• Verizon’s FiOS TV service wins 1^st franchise in Wash.
By Traci Patterson

Consumers in Lynnwood, Wash., will soon have access to Verizon’s FiOS TV service, thanks to a newly approved agreement authorizing the telco to offer its video service in the area. Lynnwood is the first community in Washington State to vote on a video franchise for Verizon, and the company said that it plans to begin offering FiOS TV in the community later this summer.

The approval gives Verizon the authority to offer FiOS TV to the 15,000 households in Lynnwood. Many customers in the community are already receiving Verizon’s FiOS Internet service, which delivers download speeds of up to 50 Mbps.

Verizon already provides FiOS TV in parts of California, Delaware, Florida, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas and Virginia.

• SK Telecom allegedly looking to buy Sprint Nextel
By Mike Robuck

Korea’s largest mobile carrier, SK Telecom, is mulling the purchase of Sprint Nextel, according to media reports.

SK Telecom’s stocks dropped today after CNBC reported that it was negotiating to buy Sprint Nextel. While the two companies refused to comment, Reuters reported that the two companies are having preliminary talks about collaborating on technology but that there were no acquisition discussions.

Sprint Nextel, the nation’s third-largest mobile service, reportedly spurned a $5 billion investment by SK Telecom and a group of private equity firms last year.

• Azalea, Wav partner up to sell Azalea’s products
By Traci Patterson

Azalea Networks has inked an agreement with Wav Inc. to distribute Azalea's network intelligent broadband wireless infrastructure products. According to Azalea, Wav brings a strong relationship with wireless and security integrators to Azalea's distribution channel.

Azalea's patent-pending technology is suited for service provider applications that need to deliver voice, video and data with superior performance, capacity and cost-effectiveness while offering the flexibility to expand, grow or modify a network at any given time, the company said.

Azalea provides network intelligence to its broadband wireless infrastructure through a wireless routing technology. Wav is a full-service, value-added distributor of wireless broadband, wireless LAN, wireless security, data collection hardware, mobile computing products, rugged computing products, rugged docking stations and vehicle mounts, IP video surveillance, mobile printers and VoIP technology.

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