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PricewaterhouseCoopers Presents
The TelecomDirect News Daily Update
For May 8, 2006
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DBS vs. BELL: A LOSING PROPOSITION?
http://www.telecomdirectnews.com/do.php/150/17841?11228
THE RBOCS HAVE SOLD about 1.5 million subscriptions to direct
broadcast satellite (DBS) services like those offered by DIRECTV
Group Inc. and DISH Network since becoming resellers for those
companies in 2003. But now telcos are installing fiber access
networks to roll out IPTV, which would compete with their DBS
wholesale partners. In...
The Wireless Back Office, Up Close and Personal
http://www.telecomdirectnews.com/do.php/120/17839?11228
As consumers demand more customization in the mobile environment,
off-net activities threaten to reduce mobile operators to a bit
pipe. Carriers can protect their value and differentiation by
enabling non-walled-garden m-commerce and adapting their
back-office framework to support the shift toward
personalization. Consumers are using...
Two More Try to Join the Big Six
http://www.telecomdirectnews.com/do.php/100/17836?11228
The mobile phone industry is dominated by six companies, but that
isn't stopping a couple of manufacturers with limited brand
recognition from seeking to boost their sales in the United
States. Nokia, of course, is the dominant power in handsets and
claimed a 35-percent market share worldwide in the first quarter
of 2006. At the end of...
Telefonica Signs Content Deal with Warner Brothers
http://www.telecomdirectnews.com/do.php/150/17830?11228
Spain's fixed-line incumbent, Telefonica, has signed a contract
with Warner Bros, the leading film and TV production company.
Significance: The deal will enable Telefonica to distribute
Warner films as part of its video-on-demand (VOD) offering, and
make Telefonica's current IP TV service Imagenio more
attractive. Spain's number two and...
Vodafone Selects New Roaming Client
http://www.telecomdirectnews.com/do.php/150/17826?11228
Vodafone signed up as a licensee of PCTEL's Roaming Client
software. Financial terms of the agreement were not outlined.
The mobile operator plans to use the software as one of its 3G
connectivity management software solutions. The Mobile Connect
software is designed to facilitate connection to the Internet
over different types of...
Second Try: AOL AIMs At VoIP
http://www.telecomdirectnews.com/do.php/120/17824?11228
Time Warner's AOL subsidiary, in another run at the VoIP market,
is about to launch another VoIP service - this time built around
its AIM instant messenger service and offering free phone numbers
for incoming calls - a disruptive "market first" aimed at the
hearts of such competitors as eBay subsidiary Skype. According
to multiple...
NTL Adds to UK Jobs Woe
http://www.telecomdirectnews.com/do.php/120/17821?11228
U.K. cable operator ntl group ltd. (Nasdaq: NTLI - message board)
is expected to announce Tuesday that it will cut about one third
of its 17,000 employees following its merger with fellow cable
firm Telewest Global Inc. (Nasdaq: TWSTY - message board). (See
NTL & Telewest: Together at Last!.) Weekend reports in the
U.K. press...
Contest Seeks Answers to Wireless Networking Questions
http://www.telecomdirectnews.com/do.php/120/17820?11228
The arrival of wireless ad hoc networks has spawned numerous
questions concerning service level tradeoffs. Will users
sacrifice bandwidth, signal strength or speed to ensure system
effectiveness? How can these tradeoffs be achieved? And what are
the incentives that will get users to provide services -- such as
routing -- to other nodes?...
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