******************************** PricewaterhouseCoopers Presents The CommunicationsDirect Daily Update For January 07, 2008
********************************
Our new poll: Do you believe 2008 will have more or less communications industry merger and acquisition activity than we saw in 2007? Visit our web site to vote.
Motorola Launches Latest Product Lines
formatting link
Following a bruising 2007 when a lack of innovative new handsets and targeting lower-margin markets lost the gains made in market share by the RAZR handset range in previous years, Motorola - now led by new chief executive Greg Brown - has unveiled its latest product lines at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES). New handsets...
Telecom Italia Set to Sell Alice French Unit
formatting link
Telecom Italia is set to sell its Alice internet unit in France and has mandated investment bank Calyon to sell the assets. According to reports in the French daily, Le Figaro, Alice could be worth between 600 million and 650 million euro (US$881 - 955 million) based on a similar valuation used for the sale of Club Internet. ...
Fiber Speed via Copper
formatting link
Telecom's land-based future may be in fiber, but there's still plenty of life left in copper, claim Pennsylvania State University researchers. Working with Nexans, a Paris-based cable manufacturer, Penn State engineers have examined the possibility of sending digital data at a rate of 100 gigabits per second over short...
Don't Shake It: New Mobile Printing Technology to Show Up in Polaroid Printers
formatting link
LAS VEGAS -- Once celebrated for cameras that made their own prints, Polaroid Corp. plans to update the concept this year by selling a portable printer for images on cellphones and digital cameras. And like those old Polaroid instant-film cameras, the new printers should have a wow factor: they require no ink, because they...
Broadband Business Wireless Firm Expands to NYC
formatting link
Its nickname is humble - BOB Broadband - but a new wireless service provider has lofty ambitions for providing wireless services to large businesses, particularly those in financial services, using licensed spectrum. Business Only Broadband has been operating in Chicago and this week announced its plans to expand into New...
Rumor Du Jour: Vodafone Versus Best Buy In Carphone Bid
formatting link
Rumor has it Carphone Warehouse -- Europe's largest retailer of cellphones, the U.K.'s second-largest broadband provider with 2.5 million subscribers and a major VoIP provider -- is being eyed by both Vodafone and Best Buy. Speculation says bidding could top $8 billion. With Carphone Warehouse shares surging on the rumors...
BT Adds to Its IPTV Options
formatting link
BT Group plc added to its telco TV options today by announcing a partnership with Microsoft Corp. that will see its BT Vision services delivered via the Xbox games console, and a new set-top box deal with Motorola Inc. Microsoft has been talking about adding IPTV capabilities to the Xbox for about a year, and today announced that...
Unstrung's Hot Picks at CES
formatting link
LAS VEGAS -- CES -- Unstrung has arrived in Las Vegas for the massive Consumer Electronics Show (CES). We'll be here all week, avoiding the slots and reporting on everything from big carrier iron to the weirder side of wireless. Here's a preview of what's hot at CES this year. WiMax Mobile WiMax will make a New...
Firm Plans Storage Services Empire
formatting link
A holding company based in Virginia is building a small empire of domestic colocation and managed service facilities featuring storage. Managed Data Holdings (MDH), a three-man firm started in June 2007, made its second acquisition in seven months this week with the purchase of Data393, a Denver-based colocation facility with...
--------------------
To SUBSCRIBE or change your subscription profile, visit
formatting link
Your feedback on our e-letter is always welcome. Send email to:
CommunicationsDirect Editor
--------------------
Copyright (C) 2008 PricewaterhouseCoopers.
All rights reserved. PricewaterhouseCoopers refers to the network of member firms of PricewaterhouseCoopers International Limited, each of which is a separate and independent legal entity.