NL International Briefs

Government aid to France Télécom under attackEuropean regulators want an investigation into the legality of the French government’s bailout of France Télécom. The Chirac government pledged EUR 8.79 billion (nearly $14 billion) to the telco, which is also weighing a EUR 2-billion (about $3.1 billion) bond issue.The French government holds a majority stake in the incumbent. Europeans warn Germans about telecom deregulationThe European Commission has told the German government it must deregulate local phone service and speed up its local loop deregulation. German ILEC Deutsche Telekom is selling 120 million shares in its T-Online Internet division in an attempt to reduce its debt load. The move will reduce Deutsche Telekom’s stake in T-Online from 81.7% to 73.5%. DSL subscriptions increase by 5 million in late 2002Global DSL subscribers grew by five million in the third quarter of this year to 30.6 million, DSL Forum reports. It projects 36 million users by the end of the year. Among the more active international players are British Telecom, which is bringing ADSL to rural areas in Scotland and Wales; Deutsche Telekom, which recently signed on its 3 millionth ADSL customer in limited rollout; Belgacom, which now boasts 500,000 ADSL clients, far above its original target; and Britain’s Telewest Broadband, which has 250,000 subscribers. Down under, customer satisfaction in telecom is downThe Australian Communications Authority released a survey finding customer satisfaction with telecom service in the country has fallen in the past year. The regulator reported 26% of households and 32% of small business were unhappy with the level of customer service they had received. ITU to help telecom, broadcast rebuilding in AfghanistanThe International Telecommunication Union is providing emergency support to Afghanistan to help it rebuild its telecom and broadcasting infrastructure. The ongoing war in the country has deprived the nation of skilled workers who can operate the systems. Vivendi buys British Telecom stake in France’s CegetelVivendi Universal is exercising its pre-emptive rights to buy British Telecom’s 26% share of Cegetel. This will give the French firm 70% of the private telco. CLEC use of unbundled loops rises in U.S. in 2002, FCC saysThe Federal Communications Commission says that 51% of CLEC access lines were provisioned through unbundled loops leased from ILECs. The 10.9 million lines are a jump from the 7.6 million reported in 2001. Norwegian ILEC reorganizes by beginning of next yearNorwegian incumbent Telenor will be restructured by January 1 in order to create a stronger company. A separate Norwegian market area will be set up, in which all sales and marketing activities for the wireline and wireless areas will be joined. Dutch telcos reach deal on 0900 number abuseA group of telcos operating in the Netherlands has reached an agreement, coming into effect next February, to handle the abuse of 0900 numbers. The 18 companies will make a list of fraudulent users, inform each other of abuses and will refund costs to a platform holder if a number is abused. Net2Phone and Liberty start next phase of Puerto Rican VoIPNet2Phone and Liberty Cablevision of Puerto Rico have launched the second phase of their end-to-end VoIP service, which began last summer. Now up to 4,000 customers will be able to use services such as call waiting, caller ID, DA, and E911. The service is available through a per-minute billing plan or a flat rate regime. Telecom Italia introduces video calling over DSLTelecom Italia has launched a broadband video communication service. Anyone who subscribes to the telco’s Alicephone service can place a video phone call to another Alice customer through their PCs.

NL International Briefs

News | December 16, 2002

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NL International Briefs

News | December 16, 2002

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ISED spends $73 million on two fibre projects in New Brunswick

CRTC says wholesale access is having ‘positive impacts’ amidst job losses, spending cuts in telecoms sector

FCM calls for greater cell and internet coverage in north

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