IEEE ComSoc SCV Newsletter- January 21, 2008

1.  U.S.  Telecom News and Interviews (also see 4. FCC Developments)

 

Investors Hang Up on Sprint

 

Sprint reported heavy losses in cellphone subscribers and gave a gloomy forecast for 2008. Shares plunged nearly 25%.  Sprint said it would streamline its operations to reflect slowing growth, beginning with 4,000 job cuts in the first half of the year, reductions in outside contractors and the closing of about 8% of its retail stores. The company, which recently hired telecom veteran Dan Hesse to succeed ousted Chief Executive Gary Forsee, expects the moves to save $700 million to $800 million on an annual basis.

 

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120066394692600583.html?mod=telecommunications_primary_hs

 

 

AW Comment:  These huge losses call to question Sprint’s commitment to deploy a nationwide Mobile WiMAX network, which will cost several billion dollars.  Can the company afford such a huge outlay without getting any ROI for several years?

 

http://viodi.com/wordpress/2008/01/14/sprint-wimax/

 

 

Cisco's Chambers sees a new Internet revolution –shift from desk top to web top

 

Chambers says a new Internet revolution is under way, with golden opportunities for smart companies and perilous consequences for businesses that fail to read the tea leaves correctly.  This interview elaborated on the themes expressed at Cisco’s analyst conference last month (see email for link to that report or search on “C-Scape conference report”).

 

In this SJ Mercury News interview, Chambers states, “I think you are about to see the second phase of the Internet. We believe that it will be built around collaboration and Web 2.0 and the evolution of social networking, and it will drive a wave of productivity as well as entertainment changes very similar to what happened from the early '90s through about 2005. We think the nature of work is going to change even more dramatically than the nature of entertainment.”

 

Q: The Internet is already changing the entertainment landscape. How does this fit into your vision?

 

A:  “I believe you are moving from a device, or desktop, mode to a Web-top mode. That means you won't identify with your laptop or your TV, or your iPod, or Xbox game, or whatever. You will think about it more as any device (connected) to any content in whatever format you are comfortable. If that is true, all of a sudden the network plays a hugely different role. You won't know if the information is stored in the data center or on your device.”

 

Q: Cisco is developing a new strategy for the corporate market. What will set it apart?

 

A: “If you've watched, there hasn't been new innovation in high tech for enterprise customers for quite a while. (Vendors) say they have new features, etc. The real issue is, are you driving productivity? Productivity in the U.S. has been relatively flat for, what, three years. This is why (CEOs) look to a Google, and other sources, saying, "I want new innovation."

 

http://www.siliconvalley.com/ci_8025940?nclick_check=1

 

 

Ikanos acquires Centillium’s DSL Technology and Assets for (only) $12M

 

Fremont based Centillium was founded on the premise of DSL being a huge, growing market (as was Globespan Communications and its acquirer Conexant).   Having only been successful in Japan, they have now given up on DSL by selling those assets to Fremont neighbor Ikanos.  Upon closing of the deal, which is expected to take place Q1 2008, Ikanos will acquire Centillium’s DSL business, which includes assets, technology, and the company’s DSL team — and also the DSL customer relationships of Centillium.  After shedding the DSL assets in 1Q08, the company will focus on Optical and VoIP.  Centillium’s end-to-end system-on-chip solutions expedite development time-to-market for “last mile” products, with FTTP and VoIP technologies.

 

http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=109&STORY=/www/story/01-15-2008/0004736437&EDATE=

 

http://sip.tmcnet.com/topics/service-provider-solutions/articles/18605-centillium-selling-dsl-business-ikanos.htm

 

Alcatel-Lucent Services Chief Leaves for Acxiom Corp

 

Alcatel-Lucent announced the first departure from its recently unveiled management committee as John Meyer, head of its services business, left to become chief executive of U.S.-based Acxiom Corp. 

 

Andy Williams will succeed Mr. Meyer as president of the services business at the Franco-American telecommunications-equipment maker. Mr. Williams headed Alcatel-Lucent's network-operations business globally for the services group.  Mr. Williams will join the senior management of a company seeking to steady its performance after three profit warnings in 2007.

 

Alcatel-Lucent's eight-person management committee, unveiled at the end of October, was an attempt by Chief Executive Patricia Russo to carve a leaner top tier of executives from the previous 22-person senior team at the merged company. The tighter team was also intended to ensure greater accountability and avoid some of the slip-ups that plagued the company during the first year after its merger.

 

Alcatel-Lucent's share price has dropped nearly 60% over the past 12 months because of disappointing financial results and fears over the outlook for the telecommunications-equipment market this year.

 

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120059652323698301.html?mod=telecommunications_primary_hs

 

California panel advises rural broadband push

 

A California task force issued a report Thursday calling for aggressive development of broadband services in rural areas as it compared the project's importance to the state's economy to building roads or power supplies.  The group released a study that said 94 percent of California residents have broadband access, one of the best rates in the nation. Still, that leaves more than 1.4 million mostly rural Californians stuck in the Internet's slow lane.

 

Some areas remain isolated from the broadband world even as some centers, such as large parts of Sacramento, enjoy the nation's speediest Internet service.  SureWest Communications has laid fiber-optic cable to more than 108,000 homes in the area, enabling customers to buy service at 10, 20 and even 50 megabits per second.

 

http://www.sacbee.com/103/story/643956.html

 

 

AT&T to offer NY Times via mobile web

 

AT&T's wireless customers will be able to download content from The New York Times at no added cost under a new deal with the newspaper, the carrier said. Users will be able to pull up a range of news, sports and entertainment items from the Times' mobile Web site.  "Consumers want immediate access to breaking news, and a wireless handset is a powerful tool for staying connected and informed, regardless of where people are," said Mark Collins, vice president of consumer data for AT&T's wireless unit.

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/stories/2008/01/21/daily2.html

 

Embarq offers 10 Mbps DSL based Internet access and lowers cost of other tiers

 

Embarq (spun off Sprint Local Division) launched a new tier of high-speed DSL Internet service across much of its service area this week that offers speeds that max out at 10 Mbps. The company is charging $64.95 a month for the service, which is based on ADSL2+ technology.  The company lowered the price of their 3Mbps/640kbps tier from $44.95 to $39.95. They've also lowered the price of their 5Mbps/758kbps tier from $54.95 to $49.95.

 

 

 

2.  China, India, and Asia Telecom Markets

 

China Telecom posts first full-year subscriber dip- Super Surprise!

 

Fierce price competition from wireless carriers hit China Telecom in 2007 as the fixed-line carrier lost 1.48 million customers in December, the fifth month that it had suffered a decline, and, for the first time, reported a drop in users for the year. Separately, China Mobile said it added 6.6 million subscribers in December.

 

China Telecom is promoting broadband services to counter the slump in its fixed-line business as mobile carriers attract more customers. The state-owned company's shares have risen 41 percent in the past six months on speculation it may gain a wireless license as part of an expected reorganization of phone companies to spur competition.

 

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a4vCbyY_dbHw&refer=home

 

Vodafone earmarks $2 billion a year for India expansion

 

Vodafone will spend $6 billion over three years on improving the scope and quality of its Indian network, said CEO Arun Sarin, who also disclosed that Vodafone would introduce new services, but declined to offer further details. Sarin tagged the company's goal as reaching 100 million subscribers, from 40 million, and said he hoped the spectrum allocation issue would be resolved soon.   While in India, he said "We shall be investing $2 billion annually for the next three years on our Indian operations... We have set a target of reaching 100 million subscriber base from the current level of 40 million,"

 

On the thorny issue of radio spectrum allocation, Sarin said: "We hope the issue will be resolved at the earliest... We need more spectrum as the spectrum and the capital expenditure go hand in hand. We have presented our views to the Indian government. We are very positive about the government," he said, adding that "we have received spectrum ourselves, in six out of seven circles... so that we can build a national footprint here.”

 

http://www.cellular-news.com/story/28722.php

 

Forecast: Asia to Dominate Mobile Wimax Market - over 50% of Subscribers by 2013 according to Juniper Research

 

Asia will dominate the mobile WiMAX market by reaching 40 million customers in five years who will account for more than half of the world market for the 802.16e technology, according to a new report from Juniper Research. The study argues that WiMAX is particularly suited for underdeveloped regions of countries such as India, Korea, Pakistan and Australia, while government backing will fuel its growth in Taiwan.

 

The new report analysed over 30 countries and found that the Mobile WiMAX 802.16e market will grow to $23bn by 2013. The report confirmed that the market is currently very active in all regions of the world with trials and network contracts being announced on an almost daily basis. M-Taiwan for example is a national project to establish a networked information society and cultivate IT-related industries in the domestic market: it includes six WiMAX licences across Taiwan.

 

http://www.cellular-news.com/story/28635.php

 

http://www.marketwire.com/mw/release.do?id=810828

 

3.  ITU-T Progress on IPTV and NGN

 

ITU moves forward on IPTV standards

 

The International Telecommunications Union is playing host to more than 1,200 IPTV-oriented companies this week in Seoul, South Korea, as a global consensus has emerged on the need to establish standards to develop greater product interoperability. The ITU says it believes the introduction of standards will cut expenses for companies that have to integrate conflicting devices.

 

 

http://telephonyonline.com/iptv/news/itu-iptv-standards-0117/

 

http://www.iptv-news.com/content/view/1588/64/

 

ITU-T SG13 Revises NGN Roadmap document at Seoul Meeting

 

The NGN roadmap is an informative document that organizes NGN-related documents by each item, stage, and Release.   The purpose of the NGN-roadmap document is to identify the Recommendation set of ITU-T’s NGN release x. 

 

 

4.  FCC Developments

 

FCC Chief Continues Cable -Industry Fight –He does not appear to be winning!

 

Cable companies are preparing for another knock-down fight with the Federal Communications Commission and its chairman, Kevin Martin, to fend off new agency efforts to rein in the industry.   Mr. Martin says something needs to be done to bring cable rates down, and he has tried in several ways as chairman to make that happen, albeit with limited success. He has indicated he intends to stay until a new administration takes over, so the cable industry now faces a raft of new proposals and inquiries.

 

As a result, Comcast Corp. -- which has frequently sparred with Mr. Martin -- and other cable operators are bracing for a fight. 

 

AW Comment:  If you have checked your Comcast digital cable bill lately or tried to get help from customer service, you must be quite disappointed (or outraged, like me!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120061749906299245.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

 

 

FCC Chairman Martin: Economy could damper 700 MHz spectrum bidding

 

Kevin Martin said Tuesday that the struggling economy could discourage telecom companies from bidding aggressively at next week's auction of wireless frequencies. "Is it an ideal time to necessarily be conducting an auction? I'm not so sure," Martin told reporters.  Martin's comments came less than a week after the key potential bidder -Frontline Wireless - dropped out of the wireless spectrum auction.  Frontline had pledged to build a nationwide wireless network to be shared with public safety organizations.

 

The auction is scheduled to begin on January 24 and has been expected to raise at least $10 billion for the U.S. government from airwaves being returned by television broadcasters as they move to digital from analog signals in early 2009.

 

AW Comment: It may be a huge disappointment for the FCC and U.S. government.

 

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22671891/

 

http://viodi.com/wordpress/2008/01/10/700-mhz-auction/#comments

 

FCC ready to renew tests of unlicensed “White Spaces”

 

The FCC will likely begin new tests on unlicensed frequencies by the end of the month, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin told reporters January 15^th.  The agency is deciding whether to approve petitions from technology companies that would allow unlicensed portable devices to use so-called white spaces, or unused frequencies, between digital-TV channels.  A number of the commissioners have expressed their support for allowing the devices so long as they do not interfere with DTV reception. Computer companies are pushing for the devices, while broadcasters argued -- with those early FCC tests as ammunition -- that the devices will interfere with those beautiful DTV pictures, and that the risk of that happening and interfering with the DTV transition is too great.

 

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6522909.html?industryid=47174