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AT&T uses banking software to entice Internet use
AT&T is offering mobile-phone subscribers free banking software. The carrier hopes to attract new customers with the service and entice them to sign up for Web-access service plans. Bloomberg (3/27)

Business & Industry Watch

FiOS to launch a "new breed" of local TV channel
Verizon Communications will roll out a local channel serving the Washington area via its FiOS video service. The launch represents the first TV channel that will be owned and operated by Verizon. Broadcasting & Cable (3/26)

Sprint reveals more WiMAX markets
Sprint Nextel added a dozen more cities to its planned WiMAX launch set for early next year. The carrier also announced the Chipset Ecosystem program and said Samsung had signed on as a supplier of PC cards for the network. CNET (3/26)

Whitacre steers AT&T ship
With the BellSouth merger deal behind him, Edward Whitacre believes the company is on track, especially in its approach to broadband, deciding to take fiber to the node. The New York Times (3/27)

• AT&T secures Lifetime, Masters for U-verse: AT&T inked a carriage deal with Lifetime Entertainment Services that will add the suite of Lifetime channels to U-verse. AT&T also forged a deal for the 2007 Masters Tournament, which will span the telecom's networks, from video to mobile. Multichannel News (3/26)

New Yahoo! service makes adding mobile ads easier
Yahoo! has announced plans to release Yahoo! Mobile Publisher Services, a set of tools aimed at Web sites trying to bring advertising to mobile phones. Yahoo! will initially partner with MobiTV, Opera -- whose browser is popular on phones in Europe and Asia -- and a U.S. yellow-pages service for mobile-phone users called Go2. The New York Times/Reuters (3/27)

NXTcomm Announces Conference Affiliates
NXTcomm 2007 is the global forum for the new business of information, communications and entertainment technology (ICET). Attend these outstanding conferences, all @ NXTcomm: ATIS TechThink Technology Conference; BICSI North: Central U.S. and Canadian Region Meeting; Digital Hollywood; FierceMarkets: WiMAX Strategies 2007; IEC Communications Forums; Stifel Nicolaus Investor Conference; Telecommunications Magazine: IP Video Village; Wiley Rein: A Communications and TechLaw Conference. Contact the appropriate conference affiliate about the availability of speaking opportunities. Register today!

Technology Trends

Ethernet needs to evolve
Ethernet holds potential for telecom operators, but according to officials at Telecom Italia and BT Group, the technology needs to move beyond being an enterprise application and overcome scalability, reliability and traffic engineering issues before it can be labeled as carrier class. Telecommunications (3/26)

IBM, 3Com team up for VoIP-messaging interoperability
IBM and 3Com aim to advance VoIP by make IBM's Lotus Sametime and 3Com's IP PBX interoperable. The overall goal, according to the companies, is to deliver a solution that enables businesses to integrate VoIP with business applications. Network World (3/26)

Technology lets voice customers bypass costly services
The research firm Analysys reports that fixed-mobile convergence and VoIP will enable corporate customers to cut voice spending 30%. "Operators need to come up with innovative services to minimize the revenue leakage," the report's author said. America's Network (3/27)

U.S. government backs IPv6, but security issues linger
The National Institute of Standards and Technology is promoting the need for more IPv6 security products to hit the market. The U.S. government is calling on civilian and defense agencies to update their networks to support IPv6 by mid-2008. NewsFactor Network (3/27)

Symbian: New OS will expand beyond smartphones
Symbian has announced an updated version of its mobile-device operating system that the company says makes better use of memory and supports push e-mail. Symbian OS 9.5 will be cheaper so manufacturers can use it in lower-end phones, the company added. CNET (3/26)

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Regulatory & Legislative

AT&T, FCC agree to revised BellSouth merger terms
AT&T's merger with BellSouth has officially closed, after the FCC accepted suggested amended terms to the deal, including AT&T's dropping a provision that would have required its rivals to offer AT&T reduced wholesale rates in certain areas. The Wall Street Journal/Dow Jones Newswires (3/26)

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