TMCnet News
Telecom Week in Review: eBay/Skype, House Broadband Draft LegislationBy TED GLANZER
TMCnet Communications and Broadband Columnist
It was another busy week in the Telecom world, what with eBay acquiring Skype for $2.4 billion (with a potential to reach $4.1 billion), the FCC continuing its efforts to provide relief to the area most affected by Hurricane Katrina and the House of Representatives' Energy and Commerce Committee releasing draft broadband legislation.
Listed below are the major telecom stories covered by TMCnet writers on the week that was Sept. 12-16 Sept. 16
By Ted Glanzer
Acknowledging that there is still plenty of work to be done, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin on Thursday announced the FCC's intention to provide over $200 million to assist with Hurricane Katrina disaster relief efforts.
Sept. 15
By Ted Glanzer
The House Energy and Commerce Committee on Thursday released staff discussion legislation designed to encourage the improvement of broadband networks, spur growth in the technology industry and develop advanced services for consumers.
By Johanne Torres
AT&T just added another IP VPN contract to its expanding portfolio. The telecom giant announced on Thursday it inked a three-year, $1.5 million networking contract from Thomas & King Inc., a franchisee of more than 85 Applebee's Neighborhood Grill & Bar and Johnny Carino's restaurants in Kentucky, Ohio and Arizona.
Sept. 14
By Greg Galitzine
According to published reports, residential VoIP subscribers are expected to dramatically increase in number, spurring revenues for VoIP equipment to more than triple between 2004 and 2010. This prediction comes to us courtesy of iSuppli.
By Johanne Torres
Tour operator owner The Travel Corp. tapped AT&T for its Internet Protocol Virtual Private Network (IP VPN), the companies announced on Wednesday.
Sept. 13
By Robert Liu
While some research firms foresee an inauspicious start for North American deployment of next-generation cellular data services, a new white paper suggests that system operators are starting to embrace faster high-speed standards, which are still expected to be widely deployed by 2006.
By Ted Glanzer
The clock is ticking for VoIP service providers.
Indeed, there here are just two and a half months left for carriers to comply with the FCC's order that requires all VoIP providers to offer E9-1-1 capabilities to their subscribers by Nov. 28.
Sept. 12
By Rich Tehrani
After all the rumors of eBay purchasing Skype and the downplaying by both companies, the acquisition is official today. As I mention in prior postings the significance of this announcement to the VoIP market cannot be understated. Ebay has finally helped the market put a valuation on a VoIP company and I am sure VCs and other companies in the space are ecstatic. By Greg Galitzine
Looks like eBay is going ahead with their plans to buy VoIP service provider Skype in a move purported to add free Web telephone calls to its online auctions and fuel growth.
By Glenn Kalinoski
A report released Monday offers disturbing news regarding disaster planning by American businesses.
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Ted Glanzer is assistant editor for TMCnet. For more articles by Ted Glanzer, please visit:
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