There was one section of spectrum that failed to sell earlier this year during the big 700 MHz spectrum auction held by the FCC. The D-Block, often dubbed the public safety portion of the spectrum, was being auctioned under the condition that the buyer must build out an interoperable emergency communications network as part of the deal. Very few buyers were interested in this and the spectrum block failed to meet its reserve price at auction so it wasn t sold.

FCC Chief Kevin Martin has announced that the D-block will be reauctioned with terms that may be more favorable to potential bidders. It will be auctioned off as a block with a minimum reserve price of $750 million which is about half the previous reserve price. However, it will also be offered for auction as 58 single regional licenses instead of only as one block.

Back in 2006, a court determined that Echostar was violating TiVo s patents for certain DVR technology. The company was ordered to pay out damages but Echostar is still appealing the matter. TiVo recently asked the court to find Echostar in contempt for continuing to use the patent-infringing technology and also requested the court to order Echostar to pay $220 million in damages that have been incurred since the jury verdict has been on appeal. The judge took the matter under consideration and said that he hopes to have a decision by October 1st but may not have one until sometime much later this year.
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People who are afraid that they might get caught and fined for their BitTorrent use may find themselves getting sucked into a recent email scam which preys on this fear. Emails are being sent out claiming to come from anti-piracy group MediaDefender which inform the recipient that their illegal filesharing is being tracked. The person is supposed to open up an attachment for information about the violations which, of course, ends up actually being a virus. These emails are apparently being randomly sent out; their success points to the frequency of BitTorrent use and the widespread fear of being caught for illegal downloads.
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A satellite that successfully launched yesterday is designed to send high-resolution color satellite imagery back to Earth for the benefit of the U.S. Government as well as for Google. The Geo-Eye 1 satellite is gathering information for the U.S. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency for the purpose of national security. However, Google has a deal in place that gives it exclusive access to the imagery for the purpose of improving mapping on Google Earth and Google Maps. It will take 1-2 months for Google to start receiving that high-detail imagery. Google s founders were on-site to watch the launch which isn t a bad way to celebrate Google s 10th birthday!
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Microsoft is working on building a network system that will make accessing Wi-Fi in vehicles much easier and more reliable. Dubbed Vi-Fi, the system relies on a software code that sits over the 802.11 interface to coordinate a cluster of base stations. What this means is that your moving vehicle would no longer be relying on communication with a single access point like it does now but would be able to communicate with multiple access points (although only one at a time) using a probabilistic approach that keeps the car connected to the access point most likely to give it the best connection. This is designed to reduce the problems that people have with losing wireless signals in cars which would improve all vehicle-based Wi-Fi including wireless VoIP calling. Microsoft s tests were successful in improving performance by a factor of two with web browsing happening much more quickly and voice calls over Wi-Fi being much clearer and consistent in sound. The company says that the system would be fairly easy for any Wi-Fi vendor to begin implementing and is something that may benefit other poor-signal areas in addition to vehicle-based Wi-Fi.
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NBC did a variety of different things to handle the high demand for Olympics video content that was streamed on their website. One of those things was to have users download Microsoft s web browser plugin Silverlight in order to be able to view content. Now that NBC is beginning to offer some NFL video content, they ve decided to ditch Silverlight and return to the use of Adobe Flash. The cited reason is that approximately 98% of Internet-connected computers already have Adobe Flash installed but reports indicate that the switch caused problems for broadband viewers who experienced buffering issues, fuzzy viewing and frozen frames when trying to watch the game online.
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It s been five years since the big Enron broadband scandal in which criminal charges were filed against a number of executives for misrepresentation of how advanced the network was and inflated sales of stock related to that misrepresentation. In 2005, several of the executives involved got acquittals or faced hung juries. Three of those executives are facing a second round of trials after a 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied their request to have the remaining charges against them thrown out. They had trial date sets for November and January which a judge has just postponed so that they can take their request to an appeal before the U.S. Supreme Court. If that request is denied, their new trials should take place in December and March.
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When it was announced that the Google Android platform would launch with the HTC Dream on T-Mobile s network, many eyebrows were raised at the choice to go with a carrier that has such a small 3G footprint. However, T-mobile has been working quietly on developing that network and has now announced the release of their first HSDPA handset, the Sony Ericsson TM506. This phone is the first of T-mobile s phones to allow third-party Java applications to access the Internet which speed tests have shown is being done at speeds exceeding 700 kbps. Incidentally one report (with somewhat fuzzy results) has said that the U.S. is now caught up to Western Europe in the adoption of 3G.
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Two women who were facing court charges in Denmark for illegal filesharing have successfully used the defense that their Wi-Fi had been piggybacked by unknown users and that they therefore are not responsible for any illegal p2p sharing that occurred on their connections. Both women admitted that they had p2p software on their computers but insisted that they weren t the ones doing the filesharing. The court agreed that it was not their responsibility to pay fines for filesharing that they couldn t be proven to have committed themselves. This is not the first case in which this ruling has occurred. A previous case in Germany found the same thing and now a case in the UK may try to use that same defense. With Wi-Fi theft becoming a serious crime in the U.S. those people accused of filesharing here may want to consider the defense.
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Video site Joost launched successfully but then had to severely scale back plans for growth due in part to the fact that the service s bandwidth consumption caused problems for many people during beta testing. The company had been quiet for a little while but has now made the big announcement that they are switching away from their software-based model and towards a new web-based video-viewing experience similar to that offered by Hulu.

Some say that Joost s ship has already sailed and that the new service won t take off despite the fact that it s moved to the model of Internet video viewing that people today seem to favor. One complaint is that some software is technically still required for the new Joost. A bigger issue is the fact that Hulu has been so successful in coming to dominate this industry and has agreements in place with content providers that allows for a big edge over Joost. To combat this latter issue, Joost is implementing a social networking aspect to the site to set itself apart from Hulu. The new site will open up to beta testing in a couple of weeks.
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Kevin Martin could be leaving his position as head of the FCC within a couple of months depending upon the outcome of the presidential election. If Obama wins, Martin is expected to almost immediately give his position over to one of the FCC s democrats. If McCain wins, there will be some wiggle room in terms of how long he sticks around but he doesn t want to take his chances on covering some major issues before that election takes place. One report lists four cable-industry priorities for Martin between now and then: program access, program carriage, pole-attachment in favor of telcos and wholesale a la carte programming. The a la carte issue has been a priority to Martin for a long time and is believed to be the issue that he is most likely to focus on in the next few months.
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US startup launches online airwaves market theregister.co.uk
Was EarthLink's failed citywide Wi-Fi a blessing in disguise? News.com
Consumers dig mobile broadband: 3G device ownership up 80% arstechnica.com
Telefonica to provide broadband access via fiber despite open network protests lightwave.com
VoIP Enhancements Coming to iPhone wi-fiplanet.com
Retrials of 3 ex-Enron broadband execs postponed chron.com
Joost To Kill Desktop Client gigaom.com
Sophos DNS snafu creates update problems theregister.co.uk
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Take two competing corporate cultures, add a dash of snobbery and two very distinct leadership styles, add very stiff-and cheap-competition from China to taste, and, finally, squeeze in a twist of tepid industry demand. Shake or stir and serve. What you get is something less than a perfect martini. In the case of Alcatel-Lucent, the product of a decidedly unsavory merger in 2006 that has spawned six straight losing quarters, it's an offering that some experts see as something between "struggling" and "beyond redemption."

Alca-Lu finally had enough and forced out its American CEO Pat Russo and French chairman Serge Tchuruk, replacing them with a pair of Europeans they hope blend better than the last ingredients. For its new Dutch CEO Ben Verwaayen and French Chairman Philippe Camus, the task of turning around the troubled telecom will be daunting.

For more:
- see the Economist story

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Verwaayen gets Alcatel-Luscent top spot. Verwaayen report
Russo, Tchuruk mixed like lemon and cream. Russo report
CEO,   chairman step down at Alca-Lu as losses continue. Alcatel-Luscent report
Could Alcatel-Lucent rule change doom Russo? Russo article
Alcatel-Lucent shareholders ease rules for CEO removal. Alcatel-Lucent story

As it struggles to retain fixed-line customers who've been abandoning landlines in record numbers, Embarq yesterday announced it was offering customers a new service that allows them to screen voice mail as callers leave it.

When a caller starts to leave a message, the customer is notified with a distinctive ring, and EMBARQ VMESSAGE displays on the customer's Caller ID. When the customer picks up the phone they will hear, "EMBARQ Call Screening is on; to speak directly with the caller, press any key." The customer then hears the calling party's message as it is being recorded and can press any key to speak with that party.

Voice mail on landlines is now used in about one third of U.S. households, says Yankee Group. That's an 18 percent in 2003, and landline voice mail is rapidly replacing answering machines as the de facto home secretary of choice.

The new service is designed to retain customers by making their home phone service more appealing, Harry Campbell, Embarq's president of consumer markets, told the Wall Street Journal. "The ability to screen calls, and answer them if they choose to, is actually pretty important, and it's one of those things you can't do on your wireless phone."

For more:
- see the Wall Street Journal story

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There is hope for landline industry. Landlines editorial
More bad news for telcos. Telco report
Verizon offers landline-less bundles. Verizon report

As expected, Comcast is appealing the Federal Communications Commission's August decision to sanction the cableco for throttling P2P traffic and violating net neutrality principles.

The Philadelphia-based company is arguing that the FCC can't sanction it for violating a principle, only a rule, and since no FCC rule exists on net neutrality, the issue is moot.

The FCC ordered Comcast to stop blocking the traffic by year's end and to provide it with more details of its network management practices. It didn't levy a fine against the company. Comcast has said it will abide by the FCC ruling and also is in the process of revealing how it manages traffic.

Congressional Democrats, meanwhile, have initiated efforts to pass net-neutrality legislation.

"We filed this appeal in order to protect our legal rights and to challenge the basis on which the [FCC] found that Comcast violated federal policy in the absence of pre-existing legally enforceable standards or rules," Comcast Executive Vice President David L. Cohen said in a written statement.

FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said he was disappointed by Comcast's decision.

For more:
- see the Wall Street Journal story

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Martin wants Comcast to pay. Martin report
Verizon's not alone in its throttling. Throttling report
Comcast and BitTorrent have said they are collaborating on solutions to throttling. Comcast report 
BitTorrent last month seemed to be following its own path toward solutions. BitTorrent report

The Federal Communications Commission is expected today to approve a significant reduction in the amount of information AT&T, Verizon and Qwest must report to the regulator about customer complaints, service quality and infrastructure investment.

The move has raised the antennae of consumer groups that worry that everything from repair times to customer service will be compromised.

"If you get rid of the standards, then standards almost inevitably get lower," said David Bergmann, head of telecommunications for the National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates.

But the FCC decision could also be an opportunity for the commission to examine the data it collects more closely and, finally, include cable, wireless and satellite operators for review.

"We need to update this for a level playing field with the marketplace of today," said FCC Chairman Kevin J. Martin, who said he would back the order today. "On quality of service, for example, if that data is relevant for one carrier, then it should be relevant for all platforms."

For more:
- See the Washington Post story

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Universal service reform on FCC's plate
FCC changes broadband calculation rules

A trillion-dollar market. That's what telecom prognosticator Yankee Group says the broadband segment will be by 2012. And, it says there will be at least one broadband connection for each person on the planet, an "anywhere" environment that will continue to blossom.

The market - which includes revenue from services and the amount spent on equipment for the underlying infrastructure -- currently is worth $590 billion.

"The Anywhere revolution is gathering in steam," Emily Green, president and chief executive of Yankee Group, told Dow Jones Newswires.

The bulk of revenues come from consumer fees, and that's likely to continue to be the case, she said. Green said the projections don't include add-on services like navigation on cellphones, or entertainment content riding over the network.

For more:
- see the article

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U.S. broadband growth slows. Broadband report
Verizon prez Denny Strigl defended U.S. broadband at NXTcomm. Verizon report
Leichtman Research Group said broadband growth is the slowest in five years. Leichtman report

Bell Canada is in the process of deploying Nortel's 40G Adaptive Optical Engine in its highest traffic corridors, Montreal-New York, Chicago-Toronto and Toronto-Montreal, giving the carrier the fat pipe it needs to hold onto business customers and allowing it to promise higher access speeds in the future.

Nortel's system quadruples Bell's current network bandwidth in those vital corridors and allows coexistence within Bell's current 10G network.

This solution is built on the Optical Multiservice Edge 6500 and runs over the Nortel Common Photonic Layer line system, key products that enable the migration to a more agile, adaptive, all optical network.

Meanwhile, Alaska Communications also said it's in the process of deploying Nortel's optical long-haul network equipment between Alaska and Oregon. At least 21 other carriers have ordered or deployed the system since its April launch.

For more:
See the release

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Nortel takes it on the chin in Q2. Nortel report
Verizon wants Nortel PBB. Verizon report

Independent telco FairPoint Communications, which acquired wireline properties from Verizon Communications this year in a very controversial deal, has named a former international unit CFO from Verizon as its new CFO. Alfred Giammarino replaces ex-FairPoint CFO John Crowley, who left last month for a different opportunity. Giammarino comes directly from a CFO role at Sensus Metering Systems, but he had been senior vice president and CFO of Verizon's international and information services group earlier this decade after a 15-year stint with GTE.

Verizon acquired GTE several years ago when that company was the eighth-largest telco in the U.S., and, ironically, FairPoint's acquisition of Verizon properties in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont recently made the Charlotte, N.C.-based company the country's new eighth-largest telco.

For more:
- see this story at The Charlotte Business Journal

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FairPoint, after buying, may now consider selling other properties
FairPoint earlier had delayed its New England system cutover

Network equipment vendor Ciena Corp reported fiscal third quarter earnings that included a 59 percent profit plunge to $11.7 million. The company said that while its projects with carriers are not in jeopardy overall, it is seeing longer buying cycles and ordering delays from those carriers due to the overall economic uncertainty of recent months. That observation seems in line with what other vendors have said in recent months, including projections of fewer capital expenditures in the second half of this year.

In difficult times, such unexpected buying delays are wreaking havoc with companies' earnings expectations for now, but vendors hope stretched out purchasing cycles mean that carriers won't panic and completely kill projects.

For more:
- check out this coverage at MarketWatch

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Adtran was among the first vendors to see possible lower spending by carriers
AT&T confirmed its capital spending would be lower in the second half of 2008

Spain's Telefonica, one of the most internationally-acquisitive telcos, said it wants to invest about $1.16 billion in a new company that will result from the planned merger of China Netcom Group and China Unicom. Telefonica already owns a 5 percent stake in China Netcom and is looking obtain a 5.5 percent piece of the new firm.

The move comes as the Chinese telcom market is rapidly being reshaped by a government program that is matching wireless properties with the country's tradition landline telcos, such as China Netcom and China Telecom. Will other international telcos join China's party? (No, not that party...)

For more:
- read this story at The Wall Street Journal

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China's telecom restructuring has taken center stage
China Unicom and China Telecom moves gained steam this summer

The 20,000 or so Communications Workers of America members who work for Qwest Communications International are in the process of receiving ballots to vote on the new contract Qwest and CWA tentatively agreed to last month. Union members have until Sept. 30 to turn in their votes. The tentative deal includes raises totaling 9 percent over three years, as well as an increase to the base pay of sales staff, and a 3 percent increase in pension payouts.

The telco and its unions were able to reach an agreement and avert a possible strike just days before the Qwest network provided the communications foundation for both the Democratic National Convention in Denver and the Republican National Convention In Minneapolis.

For more:
- see this item at The Seattle Times

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Health care benefits were another key contract issue
The CWA membership had approved a strike if needed

Verizon Communications, AT&T, Comcast and other network operators have become very interested in 100 Gbps network transport capabilities within the last year or so. At the upcoming European Conference and Exhibition on Optical Communications, Verizon reportedly will discuss how its much-publicized 100G trials have demonstrated new levels of speed and reach with the success test of a 111-Gbps channel over 1,040 km.

Verizon previously tested 100 Gbps capabilities late last fall, and has been exploring the feasibility of 100 Gbps systems overlaying existing 10 Gbps and 40 Gbps systems at distances greater than 1,000 km, according to Light Reading Europe. The telco's supplier for its trial was Nokia Siemens Networks. ECOC will be held in Brussels September 21-25.

For more:
- see this story at Light Reading Europe

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Listen to our 100G audiocast from earlier this year
Nortel announce 40G/100G transition gear last March

AT&T, Verizon Wireless, Alltel, T-Mobile USA and other telecom service providers are sizing up the impact of Hurricane Gustav on their networks in and around Louisiana, and so far, there appear to be only limited service outages. AT&T mobilized about 2,000 personnel to assess damage and begin restoration efforts in the affected areas. The telco said its crews are working around the clock on service repairs in areas that remain without service. AT&T also is offering free Wi-Fi access at hundreds of hot spots in the Gulf Coast region, free wireless GoPhones with $15 in air time to residents forced out by mandatory evacuation and free phone calls for many other hurricane victims at its retail stores.

Gustav additionally triggered the second recent activation of the Federal Communications Commission's new Disaster Information Reporting System (DIRS), which allows network operators to disclose sensitive network information to federal authorities to help them better respond to such emergencies. The system was put in place after some network information was hard to come by in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. The DIRS recently was activated for the first time during Tropical Storm Fay last month, and may yet get another workout if Tropical Storm Hanna threatens the U.S.

For more:
- read this story at Government Computer News
- check out this AT&T press release
- see this Verizon Wireless press release

Related articles:
AT&T held a big disaster recovery drill in May

As criticism of potential tracking technologies like deep packet inspection technology causes problems for NebuAd, other companies continue to see great potential in various uses for DPI. IBM, in adding DPI to its BladeCenter server family, is focusing on bring a higher grade of security to a data center solution that telcos may find enticing. IBM is working with CloudShield technologies to integrate the DPI capabilities. The BladeCenter server solution is quickly evolving into an AdvancedTCA-like solution for telco networks that simplifies carriers' work with third-party application developers.

For more:
- see this report at Light Reading
- read this story at Telephony

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Blade technology providers have been getting more competitive this year
DPI technology has been a hot issue since last year

NebuAd's CEO Bob Dykes has left the company to become chief financial officer at VeriFone. Dykes was the company's primary defender as Congress took aim at carrier trials of its Web tracking technology in recent months. Dykes also was once CFO at Juniper Networks. COO Kira Makagon is slated to become NebuAd's new CEO, and the company is said to be trying out new business model ideas.

Yesterday, the USA Today carried an Associated Press story examining how the company's business opportunity has all but dissolved. Was the timing all wrong for a system that tracked Web surfer habits, or was this technology just a natural evolution of where advertising has been had headed for a long time? To me, it still seems like the biggest thing wrong with NebuAd is not the company or the technology itself, but how unclear and secretive service providers have been about their use of the technology.

For more:
- see this paidContent.org post at The Washington Post
- read this post at GigaOM
- see this Associated Press story at USA Today

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CenturyTel put off its use of NebuAd in July
NebuAd made some changes last month

Reliance Communications was said to be close to an agreement with movie director and studio mogul Steven Spielberg about buying as much as a 50 percent stake in a newly reconfigured version of Spielberg's DreamWorks venture. The deal could be worth around $1.2 billion. Reliance actually has an entertainment unit, and a deal has been rumored for some time. While U.S. telcos have mostly stayed out of investing money in content ownership, other telcos around the world have had closer ties with the entertainment industry. Still, a move by Reliance to own half of a Hollywood studio would be another bold move by an Indian company rapidly working its way into U.S. markets.

For more:
- read this story at BusinessWeek

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Reliance is planning to launch IPTV in India this year
Sibling rivalry killed another big Reliance deal