(Image Credit: iStockPhoto/mbbirdy) Sky has been exploring ways to offer quad-play packages for some time. In the UK the company partnered with O2 to include mobile services in its bundles beginning in 2015 — a partnership that has gained extra significance after Hutchison submitted a bid to merge Three and O2. Now Sky is expanding … Read more

Among the biggest telecom industry stories this week was AT&T’s acquisition of DirecTV in a deal worth more than $48 billion. AT&T is again in the headlines as the world’s most valuable telecom brand, according to Millward Brown’s BrandZ ranking. The new list reflects extensive diversification by leading providers into sectors such as banking, cloud … Read more

Sabam Sues Major Belgian ISPs Over Copyright Levies and Network Responsibility Three of Belgium’s largest internet service providers—Belgacom, Telenet and Voo—are facing legal action from authors’ association Sabam for allegedly failing to pay copyright levies while continuing to provide access to protected content. The dispute centers on whether these ISPs must contribute a fixed percentage … Read more

WINGS, a leading provider of value-added service (VAS) platforms, has successfully migrated Temafon’s services onto the WINGS platform. Temafon, VimpelCom’s (Beeline brand) mobile content aggregator and part of the ZED Group, manages and promotes Beeline’s mobile content projects. Previously, Temafon operated on the B!3A platform by Buongiorno, a global mobile ecosystem company now part of … Read more

(Image Credit: iStockPhoto/lechatnoir) A new report from leading broadband analyst firm Point Topic predicts that global gigabit broadband subscriptions could reach 100 million by 2020, with the majority of that growth coming from the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region. The report highlights the increasing demand for ultra-fast connections and identifies G.fast as a key technology driving this … Read more

TelecomsTech’s Beijing correspondent Dr. Lin Sun says the latest actions against Chinese telecommunications manufacturers reflect an expected continuation of the prevailing U.S. stance toward China and Chinese companies. This development is clearly damaging for Huawei and ZTE. Regardless of how accurate the allegations may be, the outcome will have broad negative consequences for both companies, … Read more

Canada’s telecommunications providers could face a difficult battle to secure compensation if the federal government decides to ban Huawei equipment. Ottawa is weighing whether to follow allies such as the UK and Australia in prohibiting telecom gear from Chinese vendor Huawei. The decision has significant implications for carriers that currently rely on Huawei for cost-effective … Read more

(c)iStock.com/Connel_Design Orange has announced plans to deploy a Low Power Wide Area (LPWA) network based on long range technology across metropolitan France, becoming the latest telecommunications operator to focus on the Internet of Things (IoT). The operator aims to generate roughly €600 million in IoT revenue by 2018 as part of its Essentials 2020 strategic … Read more

(c)iStock.com/AzmanL A recent article on CA examined how DevOps is spreading across industries to accelerate deployment in Agile environments. What stood out was the unexpectedly high adoption of DevOps within telecommunications. CA reports that telecoms are almost twice as likely to be using DevOps (68%) compared with the overall average (39%), and that 88% of … Read more

Research firm Strand Consult’s 2013 trends for the mobile telecommunications sector reveal a mix of opportunities and challenges: consumers will benefit from lower prices and increased competition, governments may finally deliver meaningful broadband targets, and telecom investors could face a difficult year. Strand also forecasts a major year for Facebook as it deepens its mobile … Read more