Tag Archive
Skype to FCC: Keep the Internet Open & Neutral
Skype, a big proponent of open networks and net neutrality, in a filing today with the Federal Communications Commission argued that net neutrality was “about growing the broadband ecosystem and preserving a borderless, open Internet” and said it would “promote investment, jobs and innovation.” The company said that it “welcomes the Commission’s focus on preserving... »
Skype to FCC: Keep Internet Open & Neutral
Skype, a big proponent of open networks and net neutrality, in a filing today with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), argued that net neutrality was “about growing the broadband ecosystem and preserving a borderless, open Internet” and said it would “promote investment, jobs and innovation.” The company said that it “welcomes the Commission’s focus on... »
Top Stories of 2009: Acquisitions – VoIP on Sale
Despite the economy, the VoIP and UC market had a few big buys. Some were fraught with negotiation, litigation or last minute actors swooping in from nowhere. Here are a few notable deals worth noting in 2009: Avaya buys Nortel ES – In June, Nortel began selling off its various units and it was only a... »
PTA Annual Telecom Report 2008-09
Every year Pakistan Telecommunication Authority publish a PTA Annual Report covering all the major sectors of our telecommunication industry. The report is very useful for all those people who are either part of the telecommunication industry or are associated with it. This report also helps analyst in their analysis of Pakistan Telecom sector since... »
Green light for Australian internet filter plans
The Federal Government has detailed its plan to require internet service providers (ISPs) in Australia to block a list of banned material. When Parliament resumes next year the Government plans to introduce amendments that will require ISPs to block banned material on overseas servers. Broadband and Communications Minister Senator Stephen Conroy says some internet content is... »
Block This, Block That—So Much For Open
Mobile Mavne Colin Gibbs at GigaOm, writes about Verizon Wireless blocking SMS messages from 4Info that are ad supported. I'm trying to sort through this in my head, but I think it comes down to Verizon gearing up to be an ad sales force of their own. You see, networks by their very nature sell... »
Google Voice + magicJack = $1.66/month Phone Bill
What do you get when you combine Google Voice + MagicJack? Well, you get $1.66/month phone service, of course. First, you need a MagicJack which costs $39.99 for the first year and includes the USB device. Subsequent years are $19.99/year or $1.66/month. Second, you need to get Google Voice, which is... »
White House comments on net neutrality irk AT&T
AT&T doesn’t like the idea of new regulations mandating unfettered access to the Internet, and recent comments from the Obama administration that connected the issue to censorship in China have really gotten under its skin. The telecom giant responded forcefully this week to remarks by White House deputy chief technology officer Andrew McLaughlin, who said... »
MindTouch Cloud Launches into Cloud Collaboration
MindTouch just launched their popular open source Sharepoint-like software into the collaboration cloud. Called MindTouch Cloud, this hosted SAAS offering will put them in direct competition of the likes of Google Apps, Google Wave, Zoho, and others. MindTouch will deliver their open source collaboration applications in the cloud for a monthly fee that starts... »
Cisco responds to ‘walk-away’ tactic speculation
Cisco’s Chief Strategy Officer, Ned Hooper wrote a blog post to inject some Cisco feedback into the TANDBERG acquisition rumor mill. Was the move a scare tactic to get investors to give in or was it just a savvy decision made on a risk vs. reward basis? According to the blog post, Cisco’s initial offer took... »
Norwegian ISP doesn’t have to block Pirate Bay, says court
Norwegian ISP Telenor doesn’t have to block access to file-sharing site The Pirate Bay, according to a ruling from the district court for Asker and Bærum on Friday. The entertainment industry has been trying to get Telenor to block The Pirate Bay since February, when it sent a warning letter to the operator. But Telenor... »
GoogleVoice has 1.4M users; reveals partner companies
Whoops! According to BusinessWeek, Google accidentally revealed its user numbers in filings to U.S. regulators. Although later redacted from the documents, BusinessWeek was quick on the draw and managed to get ahold of the originals before the ‘less informative’ documents replaced those originally made available to the public. According to the letter to regulators, GoogleVoice... »
Scare tactic or serious? Cisco may drop TANDBERG bid
Halloween is over folks, but Cisco is trying to get scary with its negotiations for TANDBERG. With its latest move, the networking giant hopes to put a little fear into some of the investors blocking its path to acquire the video technology manufacturer. Last week, news emerged that Cisco was reportedly ready to walk... »
American network engineers question need for Net neutrality rules
New Net neutrality regulations, as proposed by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, don’t make sense because some Internet traffic is already prioritized and needs to continue to be, two networking engineers said Thursday. Even if the FCC makes rules prohibiting broadband providers from selectively blocking or slowing some Internet traffic, other parts of the Internet... »
Google enables traffic-pumping workaround on Voice, calls for reform
In the latest development of the Google vs. AT&T traffic-pumping argument, Google has revealed that it is no longer blocking huge swaths of numbers by denying access to certain telephone prefixes. Now it claims to only be blocking about 100 specific phone numbers on its much-anticipated Google Voice. The latest move still technically violates the... »
Google Voice adds pseudo-mobile number portability
Google has announced a new feature for Google Voice that will allow customers to use their current mobile phone numbers to receive voicemails in their Google Voice inbox. Before this new feature was available, users needed a special Google assigned phone number to receive voicemail to their Google inbox, but with this new offering, users enter... »
Google Responds to AT&T’s Claims of Call Blocking
Andy Beal submits: While it remains unclear whether Google Voice should be treated the same way as other telecom companies, the search giant isn’t taking any chances with the rather unpleasant probing it’s receiving from the Federal Communications Commission. Thanks in part to the finger-pointing of AT&T (T), Google (GOOG) has to answer the accusations... »
Google Voice Now Blocks Fewer Numbers
Google Inc. (GOOG) told the FCC on Wednesday it is blocking fewer of its Google Voice calls to rural areas and called on commissioners to fix the intercarrier compensation regime, which lets rural carriers reap big revenue when connecting high-traffic calls on their networks. Google is under regulatory scrutiny after ATT …(264 words) ... »
FCC to draft net neutrality rules, taking step toward Web regulation
The Federal Communications Commission voted unanimously Thursday to begin crafting rules to prevent Internet providers from acting as gatekeepers over which services and content are delivered to their customers, the agency’s surest step yet toward regulating the rules of the road online. The federal government previously had taken a largely hands-off approach to Web regulation... »
Speakeasy looks for a piece of iPhone action
Speakeasy, a Seattle-based VoIP company that took a tip from Google Voice and warned of blocking numbers on its VoIP service, is now taking a tip from Skype and Vonage with their recent mobile plays. Of course, they’ve put their own interesting spin on it as well. To wit, Speakeasy has launched an iPhone application... »
AT&T Continues Its Attack Against Google Voice
Jason Kincaid submits: The back-and-forth between AT&T (T), Google (GOOG), and the FCC over Google Voice’s blocking of some rural telephone numbers continues, and it’s getting even nastier. AT&T’s latest letter to the FCC attempts to undermine Google’s recent argument that it’s blocking exorbitantly expensive calls to some numbers in part because they are... »
NZ High Court nails Telecom for blocking broadband competition
Telecom has been found guilty of anti-competitive behaviour for using its substantial power to prevent and deter competition in the business-to-business high-speed data transmission market, the High Court at Auckland has found. Telecom now faces a $10 million fine for breaching the Commerce Act. The level of penalty has been put aside for separate consideration by... »
Congress members ask FCC to investigate Google Voice call blocking
Members of the House of Representatives have sent a letter to FCC Chairman Genachowski requesting a formal investigation into Google’s refusal to allow Google Voice to connect with phone numbers served by some rural phone companies. All the congress members involved hailed from rural districts where their constituents might fall victim to the call... »
AT&T Complaint Prompts FCC Letter to Google About Google Voice
Jason Kincaid submits: Two weeks ago AT&T (T) wrote a letter to the FCC about Google Voice, complaining that the service was preventing users from calling certain numbers, which is against FCC policy (AT&T has previously attempted to do the same thing but was prevented from doing so). Google (GOOG) promptly responded, explaining that... »
AT&T Grants Denies Us Mobile VoIP Freedom
The big news last week was how AT&T grants denies us mobile VoIP freedom. Just last week I wrote how AT&T had “granted” us mobile VoIP freedom by finally allowing SIP port 5060 on their 3G data network. I was able to use siphon, a SIP-based application on my jailbroken iPhone to register with... »
FCC: Net Neutrality rules could be coming to protect VoIP
FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski is putting forth a “notice of proposed rule making” for broadband policy that would implement Net neutrality principles ensuring open and unhampered access to broadband networks. Genachowski said the rules could extend to mobile broadband networks as well, which is possibly a reaction to the controversy over Apple’s rejection of... »
AT&T to Google: So You Wanna Be a Phone Company?
A few months, ago when covering the launch of Google Voice, I wrote a post entitled: Meet Google, Your Phone Company. That headline sums up why Google’s voice service has drawn the ire of everyone from AT&T to Apple Today, Ma Bell asked the Federal Communications Commission to investigate Google Voice on the grounds... »
FCC Proposes Applying Net Neutrality to Carriers’ Wireless Networks
Today, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowsk said that wireless carriers shouldn’t be allowed to block certain types of Internet traffic flowing over their networks. This has huge implications for the VoIP industry, since as I wrote last week, AT&T blocks port 5060 (SIP) on their 3G data network, thus blocking VoIP... »
Siphon SIP App for iPhone Works over AT&T’s 3G network? Holy Toledo!
I tested Siphon, a SIP-based VoIP application for the iPhone, in California at ITEXPO. Interestingly, Siphon worked perfectly in California over AT&T’s 3G data network. Yes, you read that right – VoIP over 3G! I couldn’t contain my giddiness when I realized I could now register my iPhone with TMC’s Asterisk-based IP-PBX and... »
India to Block VOIP Calls
The time is up for the Indian VOIP Market. India will soon start blocking all VOIP calls (incoming or outgoing). If you are calling India, Don’t miss this news. One of the most shocking news for… Learn how to make FREE calls worldwide. … >>> Rest of... »