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Daily news and top headlines for broadband communications engineering and design professionals
360Networks misses interest payments; aborts NetRail deal
June 17, 2001 8:00 pm | by Anne Kerven | Comments360networks won't make that $10.9 million interest payment due today and could be in default if it doesn't come up with the funds in 30 days. The company also won't acquire NetRail as planned. Also, Impsat Fiber Networks Inc. in Buenos Aires announced today it terminated certain contracts with some of 360networks' subsidiaries.
Studies: streaming ads to reach $3.1B; cable ups ad spending
June 17, 2001 8:00 pm | by Anne Kerven | CommentsSpending on all streaming-media-enabled advertising will grow to $3.1 billion by 2005, up from $44 million in 2000, according to the Yankee Group. The growth will be fueled by higher fees from on-demand marketing and increased residential use. BtoBtoC Streaming Media: Helping Companies Streamline Consumer Communications says streaming advertising includes online product information and infomerc...
Gartner steps up on telecom policy
June 17, 2001 8:00 pm | by Anne Kerven | CommentsNow it's official. Gartner Dataquest says the bills in front of Congress this month could restructure the telecom industry, will generate intense debate and said in a statement that "additional regulation is not the answer." Both the Internet Freedom and Broadband Deployment Act of 2001, now with the Rules Committee after last week's trouncing from the Judiciary, and new legislation in the Sena...
Motorola doubles power for cable TV apps
June 17, 2001 8:00 pm | by Anne Kerven | CommentsMotorola Inc. launched its high-output power doubler, a gallium arsenide-based cable TV amplifier for 870 MHz applications. The MHW9187 was designed with the company's high voltage pseudomorphic high electron mobility transistor (HVPHEMT2) process, it says. The MHW9187 delivers an operating bandwidth from 40 MHz to 870 MHz, and is specified for 79-, 112- and 132-channel performance, Motorola sa...
Liberty/IDT in VoIP deal; Net2Phone supplies license
June 14, 2001 8:00 pm | by Anne Kerven | CommentsLiberty Media is dipping into the cable telephony market with two related deals. It will form a joint venture with IDT Corp. to provide telephony services to its international cable affiliates, it reports. Under the agreement, both will have equal equity stakes in the venture, and IDT will control day-to-day operations and appoint most of the directors.
Nortel cuts 10,000 more jobs; issues warning
June 14, 2001 8:00 pm | by Anne Kerven | CommentsNortel Networks' dismal second-quarter update says it will lay off another 10,000 workers by the end of September, suspend dividend distribution after June 29 payments and show a high-than-expected loss. The company says it also will discontinue certain access operations, including its narrowband and broadband access solutions, over the next year.
WOW hand-files Ameritech forms in four cities
June 14, 2001 8:00 pm | by Anne Kerven | CommentsWideOpenWest says today that it completed the transfer application forms for 115 Ameritech New Media franchises. All forms were filed by hand delivery to each local franchise authority earlier this week, WOW says. The filings come as part of WOW's May 23 agreement to purchase Ameritech's cable systems in the Cleveland, Columbus, Detroit and Chicago metro areas.
CityNet wires Indianapolis via sewers
June 13, 2001 8:00 pm | by Anne Kerven | CommentsCityNet Telecommunications Inc. launched a last-mile fiber optic network through Indianapolis' existing sewers. The company is using its Sewer Access Module robot to hook the system up. Under the agreement, CityNet will install the in-sewer system, monitor the sewers' condition after installation and pay the city 2.
OpenTV to acquire Static for $59 M
June 13, 2001 8:00 pm | by Anne Kerven | CommentsOpenTV agreed to acquire Static, a privately held ITV media and entertainment company in London, for about $59 million. Under the stock-and-cash agreement, OpenTV will get all of Static's stock, although about 14 percent of the gross deal value, in ordinary shares, will be held back for certain earn-out provisions, OpenTV reports.
Judiciary votes down Cannon-Conyers, 19-15
June 13, 2001 8:00 pm | by Anne Kerven | CommentsThe House Judiciary Committee yesterday defeated 19 to 15 the Cannon-Conyers bill. HR2120 was sponsored by representatives Chris Cannon (R-Utah) and John Conyers (D-Mich.) in response to provisions of the Tauzin-Dingell bill. Observers say the outcome of the two bills will determine the industries' antitrust issues and how those will be handled in the future.
Court grants Teligent two-week credit extension
June 13, 2001 8:00 pm | by Anne Kerven | CommentsTeligent received approval from a bankruptcy court for a two-week extension of its credit, which allows the company to continue operating, according to court documents. Teligent filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy May 21 and was delisted from NASDAQ June 7. Its chair resigned in late May, after less than a month on the job.
TI touts cable modem reference design
June 12, 2001 8:00 pm | by Anne Kerven | CommentsTexas Instruments Inc. released a cable modem reference design it says will help OEMs develop cable data modems for CableLabs certification. The TNETC405 has complete DOCSIS 1.1-ready hardware and software, flexible residential distribution peripherals and a communications processor, TI says. The company adds that the systems' DOCSIS software API architecture and modular hardware design allow c...
Alopa release may up installs by 20%
June 12, 2001 8:00 pm | by Anne Kerven | CommentsAlopa Networks says its new MetaServ QuickStart will allow cable operators to package, bundle and deliver new or customized services, and increase their daily technical installs by up to 20 percent. The product is an upgrade to the company's MetaServ Provisioning Platform and is "designed to allow the seamless upgrade to full functionality of the (original platform).
Judiciary gives Tauzin-Dingell negative referral
June 12, 2001 8:00 pm | by Anne Kerven | CommentsThe House Judiciary Committee is sending an amended version of the Tauzin-Dingell bill, or the Internet Freedom and Broadband Deployment Act of 2001, to the Committee on Rules with a negative referral. The Rules Committee will vote whether or not the bill will go to the House floor. The negative referral means the committee amended the bill and still determined it "didn't have the power to chan...
20 companies join CableLabs' IPR pool
June 12, 2001 8:00 pm | by Anne Kerven | CommentsCableLabs says 20 companies have joined its royalty-free pool for intellectual property rights in the CableB2B program. The initiative creates specifications to support automating everyday business communication between cable system operators and Internet content providers. The program is modeled after two others at CableLabs, one each for DOCSIS, CableHome and PacketCable.
