Are hardbound textbooks going the way of slide rules and typewriters in schools? Education Secretary Arne Duncan and Federal Communications Commission chairman Julius Genachowski on Wednesday challenged schools and companies to get digital textbooks in students’ hands within five years. The Obama administration’s push comes two weeks after Apple announced it would start to sell […]
Telecommunications
Suddenlink completes fiber network in Ark.
Suddenlink Communications has put the finishing touches on a new 162-mile fiber-optic network that was designed to better serve its customers in Arkansas. The new fiber connects directly with Suddenlink’s national network, which means the company is less reliant on other carriers, and it can now offer improved video and data services. The new network […]
FCC OKs Lifeline reforms
The FCC passed broad reforms of its Lifeline program at its open meeting Tuesday, paving the way to overhaul a program that provides subsidized telephone service to low-income families. In a 3-0 vote, agency commissioners agreed to set up a database that would prevent companies from collecting multiple subsidies on a single person, largely eliminate […]
Report: Service providers tap into home automation to reduce churn
Home automation is a burgeoning sector for service providers because it provides incremental revenues and reduces customer churn, according to a report by Infonetics Research. “While the home automation market is still young, major operators, including Verizon, AT&T, Comcast, Time Warner Cable and China Telecom, have already made public announcements regarding home automation services, and […]
Amdocs launches M2M, Connected Home services
Amdocs is launching two new programs that enable service providers to quickly enter the connected devices market – one focused on machine-to-machine (M2M) services and the other on connected devices in home and office. With its M2M service, Amdocs is ready to set up any service provider to turn around and support its customers with […]
Sprint gives LightSquared until mid-March for FCC clearance
Sprint has agreed to give LightSquared until mid-March to resolve GPS interference problems that have delayed the launch of its LTE network. “Sprint and LightSquared have extended their agreement until mid-March to give LightSquared additional time to address issues associated with the 1.6 spectrum,” a Sprint spokesman said. “Sprint supports LightSquared’s business plans and efforts […]
Videotron added 540 new customer service reps last year
In order to keep up with a growing customer base, Videotron said it added 540 new customer service employees across Québec last year. Over the past two years, it created hundreds of jobs at its Outaouais and Lanaudière call centers. Largely due to the company’s move into mobile services, Videotron has created more than 2,000 […]
Telefónica de Argentina switches to Comptel
Telefónica de Argentina recently selected Comptel Convergent Mediation to help manage more than 90 million daily transactions from its 23 million subscribers, the vendor announced. This follows the announcement early in January that Telefónica’s mobile subsidiary, Movistar Argentina, had upgraded its Comptel systems to the Convergent Mediation platform. Comptel enabled Telefónica de Argentina’s mobile operator […]
Sony’s Hirai to replace Stringer as CEO in April
Sony announced Wednesday that Kazuo Hirai, who leads the company’s core consumer products business, will replace Howard Stringer as CEO and president, effective April 1, as the electronics and entertainment company desperately tries to engineer a turnaround. The 51-year-old Hirai, currently executive deputy president, was widely expected to succeed Stringer. The Welsh-born Stringer, one of […]
Super Bowl advertisers go after “second screens”
Call it the “second-screen” Super Bowl. About two-thirds of smartphone and tablet owners use their gadgets to do things like text or post on Twitter while watching TV, according to research firm Nielsen. So, for Sunday’s game, companies from Coke to Chevy are trying to reach fans on all of the “second screens” they have. […]