Wednesday Telecoms Digest

FIXED:
* BPL: order from Hotel Combermere (India) to PLC Network Solutions (= Trimax); Telkonet launches in-building first deployment for US military; complaint from ARRL at FCC against Ambient (with ConEd) in Briarcliff (NY)
* NGN: China Telecom orders from ZTE

WIRELESS – CELLULAR:
* License: Poland has 3 bidders for fourth license (GSM 1800): Telefonia Dialog, Telekom Kolejowa, Centertel
* MVNO: Amp’d Mobile mass-launch; Telco launches on E-Plus in Germany (9.9 c/min)
* IPO: Hutch 3G Italy prepares for Jan 19 (25%, EUR 2.5 bn)
* 3G: succesful trial for ChineseTD-SCDMA standard
* HSDPA: Lenovo builds laptop for Cingular
* SMS: KPN launches ‘SMS to Fixed’ as text or speech with ‘SpeechFrame’ from Comsys
* Music: Verizon Wireless plans intro of ‘V Cast Music’ for 3G and PC Jan 16; Vodafone launches ‘Vodafone Radio DJ’ with Sony for 3G and PC
* TV: Texas Instruments launches ‘Hollywood DTV’ chips (for DVB-H or ISDB-T), expects handsets late 2006; Modeo (formerly Crown Castle Mobile Media) plans DVB-H launch in 2006; Samsung plans DVB-H handset, LG plans Media-FLO handset
* Games: Amp’d Mobile deal with Electronic Arts
* LBS: Hop-On intros ‘Chitter Chatter’ (kids phone with GPS); gate5 launches ‘smart2go Mobile Navigator’ software

WIRELESS – LONG-RANGE BROADBAND:
* BoS: KT Corp launches in Nigeria for Daewoo with Hugher Network Systems
* WiBro, (mobile) WiMAX: Samsung intros handset (M8000) and notebook; STM intros SoC for base station; SKT and Wavesat plan product development; Oxford Media intros VoD and PpV over WiMAX for hotels; Digicel plans expanding to Barbados and Jamaica in 2006; DirecTV plans announcement in 2 mo; Netia (Poland) orders from Alcatel

WIRELESS – SHORT-RANGE:
* ZigBee Alliance plans product certification; STM and Ember plan chip platform

CONVERGENCE:
* VoIP: Skype deal with WebDialogs (‘WebDialog Unyte’ beta for conferencing and sharing); IPness orders softswitch from Verso Technologies; StarHub plans intro on SIP
* Convergent handsets (wVoIP): Microsoft (Live Messenger) orders from Philips (‘VoIP433’ for PSTN and PC-to-PC) and Uniden; Skype orders from Philips (‘VoIP321’ cordless DECT for PSTN and PC-to-PC), Netgear (VoIP over WiFi) and RTX America (‘DUALphone’ cordless DECT for PSTN and PC-to-PC); 8x8 orders from Uniden
* IPTV: order from Oxford Networks (FTTH in Maine) to Siemens
* Multiple play: Scarlet has 100k subs in Netherlands + Belgium for ‘Scarlet One’ (ADSL + VoIP + mobile, 65 EUR/mo)

MUNIBROADBAND:
* FTTH: BellSouth wins appeal stopping Lafayette issuing bonds; Amsterdam city council approves first phase (40k homes); 20% of Keller homes sign up for FiOS TV; Paris plans RfP for citywide deployment
* WiFi: Chandler (Az) plans decision Jan 10