Wednesday Telecoms Digest

Fixed:
* LLU: BT lowers connection charge 40% to GBP 100; T-HT (Croatia) sues regulator for tariff reductions (to 7 EUR/mo/line from 10.50); Jazztel sues Telefonica for slow provisioning; TI court ordered to provide Tele2 with 41k lines; Magnet Networks plans ADSL2+ and FTTH network Ireland with Industria
* DSL: KPN starts VDSL trial; Telenor increases ADSL-prices and lowers pricing (4 Mbps for 550 NOK/mo to 6 Mbps for 500 NOK/mo); BellSouth intros 6 Mbps service at 47 $/mo
* FTTx: Bundesnetzagentur calls on DT to open planned FTTN network; city of Helmond (Netherlands, 85k pops) plans FTTH, to be managed by BBned (Telecom Italia), investments (EUR 40m) from BBned, city and Nacap; Verizon extends FiOS in NJ and FiOS TV to Herndon, Va; muni plans Fairfield from LISCO (loan from Dpt of Agriculture); Capitol Infrastructure (= Capitol Broadband) orders fiber from Corning for extension from 50k to 200k homes in NC, SC, Fla and Geo; plan Magnet Networks in Ireland
* BPL: order Dancom Private (Malaysia, Pakistan), Pointe of View Developments/Belleview Communities (3 towers in Copper Square in Phoenix, Az) and The Plaza Residences to PLC Network Solutions (= Trimax): BPL, rev sharing, royalties

Wireless – cellular
* MTA: reductions Netherlands (KPN -12%) as of Dec 1
* 2G: tender for 6th license Bangladesh (bidders: Warid, Omniah)
* 2.5G: BTC (Bahamas) orders EV-DO from Lucent
* 3G:
-- EV-DO Rev B (up to 74/27 Mbps)is ready for commercial launch in 06Q1; Lucent works with Datang Telecom Technology on TD-SCDMA
-- Licenses: Lithuania plans tender early 2006; Ireland awards 4th license to Smart
-- sunrise plans GPRS/EDGE/UMTS (max 384 kbps) launch Dec 1, 2005; Globe Telecom plans intro 2006; Vodafone Malta autumn 2006; Smart orders from Huawei
* 3.5G: plan T-Mobile Netherlands
* Data: StarHub intros i-mode
* TV: Alltel intros MobiTV; SFR intros with Streamezzo technology; Vodafone Italy plans with Mediaset via DVB-H
* Push email: Nokia buys Intellisync, $430m; Digitel Mobile (Filippines) plans with
Ericsson
* MVNO: SBC plans AT&T Wireless on Cingular; Vodafone wants to host 10 MVNOs in Japan in 2 years; Cirkle K Stores launches ‘Talk-and-Go Mbile’ on Cingular (prepaid, 20 c/min; MVNE Ztar)
* Budget operator (SIM-only, online): plan Mobistar
* Kids handsets: Cingular intros FireFly
* Licenses: Denmark plans re-auction 4th 3G license (originally Orange) Dec 2
* CPS: intro India
* MNP: intro India

Wireless – short range broadband
* WiFi:
-- Pan-Canada roaming deal among Bell Mobility, Rogers Wireless and Telus Mobility (with Syniverse Technologies); roaming deal Telefonica (1500 hotspots), PT (790) and TI (800)
-- On.net launches nationwide (1000 m^2) in Macedonia with Strix; Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) launches in San Francisco subway; Mountain View ordes network from Google
-- American Biophysics plans January launch of smart ‘Mosquito Magnet’ network (sucks in insects), attracts $15m VC from Ritchie Capital

Wireless – long range broadband
* WiMAX: Liberia plans nationwide network with Motorola (Canopy), build-out 2006-2008, launch June 2006; Taiwan invests; Airspan acquires Radionet (Finland, $1.9m) for WiFi access and roaming; Alvarions expects 802.16e ratification 06Q1; Hokkaido STS extends network with Alvarion; Cablenet (Bulgaria) receives license (new brand name Max Telecom); Mikkelin and Savonlinnan plan network in Savo (eastern Finland) with Alvarion and Intel
* WiBro: KT plans launch June 2006
* UMTS TDD (IPWireless): netZAP wil start a trial in January in Jakarta, with Alcatel

IP, convergence:
* VoIP:
-- BroadVoice elected No 1 by Wired Mag
-- Wanadoo UK leads the market (80k subs in 8 mos)
-- i2Phone plans move to NASDAQ
-- Fairytel.at launches; yakForFree (Yak Comms) launches; Sony launches IVE (VoIP + video) with GlowPoint; KPN commercially launches dual play (ADSL + VoIP); MetTel launches in NY and NJ with UTC Associates and BroadSoft, plans to go nationwide
-- bill US to impose USF charges
-- Skype has deal with Pacific Internet (PacNet, Singapore) for co-branded service, including SkypeOut; Skype distribution deal with RadioShack (for starter kits, headsets and cordless handsets)
* IM: Reuters links messaging system to MSN and AIM; AOL intros AIM Triton (with VoIP and address book)
* IPTV: Ericsson rumoured to plan bid for UTStarcom or Harbor Networks; Smart plans with Sky (‘Sky by Wire’); Guangdong Telecom orders from Huawei; China Telecom plans intro Dec 2005 with UTStarcom and Redback
* Triple play: Verizon intros FiOS TV in second town (Herndon, Va)
* IMS: IBM intros solutions, builds 6 labs worldwide
* WiFi/cellular: Cicero launches platform for roaming
ICT:
* US government (Defense, Postal Service, Housing, Energy) issues RfP for Networx (15k locations)

Munibroadband:
* FTTH: plan Helmond, Fairfield
* WiFi: launch in Macedonia, Mountain View orders from Google
* WiMAX: plan Liberia, Taiwan invests

Regulation:
* FCC: K. Abernathy (R) leaves as of Dec 9
* New-Zealand plans new rules 2006

Corporate:
* M&A: SBC/AT&T closes, Alltel/Midwest, Sprint/Alamosa, CSL/NWM
* IPO: plan PT Bakrie Telecom early 2006; plan Econet Wireless