Verizon Communications said it wants to test 100 Gbps optical transport gear, apparently seeing demand for that kind of long-haul transport bandwidth fairly far ahead of other telcos. The company also acknowledged that it’s nearing a decision on its vendor for a so-called “God box” multi-service edge device, despite launching the RFP only this summer.
Deutsche Telekom has scooped up the fourth biggest carrier in the Netherlands, France Telecom’s Orange, for $1.89 billion. DT’s Netherland’s subsidiary, T-Mobile Netherlands, is the third largest carrier in that country. Together the two carriers will have 4.8 million Dutch customers. CEO Rene Obermann said the deal would create synergies of $1.4 billion. Half the savings will be achieved over the next six years, Obermann said.
According to a report from France’s Challenges, the anticipated exclusive iPhone deal between Apple and Orange in France is stalled because Orange has balked at Apple’s revenue sharing requests. The report claims that Apple is asking for more than a third of the monthly fees Orange’s iPhone users will pay. The stalled deal may cause Apple and Orange to miss the lucrative holiday season, which typically brings a marked uptick in handset sales.
According to a report from the Wall Street Journal, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson announced that the company is aggressively looking overseas, especially in emerging markets like India, for its next acquisition targets. Demand for wireless services in India, China, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, Dubai, Qatar and Kuwait is increasing as multinational corporations stationed there need advanced data and voice services, and some regulatory environments begin to welcome foreign investors.
The biggest carrier proponent of provider backbone transport technology is going live with it in Italy and other European countries. BT has installed PBT-enabled Ethernet switches in Italy, and will do the same elsewhere in Europe while it continues to evaluate the technology for deployment in its home U.K. market, where it also will need regulatory approval to launch.
The companies involved have declined to comment, but industry observers seem convinced AT&T will acquire its DISH satellite TV parent EchoStar Communications. EchoStar itself acquired highly-regarded Slingbox this week in a deal that looks to trigger the restructuring of EchoStar into two separate units.
A jury in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Kansas, ruled that Vonage had illegally used Sprint patents relating to connecting Internet phone calls. The jury ruled that Vonage would have to pay Sprint $69.5 million in damages, which was the equivalent of 5% of the revenue it derived during the period in which it used the technology.
Pizza Hut VoIPs, according to details obtained by Tom Keating of TMCNet. The phone-centric business is said to be the largest pizza chain in the world, with 34,000 outlets, according to the company.
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