Now that the broadband downturn is over and service providers of all stripes seem to be beefing up their networks, it’s time for the infrastructure survivors to reap the rewards. The latest winner of a bankable vote-of-confidence is cable infrastructure provider Vyyo, which announced Wednesday a $35 million cash infusion from existing investor Goldman, Sachs.
Author Archive for Paul Kapustka
Vyyo gets $35M, new Execs
FreeConference.com, turns around sues AT&T
Unlike some of the free-calling concerns who folded their tents at the first sign of legal pressure, FreeConference.com is going to fight for its rights, shown in part by its filing of an antitrust lawsuit against AT&T.
The lawsuit, filed last Friday in the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., mainly asks the court to immediately order AT&T to stop blocking calls from its wireless subscribers to FreeConference.com’s access numbers. The blocking of calls, which AT&T says is permissible under its terms of service agreements, has caused no small amount of controversy and seems headed for an eventual debate at the FCC.
Why is FCC quiet on AT&T’s Call-Blocking?
Is AT&T’s decision to block some of its customers’ wireless calls a violation of the so-called net neutrality principles? If it is, the FCC isn’t saying so yet, at least not publicly. While both sides of the “free-calling” debate expect the commission to weigh in at some point, neither has filed a formal statement there, which may in some part have to do with the FCC’s silence on the matter so far.
Vonage Gets a 2-week Reprieve
After first saying he would grant an injunction to stop Vonage from using technology that Verizon said violated its patents, a federal judge said Friday he would instead wait two weeks to consider Vonage’s requests to stay the injunction, Reuters is reporting. Better make all those calls now!
AT&T Sues More Iowa Telcos
The meaty part of this latest move against the free-caller operations (which AP didn’t quite explain in its just-the-facts-ma’am report) is AT&T’s claim that it can prove one of the newest defendants falsified call-traffic statistics in order to help set higher interconnect rates. More Friday after we dig through the 34-page filing.
More ‘Free’ Call-Blocking from AT&T?
FreeConferenceCall.com CEO David Erickson said you can add his company to the list of free-calling concerns whose access numbers are being selectively blocked by Cingular, now part of the wireless arm of AT&T.
(UPDATE: AT&T confirmed Thursday it is blocking FreeConferenceCall.com.)While we haven’t yet verified Erickson’s claims with AT&T An AT&T spokesman said Thursday that the company is targeting FreeConferenceCall.com since its services (as well as its name) are similar to FreeConference.com, whose numbers AT&T confirmed it was blocking last week, in our first post on the subject.
Whether or not AT&T has legal right to do so — and whether or not its actions are an example of why network neutrality laws may be needed to police large service providers — were hot topics of conversation at the Spring 2007 VON show this week in San Jose, Calif.
Google’s MCI Vet to fix ‘Neutrality’ Message
Fear not, network neutrality fans: Google is still on your side, and is working hard to make sure its sometimes mixed messages on the topic are more harmonious in the future.
That was the word from Rick Whitt Tuesday, as Google’s new “Washington Telecom and Media Counsel” made his net-neutrality big-stage debut, as part of a panel at the Spring 2007 VON show in San Jose. Before mixing it up with telco opponents at one of the historically premier events for NN debate, Whitt wanted to clear up any doubts raised by some recent public comments from other employees of the search colossus.
Microsoft still searching for its VoIP
How many times will Microsoft try its hand at Voice over IP before it finds a winner? While waiting for its enterprise VoIP strategy to build steam, Redmond this week took a stab at the low end of the business market with a plug-and-play phone system that bundles a PBX-like server with dedicated IP phones.
The phones-in-a-box kit is just the latest attempt to simplify telecom installation for small businesses who may not have the necessary IT expertise to take on the challenge of say, Fonality’s or Digium’s lower-end offerings. But there are several red flags waving around this one, making you wonder once again why Microsoft’s approach to VoIP seems so scattered.
The Magic behind MagicJack
MagicJack, the USB-based VoIP service from telco vet Dan Borislow, intrigued us from the moment we first read about it in a column by Herb Greenberg. In search of more details, we were finally able to track down Borislow Monday for a brief demo and some inside info, in advance of the product’s “formal” intro either later this month or early next.
Fonality Debuts Trixbox Appliance
Let the Asterisk price wars continue: Fonality on Monday at VON is slated to unveil the Trixbox appliance, a $999 Intel-based box meant to serve as an IP PBX for small businesses. Pre-configured Sangoma line cards and Octasic’s echo-cancellation hardware are part of the green machine’s off-the-shelf components, says Fonality.
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