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Global Bodies Agree Common Patent Policy as Nokia, Qualcomm Resume Patent Battle
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The leading international standards organisations-the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Telecommunications Union (ITU)-have agreed a common patent policy that would ensure that intellectual property rights contributed by commercial entities are ...Canadian Investment Group Bids US$576 mil. for Stratos
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The board of Stratos Global Corp. has approved a US$576-million deal to sell the company to a Canadian group, Communications Investment Partners (CIP), backed by US$250 million from Inmarsat PLC. Inmarsat would also pay US$750,000 for a call option to buy Stratos from CIP in 2009 when its distribution agreement with Stratos is up for ...Keeping Tabs on Wireless Spend
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THE SCENARIO IS ALL TOO COMMON: a corporation pays for dozens, if not hundreds or thousands, of cell phones and other wireless devices each month, but rarely knows whether employees are incurring overages or not using all of their minutes. Anecdotes of such situations are plentiful. Ronnie Bice, founder, president and CEO of master ...EU Opens In-Depth Probe Into SFR's Buy of Tele2 Unit, Citing French Pay-TV Worries
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BRUSSELS, Belgium -- EU regulators said Tuesday they would investigate in detail plans by French mobile phone operator SFR to buy Tele2 AB's French fixed-line telephone and broadband unit, saying they believed the deal could shrink competition in the French pay-TV sector. SFR is jointly controlled by French media ...Why Vendors Can't Sell FMC
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SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Spring VON 2007 -- Fixed/mobile convergence (FMC) services like dualmode voice aren't catching on very fast in the U.S. and Europe, and vendors seem mixed on how operators should make the sale to consumers. The sale of dualmode handsets is a good measure of consumer and operator acceptance. The VP of business ...Wireless Call Quality Improving
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A new study from J.D. Power and Associates states that the number of problems reported by wireless customers has reached a new low, and the rate of quality problems experience during wireless calls has also declined. In the study, customers base quality judgments on seven different problems. The latest findings show that the ...BT Plays The Hero In Biscit Bankruptcy
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BT, in a move that's clearly designed to garner it loads of goodwill publicity, this morning started handing out the precious codes that subscribers to failed British ISP Biscit need in order to move to a new broadband service provider. BT is apparently under no obligation to give out the codes and it's not even suggesting ...Palm Deal in the Final Stretch
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A Palm Inc. buyout could be finalized by Thursday this week, demanding $20 or more per share, according to sources close to the situation. Nokia Corp. is seen as the leading vendor bidder; while Palm's management is said to prefer a private equity buyer. Morgan Stanley -- the banker that the PDA pioneer has been working ...Budget Practices Making for Tougher Sell on IP Convergence
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SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- A large percentage of IT budget managers do not delineate many recent technologies and IT trends in their budgets, making it more difficult for vendors and providers to sell newer services such as IP convergence and VoIP, reports In-Stat. Despite the complexity and the rate of change business is undergoing, ...CommunicationsDirect Editor
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