NL International News Briefs

FCC to fine AT&T US$788,000 for Do Not Call violationsThe Federal Communications Commission plans to fine AT&T Corp. US$788,000 for violating the Do Not Call rules. The FCC says the telco called 29 consumers on 78 occasions despite their presence on the list. Nippon T&T to merge two broadband divisionsNippon Telegraph and Telephone will form a new company to take over the operations of NTT Broadband Initiative and the web portal operator NTT-X. The new firm will start operations in December. Tyco International Ltd.to sell telecom assetsTyco International Ltd. is selling Tyco Global Network, its 60,000-km undersea fibre grid, considered the largest network in the world. The former CEO/chair Dennis Kozlowski and CFO Mark Swartz are currently on trial for looting Tyco’s funds and hiding millions in secret payments from shareholders. ITU approves new optical fibre capacity standardThe International Telecommunication Union has adopted a new global standard that will permit network operators to increase the capacity of optical fibre. The group hopes that this will result in savings of up to 30% for those employing coarse wave division multiplexing technology. Broadband numbers increase in the United StatesSeveral American broadband deployers have noted a marked increase in subscribers for both DSL and cable modems. Comcast added 472,000 cable users in the most recent quarter; Cox Communications reports 169,290 new subscribers; while SBC Communications added 365,000 DSL users and Verizon Communications won 185,000 new customers. Several other cablecos and telcos are expected to release their figures in the weeks to come. ILECs provide vast majority of European broadband linesIncumbent telcos provide 70% of the high-speed Internet connectivity in Europe, a new survey finds. The European Competitive Telecommunications Association says only 5% of the 17.1 million lines are provided through local loop unbundling. FCC hears calls for national strategy to replace VoIP regimeThe Federal Communications Commission has been holding hearings in Washington D.C. on Voice over Internet Protocol policy. Most of the witnesses advocate the introduction of a national strategy rather than the state-by-state patchwork currently in force. Birch Telecom launches phone, Internet bundles in MidwestBirch Telecom of Kansas City MO has introduced a bundle of local, LD and high-speed Internet service over its own network in Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas. The company is targeting small- and medium-sized businesses. Infonet reports Q2 2003 and first half financialsInfonet Services Corp. reported revenues of US$151.3 million for Q2 2003, up from the US$142.8 million in the same period one year ago. Revenue for the first six months was US$300.3 million, a jump from the US$290.1 million recorded in the first half of 2002. D.C. 911 director forced to resign over racist languageThe director of the 911 communications centre in the District of Columbia quit his job after apologizing for using racist remarks to describe people who misused the emergency line. Howard Baker, who did not reveal what the terms used were, categorized his remarks as "probably the most stupid mistake of my life and one that I will regret for the rest of it." Japanese turn hand into handheld deviceNTT DoCoMo is developing a wristwatch phone that will turn the user’s finger into an earpiece, the al-Jazeera network reports. The Japanese device will convert digital signals into vibrations that are transmitted into the bones of the hand.

NL International News Briefs

News | November 10, 2003

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