| AT&T Rolls Out Three New Long Distance Telephone Plans
21/12/2006
America`s largest telephone carrier, AT&T Inc., has launched three new telephone service packages that will significantly lower the cost of advanced services, and conform more closely with the pricing structure of digital phone and VoIP services.The new packages include up to 13 advanced features, such as call forwarding, call waiting, three-way calling, and auto redial, although voicemail... |
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| Verizon to Build Fiber-Optic Data Connection Between the U.S. and China
19/12/2006
The Business unit of Verizon Communications Inc. has signed a construction and maintenance contract with a consortium of Chinese companies, to help build an undersea fiber-optic cable system directly linking mainland China with the United States.The plan aims to speed up data transmission rates between the two countries, by installing a cable sufficient to support the equivalent of 62 million... |
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| AT&T Begins Rolling Out Free Directory Assistance Service
18/12/2006
AT&T has started testing a free ad-supported directory assistance service that provides callers with business telephone numbers and general listings, the U.S. telephone giant announced last week.The new service is available in Bakersfield, California; Columbus, Ohio; and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, as part of a controlled trial. It can be accessed by dialing 1-800-YellowPages in any of these... |
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| Skype to Charge $30/Year for SkypeOut Online VoIP Service
15/12/2006
Online VoIP giant, Skype, revealed earlier this week that it will soon begin charging for SkypeOut telephone service within North America, which has been available for free since May.Beginning on January 1, unlimited web-based phone calls to landlines in the U.S. and Canada will be priced at a flat rate of $30 per year, ending a much-loved eight-month promotional offer. Calls from one computer to... |
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| Canadian Government Promises Deregulation of Local Telephone Services
12/12/2006
Canada`s federal government is taking an important step towards deregulation of the local telephone industry, announcing plans to do away with government price controls in areas where competition exists.To do this, the Conservative government intends to overrule a decision by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, which imposes price ceilings and floors on how much... |
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| Telecom Executives Aim to Improve Fixed-Line Customer Retention
11/12/2006
Executives at America`s largest telephone providers are making bold predictions that the ongoing bleeding of local fixed-line telephone subscribers will plateau and possibly even begin to taper off in the near future.Big telecom carriers have lost a lot of fixed-line customers over the last couple of years, as cable operators use VoIP technology to launch their own digital voice services, and... |
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| BT Begins Commercial Launch of 21CN IP Voice and Broadband Network
29/11/2006
The UK`s primary telephone operator, BT, has officially rolled out its 21st Century Network project in the village of Wick, near Cardiff.Residents of that small community are the first to have their voice and broadband communication needs routed over BT`s 21CN network, a massive IP-based infrastructure initiative to replace copper circuit switched telephone lines, at a cost of £10 billion over... |
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| Insight Research Predicts Healthy Growth for Global Telecom Industry
27/11/2006
Annual service revenues of the global telecommunications industry will reach US$1.3 trillion by the end of next year, according to a report from Insight Research, which predicts continued runaway growth for broadband and wireless.The research report, entitled “The 2007 Industry Review, an Anthology of Market Facts and Forecasts,” states that wireless revenues will increase by a... |
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| CRTC Allows Telus and Bell Canada to Set Free Market Local Phone Rates
24/11/2006
Canada`s biggest telephone providers, BCE Inc. and Telus Corp., have won the right to set their own prices on some fixed-line phone services, provided that they fall within a range approved by the Canadian Radio and Telecommunications Commission.The phone companies have been lobbying the CRTC for the ability to compete on a fair market basis with cable carriers like Rogers and Shaw, who have... |
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| Canadian Government Removes CRTC’s Power to Regulate VoIP Pricing
20/11/2006
Canada`s federal government has recently overturned a ruling by the CTRC, and removed the regulatory price controls imposed on the VoIP services offered by incumbent telecom carriers.‘’I am pleased to announce that our government has decided to change the CRTC’s decision on VoIP,`’ said Industry Minister, Maxime Bernier, at a recent luncheon held by the Economic Club of... |
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