:: Independent Technology News ::
Broadband at low frequencies
CTC is using former TV spectrum for broadband and VoIP, and more could follow its lead next year...
SureWest's road to perfection goes through IneoQuest
SureWest Communications is in a high-definition race for customers in Northern California and says it's winning. However, it's not just the number of HD channels that matters, it's the quality of the content...
Independents pioneer PBT
Leave it to the Independent rural carriers once again to blaze the trail of a new technology...
Faraway eyes
Asentria aims to help Indies monitor their remote equipment sites...
VON: Landline not dead yet, Embarq CEO says
BOSTON--Landline companies have a future, if they capitalize on convergence possibilities and learn how to make complex services simple for customers to use, Embarq CEO Dan Hesse told the VON crowd today...
Microsoft TV signs first U.S. indie
Microsoft TV, the preferred brand of many larger telecom incumbents worldwide, has signed its first U.S. independent telco customer, nTelos...
WKRC in Cincinnati
The "C" is for convergence, which is what Cincinnati Bell is after as the first U.S. carrier to launch unlicensed mobile access and bridge the mobile phone with the home Wi-Fi network...
TDS gets big embrace from Ethernet
Used for Internet backhaul today, TDS Telecom sees everything over Ethernet down the road...
In the Spotlight: MetaSwitch’s John Lazar
Every once in a while, you have to take a breath and count your blessings. MetaSwitch CEO John Lazar tallied his up recently and didn’t stop until he reached 500. That’s the number of softswitch and gateway deployments his company has. Here’s what he had to say about this first of what he expects to be many milestones...
Fujitsu takes rural telcos optical
Fujitsu Network Communications announced two deployments of its optical gear with rural independent operating companies this week...
Nishi sends OPASTCO to the dogs
Roger Nishi won’t soon forget his first address as chairman to members of OPASTCO in Anchorage this week. Nor is his own son likely to ever let him...
Come see the softer side of security
New options replace smart cards and offer efficiency at lower cost...
Inevitable Ethernet
Rural telcos are turning cautiously to bonded copper...
IP-Prime cuts to commercial
After more than a year of trials and continuous development, SES Americom is all systems go, declaring commercial availability of its IP-Prime satellite-based IPTV distribution system in North America...
The importance of interop
During the gradual IP transition, interoperability is a carrier's--and vendor's--best friend...
Long Lines short-lists Embarq Logistics, Wave7
Embarq Logistics, which will be exhibiting at Nxtcomm 2007, and fiber equipment vendor Wave7 are deploying a fiber-to-the-premises network for South Sioux City, Neb., customers of Long Lines, an independent operating company serving more than 100 communities in Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota...
MediaFLO in a town near you
Paul Jacobs, Qualcomm CEO, was scheduled to speak at the Rural Cellular Association Annual Convention in Las Vegas this week about the magic of MediaFLO...
Stuck in the middle for triple play
Mid-tier telcos are torn over fiber-based video strategies...
MetaSwitch goes upscale with Telebec
Selling its switching and application platform to Bell Nordiq was a big deal for MetaSwitch, but it could get even bigger with the potential for expanding into other Bell Canada subsidiaries...
Cisco inks key rural IPTV deal
Cisco Systems is vying to become a one-stop shop for rural telcos planning to offer IPTV. The vendor announced a partnership this week with SES Americom,...
Rural wireless: It could go either way
Rural wireless operators just might have a big year in 2007. The again, they might not. That’s not vacillation, it’s just that the year is full of potential but depending on several factors, it could go either way...
Rose to OPASTCO: Be Disney
Despite its ranks swelling by 1.5 million lines with the proposed acquisition by FairPoint Communications of Verizon customers, rural telcos attending...
Soma wins 700 MHz contract
Soma Networks today said it has made one of its first sales of 700 MHz broadband wireless equipment, selling its FlexMAX system to CTC Telecom in Wisconsin to deploy in hard-to-reach and rural areas...
In the Spotlight: Scott Ulsaker, Pioneer Telephone Cooperative
Scott Ulsaker, director of operations at Pioneer, is an old hand at wireless, having worked on AT&T’s Project Angel fixed wireless endeavor. He spoke with Telephony editor in chief Dan O’Shea recently about using Wi-Fi for in-home wiring...
Sonus certifiable in rural markets
Sonus Networks isn’t a stranger to the rural market, but its status is. The company was bestowed with Rural Utilities Service/Rural Development Utilities Program RUS/RDUP acceptance for much of its core IMS-based product line...
