Nortel Goes Belly-Up

Canadian telecom company Nortel filed for bankruptcy protection on January 14, 2009, closing a chapter on a long drawn attempt by the company to survive a downward slide in its fortunes since the end of the dotcom era. The former telecom giant was derailed by numerous factors, one of which included an accounting scandal that led to a removal of its top management.

For the news release, go here.

Technology Leaders Announce ‘Marlin Partner Program’ to Make Digital Content Interoperable Across Multiple Devices and Services

 

In case you missed this:

London, UK, October 22, 2008 — Over twenty-five leading Technology Solutions Providers, System Integrators and Content Management companies have joined forces to create the Marlin Partner Program (MPP).  Members of the program can now deliver technology solutions to service providers and consumer device manufacturers who want to make digital content interoperable between consumer electronics devices that include mobile phones, set top boxes, media players & PCs. 

The MPP allows providers of mobile, broadband, broadcast and IPTV services, and manufacturers of networked consumer devices to deploy more flexible and useful products and services where consumers can move protected content between devices. MPP companies would provide the various technical components necessary for customers to deliver Marlin solutions and integration services to network operators, service providers and device manufacturers.

IPTV Over GPON and Bonded DSL Key Components of BroadbandSuite 3.0

 

11 November 2008, Anaheim, California - The Broadband Forum, formerly the DSL Forum, has today unveiled the latest edition of its BroadbandSuite™ Release Plan at this year’s Telco TV.  BroadbandSuite 3.0 provides specifications for triple-play delivered via GPON and bonded DSL over a QoS-enabled Ethernet architecture, and remote management beyond the gateway to address video and storage devices.

BroadbandSuite 2.0, released in 2007, provided a roadmap for triple-play access via ADSL2plus, but over the past 12 months, the Broadband Forum has responded to an industry need for the ability to deliver triple-play services, such as IPTV, over a variety of different access technologies.

SingTel announces first-in-the-world landmark deal with major US studios

 

Singapore, 23 July 2008 – Singapore Telecommunications Limited (SingTel) has announced that it has signed a groundbreaking deal with three major studios – Disney-ABC International Television, Twentieth Century Fox and Warner Bros. International Television Distribution – that will make it possible for its mio TV service to screen over 50 top US series as early as 24 hoursafter their US premiere.

SingTel’s mio TV will be the first IPTV (Internet Protocol Television) operator in the world to offer such a volume of top US series within a day of their US telecast on a subscription-based model, and this will provide the first exhibition of such licensed series in Singapore.

This service, called Season Pass, will launch this September and the availability of programming will follow the US TV calendar.  mio TV will offer the latest seasons of popular American TV series debuting in US from September this year such as Grey’s Anatomy, Lost, Criminal Minds,Prison Break, Bones, 24, Ugly Betty, Without a Trace, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles,Supernatural, Samantha Who? and many more.

Local Connectivity – A Major Value Proposition for South East Asia

 

In case you missed this:

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 23 July 2008 – ‘Deploying strong value propositions in each south east Asian country’ is one of the key messages behind this year’s SE AsiaCom in Kuala Lumpur. Leading wireless application solution provider, Altobridge, had one of the strongest value propositions for operators throughout the region – its Local Connectivity solution combined with its Split-BSC Architecture.

Altobridge is currently working in partnership with operators Maxis, in Malaysia, and MobiCom, in Mongolia, to deliver cost-effective rural communications to isolated public and enterprise communities. The Local Connectivity solution and the Split-BSC Architecture offer operators two outstanding opportunities:

• to remove unnecessary transmission costs incurred when local calls are backhauled, by keeping local calls local; 
• to restrict the use of expensive satellite bandwidth, only using it ‘On-Demand’ instead of ‘Always-On’, freeing up vital capacity.