Telco News
British ISPs ‘could make up to £200m from legal downloads’
The UK music downloads market could generate up to £200m a year for internet service providers such as BSkyB and Virgin Media within three years, according to a new report. British music industry trade body the BPI estimates that the UK’s major ISPs – BT, Virgin Media, BSkyB, O2, Orange and TalkTalk – could make... »
France Télécom Needs ‘Radical Change’ After Suicides, Report Says
France Télécom’s new management must move quickly “to take charge and encourage radical change” if it is to put an end to a suicide crisis, according to a study commissioned by the company. The team of Stéphane Richard, who formally succeeded Didier Lombard as chief executive on March 1, has a “few weeks” to install... »
Internet access is ‘a fundamental right’: BBC World Service survey
Almost four in five people around the world believe that access to the internet is a fundamental right, a poll for the BBC World Service suggests. The survey – of more than 27,000 adults across 26 countries – found strong support for net access on both sides of the digital divide. Countries such as Finland and... »
Italy’s biggest telecoms firm faces an uncertain future
There could not be a better warning of the risks of getting involved with Italy’s national phone company: in late February Telecom Italia said an investigation into alleged large-scale tax fraud and money-laundering involving Sparkle, its wholesale voice and broadband unit, and a rival broadband firm, Fastweb, had forced it to delay the announcement... »
EU asks who will pay for high-speed Internet
The EU plans to revise rules governing access to the Internet and telephones throughout the bloc. Yesterday (2 March) the European Commission launched a consultation asking whether money for wider broadband coverage should come from the public purse or from industry coffers. In the consultation, the Commission will be asking whether Internet access should be... »
EU to tackle radio spectrum access
At an EU summit in late March, the EU will talk about how the bloc can reallocate radio spectrum to catch up with US broadband coverage. But the issue is hotly contested, a situation which an EU consultation launched yesterday (4 March) will seek to resolve. The European Parliament and the European Commission will jointly... »
US Microsoft ‘to sell phone on Verizon by summer’
Microsoft is aiming to launch two phones that will be sold by top US mobile operator Verizon Wireless in late spring or early summer, a person briefed on the matter said yesterday. The phones would be targeted at heavy users of social network sites, according to the person who asked not to be identified... »
Strain on HTC From Apple Suit Is Likely to Be Long-Term; Google Backs HTC
Apple’s patent lawsuit against HTC will not cause major problems for the Taiwan technology company in the short term, analysts said Wednesday. But it could strain its relations with partners in the crucial U.S. market and test its leadership, adding to its challenges in the increasingly competitive smartphone field. About half of HTC’s revenue comes... »
Ofcom to investigate UK net neutrality
Ofcom is to launch a consultation into network neutrality later this spring, the UK telecoms regulator has announced. Traffic management techniques and policies have become widely implemented across Europe, Ofcom chief Ed Richards said on Wednesday at the Cable Congress conference in Brussels. That trend, coupled with recent EU legislation, means that national regulators must... »
U.S. to fund broadband plan through existing programs
The U.S. National Broadband Plan set for release this month will not call for additional spending beyond the existing programs, a move likely to garner support from lawmakers, a Federal Communications Commission official said on Wednesday. The highly anticipated blueprint will be “revenue neutral” overall because spectrum auctions will compensate for any needed spending, said... »
Apple Sues Nexus One Maker; What Apple vs. HTC Could Mean
Apple has relied on slick applications, and even slicker advertisements, to promote the iPhone and maintain its advantage over rivals like Google in the battle to rule the next generation of smartphones. But the fight may come down to something more provincial: who has the best lawyers. To read this report in The New York Times... »
LTE more than higher speeds, says Nokia Siemens
Attention has been focused on the higher speeds that will be offered by next generation LTE (Long-Term Evolution) mobile networks, but improved latency will be equally important to users, according to Nokia Siemens. Real-time applications sensitive to delays, including VoIP (Voice over IP) video streaming, video conferencing and gaming will perform better with LTE, according... »
German court orders stored telecoms data deletion
Vast amounts of telephone and e-mail data held in Germany must be deleted, the country’s highest court has ruled. The constitutional court overturned a 2008 law requiring communications data to be kept for six months. The law – designed to combat terrorism and serious crime – required telecoms companies to keep logs of calls, faxes, SMS... »
China can’t control the net for ever
Twitter and Google are helping to end China’s stranglehold on information and accelerate the process of democratisation Google has been widely celebrated for its loud refusal to continue censoring its search results in China. It is still unclear whether Google will continue to operate in China, but in any event we are not about to... »
Broadband Internet prices fall in Asia and elsewhere
Recession has affected economic growth but worldwide people are increasingly using information and communication technology (ICT) services, such as mobile phones and the Internet, according to a newly released report by international telecommunication union called “Measuring the Information Society 2010″. An increase in the usage has led to a decrease in prices for ICT... »
British universities protest against government wi-fi plans
Libraries and universities are protesting about plans to make them police users of wireless networks. The government’s Digital Economy Bill includes plans to make them responsible for what is done over free wi-fi. The plans imply that libraries, universities and cafes offering free wireless will be responsible if people use it to pirate movies and music. To... »
After Fumble, Microsoft Redoes Phone Software
Mobile phone software from Microsoft has long resembled an underpowered version of its Windows desktop software. Users never embraced its bland interface, sluggish response time and businesslike menus that required lots of clicking to perform tasks. Microsoft’s new smartphone software, Windows Phone 7 Series, turns a phone into something akin to an electronic butler that... »
Apple to take on Google in China push
Apple has outlined plans for a big push into China, the world’s largest mobile phone market, which include opening 25 more retail stores in the country in the next two years. The company is focusing on China as its rival Google remains locked in talks with the Beijing authorities about the internet search company’s threat... »
EU moves to prevent ’shock’ mobile internet bills
A new Europe-wide rule to prevent mobile phone users from building up large bills for surfing the internet via their handset has come into force. Customers can now require their phone firm to cut them off when their bill reaches a certain level after accessing the internet in other European nations. If users do not put... »
Telefónica eyes Brazil options as clouds gather
César Alierta, chairman of Telefónica, would like to cure the malaise at the heart of the Spanish telecoms company’s Latin American empire. Problems at its Brazilian operations are prompting Mr Alierta to weigh up a series of radical options that include Telefónica buying Telecom Italia or Portugal Telecom, the largest telecoms companies in their home... »
Telecoms groups rule out big deals
Deutsche Telekom and France Telecom on Thursday ruled out large acquisitions in 2010, as the telecommunications groups also tried to reassure investors about their shareholder remuneration policies. René Obermann, Deutsche Telekom’s chief executive, used the company’s full-year results for 2009 to say that investors should receive annual remuneration of €3.4bn ($4.6bn) through a combination of... »
Telecom Italia delays results amid fraud probe
Telecom Italia launched a “thorough investigation” on Thursday night into the role of one of its subsidiaries in an alleged €2bn tax evasion scam which Italian prosecutors believe could be one of the biggest in the country’s history. Franco Bernabé, chief executive, said the board of Italy’s biggest telecommunications group was examining 1,600 pages of... »
Telefónica cautious on growth for 2010
Telefónica, the Spanish telecommunications group, on Friday sounded a cautious note on 2010 as it reported a 2.4 per cent year-on-year increase in net profits to €7.7bn for last year. The company, the world’s third-biggest telecoms operator by customer connections, reiterated its guidance for this year – but qualified the basis of growth targets by... »
Nokia Plots Its Comeback Plan
Sitting in a meeting room that looks out on a frozen Baltic bay, Nokia Oyj Chief Executive Officer Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo mentions a biography he’s reading. It’s about Mauno Koivisto, the president who butted heads with his own Social Democratic Party en route to opening Finland’s 1992 bid to join the European Union. “He didn’t always... »
Apple admits using child labour in China
Apple has admitted that child labour was used at the Chinese factories that build its computers, iPods and mobile phones. At least eleven 15-year-old children were discovered to be working last year in three factories which supply Apple. To read this report in The Daily Telegraph in full, see: www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/apple/7330986/Apple-admits-using-child-labour-in-China.html No topics for this post. »
Its Smartphones Selling Weakly, Palm Cuts Its Forecast; Shares Fall
Jon Rubinstein, Palm’s chief, with Pre and Pixi smartphones at the Consumer Electronics Show last month. The new phones have been slow to catch on. The warning came only weeks after Verizon Wireless began to sell Palm’s Pre and Pixi phones, suggesting that the addition of Verizon, the largest mobile service carrier in the United... »
Millions Seized From Telcom Italia Unit in Money-Laundering Inquiry
Telecom Italia has delayed the release of its 2009 results after the authorities seized €300 million from its Sparkle subsidiary in connection with a money-laundering scandal that has rocked the Italian business establishment. The company, based in Milan, said late Wednesday that it had “resolved not to proceed with the approval” of its 2009 financial... »
Deutsche Telekom profit plunges 70 percent
Deutsche Telekom, the biggest European telecommunications operator, said Thursday that 2009 net profit plunged by more than 70 percent owing to asset devaluations of more than two billion euros (2.7 billion dollars). Deutsche Telekom recorded profit of 400 million euros, a statement said, compared with 1.48 billion euros in 2008. To read this AFP report in... »
FCC To Offer Incentives To Free Spectrum
The FCC plans to free up a large swath of wireless broadband spectrum — totaling 500 megahertz — over the next decade, but for now, it won’t force television broadcasters to relinquish any airwaves, Congress Daily reported. Instead, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski announced Wednesday that the agency will seek to incentivize TV stations and... »
France Telecom Net Beats Estimates as Costs Decline
France Telecom SA, the country’s biggest phone company, posted better-than-expected full-year profit, aided by cost cuts and new customers. Adjusted net income fell to 4.85 billion euros ($6.53 billion) from 5.18 billion euros a year earlier, the Paris-based company said in an e-mailed statement today. Analysts had predicted profit of 4.6 billion euros, the average... »