February 11, 2008 - Verizon continues fight to protect its patents

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February 11, 2008 Sign up Forward Archive Advertise Read more at SmartBrief.com News for telecom industry leaders Search recent stories:       News of the Day    Verizon continues fight to protect its patents Verizon Communications is pushing the same legal strategy against cable companies as it did in successfully suing Vonage Holdings for patent infringement over VoIP technology. Less than a month after filing suit against Cox Communications, Verizon filed papers last week against Charter Communications in a Texas federal court. TMC Internet Telephony (2/11) , Multichannel News (2/9)   Business & Industry Watch  Buybacks, directory sale boost Windstream Windstream's stock rose 5.6% Friday after announcing that profit had quadrupled in the fourth quarter and that it planned to buy back about 8% of its shares. Despite greater declines in its rural local exchange business than expected, Windstream benefited by the sale of its directory business and reductions in capital spending. Forbes/Associated Press (2/8) , TeleGeography Research (2/11) Yahoo! to rebuff Microsoft's $44.6B buyout bid Yahoo!'s board of directors has agreed to turn down Microsoft's buyout bid, citing the $31-per-share offer as insufficient, sources report. San Francisco Chronicle (2/10) , The Washington Post/Associated Press (2/10) Sprint's Hesse will beat to own drum Sprint Nextel will do whatever it takes to differentiate itself from its wireless rivals, the company's new CEO, Dan Hesse, said in an interview. One strategy under consideration is creation of a flat-rate pricing package to replace the traditional wireless model of allotting a certain number of minutes per month for voice calls. USA TODAY (2/10)   Hot Topics    Top five news stories selected by USTelecom dailyLead readers in the past week. How does telecom factor into the proposed Microsoft-Yahoo! merger? (Telephony Online) FTTH providers find partnerships pay off (CE Pro) AT&T makes DSL price adjustments (The Wall Street Journal) AT&T throws weight behind LTE for 4G upgrade (Financial Times) CEO: SureWest didn't need wireless assets (Telephony Online) Results based on number of times each story was clicked by readers. Founded in 1923, Henkels & McCoy provides technology-based solutions for carriers, operating telcos, utilities, the government, the military, and private industry on a national level. It's an exciting time to be at the forefront of our nation's telecommunications construction business. We can't wait to see what tomorrow brings.   Video Upload  Corning will supply fiber for Verizon MDU builds Verizon Communications has picked Corning as its vendor for the bendable optical fiber and cable it needs to wire high-rise apartment buildings in large East Coast cities for its FiOS TV service. But Verizon must still obtain the necessary franchise approvals before it can start installing the fiber. OneTRAK (2/8) , BroadbandReports.com (2/8) Time Warner rolls out HD version of Start Over Time Warner Cable has started rolling out the high-definition version of its new Start Over service, in which viewers can zip back to the beginning of a show whether they were watching it or not. The company expects to offer Start Over in most of its service area by the end of this year; the HD version currently is available in the South Carolina division only. CED Magazine (2/8) The Buzz(CORPORATE ANNOUNCEMENTS) Technicians' Best Practices: Handling Reduced Bend Radius Some monumental breakthroughs have taken place in optical fiber cables and their ability to bend around sharp corners without increasing attenuation. Despite these new developments, perceiving the new fibers as being virtually indestructible is a dangerous misperception. Register for ADC's Next Gen white paper series. Interested in learning more about advertising in the USTelecom dailyLead? Contact Eric Hoffman at 773-549-3868 or ehoffman@smartbrief.com.   Technology Trends  Nortel, Motorola talk merger on wireless equipment Motorola is in talks with Nortel Networks to merge the units that make network equipment for wireless carriers in a deal that would build a company with $10 billion in sales, according to a report. Such a partnership would not be related to Motorola's announced strategy of selling or seeking partners for its handset business, according to this article. The Wall Street Journal (free content) (2/11) Alcatel-Lucent looks to LTE for MIMO growth Lucent's merger with Alcatel has enabled the company to develop MIMO smart antenna technology for WiMAX networks. But the most lucrative use for the Bell Labs-built technology may come with the emergence of Long Term Evolution, the increasingly popular proposed fourth-generation wireless standard, according to this article. Telephony Online (2/11) Convergence vision still unfolding The long-hoped-for ideal of unifying land-line, mobile and Internet-ready communications into a seamless contact system has yet to take hold, according to this analysis. But the dream of unified communications may only be a few years away for mid-size businesses, according to experts who say technology is moving in that direction and getting cheaper enough to implement. Financial Times (subscription required) (2/11) First Android-equipped phone demoed For the first time, a handful of chip makers have demonstrated prototypes of mobile phones that run on Google's Android open-source operating system. "What is happening with Android today is that we are seeing a number of technology companies demonstrating how Android will operate on their technology," Google spokesman Barry Schnitt said. Yahoo!/Agence France-Presse (2/11)   IP Download  Analysis: VoIP remains niche player Despite the generous publicity for voice-over-Internet technology, few companies are making a profit with the service, with some executives saying VoIP's only chance is to develop as a mobile voice service. Observers blame the difficulties of competing against large telecoms, lack of consumer excitement and a hodgepodge of technical standards for Internet telephony. International Herald Tribune (2/10) U.K.'s O2 to test femtocells for home mobile links Mobile-phone users in the U.K. will begin testing technology that routes their calls through their home broadband connection. The carrier O2 will use femtocells, in which a small base station in the home acts as a router to power pockets of wireless connectivity that cell phones latch onto for a broadband link. The Times (London) (2/11)   LeadQuote  Friends may come and go, but enemies accumulate." --Thomas Jones, artist and sculptor       This dailyLead was created for webmaster@freeraovat.com Subscriber Tools       Update account information |  Change e-mail address |  Unsubscribe |  Print friendly format |  Web version |  Search past news |  Privacy policy Advertise Sales Account Director:  Amy Abbey (202) 737-5500 x250 Download Media Kit   Read more at dailyLead.com A powerful Web site for dailyLead readers including: Breaking News Industry Home Competitor News Readers' Choice Press Releases Search Archive       Recent USTelecom dailyLead Issues: Friday, February 08, 2008 Thursday, February 07, 2008 Wednesday, February 06, 2008 Tuesday, February 05, 2008 Monday, February 04, 2008     Lead Editor:  Susan Rush       Mailing Address: SmartBrief, Inc.®, 1100 H ST NW, Suite 1000, Washington, DC 20005     © 1999-2008 SmartBrief, Inc.® Legal Information