-cheap VoIP service, which lets T-Mobile customers hook up traditional phones to an Internet router and make unlimited local and long distance calls for $10 a month, the Wall Street Journal reports. Vonage, the most prominent VoIP provider, charges $25 per month.
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Candidate slams article, 'smear campaign'
ABC News Feb 21, 08 7:26 AM CST
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John McCain’s camp came out swinging at the New York Times last night, calling a “hit and run smear campaign” a report alleging that the senator had been involved in an improper and possibly romantic relationship with lobbyist Vicki Iseman eight years ago. “The New York Times is playing the National Enquirer ,” one adviser told ABC News, calling the story “gossip.”
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Rabbis sign off on no-call list in Israel
Reuters Feb 4, 08 5:37 PM CST
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Israel’s top phone company is betting that its most orthodox customers need less temptation in their lives. Bezeq Israel Telecom launched a “kosher” phone service yesterday that will block calls to and from “improper” numbers, such as porn lines. In true kosher fashion, Israel’s top rabbis have approved the restrictions, Reuters reports.
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Adult entertainment, already huge overseas, aims for US cellphones
Reuters Feb 1, 08 12:30 PM CST
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Porn is setting its sights on the small screen—the really small screen. As both mobile phone screens and internet capabilities expand, pornographers see American opportunity in a trend that's already sweeping Europe, Reuters reports. “It will be impossible to stop the adult business exploitation of mobile entertainment,” one industry lawyer predicts.
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So much for goodwill: $31B in losses pegged to Nextel merger
Washington Post Feb 1, 08 12:27 PM CST
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Sprint Nextel says it may write off up to $31 billion related to the merger that created the combined company. The move comes just after a regime change at the company, which has struggled since the 2005 merger, and lost about 1 million customers last year. The write-off, accounting for most or all of the “goodwill” from the merger, will probably mean a big Q4 loss, reports the Washington Post .
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