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AskCALEA NewsWeekly May 30, 2008

• Truphone intercepts global mobile calls
  Alternative mobile service provider Truphone launched a service today that automatically “re-routes” international calls that begin on incumbent operator networks and delivers them via the Internet and the Truphone network.
• Convergence Today: What Tier 1 Carriers Are Offering
  We in the telecommunications industry spend a lot of time pontificating about the future — particularly when it comes to the subject of convergence. But what exactly are the Tier 1 carriers offering today in terms of converged services (even if the infrastructure behind them is not converged)?
• Femtocells may sound like science fiction, but they could prove pivotal in expanding cellular coverage Bridging the gap
  Femtocells — sounds like a science fiction term for robotic feminine cells — but it’s just another buzzword for a new technology and product that promises so much in the future, yet has delivered mostly in practical terms thus far.
• Free Internet eyed as part of airwaves auction
  Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin is proposing to auction an unused piece of 25 megahertz wireless spectrum, with the condition that the winning bidder offer free Internet access and filter out obscene content on part of those airwaves, a spokesman for the FCC said on Thursday.
• D-Block comments begin rolling in
  The Federal Communications Commission set a June 20 deadline for public comment on D-Block revisions, but already the agency has begun receiving suggestions from industry, public safety and academics.
• The Ready Guide to Intercept Legislation
  60 pages of legislation from 24 different countries: Australia; Austria; Argentina; Belgium; Brazil; Finland; France; Germany; India; Ireland; Israel; Italy; Japan; Republic of Korea; The Netherlands; New Zealand; Norway; The Philippines; Poland; Romania; South Africa; Sweden; The United Kingdom; The USA.
• Wi-Fi security for road warriors: AirDefense style
  For the past few months, I’ve been working on an informal series about the trials and tribulations of using public Wi-Fi networks. From the positive responses, it appears that the security tips have been helpful.

AskCALEA NewsWeekly May 22, 2008

• WiMAX promises to shake up wireless data market
  Mobile operators may be counting on LTE (Long-Term Evolution) technology to offer high-speed mobile data access in coming years, but WiMAX services will arrive first, promising to shake up the wireless data market in the process.
• Opinion: A surfeit of network-neutrality legislation
  Largely due to the continued dumb statements and actions of a few apparently PR-challenged carriers, the network-neutrality issue is alive and well in the U.S.
• MVNOs winnow
  THE GROUND CONTINUED TO SHIFT in the tumultuous mobile virtual network operator space this month as one player announced plans to call it quits, another explores a potential merger and a third prepares to morph into a reseller of wireless services.
• Non-tech criminals can now rent-a-botnet
  Online fraudsters that aren't highly skilled in the arts of cybercrime can now rent a service that offers an all-in-one hosting server with a built-in Zeus trojan administration panel and infecting tools, allowing them to create their own botnet.
• More GPS tracking adventures
  Last month I wrote about the GPS Snitch, a portable device you can carry around or place in a vehicle then track through the Web via its GPS and cellular connectivity. Here are two more services and devices that do similar things.
• Qwest to FCC: Forbearance opponents’ information misleading
  Qwest Communications International Inc. claims information provided to the Federal Communications Commission by opponents of its forbearance request from the 1996 Telecommunications Act is misleading and opportunistic.
• Six free security tools you shouldn't live without
  I won't keep you in suspense. I'll go ahead and name them right here, at the top of my post -- the six free security tools that all IT folks should know about and use.

AskCALEA NewsWeekly May 15, 2008

• WiMax vs. Long Term Evolution: Let the battle begin
  A long-term battle is brewing between two emerging high-speed wireless technologies, WiMax and Long Term Evolution (LTE). Each would more than quadruple existing wireless wide-area access speeds for users.
• The Essential Guide to ATAs and VoIP
  An ATA (analog terminal adapter) is a hardware device that connects an analog phone to a data network. A basic ATA includes an Ethernet port that joins the device to the data network and an RJ-11 jack that links the unit to the phone.
• WiMAX Forum endorses new WiMAX lab at University of Maryland
  WiMAX appears to be back on track. TechRepublic’s executive editor Jason Hiner published some good news today in his post, “The new Clearwire: Mobile WiMAX in the US gets major cash infusion.” It appears that Sprint and Clearwire are on the same page again and buoyed by major investments from Comcast and Google.
• Vonage tries to turn double-play by bundling Covad DSL
  VoIP provider Vonage had a rough time of it in recent years, losing a series of patent disputes with the phone companies it's been competing with. A series of >settlements late last year left the company in the clear, but in a somewhat awkward position. Vonage relies on its customers having broadband connections, and the suppliers of these connections offer competing products.
• RIM to deliver Bold-ness as Apple aims to invade enterprise
  Research In Motion Ltd. said today that its first 3G handset, dubbed the “Bold,” is coming “soon” — likely in the heat of what looks to be a long hot summer in the device space.
• VZW throws support behind LiMo
  Google Inc.’s Open Handset Alliance has attracted plenty of attention in the mobile Linux space, but the LiMo Foundation is assembling an impressive coalition of its own.
• Fifteen global telcos team to take on Skype - not such a daft idea
  The most spectacular rumour doing the rounds of telecoms and IT news sites right now must be that 15 of the world's biggest carriers - AT&T, BT, Deutsche Telecom, NTT etc - are planning to launch their own free VoIP service to compete with, and hopefully destroy, Skype. Does this have any legs?

AskCALEA NewsWeekly May 8, 2008

• Sprint, Clearwire Make it Official
  The long-rumored national mobile WiMAX partnership between Sprint and Clearwire is finally official, both companies said today.
• Lab test: VoIP phone systems walk the talk
  The five IP PBX appliances reviewed here are reasonably priced and easy to administer and use. Some can be installed without the need for expert help. And their telephony features -- typically configured and accessed from a browser or lightweight desktop application -- are all remarkably sophisticated.
• Google Seeks Open-Access Pledge From Verizon
  Google has asked the U.S. Federal Communications Commission to obtain a pledge from Verizon Wireless that it will honor the open-access conditions on a band of 700MHz spectrum before selling the spectrum to the carrier.
• FCC votes to cap universal service fund payments
  A divided Federal Communications Commission voted to impose an interim cap on high-cost universal service fund payments to competitive eligible telecommunications carriers, a blow to some smaller mobile-phone carriers that rely on subsidies to bring competitive services to underserved rural areas of the country.
• Court tells FCC to revisit BPL rules
  FCC commissioners need to do a better job justifying the agency’s rules governing broadband-over-power-line (BPL) emission levels, according to a federal appeals court.
• Leap expands Texas presence
  Leap Wireless International Inc. will be launching its Cricket unlimited wireless services across areas of Texas bordering the Rio Grande and the Gulf of Mexico beginning tomorrow.
• MetroPCS launches in northern Florida
  MetroPCS has turned up its service in Jacksonville, Fla., transitioning the former PTA and Cleartalk PCS networks into its own footprint. MetroPCS bought 10 MHz of PCS spectrum from PTA, along with PTA and Cleartalk’s infrastructure and customers in January, allowing it to expand its growing Florida footprint.