PHONE+ News

TNCI Equity Program Attracts 1,000+ Agents

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:52:48 PDT

TNCI and the Agent Alliance, sponsors of the Agent Equity Plan, said the program has more than 1,000 participants – direct agents and subagents -- and added $2.5 million a month to TNCI’s revenue since rolling out in summer 2008.The status report comes after a day-and-a-half meeting in Dallas this ...(461 words)

Boucher, Lee Charge Ahead, Again, on USF Reform

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:47:58 PDT

Two House representatives have released a draft Universal Service Reform (USF) bill that would broaden the contribution base to include broadband.Rick Boucher, D-Va., and Lee Terry, R-Neb., who have collaborated before on USF reform legislation, on Friday unveiled the proposed changes. They want the FCC to adopt a competitive bidding ...(184 words)

Windstream Plans to Build On NuVox Channel

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:44:51 PDT

Windstream Corp.’s plans to expand its commercial services business includes an indirect sales channel, a strategy that would be accelerated by the company’s pending acquisition of NuVox Corp.Windstream announced Tuesday that it would acquire NuVox in a cash and stock deal valued at $643 million. The transaction is expected to ...(424 words)

FCC Wants Industry’s Input on Special Access Pricing

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:40:48 PDT

The FCC is opening an inquiry into special access pricing, a move the industry has expected for several weeks. On Thursday, the agency kicked off a 45-day comments process; it wants input on how to analyze the wholesale pricing, or special access, the Bells charge for allowing competitors to use ...(182 words)

Skype Founders, eBay Come to Terms Over Lawsuit

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:56:20 PDT

Skype’s founders – who have been upset over eBay’s planned sale of their VoIP baby to a private investor group, and sued – have settled with the online auction giant.Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis will own a 14 percent stake in Skype, with an option to invest even more. In ...(175 words)

Symantec Announces Partner Awards, Resources

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:47:05 PDT

Symantec Corp. (SYMC) this week announced the 2009 North American Partner Award winners at Symantec Partner Engage 2009 in Orlando. The Symantec Partner Awards recognize partners who have invested in Symantec and successfully combined Symantec software with their own services to solve customers’ most complex business challenges. The winners of the ...(273 words)

Level 3 Increases New York Area Presence

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 10:36:34 PDT

Level 3 Communications Inc. (LVLT) has announced that it is expanding its operations and customer support in the greater New York area. Level 3 brings its extensive fiber-optic network, metro assets as well as a locally focused sales and customer support team to deliver a superior experience for mid-market enterprise customers ...(272 words)

Report: Smartphones To Outsell Regular Cells by 2012

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 09:27:03 PDT

Prepare to see more BlackBerrys, Droids, Pres, iPhones and the like than traditional mobile phones in the very near future. In less than three years, smartphone sales will overtake the sale of standard mobile phones. That’s according to a new report from Infonetics Research."Smartphones are on track to post a ...(311 words)

AT&T Gets FCC’s Nod for Centennial Buy

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 09:11:26 PDT

Three weeks after winning antitrust approval, ATT’s $944 million buy of Centennial Communications is now getting the FCC’s thumbs-up.Centennial has customers throughout the Midwest and the Southeast, as well as the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. The companies have argued that the merger will better allow for the deployment ...(176 words)

Droid Takes on BlackBerry’s Business Customer Base

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 08:44:06 PDT

It’s arrived. The Motorola Droid smartphone from Verizon Wireless makes its debut today. And despite all of the hyped-up TV commercials that make it look like the next fun, must-have electronic device, Verizon hopes it will serve as competition for BlackBerry in the business world as well.Long the choice of ...(195 words)