ADVA buys Covaro
Ethernet gear maker ADVA Optical Networking announced a deal to buy Covaro Networks for up to $24 million. The move reflects the rise of the Ethernet access sector, which lately has been gaining steam. Light Reading (10/17)   
 |  |  |  |  |
 |  |  |
 | | ADTRAN's Aggregation for IPTV
| |  |
 |  |
 |
 |  |  |  |  |
 | Business & Industry Watch |  |  |
 |  |
 |  |
Nortel taps Zafirovski as chief
Nortel Networks has named Mike Zafirovski to succeed Bill Owens as president and CEO of the equipment maker. The switchover will take place Nov. 15. Light Reading (10/17)   
Palm, RIM strike a deal
Palm Inc. and Research In Motion said they have finalized a deal to outfit Palm's Treo 650 smartphones with RIM's BlackBerry Connect e-mail service. The companies said they expect devices to hit the market in early 2006. The New York Times (10/17), Reuters (10/17)   
Report: IP/DSL set-top shipments to boom
Shipments of IP/DSL set-top boxes will hit 16.9 million in 2009, up from 1.7 million in 2004, according to a report by In-Stat. The report also says there will be a shaking out of the set-top vendor market and some of the weaker players will not survive. Telephony Online (10/17)   
Skype sees Microsoft, Yahoo! as challengers
Skype Technologies CEO Niklas Zennstroem yesterday said he sees Microsoft and Yahoo! as Skype's biggest competitors in the VoIP market. "What will happen is that someone who is very good will get acquired by the big guys," Zennstroem said. "Microsoft is very serious about gaining a larger slice of the Internet phone market." New York Post (10/17)   
Yahoo! joins pursuit of AOL
Yahoo! is joining the fray of bidders for America Online. In recent days, a joint bid by Google and Comcast expressed interest in purchasing a media stake in AOL and Microsoft has been in talks with Time Warner about placing its search on AOL and combining it with its MSN service. The Washington Post (10/15), CNET (10/17), Los Angeles Times (10/17)   
A possible split for AOL: Even though AOL's dial-up and broadband ISP business reportedly earned more than $1 billion in profit on $7.5 billion in revenue in 2004, AOL's suitors are queuing up not for the connectivity, but for the content provided by the network of Web sites on AOL.com. This raises the possibility that the two wings of AOL might split as a prelude to a sale. The Wall Street Journal (10/17)
Spirent may seek acquisitions
Spirent Communications CEO Anders Gustafsson said the testing company might seek acquisitions as part of its strategy to combat falling DSL prices. Gustafsson said Spirent would increasingly target wireless and triple-play services, both of which are considered growth markets. Reuters (10/16)   
 |  |  |  |  |
 |  |  |
 | | Don't Let Your Customers Walk Away! Free industry report.
| |  |
 |  |
 |
TELECOM '05: A preview of what's next -- register now and save
Chief executives from some of the most innovative communications companies in the world will be at TELECOM '05 at the Venetian Hotel and Convention Center in Las Vegas next week. "With strong carrier support, a heavy-hitting speaker lineup, wide-ranging conference programming and a dynamic exhibit floor, TELECOM '05 covers every base for busy communications professionals," said USTelecom President Walter McCormick. Register by Friday and save $300. 
 |  |  |  |  |
 | Hot Topics |  |  |
 |  |
| Top five news stories selected by USTelecom dailyLead readers in the past week. |  |
(International Herald Tribune)
(eWEEK.com)
(Light Reading)
(The New York Times)
(MediaPost Communications)
Results based on number of times each story was clicked by readers.
Broadband over power line making inroads in U.S. market
In Europe, it's common for utilities to offer Internet service over power lines. Now the idea -- called broadband over power line, or BPL -- is catching on in the U.S., posing a competitive threat to cable and telephone companies. The New York Times (10/17)   
Mobile phones change lives in Africa
The mobile phone has been a godsend for the millions of people living in rural towns in Africa where traditional phone service previously had been too expensive or just unavailable. In particular, the growth of wireless penetration has dramatically altered the way people on the continent do business, making it exponentially more efficient. According to the U.N.'s International Telecommunication Union, 74.6% of all African phone subscriptions last year were to mobile phone services. San Jose Mercury News (Calif.)/Associated Press (10/16)   
 |  |  |  |  |
 |  |  |
 | | Building an IP Video Network Just Got Easier:
| |  |
 |  |
 |
Oregon lays claim to world's largest Wi-Fi network
The world's largest Wi-Fi network can be found not in a major city but in the hinterlands of Oregon, where some towns don't even have traffic lights. The network, which was built by Iranian immigrant Fred Ziari for $5 million and is free to the general public, blankets the region's high desert landscape with about 700 square miles of wireless connectivity. Ziari is recouping the cost of the network by selling Internet access to municipalities, and to businesses such as farms. Wired/Associated Press (10/2005)   
 |  |
 | LeadQuote |
 |  |
 |  |
 |
 | From what we get, we can make a living; what we give however, makes a life."
|
 |
|
 |  |

|