News
• The Cable Center promotes Christman to SVP of marketing, development
By Mike Robuck
The Cable Center announced today that Diane Christman was promoted to senior vice president of marketing and development. Prior to her promotion, she was vice president of marketing and development. Christman, a fundraising professional with 16 years of non-profit experience, joined The Cable Center in 2006 as vice president of development.
In her new job, Christman is responsible for planning, developing and directing all marketing and communications programs, as well as for comprehensive fundraising initiatives for The Cable Center, including the solicitation and stewardship of prospective donors, establishing in-kind donations, and helping to develop and build revenue-generating programs.
"Diane has been an important part of our team at The Cable Center over the past two years, helping to build and strengthen our marketing and development programs," said Larry Satkowiak, The Cable Center's president and CEO. "Her innovative ideas and years of non-profit experience have provided great value to our organization.”
• Verizon intros FiOS TV in Chester, Pa.
By Traci Patterson
Verizon has introduced its FiOS TV service to more than 3,600 households in Chester, Pa.
Verizon currently offers FiOS TV and Internet services to more than 200 communities in Bucks, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery counties in Pennsylvania, and the Philadelphia City Council is considering a cable franchise agreement with Verizon.
Verizon currently provides FiOS TV in parts of California, Delaware, Florida, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, Virginia and Washington State.
• Sprint, iPCS move toward trial
By Evan Koblentz, Wireless Week
Sprint Nextel cannot offer service in iPCS territory, a Cook County, Ill., judge ruled last week, affirming an earlier decision.
Whether the ruling applies to Sprint’s partners, such as Clearwire, is scheduled for courtroom debate beginning March 30, the Arlington Heights, Ill.-based Daily Herald reported. iPCS unsuccessfully tried to prevent the merger from being completed.
Attorneys for iPCS also asked for a summary judgment, which was declined. Instead, the case is headed to trial unless a settlement is reached, a Sprint representative said.
• BroadSoft buys Sylantro
By Brian Santo
BroadSoft has acquired Sylantro, a maneuver that combines two companies that provide hosted voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP) services, largely for phone companies. Terms were not disclosed.
The move is essentially a market consolidation. BroadSoft’s customer list includes KT (Korea Telecom), KPN International, SingTel, Sprint, Telefonica de Espana, Telstra, T-Systems Enterprise Services and Verizon, while Sylantro has AT&T, China Netcom, Qwest, StarHub and Swisscom.
BroadSoft said it intends to support Sylantro's Synergy platform through its direct sales force and authorized Sylantro and BroadSoft partners.
• CSG extends Dish contract
By Traci Patterson
CSG Systems International has agreed to a one-year extension of its current contract with Dish Network through Dec. 31, 2009.
The terms of the one-year extension are consistent with the terms of the current contract: CSG will continue to provide its solutions and services to support Dish’s nationwide residential satellite television customer base.
CSG provides software- and services-based solutions that help clients engage and transact with their customers. The company’s solutions reach more than half of all U.S. households each month and manage more than $36 billion in transactions annually on its clients' behalf.
• FCC Commissioner Taylor Tate departs
By Traci Patterson
FCC Commissioner Deborah Taylor Tate has officially departed from the Commission. She released the following statement:
“In cooperation with my fellow Commissioners, we have made history: implementing successful spectrum auctions, creating a new homeland security bureau, providing broadband grants for rural healthcare and overseeing the digital transition for television. I am extremely proud of our work on behalf of children and families, for persons with disabilities, and for spurring new investment and innovation.
“Looking to the future, I will continue to speak out on issues affecting children and families, from childhood obesity to child online safety, both here and around the world. As a proud citizen of Nashville, Music City USA, I will continue to be dedicated to protecting our stories and storytellers, and to opposing the economic and moral harm of piracy.”
More Broadband Briefs:
• Viacom-TWC tussle on shifting ground
• Cable opposes Ion's bid for must-carry
• Broadstripe descends into Chapter 11
• Digital TV subsidy program running out of money
• Concurrent upgrades server software for advanced ads
• Intel, Adobe team up to bring Flash to TVs
• LG high-def TVs to stream Netflix videos directly
• Verizon, Alltel deal will close Friday
