News Archive - February 2009

Hard Times: Sprint Loses 1.3M Customers in Q4
February 19, 2009

Sprint lost nearly 9 wireless customers per minute during 2008, a sign that the carrier is far from healthy, even as it pays down debt and looks forward to being free cashflow positive this year.
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LifeSize projects 2009 growth despite the economy
February 18, 2009

In the midst of a continuing recession, LifeSize Communications Inc. is projecting strong growth in sales of its high-definition videoconferencing products as companies look to cut travel costs.
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Verizon Mulls $5 Phone Service Plan
February 17, 2009

In an effort to curb attrition in its landline phone business, Verizon Communications is considering a new $5 per month home phone service plan that would allow customers to receive calls, but only make outbound calls to 911 and Verizon customer service. — Does that include the 911 service fee imposed by the government?
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Microsoft hopes 'Windows phone' has a ring to it
February 16, 2009

Microsoft is showed off its new Windows Mobile 6.5 operating system this week, which it hopes to release later this year. More interestingly, though, is that the company plans to market smartphones under the name "Windows Phone".
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Huawei to launch Android handsets
February 16, 2009

Huawei said at the GSMA Global World Congress 2009 that it plans to start selling phones using Google's Android operating system later this year.
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Charter Communications to file for Chapter 11
February 12, 2009

Charter Communications announced Thursday it plans to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy as part of an agreement reached with its debt holders.
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VoIP goes corporate — and saves users plenty
February 10, 2009

Making the move to VoIP can be expensive, but users say the flexibility and additional features are worth it. With clients already skittish over the downturn in the financial markets, Benefit Consultants Group wanted to make sure its agents and brokers could be reached anytime without long waits. That included during a recent fire drill, when everyone had to leave the building.
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Feds find, arrest fugitive hacker on the run in Mexico
February 10, 2009

A Miami man by the name of Edwin Pena, on the run for more than two years after being arrested and charged with stealing and reselling VoIP services, has been caught in Mexico. Pena and co-conspirator Robert Moore of Spokane, Washington, are accused of selling more than 10 million minutes of VoIP service stolen from 15 telecommunications providers.
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ITU-T Prepares to Approve H.323v7 in October 2009
February 9, 2009

The ITU-T plans to approve several new H.323-related Recommendations and a new revision of the H.323 specification at the meeting in October 2009. The next Rapporteur meeting, tentatively scheduled for the end of June 2009, would be an excellent opportunity to submit proposals for H.323v7.
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RIM execs to pay $74 million for options-backdating
February 5, 2009

The co-chief executives of Research in Motion and two other executives will pay more than US$74.5 million to settle a stock options-backdating case, under an agreement approved by Canada's securities commission.
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Nortel Keeps LTE Dream Alive
February 5, 2009

After filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy creditor protection and exiting the mobile WiMax market last month, Nortel has pinned its wireless hopes on LTE. The Canadian vendor says it is intent on finding a partner for its LTE program and keeping its other wireless assets in GSM and CDMA.
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Videoconferencing coming to FiOS homes
February 5, 2009

FiOS customers can expect to see some kind of videoconferencing service added to their service package, possibly even this year. But don't expect the hype around personal videoconferencing that has accompanied past efforts, dating all the way back to the 1964 World's Fair and AT&T's Video Telephone.
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Smartphones offer hope in declining cell phone biz
February 4, 2009

Cell phone sales around the world took a nose dive in the fourth quarter, down 12.6% over compared to the same quarter last year as the weakened economy hurt demand for new devices. But sales of smartphones continued to grow.
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Skype 4.0 Improves VoIP Video Calling
February 3, 2009

Skype has rolled out a new release of its VoIP communications software. The new version improves video calling and has a new built-in Internet bandwidth manager that provides faster data transfers.
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Thomson Reuters Revolutionises Instant Messaging as a Corporate Tool
February 2, 2009

Reuters Messaging Interchange launches as the first single-link and multi-vendor Enterprise Instant Messaging hub in collaboration with Cisco, IBM and Microsoft
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