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Kenton Group
Newsletter
February, 2010
- Volume 8 Issue 2
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February
- the downhill month of Winter! Do you see any
signs of Spring yet? But a very short month, so
by the time you see this, it will probably be
the "Ides of March" already. But that's OK, you
probably have been watching the Olympics anyway
- did you see the USA-Canada hockey game for
GOLD? No matter what, it sure was an exciting
game!
The TOP TELECOM news for February is once again
STIMULUS - will it live up to its' hype? Stay
tuned!
Jim Moehnke - Editor
Commerce Dept. issues more
broadband-stimulus funding
The Commerce Department last week released
the winners of about $1.4 billion in
broadband-stimulus funds, with the remaining
grantees to be named soon, the agency said.
The top award of $126.3 million went to West
Virginia for its plan to add about 2,400
miles to the state's fiber network and
expand its microwave public-safety network.
ConnectedPlanetOnline.com
(2/19)
Telecom
executives give stimulus mixed report card: A
panel of telecom executives offered
divergent views on the effectiveness of the
federal government's broadband-stimulus
program, with some saying it helped create
industry jobs, while one maintains its
effect has been "minimal."
Satellite-industry officials have also been
dissatisfied over their lack of funding, but
they were cheered by a new program that
earmarks at least $100 million to help
satellite companies bring broadband to
underserved areas.
Phone +/xchange magazine
(2/19) ,
Space News International
(2/19)
Analysis: Rural telecoms look
for alternatives to stimulus grants
Many rural telecoms that had hoped the
federal broadband-stimulus funds would fuel
their network-build projects have been
forced to locate other avenues to come up
with the money. Industry insiders cite a
number of factors, but largely point to the
government's slow disbursement of the funds
and the steering of grants to middle-mile,
rather than last-mile, applications.
xchange (2/24)
Broadband plan due from FCC
on March 17
The FCC will offer its report March 17 to
create a national broadband plan designed to
provide affordable broadband service to 93
million people, some of whom have access to
the service but have refrained from taking
it because of its cost and fear of
technology. The FCC said about one-third of
the population -- generally seniors, as well
as less-educated and lower-income Americans
-- is more likely to bypass broadband
service.
Reuters (2/23)
After rules change, Qwest studies stimulus
fund anew
Like most of the major carriers, Qwest
Communications has declined to apply for
federal broadband-stimulus grants, but the
company has suggested it might change its
mind after the government tweaked some of
the program's rules, one executive said. The
changes affected a provision that prohibited
"rural" broadband projects within 60 miles
of a city or town. "The good news is that
they seem to have heard us in Washington,
D.C.," said Chuck Ward, Qwest's Colorado
president.
TMCNet.com (2/4)
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Instead
of working harder, be more mindful
Building an effective social-media presence
requires a calm, focused mind and the discipline
to only attempt one thing at a time, writes
Soren Gordhamer. Understanding the difference
between effort and attentiveness, as well as
being able to set priorities, is also key, he
notes.
Mashable (2/17)
Twitter escalates Toyota recall
scandal
Toyota's attempts to downplay problems on some
of its models proved to be no match for the
power of social media, as irate users helped
push the carmaker to launch investigations and
recall millions of vehicles, Matthew DeBord
writes. Twitter users are posting thousands of
Toyota-related messages each day, as consumers
vent publicly about the company's products and
its bungled public relations strategy.
The Big Money (2/17)
Please Rob Me lets you know if
you're giving too much away
Please Rob Me is a Web site that uses humor to
raise awareness about the dangers of giving away
too much information over the Internet. The site
compiles status updates and GPS data from random
users at sites such as Twitter and Foursquare
and sends out an alert when someone makes their
whereabouts too obvious.
TechCrunch (2/17) |
ISPs warn FCC on further Net regulation
AT&T, Verizon Communications and Time Warner Cable on
Monday urged the FCC not to increase its jurisdiction
over Internet issues, saying more regulatory scrutiny
could discourage broadband investment. Joined by
national telecom, cable and wireless trade groups, the
companies wrote a 14-page letter to the agency terming
regulatory rules under consideration as "extremist."
The Washington Post (2/23)
,
The Wall Street Journal/Digits blog
(2/23)
At Frontier, the CEO wants a strong
succession plan
The Wall Street Journal takes an admiring look at
Frontier Communications CEO Maggie Wilderotter's program
to help discover and train the telecom's next CEO. Under
her mentoring program, each of her top executives is
matched with a board of directors member for two years
as a way to improve their leadership skills and keep an
eye on the best corner-office candidates.
The Wall Street Journal (2/22)
Data revenue up at Cincinnati Bell
Cincinnati Bell's data business continued to grow in the
fourth quarter, and its wireline-segment revenue
increased 1% to $193 million, compared with a year
earlier, the regional telecom reported today. Aside from
extraordinary charges, net income remained at 10 cents a
share as revenue dipped 3% to $345 million.
The Cincinnati Enquirer (2/11)
,
American City Business Journals/Cincinnati
(2/11)
Frontier gets green light in Arizona on
Verizon acquisition
The telecom has received approval from the Arizona
Corporation Commission to buy up Verizon's local
wireline operations. The move will boost the network
provider's rural and small-town market base.
Rochester Business Journal (N.Y.)
(2/19) ,
RTT News (2/18)
Windstream boosts subscriber base,
despite profit dip
Windstream reported its latest financials, and while
revenue was better than Wall Street expected, there was
a 7% dip in quarterly profit. The telecom signed on
27,000 Internet subscribers in the quarter, and its
customer base of 1.132 million is 10% higher than a year
earlier. The company enhanced its governance program
with a shareholder advisory vote on executive pay and
now requires executives to return a portion of their
compensation if earnings need to be restated.
Reuters (2/18) ,
MarketWatch (2/18)
Machine turns office papers into toilet
tissue
Japanese firm Oriental has
developed a machine that will transform memos and
business reports into toilet paper. The White Goat
machine costs about $100,000, but the company says it
will save 60 trees a year.CNET
| 02/06
Cisco, ISPs said to prep ultrafast
Internet
Weeks after Google disclosed it would build a
fiber-optic-based broadband network, Cisco Systems is
reportedly doing the same, working with unnamed U.S.
service providers to meet the FCC's goal of delivering
networks that would max out at 100 megabits per second,
according to the Financial Times. Analysts said both
moves were aimed at testing whether consumers would
support an ultrafast broadband system or were satisfied
with their current speeds.
Financial Times (tiered subscription model)
(2/24)
Study: More than 27% of TVs sold in
January can surf the Web
A study from iSuppli shows that 27.5% of people who
bought TVs in January said that they could use that new
device to connect to the Web. Most of the respondents in
that group, nearly 42% of them, said their connectivity
comes via an Internet-enabled TV, while 20.3% connect
through a video game console and 13.2% use a Blu-ray
player.
CEDMagazine.com (2/24)
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InformationWeek (2/24)
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Digital Trends (2/24)
IPad is poised to invade the workplace
IT departments need to prepare for workers to demand to
use the iPad on the job, Enterprise Mobile CEO Mort
Rosenthal argues, particularly among salespersons,
medical staff and other employees who need constant
access to data while on the move. Rosenthal says he
suspects the iPad will require little in the way of
technical support, although it will take some time to
get all the right business applications running in
Apple's closed environment. "The iPhone has really
changed the way we deal with technology. ... The iPad
feels to me like a similar game changer," he says.
CIO.com (2/4)
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U.S. broadband usage jumps 20% in
2 years
The number of U.S. homes with broadband
connections has increased considerably since
2007, according to a U.S. Commerce Department
report that pegged usage at 63.5% as of 2009
compared with just over 50% two years ago.
Broadband connections now account for more than
90% of all Internet service compared with 82% in
2008, according to the report.
Network World (2/16)
Frontier shows DSL, video gains
in quarter
Frontier Communications almost doubled the
number of broadband subscribers it added
compared with the previous quarter, the company
said in reporting fourth-quarter earnings in
which the carrier claimed nearly 636,000 DSL
customers. The carrier also was cheered by the
addition of more than 8,000 Dish Network
subscribers for its bundled-service package.
OneTRAK (2/24)
Comcast moves closer to 100 Mbps
broadband service
Comcast, according to this report, soon will
bond four downstream channels in all of its
systems to offer a superspeedy broadband service
with speeds up to 100 Mbps. The 100 Mbps service
launch date is unclear.
CEDMagazine.com (2/19)
Texas
proves to be a hotbed for AT&T's U-verse
business
Over the last three years, AT&T has signed on
more than 425,000 IPTV subscribers between the
Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth areas, serving an
equal competitive punch to Comcast and Time
Warner Cable. At the end of last year, the
telecom provider had 2.1 million U-verse TV
subscribers.
Multichannel News
(2/17)
Google aims its innovative eye at broadband
services
Is Google aiming to become the next big
broadband provider? Company leaders say no, and
that its pilot tests of broadband service that
promises speeds 100 times greater than today's
network are just innovation at work. "We are not
getting into the [Internet service provider] or
broadband business," said Rick Whitt, telecom
and media counsel at Google. "This is a
business-model nudge and an innovation nudge."
The Washington Post
(2/11) ,
Bloomberg (2/11) |
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Verizon Wireless-Skype
deal signals new smartphone era
Confirming
earlier reports, Verizon Wireless and Skype detailed
their new VoIP-based smartphone association Tuesday that
allows subscribers to download free voice and
videoconferencing applications onto nine handset models
that include the Motorola Droid and BlackBerry Curve.
The deal signals carriers' changing stance on IP-based
voice services. "Where we see revenue growing is from
data services, not voice services," said John Stratton,
chief marketing officer of Verizon Wireless.
Reuters (2/22)
Is security a concern in using Skype in the workplace?
Skype is making a big play for business adoption, with
the beta launch of its Skype for SIP late last year. But
whether small and midsize businesses are keen with the
VoIP technology is still a big question given security
requirements around using the technology.
Network World/CSO (2/4)
Despite subscriber dip, Vonage posts
profit
While the fourth quarter included a loss of 10,131 voice
customers, Vonage posted $223.5 million in revenue, a
slight increase from its $222 million in the third
quarter. It also posted $4.4 million in net income,
compared with a $54.5 million loss in the third quarter.
OneTRAK (2/25) |
WiMAX, beating expectations, should reach
1B by 2011
WiMAX technology will pass more than 1 billion people
globally by the end of next year, a larger penetration
than previously predicted, according to a study from the
WiMAX Forum, which says the 4G system is on pace to
reach 800 million people by year-end. WiMAX now covers
620 million people in 147 countries, but it is
concentrated largely in the Asia-Pacific region.
eWeek.com (2/15)
Sprint adds 3 cities to 2010 WiMAX launch
list
Sprint Nextel said Wednesday that it would add Denver;
Kansas City, Mo.; and Minneapolis, to its 2010 WiMAX
launch targets, joining previously announced New York,
San Francisco and three others as the next cities to
link to the Clearwire network. For its part, Clearwire
said it was on schedule for its network to reach 120
million people by year-end, with Houston next to launch.
Clearwire CEO Bill Morrow said the company intended to
broaden its third-party distribution base this year and
added that entering the handset business remained a
back-burner item.
Electronista (2/24) ,
Wireless Week (2/24) ,
MocoNews.net (2/24)
Sprint to release first WiMAX-enabled
phone in summer
Sprint Nextel will introduce a WiMAX-enabled 4G handset
this summer that will also be compatible with existing
cellular networks, according to a published report. The
carrier will release the phone even while Clearwire's
network has a number of gaps in order to differentiate
itself from its rivals. In a related story, a top Sprint
executive said, "There's a redistribution of IT budgets
in 4G's favor."
PC World/Tech Inciter blog
(2/20)
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