News Archive - October 2008

Verizon Wireless has made it through an important regulatory hurdle in its bid to acquire rural wireless operator Alltel, but the approval didn't come without conditions. The FCC is expected to approve the acquisition on November 4, 2008.

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After failing to find a buyer for its Nextel network, Sprint Nextel it will keep the Nextel iDEN network. Sprint has steadily been losing customers on the old Nextel Network since the acquisition in 2005. And earlier this year the wireless operator said it was looking to sell the network.

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Well, Avaya is not dead (yet). Kevin Kennedy, currently CEO of JDS Uniphase Corp. and a veteran of Openwave, Cisco, and AT&T, will be taking the reins at Avaya.

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Although videoconferencing has become a billion-dollar substitute for flying business people to meetings, it leaves distant participants less likely to make sound judgments about speakers being viewed over a screen, according to a published study.

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Logitech announced that the company has agreed to acquire privately held SightSpeed for approximately $30 million in cash. The acquisition of SightSpeed will provide Logitech with video calling technology and a software and services development team.

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Patent holding company Klausner Technologies said Verizon Wireless has settled a suit alleging infringement of a patent covering the visual listing of voicemail.

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Global Crossing announced high-definition enhancements to its flagship IP Videoconferencing service, offering crystal clear, face-to-face collaboration between dispersed business locations around the world.

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Polycom announced the first presence-enabled solution for enterprise-wide visual communication that unites telepresence and highly scalable desktop video collaboration within a common converged management platform.

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Companies lobbying the FCC to access unused spectrum known as "white spaces" won a big victory on Wednesday when Chairman Kevin Martin threw his weight behind the proposal.

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Cisco Systems and Tata Communications have expanded a network of public TelePresence meeting centers to the U.S. and U.K., with plans to set up 100 of the high-end videoconferencing centers around the world by the end of next year.

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Microsoft's rumored interest in acquiring Research In Motion (RIM) would instantly give the software giant a larger share in the consumer and enterprise smartphone market, while bringing in technology that could help stave off new challengers in the market, such as Apple and Google. — But, such a move would undermine Microsoft's efforts to expand its reach with Windows Mobile (which are just now showing signs of success in the face of the iPhone). And the gain is what? Microsoft is not going to be a leader in selling music or videos. The right move in that space is what Google did: partner with Amazon. Windows Mobile just needs a better browser, better VPN, and support for Amazon's content services. As it is, Windows Mobile makes a great companion to the desktop PC, so Microsoft needs to be very careful here.

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An almost decade-long effort to bring an unknown wireless broadband technology to the U.S. is set to bear fruit next month in Florida after XG Technology Inc. scored a $375 million infrastructure deal backed by a secretive Swiss billionaire. XG, which is listed on the AIM market in London, is pushing a low-power, long-range wireless technology called wMAX that they're pitching as a competitor to cellular and WiMAX networks. The goal is to roll out a VoIP service in South Florida this year and launch data and modem services in 2009.

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Taking the 'too much is never enough' approach to heart, Cisco has rolled out more than 800 new or updated features across its unified communications portfolio, leaving solid contact center features buried in an avalanche of upgrades. This flood of announcements contained a mixed bag for contact center functionality, including features with clear value, as well as some with less clear benefits.

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China Mobile, China's largest cell phone operator, plans to establish a research and development facility in Silicon Valley in 2009.

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Executives from Sprint Nextel and its ecosystem of partners ceremonially cut the broadband cord in Baltimore with the launch of the first mobile WiMax network in the U.S.

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Verizon filed a suit on Jan. 11, 2008 alleging that Cox violated eight patents used for completing IP telephone calls (only six of the original eight patent claims were found valid for the trial), seeking more than $400 million in damages. A jury found that Cox did not violate those patents, which could work to the benefit of other cable operators.

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Worldwide telecommunications leaders will explore unified communications solutions for unique vertical industry needs at the International Multimedia Telecommunications Consortium (IMTC) 2008 Fall Forum Nov. 12-13 in San Francisco. Topics will cover current standards, new standards in development (including H.325), H.264, scalable video coding, and more.

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Sprint Nextel has made headlines all week as it's started lighting up its first 4G wireless network using a technology called WiMax. But what exactly is WiMax? And how does it fit into the future of wireless? Here's a primer to help you sort it out.

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T-Mobile USA is expected to sell in the fourth quarter between 400,000 and 500,000 of the recently announced G1 phones, which use Google's Android operating system.

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TOM-Skype, eBay's joint venture in China, is recording customer text chats and censoring them if they contain certain keywords related to topics the government deems objectionable, according to a report released on Wednesday (PDF) by researchers in Canada.

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A Sprint Nextel executive says that a mobile WiMax launch in Chicago is "imminent" and inextricably linked with the closing of the Clearwire asset merger.

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