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Telstra Debacle Recalls Early Days of U.S. Service Provider Competition

Tue, 25 May 2010 16:42:33 PDT

Telstra, the fixed-line incumbent in Australia, may be forced to pay an approximately $33 million fine for refusing rivals access to its telephone exchanges. The Sydney Morning Herald this week reported that Australian regulators have the right to impose fines of up to AUD10 million, or about $8.3 million, for ...(211 words)

AT&T Opens Wholesale Platform

Tue, 25 May 2010 16:20:51 PDT

Giving customers and outside developers access to one of the broadest patent portfolios in communications technology, the wholesale division of ATT (T) said it will open up its extensive patent portfolio to licensing. The move will “give global wholesale customers the ability to create solutions and help accelerate their businesses through ...(288 words)

Operators Benefit From Ramped-Up Dark Fiber Programs

Tue, 25 May 2010 14:59:12 PDT

Fiber optic systems represent the sole future-proof network investment as the world gobbles bandwidth like it’s zero-calorie candy. But laying fiber to connect homes and businesses costs millions, if not billions, of dollars – an eye-popping price tag for service providers in any economic environment, much less the tail-end of ...(700 words)

Why Governments Can’t Provide Broadband

Tue, 25 May 2010 14:08:21 PDT

The new ITU report on global Internet access, World Telecommunication/ICT Development Report 2010, is one of those laudable but toothless documents that sets out an ambitious goal for world progress, exhorts governments to commit resources to achieving that goal, and then attests, through its own futility, to the impossibility of ...(792 words)

ITU Calls For Broadband For Half the World

Tue, 25 May 2010 11:38:04 PDT

Calling for a more concerted effort by governments to bring broadband Internet access to remote and disadvantaged populations, the International Telecommunications Union issued a goal of giving one-half of the world’s population access to broadband service by 2015. That ambitious goal would require a huge buildout of high-speed connections not ...(293 words)

10th Suicide at Foxconn: When Will American Companies Speak Up?

Tue, 25 May 2010 10:39:12 PDT

Foxconn Technology Group is in full PR-defense mode now that another of its factory workers in China has committed suicide. The latest victim, 19-year-old Li Hai jumped to his death on Tuesday – just like the nine other employees who also have killed themselves so far this year, and two ...(361 words)

Congress: We’re Ready, Again, to Update the 1996 Telecom Act

Mon, 24 May 2010 16:10:12 PDT

Several federal lawmakers plan to tackle – for the second time in several years – a rewrite of the Communications Act.Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., and Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on Monday said they’ll start holding bipartisan meetings in June to develop proposed updates to 1996 Telecom Act. Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., ...(324 words)

A Spicy Issue

Mon, 24 May 2010 15:14:14 PDT

I was planning on a making a very special dish this weekend but was blindsided by a mother-daughter thing. My wife and her daughter decided to spend the day together at the Dallas Museum and, well, it’s not really a lot of fun to cook just for yourself. So, Sunday ...(648 words)

Verizon Upgrades Optical Wave Service

Mon, 24 May 2010 11:30:26 PDT

Expanding its fiber-based transport services to capture more of the market for wholesale carrier services, the wholesale unit of Verizon Communications (VZ) said it has enhanced the technology behind its Optical Wave Service. The new capabilities include enabling carrier customers to interconnect with Verizon’s SONET ring services, which will allow them ...(299 words)

Sprint Gets Goldman Sachs 'Buy' Upgrade, Nails Down $2.1B Credit Agreement

Mon, 24 May 2010 11:25:10 PDT

Shares of Sprint Nextel Corp. were trading more than 9 percent higher on Monday after the wireless carrier signed a new credit arrangement and received a “buy” rating from Goldman Sachs. Kansas City-based Sprint nailed down a new, $2.1 billion credit facility late last week. The company will use the ...(280 words)