• FairPoint closes Verizon purchase
By Traci Patterson
FairPoint Communications has closed its purchase of Verizon’s wireline and Internet operations in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. FairPoint said that the deal makes it the eighth-largest phone company in the U.S. Verizon stockholders now collectively own approximately 60 percent of FairPoint common stock.
The FairPoint-Verizon deal was first announced more than a year ago, and regulators decreased the price from $2.7 billion to about $2.3 billion. In January, the deal was approved by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) (story here). Verizon has also completed the spin-off of shares of Northern New England Spinco Inc. to its stockholders.
Spinco held specified assets and liabilities that were used in Verizon's local exchange business and related activities in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont.
• Sprint chooses Nokia Siemens for subscriber database solution
By Traci Patterson
Sprint has selected Nokia Siemens Networks for the implementation of a subscriber database solution, which Sprint said will simplify operations and provide a more individualized service to enhance the customer experience.
Nokia Siemens’ solution includes the Apertio One-Network Directory Server (One-NDS), which will enable the telco to operate a Subscriber Profile System (SPS) based on a single, real-time common subscriber database. And the capability to integrate new applications by plugging in extensions to the core data model, without service interruption, gives Sprint greater agility to adapt to changing markets, the telco said.
The platform also will support a host of IP and IMS-based services and applications over Sprint’s Xohm WiMAX network.
• Rentrak adds Canada’s Rogers to OnDemand Essentials list
By Traci Patterson
Rentrak Corp. has added Rogers Cable to its North American video-on-demand (VOD) household footprint.
Rogers, Canada’s largest cable operator, will use Rentrak’s OnDemand Essentials tracking and reporting system to view and analyze on-demand content. Rentrak’s VOD data represents 45 million set-top boxes (STBs) from 23 MSOs.
The deal with Rogers provides Rentrak's existing U.S.-based content provider customers with performance data from Canadian operators, Rentrak said. The agreement also opens the door to Canadian content provider prospects that do not have distribution in the U.S.
• Brix, Ditech merge VoIP quality products
By Brian Santo
Brix Networks is going to integrate Ditech Networks’ Experience Intelligence (EXi) technology into its BrixCall advanced call signaling analysis and media correlation application.
EXi is used to measure real-time voice quality. EXi quantifies the impact of voice quality impairments caused by the places where people make calls, codec impairments, packet loss and a wide variety of mobile devices, such as phones and headsets. The combined system will enable voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP) providers to view how voice quality impairments – such as echo, mismatched speech levels and background noise – impact subscribers’ quality of experience (QoE).
At the same time, Brix becomes part of Ditech’s EXi Everywhere Partner Program.
More Broadband Direct:
• RCN upgrades VOD portal with SeaChange equipment
• Survey: VOD, HD main quality concerns for MSOs
• Juniper expands its mobile backhaul solution
• Cinea’s solution enables traceable forensic watermarking of VOD content
• SCTE begins work on cable FTTP standards
• Broadband Briefs for 3/31/08
