http://www.telecompaper.com/ Business information about the telecom industry, an extensive overview of telecom-related articles http://www.telecompaper.com/images/Logos/logotph40w225.gif http://www.telecompaper.com/ http://www.telecompaper.com/news/article.aspx?cid=723209 (Telecompaper) The Dutch auction of 2.6GHz radio frequency licences will start on 20 April, with nine bidders qualified, the government announced. The spectrum regulator Agentschap Telecom evaluated the applications from potential bidders, which were due by 8 January. A trial auction was already held in December and another will follow before the final bidding. Depending on how long the auction runs, the government expects to issue the licences in late May or early June. Available for Wimax or LTE services, the new licences are expected to open the way for at least three new service providers on the market. Of the 190 MHz made available, 135MHz will go to newcomers. The existing mobile operators KPN and T-Mobile Netherlands will be subject to a cap of 20 MHz and Vodafone Netherlands to 20 MHz. This takes account of their existing holdings in the 900, 1800 and 2100 MHz bands; Vodafone has the smallest amount of these. Licences for paired use will be offered in blocks of 2x5 MHz, while unpaired licences are offered in blocks of 5 MHz. Regardless of demand, at least 25 blocks, of which 13 for paired use and 12 for unpaired use, and 38 licences will be available. http://www.telecompaper.com/news/article.aspx?cid=723209 Wed, 10 Mar 2010 14:11:00 +0100 http://www.telecompaper.com/news/article.aspx?cid=723093 (Telecompaper) The Swiss federal administrative court has upheld the main elements of an appeal by Swisscom over a ruling by the competition commission Weko regarding allegedly illegal mobile termination fees and has overruled the fine of CHF 333 million. In February 2007 Weko ruled that Swisscom was market dominant in mobile termination and had violated its position as defined under the Swiss Cartel Act, following an investigation launched in 2002 into possible abuse of dominant market position by Switzerland's three mobile operators. Weko found that Swisscom was market dominant and had violated its position by charging unreasonably high fees between 1 April 2004 and 31 May 2005. Swisscom appealed to the Federal Administrative Court, arguing that it neither had a market dominant position nor acted improperly. The court found that Swisscom has a dominant market position, but rejected Weko's conclusion that the operator abused that position to charge higher mobile termination fees. The verdict is open for appeal at the Swiss Federal Court. Both Swisscom and Weko will review the reasons behind the ruling point by point over the coming weeks and decide on next steps. No provision has been set aside by Swisscom to cover this fine, which proved to be the right decision based on this ruling. http://www.telecompaper.com/news/article.aspx?cid=723093 Wed, 10 Mar 2010 09:01:00 +0100 http://www.telecompaper.com/news/article.aspx?cid=723068 (Telecompaper) AT&T announced the successful completion of a live network environment field trial of 100-Gigabit backbone network technology. During the trial, AT&T field tested the new Cisco CRS-3 Carrier Routing System. AT&T also used the Opnext 100 Gigabit CFP client side modules and Ixia's "K2" 100 Gigabit traffic generator and analyzer. AT&T's trial demonstrated a single-carrier 100G transmission with real-time coherent processing on a 900-km long-haul transport link between Louisiana and Florida. AT&T in 2008 completed a large deployment of 40G network technology in its US IP backbone network, and in 2008 and 2009, the company led teams that completed two lab trials of 100G technology. The 100G technology is expected to be ready for commercial deployment over the next few years. http://www.telecompaper.com/news/article.aspx?cid=723068 Wed, 10 Mar 2010 06:10:00 +0100 http://www.telecompaper.com/news/article.aspx?cid=723030 (Telecompaper) Cisco unveiled its next-generation routing platform for operators, the Cisco CRS-3 Carrier Routing System. The Cisco CRS-3 triples the capacity of its predecessor, the Cisco CRS-1 Carrier Routing System, to up to 322 Tbps. According to the company, the system offers 12 times the traffic capacity of the nearest competing system. Designed to support the ever-increasing amount of video and data traffic on networks, the CRS-3 can handle core network and data centre services, including IPv6 and IP/MPLS. Existing Cisco CRS-1 customers can reuse the existing chassis, route processors, fans and power systems with the addition of new line cards and fabric when upgrading to the CRS-3. AT&T recently tested the Cisco CRS-3 in a a field trial of 100G backbone network technology, which took place in AT&T's live network between New Orleans and Miami, and other field trials are underway, Cisco said. Pricing for the routing system starts at USD 90,000. http://www.telecompaper.com/news/article.aspx?cid=723030 Tue, 09 Mar 2010 17:34:00 +0100 http://www.telecompaper.com/news/article.aspx?cid=723022 (Telecompaper) Trade unions have expressed anger and disappointment after Vodafone confirmed plans to cut 375 jobs in the UK. The Communications Workers Union (CWU) said it was disappointed by the decision and expressed its concern that customer-facing jobs would be affected, despite assurances from Vodafone that the losses would only affect back-office jobs. The Prospect union for professionals said it had contacted Vodafone to express serious concerns about the lack of consultation about the job losses. It highlighted reports that workers were being asked to leave the business without notice, and with no redundancy consultation having taken place. Prospect National Officer Steve Thomas said this was a disgraceful way to treat workers, especially some very long serving and loyal members of staff. http://www.telecompaper.com/news/article.aspx?cid=723022 Tue, 09 Mar 2010 16:43:00 +0100 http://www.telecompaper.com/news/article.aspx?cid=723008 (Telecompaper) Avaya and Polycom are expanding their existing relationship and will jointly develop and market integrated video, voice and collaboration products. The companies plan to deliver fully integrated, unified communications (UC) products that use the Avaya Aura SIP-based platform and the Polycom Open Collaboration Network strategy. The planned joint products will provide Polycom's full range of voice and video systems integrated with Avaya Aura delivering real-time collaboration to customers. Avaya Aura will enable companies to administer, schedule and manage the joint products in a single manner. The expanded partnership supports Avaya Aura as a fundamental control point for managing and delivering communications across organisations. The Avaya Aura platform is designed to simplify existing voice and video communica­tions architectures. The combined Avaya and Polycom offers will support customers who want to maintain their existing communications investments as they adopt new capabilities and products. http://www.telecompaper.com/news/article.aspx?cid=723008 Tue, 09 Mar 2010 16:10:00 +0100 http://www.telecompaper.com/news/article.aspx?cid=722945 (Telecompaper) Spanish cable company ONO's board of directors has approved financing of EUR 200 million from existing shareholders in the form of a loan. Of the overall EUR 200 million amount, around EUR 125 million will be injected immediately to support the company's business plans, while the remaining EUR 75 million is subject to liquidity tests. The move is part of Ono's refinancing plan, which is near completion, the company said. Since the beginning of 2010, Ono has been negotiating with creditor banks to delay repayment of a EUR 3.6 billion syndicated loan to 2013. Ono is further considering all options for debt restructuring in the medium term, including a bond issue, a share issue or a possible stock market listing. http://www.telecompaper.com/news/article.aspx?cid=722945 Tue, 09 Mar 2010 11:44:00 +0100 http://www.telecompaper.com/news/article.aspx?cid=722928 (Telecompaper) Telefonica considers reaching a partnership with other Mexican operators to launch a joint bid for dark fibre spectrum in Mexico, El Universal reports, citing Francisco Gil, executive president of Telefonica Mexico. The Mexican Ministry of Communications and Transport (SCT) is auctioning the unused parts of state power company CFE's fibre-optic network. CFE thus opens its dark fibre network, and will rent unused parts of its fibre-optic network to alternative operators. "We may launch a joint bid. We shall see. We're currently just in talks", Gil said. Gil's statement confirms earlier Megacable executive announcements. In November 2009, Megacable CEO Enrique Yamuni said at a conference call with analysts that there were ongoing talks between Megacable, Telefonica, Televisa, Alestra and Axtel to launch a joint bid in the dark fibre spectrum tender. http://www.telecompaper.com/news/article.aspx?cid=722928 Tue, 09 Mar 2010 10:58:00 +0100 http://www.telecompaper.com/news/article.aspx?cid=722898 (Telecompaper) The number of illegal online music and video consumers in France rose by 3 percent between September and December last year, despite the passage of the Hadopi 2 anti-piracy law, according to a study by the University of Rennes. The level stood at 30.3 percent of all internet users in December, versus 29.5 percent three months earlier. Although the first warning messages will not be until this spring at the earliest, the trend reveals the shortcomings of a law that only targets P2P file sharing networks and not streaming sites. According to the study, 15.8 percent of people who watch or listen to video or music online did so via streaming in December, versus 12.4 percent in September. The proportion of P2P network users fell to 14.6 percent from 17.1 percent over the same period. The study also found that half of internet users who buy content legally also use illegal platforms, and 27 percent download from P2P networks. It concludes that if all P2P users had their internet connection suspended, legal music and video sales would be hit as well. http://www.telecompaper.com/news/article.aspx?cid=722898 Tue, 09 Mar 2010 10:07:00 +0100 http://www.telecompaper.com/news/article.aspx?cid=722886 (Telecompaper) A German administrative court in Cologne has dismissed a claim from cable network operator Kabel BW to stop the planned auction of so-called digital dividend frequencies, which is set for 11 April. Kabel BW claims that using the 800 MHz frequencies, which came free after the switch from analogue to digital terrestrial TV, for mobile internet services would disrupt end-user devices such as cable modems, set-top boxes and digital receivers, connected to its cable network. The operator thus wanted the court to declare the auction illegal until a thorough investigation into possible disruptions is conducted. The court dismissed the claim as groundless. The court did say that if such disruptions become apparent or are shown by studies, measures need to be taken. The verdict has no appeal possibilities. Another five claims against the digital dividend auction have been filed with the administrative court for which no court date has been set yet, and six claims from companies that wanted to participate in the auction but were refused by the German telecommunications regulator BNA will be heard on 17 March. http://www.telecompaper.com/news/article.aspx?cid=722886 Tue, 09 Mar 2010 09:53:00 +0100