• Enablence to buy Pannaway Technologies
By Mike Robuck
Ottawa-based Enablence Technologies is boosting its fiber-optic offerings with its purchase Pannaway Technologies.
Pannaway’s assets will be merged with Enablence’s fiber-to-the-x (FTTX) networks division.
“This merger provides the critical mass required for Enablence and Pannaway to serve the market in a way that is cost-effective and focused, while being profitable for Enablence,” said Enablence CEO Arvind Chhatbar. “This will enable the combined company to support its current customers and the competitiveness to expand its market position.”
Enablence will issue 25,750,000 common shares in exchange for all the outstanding shares of Pannaway which includes 5,500,000 common shares to be issued on the conversion of certain outstanding Pannaway debt, which will represent approximately 12% of the total issued shares of Enablence after the transaction closes; and Enablence will also issue a $3 million unsecured 10 year note bearing 5 percent interest and convertible for five years. This note is convertible after three years at Enablence’s option at the greater of a minimum conversion price based on the value of an Enablence common share at the date of closing of the transaction and market price at the time of conversion.
• Tellabs Survey Examines Mobile Bandwidth Hogs
By Evan Koblentz, Wireless Week
Not everyone thinks alike regarding mobile TV and video, Tellabs found in its recent survey of 800 people at industry trade shows in the U.S. and Brazil.
Most respondents assumed that mobile TV and video will use the most bandwidth in the next 5 years. However, 19% of respondents in the U.S. and 43% in of Brazil cited other bandwidth-hogging services such as Web browsing, mobile commerce, text messaging and advanced voice services.
The networking company also asked people about energy efficiency. Of respondents in the U.S., a surprisingly large 69% said network energy expenses are more important than circuit costs, as did 47% of respondents in Brazil.
Another topic was Internet congestion. Roughly 25% of U.S. survey takers said deep packet inspection is best method for service providers to patrol networks, with 19% suggesting higher prices might be a way to weed out some extraneous traffic. In Brazil the figures were around 25% for both options.
The survey, conducted with assistance from IDC, is not a major determining factor for Tellabs’ product strategy. But it’s a useful tool for discovering where other people in the wireless industry stand on big issues, noted Tellab’s Tarcisio Ribeiro, vice president of Latin America.
• AT&T To Buy Wayport
By Wireless Week staff
AT&T has agreed to acquire privately held Wayport, a U.S. provider of managed Wi-Fi services, for about $275 million in cash.
The acquisition expands AT&T Wi-Fi footprint to nearly 20,000 domestic hotspots and more than 80,000 locations globally.
“We’re seeing exponential growth of Wi-Fi-enabled devices – such as smartphones – combined with a continued dependency on 24/7, anytime, anywhere Internet access across business and consumer market segments,” said John Stankey, president and CEO, AT&T Operations, in a statement. “Now is the right time for AT&T to affirm our commitment to Wi-Fi leadership.”
More Broadband Direct:
• Canoe Ventures fleshes out executive team
• Cablevision reports upbeat 3Q earnings
• Economy dings DirecTV’s Q3 subscriber tally
• Charter Communications 3Q loss narrows
• FCC to probe pricing policies of cable, Verizon
• Comcast’s VOD platform in more than 30 million homes
• Yahoo invites another Microsoft offer