Telecom, Telephone, and Communications News

24 February 2005 - London, UK - Connectotel today announced the launch of the public Beta test of its new ‘Skype to SMS’ service.

This new service allows Skype users to send SMS text messages from within Skype Chat to any GSM mobile phone user. Marcus Williamson of Connectotel comments:

“We launched our ‘SMS to Skype’ service just three weeks ago and have been very pleased with the positive feedback from Skype users. Now we are adding the next logical progression: ‘Skype to SMS’. The current private Beta testers have already shown enormous enthusiasm for being able to send SMS text messages from Skype Chat using this new service. Now we are opening up the service to a wider public.”

How does it work?

Skype users start a Chat with the Skype user called smsgateway, then type the following from within the Skype Chat window to send a message:

+number message

The message is transmitted to Connectotel’s ‘Skype to SMS’ gateway system and is passed from there to the GSM network.

Availability and Pricing

‘Skype to SMS’ is available as a Beta test service for all users of Skype who have been authorized by Connectotel. For information about authorization please see the FAQ here: Skype to SMS FAQ

There is no charge for the SMS messages sent, for the duration of the Beta test. The ‘SMS to Skype’ Beta test service is available free of charge to all users of Skype. Connectotel is examining the possibility of providing other gateway services, including, for example, links to and from e-mail, fax and outside data feeds, based on similar technology.

Frequently Asked Questions

Detailed FAQs for ‘Skype to SMS’ and ‘SMS to Skype’ can be found here: http://www.connectotel.com/sms/skypetosmsfaq.html and http://www.connectotel.com/sms/skypefaq.html

About Connectotel

Connectotel was established in London, UK, in 1996 and is privately held. The company specializes in providing software development and consulting for networks, including LAN, WAN and GSM SMS. Connectotel’s M-Mail service, which provides the foundation for ‘Skype to SMS’ and ‘SMS to Skype’, has been providing free ‘SMS to e-mail’ since 1999. More information about Connectotel can be found on the Connectotel website at Connectotel

Contact

Marcus Williamson, Connectotel
Skype: marcuswilliamson
E-mail: info@connectotel.com
Web: http://www.connectotel.com/

A couple of new broadband contracts for Nortel

Orange Slovensko Provides Advanced Wireless Data Services Powered by Nortel

Wireless Broadband Services Overhaul Fixed Services in Slovakia

PARIS – Orange Slovensko has launched a high data rate business and consumer service in Slovakia based on EDGE (Enhanced Data Rate for GSM Evolution) technology from Nortel* [NYSE/TSX: NT]. The service is positioned by Orange Slovensko as an alternative to fixed broadband Internet access solutions.

Compared to GPRS (General Packet Radio Service), EDGE offers on average up to three times the data throughput, a rate comparable to fixed DSL (digital subscriber line) connection speeds. More...

And

sparq Deploys Nortel Solutions to Support Demand for 3G Services in Taiwan

Plans to Provide Island-Wide 3G Data Transmission, xDSL Broadband Data Services

TAIPEI, Taiwan – Taiwanese telecommunications provider sparq has deployed a network solution from Nortel* [NYSE/TSX: NT] for an island-wide data network designed to address increasing business and consumer demand for third generation (3G) voice and data services, as well as to support the aggregation of increasing xDSL traffic.

"This network provides secure, high-quality and truly differentiated services that help sparq enhance the communications experience for subscribers while providing opportunities to grow our data network market," said Shin-Koi Lee, president, sparq. "Nortel's solutions proved to be the best choice for supporting our existing multiservice network bandwidth while also providing outstanding flexibility for expansion to support future services."

The new network supporting Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) uses Nortel's Multiservice Switch (MSS) portfolio to significantly lower ongoing network operational expenses through consolidation of disparate networks across a packet core, as well as reducing wireless backhaul costs across Radio Access Networks (RAN) by converging and aggregating voice and data traffic to reduce leased line requirements. Cost reductions are also realized through aggregating xDSL traffic back into the network. sparq also realizes additional cost reductions by aggregating it's growing xDSL access traffic over the same network back into the packet core. More...

Government of Alberta, Axia, and Bell Canada announce SuperNet completion plan.

EDMONTON, February 22, 2005 - The Government of Alberta, Axia NetMedia Corporation and Bell Canada jointly announced today that they are in the final stage of completing the roll out and commissioning of the Alberta SuperNet.

Under the completion and commissioning plan, all the rural communities in the Extended Area Network will be connected by April 30, 2005 which will enable local service providers to buy bandwidth on the Alberta SuperNet and offer high-speed commercial services including Internet access, to rural retail customers. Additionally, the vast majority of the government, health, library and education facilities in the Base Area Network and Extended Area Network will be connected by June 30, 2005 with the total network being completed by September 30, 2005. Alberta Restructuring and Government Efficiency Minister Luke Ouellette says, "It's very exciting to be completing Alberta SuperNet in the province's centennial year. Albertans have been looking forward to having SuperNet operational in their local communities and very soon this will be realized." He adds, "I'm pleased with Axia and Bell's commitment to this new schedule that over the next few months will deliver a remarkable network with countless benefits to Alberta's citizens and businesses."

About the Alberta SuperNet

The Alberta SuperNet is a Real Broadband network linking approximately 4,200 government, health, library and education facilities in 429 communities province-wide at affordable and sustainable costs to the Government of Alberta. Additionally, the Alberta SuperNet creates a competitive market for the delivery of broadband services by private Internet service providers throughout the province to rural retail customers.

Read the full story

After I wrote the previous article, I took a look at Nortel and Ericssons sites and found some examples of new contracts.

Adelphia Selects Nortel Cable Voice over IP Solution

Cable Operator to Leverage Nortel Global Services to Help Drive New Revenue

TORONTO - Adelphia Communications Corporation [OTC: ADELQ], the fifth largest cable television corporation in the United States, has selected voice over IP (VoIP) solutions and Global Services from Nortel* [NYSE/TSX: NT] to extend a suite of telephone services to residential customers in selected Adelphia markets.

"Nortel's PacketCable* voice over IP and professional services not only meet our requirements, but also have a proven track record and solid reputation in the industry for helping drive new revenue opportunities," said Marwan Fawaz, chief technology officer, Adelphia.

"As the competition heats up to capture more subscribers and keep pace with new technologies, our cable customers like Adelphia continue to look at voice over IP technologies to give subscribers the best of the Internet with the best of today's telephone network," said Dan Mondor, general manager, Global Cable Solutions, Nortel. "Nortel has the experience and expertise to give Adelphia the carrier grade reliability expected, plus Global Services to help maximize network investment." More...

Rogers Cable Selects Nortel Cable Telephony Solution for Digital Phone Service

TORONTO - Nortel* [NYSE/TSX: NT] announced that Rogers Cable, Canada's largest cable television company, has selected Nortel as its primary softswitch vendor to support delivery of digital phone service and other new voice and data services across its service areas. Rogers plans to begin launching Digital Phone service in mid-2005.

Rogers passes 3.3 million homes in Ontario, New Brunswick and Newfoundland and has 69 percent basic cable penetration of its homes passed.

"Rogers shares Nortel's vision of enhancing the human experience through communications," said Dan Mondor, general manager, Global Cable Solutions, Nortel. "We have committed the resources and focused investments in this space to enable cable operators like Rogers to bring to market innovative new services that can enhance the human experience through communications."

"The majority of cable operators around the globe who have chosen to deploy cable telephony have selected Nortel cable voice over IP solutions," Mondor said. "We are honored that many of the world's leading cable companies recognize the strength of Nortel's solutions.”"More...

Ericsson and TCC in Taiwan sign systems integration and service delivery solution agreement

Ericsson and TCC (Taiwan Cellular Corporation) have signed a contract for systems integration and an end-to-end service delivery solution, marking a new customer for Ericsson in Taiwan. The service delivery solution is based on Ericsson Service Delivery Platform. The solution will enable TCC to create and introduce attractive consumer services in a fast and cost efficient way.

The Ericsson solution will support TCC to improve operational efficiency of their content and value-added service business, including content delivery and content management. The platform will also enable applications that combine data and voice, for instance voice and MMS together, for consumers.

"Ericsson has the systems integration expertise, as well as the service delivery platform required to support us deliver seamless value-added services to a large number of our customers. That makes them an invaluable partner for our upcoming 3G services," said David Clarke, CTO of TCC. More...

And lastly...

Ericsson and India's Shyam Telecom sign CDMA2000 1X contract

Ericsson and Shyam Telecom have signed a contract to deploy Ericsson's total CDMA2000 1X wireless infrastructure solution in the Rajasthan circle.

"The growth potential in India is tremendous and Ericsson is very pleased to be a key supplier in this rapidly expanding market. We are honored to strengthen our partnership with Shyam Telecom by providing CDMA2000 activities, which shall bring advanced wireless services to customers in Rajasthan," said Mats Granryd, president of Ericsson Mobile Systems CDMA.More...

Like I said, looking up.

It looks like good news is happening in our industry again. For anyone looking for a full-time job, or you contractors out there things really seem to be picking up.

Both the service providers and equipment manufacturers are looking for people right now, and more work looks to be on the horizon. Just go look at Jobserve or Monster, many new posting for full-time, part-time, and contract work are popping up all the time.

Just look at what Verizon alone has forecast:

"Verizon expects to pass some 3 million homes and businesses nationwide by the end of this year. To help build its network across the country, Verizon will hire between 3,000 and 5,000 new employees by the end of 2005.

In Washington County, Verizon plans to add about 90 full-time positions initially, and then more, over the course of the project. The jobs involve fiber splicing, installation and repair, and engineering and drafting. The company also expects to hire about 660 contract employees to work on various aspects of the local FTTP project such as underground boring, trenching and fiber splicing."

Plus Nortel has a big project starting up in India, and Ericsson is aggressively marketing there kit all over. And Huawei is really being aggressive in Africa and the east, and the rest of the vendors have contracts in hand as well.

So polish up the old resume/CV and get ready to go.

Oh, and any recruiters out there, I might be interested in a new project as well. Check my qualifications if you're interested

Verizon to Texas House Regulated Industries Committee: Structure State's Proposed Telecommunications Deregulation on Wireless Phone Industry, Not on Failed Local Cable TV Model.

Company Also Asks Legislators to Protect Rural Texas Phone Service Fund

Feb. 23, 2005

AUSTIN, Texas -- Saying the initial draft of a state telecommunications reform bill would be a boon for local cable TV companies and a bust for telecommunications customers, Verizon's top executive in Texas urged the Legislature to "fully and unconditionally" embrace free-market competition in Texas for all telecommunications providers, not just local cable TV companies.

"This is not the time for more and/or conditional state government regulation burdening some telecom industries to the benefit of others, "said Verizon Southwest Region President Steve Banta in testimony at a public hearing held yesterday by the House Regulated Industries Committee on the proposal, House Bill 789. "It's time to let Texas customers choose, not the state government, which telecommunication technologies are good for the future of Texas.

"It's time for Texas to embrace the proven model of the wireless phone industry, which, unburdened by state regulation, has delivered free-market competition, lower prices and new technological benefits to phone customers across Texas.

Read the full story

Hooray Mr. Banta. Although I highly doubt Verizon is really thinking about consumers when they go to bat for open competition, the sentiments are right on the mark. Competition not only lowers prices but also drives technological inovations, a win-win scenario for end users.

I just read an article in PC Magazine online with the above title by: John C. Dvorak. Now Mr. Dvorak is a very knowledgeable man and a very good writer. But he has really missed the mark with this article.

One of his first statements, "There are problems arising, though, because most people are still running on phone-company wires and we have a more and more flaky Internet." had me shaking my head right off. The "phone-company wires" should be treated pairs plus you need to be close enough to the DSL POP for your connection to work properly in the first place. If you are having problems with your DSL connection, complain to your provider to sort it out. This has absolutely nothing to do with the VoIP provider.

And the flaky internet? Voice over IP is fast becoming a mature technology, with the providers adding more gateways in more centers all the time. This gets you closer to the actual gateway, and thus using less of the open internet for your connection.

Here's another head shaker. "I'm always amused when a call center in India has one of these systems and it's so overloaded that you can't understand a thing, since the sound is so muffled." The "system" isn't overloaded, the company in India has obviously overloaded their bandwidth (bandwidth is necessary to make any data stream work properly). They just need a bigger pipe, again nothing wrong with the VoIP service. And try making a call to India using a POTS line, god only what kind of connection you're going to get (they don't exactly have the greatest infrastructure)

And one more before I let him off the hook, "there was a whole area dedicated to the various small-fry companies jumping into Voice over IP (VoIP) telephony", does he mean small fry companies like Nortel, Ericsson, Siemens, Lucent, etc., etc.? All the big vendors are rolling out VoIP equipment like mad, and the major telcos are buying. And not just voice over IP enabled PBX's. Also carrier grade switches and local switches, as well as CDMA and GSM switches. So Mr. Dvorak, you just may well be using VoIP technology when you are talking on your good old land-line phone.

Read the full article here

News from Ericsson

Ericsson is the prime driver in IP and broadband for consumers and enterprises

Tuesday, February 22 2005

At the 21st Century Communications World Forum in London February21-24, 2005, Ericsson brings the latest news on how operators can grow their business within broadband connected homes and networked enterprises. With the Ericsson Telephony Softswitch, Ericsson IM Ssolutions and high performance broadband, operators can differentiate their offerings to end-users through bundling of services and convergence of fixed and mobile services.

"Ericsson is driving the future growth of broadband in the segments connected homes and networked enterprises," says Karl Thedéen, Vice President, Wireline, Ericsson.

Ericsson is addressing the importance of extensive service bundling such as IPTV, IP telephony for residential customers. For enterprises bundled services include both IP Centrex and IP PBXs as well as push mail and video telephony. Furthermore, service transparency between fixed and mobile terminals will be required for consumer convenience.

Being a competitive service provider in the new broadband world requires flexibility in strategies. More...

Broadband (and mobile communications) is definitely the survival strategy for comms companies in the future, and the route to profitability for the equipment suppliers. Well done Ericsson (did I say that?)

Lotteries, Betting & Casino Style Gambling to Generate over $2bn for the Mobile Phone Industry in 2006

A rapid proliferation of mobile casinos, lotteries and sports betting services should see gross revenues from mobile gambling mushroom to more than US$19.3bn by 2009.

Hampshire, UK (PRWEB) February 23, 2005 -- A rapid proliferation of mobile casinos, lotteries and sports betting services should see gross revenues from mobile gambling mushroom to more than US$19.3bn by 2009, according to a new report from Juniper Research.

The report reveals that lotteries will be the largest money-spinners, with gross revenues of nearly US$7.9bn worldwide by 2009, followed by sports betting (US$6.9bn) and casino-style gaming (US$4.5bn).

According to report author Dr Windsor Holden, “Governments are generally less censorious about lotteries than other forms of gambling, with the result that mobile lotteries are likely to become established fairly quickly in a greater number of markets. Given the ubiquity of the lottery culture, it will only require a very small percentage of players to buy their tickets via the mobile handset for the resulting global revenues to run into billions of dollars”.

More...

Cellular phones are such cool items aren't they?

A memory upgrade for mobile phones from ATP

ATP Announces Mass Production of 128/256MB Dual Voltage RS-MMC (DV RS-MMC) Flash Cards. Providing Much Needed Memory Storage Upgrade Capability on New Mobile Phones Such as the Nokia 6630, 6670, and the upcoming 6680, 6681, 6682 models.

Sunnyvale, CA (February 21, 2005) - ATP Electronics Inc., a leading manufacturer of digital flash media products, today announced that it is in mass production of high capacity dual voltage RS-MMC (DV RS-MMC). The dual voltage (DV) feature allows for compatibility with devices running on the conventional 3.0V as well as with the dual voltage 3.0/1.8V devices. The low voltage feature translates to much lower power consumption, meaning longer battery life for both today and tomorrow's mobile digital devices. Card capacities of 128MB and 256MB are available immediately, with 512MB available in March.

The 128/256MB card quadruples the storage capacity of videos, music, photos games, and ringtones on new mobile phones which either require or could use dual voltage memory cards such as Nokia smartphones 6630, 6670, and recently announced 6680, 6681, 6682 models.

"The demand from our customers to expand the memory storage capacity of mobile devices that require or could use dual voltage RS-MMC memory cards has been tremendous. However, higher capacity (> 64MB) DV RS-MMC availability up to date has been minimal. We are excited to be the premier flash card manufacturer to bring these new products to the market to help fulfill our customers’ need for memory card upgrade, allowing for both the longer battery life of low voltage operation as well as enhanced use of multimedia functions." said Danny Lin, ATP VP of Sales and Marketing.

ATP's new DV RS-MMC memory cards offer the same advanced features as ATP's other flash card products allowing for ample protection from water, dust, ESD (electro-static discharge), and extreme temperatures ranging from –400C to 850C. This allows for versatility and durability rarely found today in flash memory cards.

From ATP

I read this on PRWEB about the supply of toll-free 800 numbers running out

Thinking of Getting a Toll Free 800 Number? This May be your Last Chance.

Irvine, CA (PRWEB via PR Web Direct) February 21, 2005 -- Small businesses interested in getting a toll free 800 number anytime in the future should consider doing it now because the availability of 800 numbers is near the brink of being completely sold out.

During the last few years, the amount of toll free 800 numbers that have been registered has grown exponentially. This is in part due to the lower rates and favorable pricing structures offered by toll free companies such as http://www.tollfreenumber.org which offers a low-cost alternative to toll free services for small businesses that would not normally be capable of affording the high rates of other telecommunications companies for the same service.

New toll free prefixes such as 888, 877, & 866 were added to try to ease the strain, but those are being taken as fast as they are being offered. New toll free options are being considered but critics say they may be ineffective because the new toll free numbering system would remain virtually unknown by the majority of the USA for years. This would damper the marketing efforts of small businesses that are forced to use the new system.

Research has shown increases in sales up to 600% for businesses advertising a toll free number rather than their standard local number because it immediately establishes rapport, instills trust in your product or services, and creates a larger corporate image. When businesses are forced to use the new system, potential customers may not be aware that the system is actually toll free.

Small businesses owners should contact http://www.tollfreenumber.org/ for information on how to establish an account and to lock in your toll free 800 number before they are no longer available.

For information: http://www.tollfreenumber.org/ orLogan Marshalle-mail protected from spam bots(800)951-9411

Don't know if I buy this one, but you never know.

So Qwest has upped their bid for MCI

I can see why Qwest is desperate for a deal with MCI, but I can't see where it would be a winner for MCI. Verizon has a much larger network and customer base compared with Qwest, and thus would make a decent rival to the possible SBC/ AT&T marriage.

However, going with the Qwest offer would in my opinion, be better for consumers. I say this because if Verizon wins, we may be left with just two dominant players. More competition leads to not just lower prices, but more inovations and rolling out of new and better features and products.

Let's see how this unfolds.