News Archive - August 2007
Nortel Takes a Look at Tellabs
August 30, 2007
Tellabs is still in talks with potential buyers and the latest name to join the party is Nortel.
Wi-Fi to supersede wired Ethernet
August 29, 2007
Wi-Fi will start replacing wired Ethernet within the next two to three years, as users and applications go mobile.
August 28, 2007
Internet voice startup Jaxtr on Tuesday said it raised $10 million in funding from a group of VCs hoping to emulate the success that at least three of them had with market leader Skype.
Tandberg video server bridges SIP, H.323
August 27, 2007
Tandberg's new Video Communication Server has two notable features: the FindMe call forwarding application, and call control and firewall traversal that support SIP and H.323.
Skip Skype, Vonage: Get VoIP for Next to Nothing
August 24, 2007
In this article, the author explains how he was able to save money by dumping his phone company and setting up his VoIP service with SIPPhone, paying just a few dollars per month for a number and a very low pre-paid per-minute rate.
VoIP Security Requires Layered Approach
August 24, 2007
VoIP deployments are expected by some to be targeted by attackers more as the number of organizations utilizing the technology increases, with phone phishing in particular becoming a greater threat.
France Telecom confirms talks with Apple on iPhone
August 24, 2007
France Telecom confirmed that it is in talks with Apple over marketing the latter's iPhone but said there is no deal yet.
Vonage attacked by defunct rival
August 23, 2007
While already struggling to remain afloat amid decreases in subscriber growth and lawsuits from Verizon, Vonage is now being sued by SunRocket for apparently illegally obtaining a list of SunRocket customers.
Can small business count on VoIP?
August 23, 2007
Last week's Skype outage left many small businesses in the lurch and emphasized the importance of having a backup for when IP services fail.
August 22, 2007
Improvements to Verizon's hosted IP Centrex service will add text messaging and calendar synchronization.
Simple VoIP Shifting To Unified Communications
August 21, 2007
The rise of unified communications and the entry of major players like Microsoftinto the VoIP business are just two examples of how simple Internet-based communications are changing the marketplace.
Skype's 'unprecedented' outage
August 20, 2007
Skype has fixed a software bug that made the Internet telephony service almost unusable for two days.
Sprint earmarks $5 billion for WiMax network
August 16, 2007
Sprint Nextel said it could spend as much as $5 billion by the end of 2010 on a new network based on the emerging high-speed wireless technology known as WiMax.
China's VoIP Growth Outpaces Its PSTN
August 16, 2007
The volume of IP calls in China almost was 110 billion minutes up to September 2006, which is an 11.8% increase year-over-year. IP calls, primarily H.323 accounted for 43% of long distance calls.
Skype Suffers from a Global Service Outage
August 16, 2007
Skype suffered from a global service outage that left nearly all of its millions of customers without service for most of the day on August 16, 2007. A message posted to Skype's web site indicated that it might take 24 hours to fix the software problem.
Telepresence: Finally, videoconferencing that works, part 2
August 16, 2007
Networking has always been the Achilles' heel of traditional videoconferencing, and it's still a concern with telepresence. If the video isn't smooth and perfectly co-ordinated with the audio in real time, the whole system devolves to being just like traditional videoconferencing.
The Lasting Effects Of A VoIP Outage
August 15, 2007
VoIP has grown in popularity because it's cheaper than traditional phone services. But when it doesn't work the way it's supposed to, due to an outage or a service disruption, customers get angry. Really angry.
Telepresence: Finally, videoconferencing that works
August 15, 2007
Vendors are now creating videoconferencing systems to deliver interactive video and sound signals that are realistic enough to make you almost believe you're sitting across the table from other conferees, rather than across the world.
VoIP Hacker Gets Prison: His Boss Gets Away
August 15, 2007
The first culprit in a duo of VoIP Hackers that defrauded more than a million dollars worth of call minutes form some of America's largest IP telephony providers has been fined US$150,000 and will spend two years in prison for his effort.
Nortel Teams With Leading Universities to Drive 4G Mobile Broadband
August 15, 2007
Nortel is teaming up with leading universities across the globe to develop new innovations that will help meet the growing demand for 4G mobile broadband applications like video, mobile TV and other multimedia services. Nortel's 4G solution includes Mobile WiMAX (IEEE 802.16e), and the Long Term Evolution (LTE) and Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB) cellular standards.
European regulator proposes phone-market superagency
August 13, 2007
After its success cutting mobile phone roaming fees, the European Commission is weighing a plan that could force some former phone monopolies in Europe to open their networks to greater competition.
Motorola wins $394 million in China Mobile deals
August 13, 2007
Motorola sealed contracts worth $394 million in the first half of the year to supply telecommunication gear to China Mobile.
VoIP hacker talks: Service provider nets easy pickings
August 10, 2007
A combination of simple dictionary and brute-force attacks in combination with Google hacking enabled a criminal pair to break into VoIP-provider networks and steal $1 million worth of voice minutes, says one of the duo who has pleaded guilty to his crimes.
August 10, 2007
Motorola announced that its second-generation Razr phone will be arriving at most major U.S. carriers by the end of the summer. The GSM Razr2 V9 will come to AT&T while the CDMA Razr2 V9m will come to Alltel, Sprint, and Verizon Wireless.
Vonage flounders amid slowed subscriber growth
August 9, 2007
Vonage is still hanging on, but the company, which has been mired in a nasty patent battle with Verizon Communications, is teetering on disaster as it struggles to sign up new customers.
August 8, 2007
Vonage is trading at a fraction of its offering price. Faithful imitator SunRocket is out of business. The traditional phone companies are consolidating and getting stronger. Phone calls are cheaper but nowhere near free, especially overseas ones. The most VoIP subscribers belong to cable companies imitating those traditional telcos. And the VoIP revolution is looking more and more like a pipe dream.
Nokia exits chips, outsources modem technology
August 8, 2007
Nokia will outsource development of third-generation chips to STMicroelectronics and license out its modem technology, widening its supplier base and opening up the market.
RADVISION Announces H.460 Availability
August 7, 2007
RADVISION announced the availability of and end-to-end firewall and NAT traversal solution for H.323 that now includes H.460 support enabling H.460 compliant endpoints to connect without the need for any intermediate client in the connection stream.
FCC Requires Cable VoIP to Pay Fees
August 6, 2007
Cable operators will need to hand over a portion of their VoIP revenue to the federal government to help fund the Federal Communications Commission's annual budget. Here's a pointer to the ruling.
AT&T to invest an extra $100 million globally
August 6, 2007
AT&T has added $100 million to the $750 million already budgeted for 2007 to expand its global communications network.
The Secret to VoIP's Success: Bundling
August 3, 2007
The demise of SunRocket and the ongoing Vonage saga demonstrate the perils of building a VoIP business, but second-quarter numbers show that tying VoIP to an established broadband business may be the most successful route.
August 2, 2007
8x8, the company behind the Packet8 VoIP service, reported a profit of $508,000 on revenues of $14.7M, or a penny per share.
August 2, 2007
Telepresence has the potential to transform how companies function, but it's still too expensive to be widely used. — Or is it? What would be the savings on travel expenses, as compared to using telepresence and/or the gains in productivity?
Acme Packet Reports Results for Second Quarter of Fiscal Year 2007
August 1, 2007
AcmePacket reported record quarterly revenues of $27.0 million, an increase of 8% sequentially and 41% year-over-year and the seventh consecutive quarter of both sequential and year-over-year revenue growth. This also represented record quarterly pre-tax earnings of $7.2 million, an increase of 5% sequentially and 34% year-over-year.